Overview: 3rd Party and Multi-Carrier/Virtual SIM Plans (Cellular Data Plans)

What You Need to Know

• Upfront costs: Your start-up costs are set by the vendor, and can include the purchase of a SIM card, an activation fee and possibly a mobile hotspot device or router. They may term some start up costs as a 'membership fee' to qualify for obtaining data access.
• Gear: Some vendors specify which devices their plan works on (especially those that require an eSim) and even require purchasing from them. This may be based on the carrier blocking access to certain devices, they need to make setting changes for an unauthorized plan to work or for standardizing their support. It is possible that the carrier starts blocking a device you are using and you may need to purchase a new device to continue service. Make sure the device you use is optimal for your use and the carrier the plan is based on.
  • For more on shopping for gear:
    • Guide to Mobile Hotspots
    • Guide to Mobile Routers
    • Our Gear Center
• Carrier: Most resellers are not able to disclose the actual carrier they are on by name. But they can make hints (like Red for Verizon, Blue for AT&T or Purple for T-Mobile). If it's not clear, you may have to research some by coverage maps or by directly asking. Some resellers offer multi-carrier plans that give access to all of the major carriers via one single data plan that can switch between carriers, depending on which signal is strongest in the area. If you want easy access to multiple carriers, this type of plan may be an option to consider - but do pay attention to the equipment required to achieve this.
• Monthly Costs: Monthly costs are set by the vendor based on current market demand. This is usually a month-to-month agreement, which gives you the flexibility to discontinue service as needed. But remember, no-contract goes both ways - pricing or terms can change at anytime. Some may offer a prepaid quarterly or annual option - but there's typically no refund should the vendor lose their plan before your prepaid term is up.
• Tiered Plans / Fair Use Policy / Soft Data Caps: Some vendors may have data caps put in place to prevent excessive data use getting on the carrier's radar, or sell high-cap plans by tiered data caps. Some clearly state these, some put them into the fine print of their terms of service and some may not disclose them until you hit the cap. These caps may change without notice based on the vendor's experience with their carrier. If you hit the cap - you may get a warning, you may get terminated or you may experience extreme speed throttling. Reasonable usage could be anywhere between 50GB-2TB of usage a month - with 200-600GB more the norm. If you need more than that, consider multiple plans.
• Customer Support: You are not a direct customer of the carrier - any support issues must be handled by your vendor. Some may offer great service, and some may be quite lacking. Some issues may be way beyond their control.
• Terms of Service: Be sure to understand the terms of service of any plan you consider, as they can vary widely. Things like network management, throttling, video resolution and roaming limitations may apply. Some may completely ban gaming on their networks.
• Price Differences: The plans used behind the scenes can vary a great deal. Some may be legit bulk purchase agreements via a master agent and some may be reselling high priority corporate or non-profit plans against terms of service. Some plans may be postpaid, some may be prepaid or even prepaid brands. Some may actually be smartphone or tablet plans that have been made to work on hotspots or routers. The vendors don't tend to make this information known upfront. A vendor's stock may change over time based on what they can acquire.
• Have a Back-Up Option: We highly recommend having an alternate way online if you rely on one of these plans. Remember, these plans can get shut down or change terms of service with little to no notice. When your vendor loses their plan, they may not be able to give you any notice - and instead just ship you a new SIM card (which is essentially switching you to a different line of service they have, which could be on a different carrier than you originally signed up for.)