I have been generally pleased with Cricket. The coverage in the sticks has been much better than when I was on T-Mobile which is why I switched, but I have still been disappointed when I have been in a few places and my friend with "real" AT&T was texting me and I did not receive the text because it was a roaming area. The Grand Canyon was one area, and the top of Mount Hamilton at Lick Observatory another. These are not every day occurrences - but happen enough to make me consider switching to some solution that will allow roaming onto AT&T's partner networks.
My understanding is that Cricket and even GoPhone doesn't allow partner roaming - only true AT&T postpaid. However, from my research it looks like Consumer Cellular is a viable option. They seem to MVNO on AT&T's network and also allow roaming. The rates seem reasonable. Does anyone have any comparisons between Cricket and Consumer Cellular for reference?
Edited to add: Here is the pricing plan that I'd be going with:
Talk Plan
$20.00 - 750 Minutes
Connect Plan
$40.00 - 4GB / Unlimited Texts ($0.015/mb over)
Additional Services
$10.00 - 1 Additional Line
Total Monthly Charges*
$70.00
My understanding is that Cricket and even GoPhone doesn't allow partner roaming - only true AT&T postpaid. However, from my research it looks like Consumer Cellular is a viable option. They seem to MVNO on AT&T's network and also allow roaming. The rates seem reasonable. Does anyone have any comparisons between Cricket and Consumer Cellular for reference?
Edited to add: Here is the pricing plan that I'd be going with:
Talk Plan
$20.00 - 750 Minutes
Connect Plan
$40.00 - 4GB / Unlimited Texts ($0.015/mb over)
Additional Services
$10.00 - 1 Additional Line
Total Monthly Charges*
$70.00