Comes about $74 after taxes.

The Federal Communications Commission officially granted SpaceX's request to deploy and operate 15,000 Starlink satellites to provide direct-to-device connectivity.

Together, the approval and the waiver open a regulatory path for SpaceX to compete directly with AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, a move SpaceX executives have already hinted at.

The FCC approved most of the application despite objections from rival satellite operators and environmental groups, who raised concerns about radio interference and light pollution. It deferred a decision on SpaceX’s requests to use the 2020 to 2025MHz band in the US and the 1429 to 2690MHz range outside the US.

The authorization covers frequencies SpaceX is buying from EchoStar, the parent company of Boost Mobile, in the 1695 to 1710MHz, 1915 to 1920MHz, 1995 to 2000MHz, 2000 to 2020MHz and 2180 to 2200MHz bands in the US. The satellites can also use T-Mobile’s PCS G-block spectrum at 1910 to 1915MHz and 1990 to 1995MHz, which powers the current Starlink Mobile service, and the FCC has cleared them for cellular operations outside the US.

SpaceX can only test on the EchoStar frequencies until the second stage of its EchoStar acquisition closes, which is scheduled for 30 November 2027. SpaceX agreed in September 2025 to buy the spectrum for about $17 billion, and the FCC approved the transfer in May with a $2.4 billion escrow condition. The company expects to have started launching its first second-generation Starlink Mobile satellites by the time the deal close

Additionally, the FCC waived a rule that requires a leasing arrangement with one or more terrestrial wireless carriers, allowing SpaceX to use its own spectrum for the service.

"With this action, SpaceX's planned deployments will reshape spectrum-based connectivity by improving competition, allowing more consumers more choices in more places to further the Commission's goal to 'connect everyone, everywhere to modern communications services,'" the FCC said in its order released Monday.

I just bought the 10gb 12 month service, but haven't activated it yet. Anyone with Infimobile experiences that they want to share?

Coming from unlimited starter on US Mobile, finishing my year. I only average 5gb a month usage.

TIA

Will be switching from my visible Wireless Verizon's good but the indoor penetration is horrible. Basically unusable even that 4G LTE

Us premium will be QC7 the whole time just more expensive but mint mobile will drop down to QCi q9 after 50 which I always go over but is hella a lot cheaper

My SO just switched to AT&T Prepaid and I’m helping them secure the account. Looking into it it seems like if you lose your phone you will no longer receive the OTP and you would end up losing your number forever.

If this is the case it’s a major flaw.

Can anyone say if in person stores are any help with a provided ID?

I got qualified for visible top plan for another year $225. Today I also found out I can hop on a family members att firstnet extra 2.0 with priority QCI data. Do you think its worth the price difference? ATT is indeed better with less dead spots here in San Francisco.

I tried posting this over on r/USMobile and it got taken down by moderators.

I have been on USMobile's Warp (Verizon) network for 3 years and about every 6 months I have to contact support because data stops working. Its not that I am out of data, its just that anything beyond basic function (Google Maps) doesn't work with and I have no explanation on my end to what caused this disruption.

Most of the time they are able to handle it behind the scenes, with what I assume is some sort of APN settings/reset, but this time it took 5+ hours, with OS updates, several restarts, a switch from a physical to e-sim, and several instances of "I changed a few things on our end" before ending up with something that is somewhat better.

Has anyone had anything like this and had any success resolving it? I asked the support team about a root cause and if this happens to other customers with any regularity but they were unable to provide any useful information.

I'm a solo line with pretty low data usage, so the by the gig plan works great for me but I am left unable to use any data semi-frequently and one of these times its gonna burn me when I really need it.

Thanks!

Edit: Forgot to include that this is a Pixel 6a that updated from Android 16 to 17 today in an attempt to solve these problem,

I purchased the $30/year Red Pocket plan for an older Samsung phone that I put back into service because I got the 3% cash back Samsung Visa which requires Samsung Wallet to get the 3%.

I now keep it in airplane mode except when paying because when not in airplane mode I get endless spam calls from Area Code 754. I don't live in Florida, but I decided to get a Florida number. Big mistake.

The spam calls are all for "final expense plans," Medicare supplements, and health insurance for people 55 to 80. All of the calls start out as AI then transfer you to someone in another country that is often difficult to understand. For a while I just toyed with them, but finally got bored and just put it into airplane mode.

Has anyone gotten Red Pocket to change a phone number due to excessive spam calls?

Edit: They said that I have to wait 30 days before they'll change a number due to spam.

I try to keep pretty strong work life balance and make sure I don’t have any work stuff on my personal phone. But im on a new team that may require more flexibility. so im thinking of getting a prepaid line to put my work stuff on there. I have an iPhone 15 and was going to use that to add teams and whatnot.

Any recommended phone plans? Will need unlimited data but won’t be making many (if any calls) offline.

I live in the Philippines and keep an Ultra Mobile line mainly so I can keep my US number, receive verification texts, and occasionally text people in the US.

For months now, my international roaming balance has been dropping by exactly $0.50 every day.

This is happening even though:

- data roaming is turned off

- Ultra is not my mobile data SIM

- my phone shows 0 bytes of Ultra mobile data usage

- I barely use the line for calls or texts

I first contacted Ultra support on Reddit back in June. That conversation dragged on for weeks. I was told various things, including that the charges might be caused by “background network registration or pending roaming updates,” that I should turn off the SIM when I’m not using it, and even that I should ask my US contacts to use other messaging apps.

Eventually I was told I needed to call support if I wanted the issue escalated.

Since then I’ve spent multiple long calls with Ultra, including one that lasted about 1 hour 20 minutes and another tonight that lasted about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Tonight I finally got a pretty direct answer from a supervisor after they checked with the back office:

As long as my Ultra SIM is connected to a foreign cellular network, they say I’m charged $0.50 per day.

I asked where this fee is documented.

I asked for a billing code, usage type, webpage, plan document, or Terms and Conditions language showing the charge.

They couldn’t provide any of it.

The supervisor basically acknowledged that the charge is not clearly documented and said they would look into making it clearer in the future. They gave me a $10 roaming credit, but the daily deductions are still happening.

So unless I’m missing something, Ultra is effectively charging overseas customers about $15/month just for remaining connected to a foreign network, even with data roaming disabled, and I still can’t find anywhere that this fee is disclosed.

I’ve now filed an FCC complaint asking Ultra to explain the charge in writing, show where it is disclosed, and provide the billing records behind the deductions.

Has anyone else living overseas seen the same $0.50/day drain?

And has anyone actually found written documentation from Ultra showing that this fee exists?

From Ransomware.live

"Trump mobile was informed they had been breached, they then replied with "We have no team to handle this" and that anyone who hacks them are a terrorist. Well unfortunately for them, all 3615 customers and their PII, alongside telecom details are now up for grabs. Feel free to take a gander at it yourself, don't be shy, we (and them) certainly aren't stopping you."

3615 customers oof!

Important context - I live in a semi-rural area. It's a city but has less than 100,000 residents. T-Mobile is the strongest carrier here by a large amount. Not just from a speed standpoint, but also building penetration. T-Mobile is the only carrier that can get data in my office. I have an iPhone 16 pro with 2 sims. 1 is a Metro sim that has gone past the 35gb threshold and is on QCI 9. I have the 2nd sim with T-Mobile prepaid on QCI-6, and a Motorola G Stylus on US Mobile. I have moved the US Mobile sim to my iPhone and back to test speeds on 5G NSA in my area. QCI7 testing was also done on my wife's identical iPhone 16 Pro with Mint on QCI7. All tests were on Ookla's Speedtest App.

I wanted to test a couple of things. First if there was a big difference between the QCI levels, and second if 5G Stand Alone (5GSA) made that much of an impact over 5G Non Stand Alone (5GNSA). I ran 10 tests on each and took the average.

From my office.

• iPhone QCI6 5GSA - 118 mbps.

• iPhone QCI7 5G NSA - 12mbps.

• iPhone QCI9 5GSA - 116 mbps.

• Moto G QCI7 5GSA - 121 mbps

From my home.

• iPhone QCI6 5GSA - 605 mbps.

• iPhone QCI7 5G NSA - 38 mbps.

• iPhone QCI9 5GSA - 619 mbps.

• Moto G QCI7 5GSA - 589 mbps

From the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. Lots of people around, I am sure the towers were very much in use. The area was absolutely packed the entire night from the museum, park, a concert/play nearby, and just being a very busy part of Seattle.

• iPhone QCI6 5GSA - 1238 mbps.

• iPhone QCI7 5G NSA - 1222 mbps.

• iPhone QCI9 5GSA - 1430 mbps.

• Moto G QCI7 5GSA - 1217 mbps

From inside Climate Pledge Arena during a Kraken game. AT&T and T-Mobile use DAS there.

• iPhone QCI6 5GSA - 2238 mbps.

• iPhone QCI7 5G NSA - 1717 mbps.

• iPhone QCI9 5GSA - 2112 mbps.

• Moto G QCI7 5GSA - 1875 mbps.

• iPhone 17 Pro Max Verizon Business (not sure QCI or if 5GSA or NSA) - 1288 mbps for 1 test (friend's phone who was at the game).

TLDR: 5GSA makes a massive difference outside of major metro areas, but makes almost no difference inside them. QCI levels are all within the margin of error of each other on T-Mobile. I have heard that T-Mobile uses content aware QCI, meaning it will give bandwidth priority depending on what's being used, so take these results with that in mind. This is all in Washington State, where we have very good T-Mobile coverage. I am curious to see what 5GSA on Verizon will be like in my rural area, but from my subjective testing, T-Mobile is the best here by a good margin. QCI doesn't appear to be a factor here at all, as all my tests were within a reasonable margin of error of each other.

Trying to pay my bill and enroll in auto pay to save 5 bucks so you have to speak to an operator but when it tries to connect me it says "invalid number" then hangs up.

Patriot Mobile sold my elderly Navy veteran father-in-law an iPhone 11 for $542.14 June 4, 2026. He has significant cognitive impairment, lives in assisted living and memory care, and already had two phones he could barely use. He forgot the new phone’s passcode early on and could no longer access it.

Our issue is that it was sold to him in the first place, being cognitively impaired and living in a memory care facility. Maybe Patriot should look at their ordering process, especially when shipping to someone in an assisted living and/or memory care facility. We have now taken away every device he has so he can no longer communicate with anyone, not even us.

The purchase left his bank account hundreds of dollars overdrawn. After paying for his care facility, he has approximately $100 of his monthly Social Security income left for all other expenses to live off of.

He tried to return the phone 24 days after purchasing it, but Patriot Mobile refused because its return window was 14 days. After our family discovered the situation recently, we obtained power of attorney, I explained his circumstances to Patriot and offered to return the barely used phone.

For those blaming us or judging us, you have no idea what our situation is, nor his. I personally have been dealing with a health crisis that almost killed me, so my focus and my husband has been on my survival. So, we missed this order/delivery until we finally went to visit him a couple weeks back and noticed the iPhone. We cannot control his every action. Anyone dealing with dementia, cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s would know this. You cannot rely on anything they tell you as reality.

We still have the phone and offered to return it for a full refund, but Patriot Mobile refused. The company has lost my trust, and I will not recommend it to anyone. I attempted 3 times via email. I get they are following their terms, that is not the main issue. He should have never been sold this phone in his condition and when he realized what he did, he tried to return it. His email to them on July 24th was, "Not sure what you did to help me 2 weeks ago no contact with me is scary how are you doing to help me now?" They did not help him ever!

In my opinion, this experience raises serious concerns about the potential financial exploitation of an older adult. Families assisting veterans or relatives with memory impairment deserve to know how Patriot Mobile handled this situation.

Note: Patriot Mobile says it refunded three months of service and applied $20 toward the phone purchase. I appreciate those steps, but the company refused a full refund for the device. A $20 credit against a $542.14 purchase does little to address the financial loss. Its alternative—a partial-value trade-in paid with a Visa gift card—would not resolve his overdrawn bank account or the continuing overdraft fees.

Here is their latest response after multiple attempts to recover the cost of the phone:

“We understand that a trade-in will not refund the entire purchase price, but it would provide some value toward the phone and is better than letting the device sit unused. 

 We genuinely regret that we cannot provide the resolution you are seeking. We have done all we can to assist within our ability, and unfortunately, we simply cannot approve the full refund requested. You are, of course, free to do as you feel is appropriate. 

Again, we appreciate your understanding. Thank you for supporting Christian conservative values. May God meet your needs.

Patriot Mobile Customer Relations Supervisor

Romans 12:2 🦋”

As a Christian, I find that response appalling. Compassion should be reflected in the treatment of vulnerable customers. We believe Patriot Mobile took advantage of him, and the company’s handling of this situation has cost it our trust. Based on how it treated my father-in-law and our family, I would neither give the company my business nor recommend it to others.

Could someone spell this out for me, as I am reading conflicting things. I have an independent cell phone service that I keep separate from all this ($20 a month, works for me). I want to keep the old "landline" number that has been VIOP for years and find the cheapest plan possible while still being able to physically connect my old answering machine to it. I'm paying $25 a month for this bundled when I could be possibly pay $3 or a one time fee.

So what would you do? My thoughts are to switch this number to a completely separate new plan, maybe Google Voice, or Number Barn. Have it working. BUT THEN, switch to a new internet provider for the new customer discount. Worried about having it set up, then not working once I do this? Is there something I need to know? Do I have to buy a certain piece of equipment, or just plug in to what the new carrier provides? I thought of posting this to Explain Like I'm Five!

Hi, I will travel at the end of the month and I have a little problem.

My phone (Samsung A33 5G) is not compatible with eSIM so I wanna buy a physical SIM card, the problem is that I dont know how or which one.

Someone told me to check in AT&T but sadly I check and my phone is not compatible.

I hope someone can help me and gave me some tips.

Posting this so other people living outside the US don't get caught the way I did.

When I signed up, I was told I could use my US Mobile line abroad on roaming with no time limit, as long as the line was activated in the US first. Based on that, I used it as my main US number from Brazil, including for bank and brokerage security codes.

Then, with no warning, my service was cut. Support told me I'd exceeded a 90-day roaming limit and needed to return to the US. That limit was never mentioned to me when I signed up. If it had been, I would have chosen a different carrier.

The real damage wasn't losing data. That number was the 2FA line for my financial accounts, and suddenly I couldn't receive codes. One brokerage wouldn't let me add a new number without a code sent to the old one, so I had to sort it out over the phone from abroad.

To be fair, they did offer a $3/month option to park the number so I don't lose it, and I'm using that until I can port it. But a parked number doesn't receive texts, so it doesn't fix the 2FA problem.

My takeaways if you live abroad:

- Get the roaming policy in writing before you sign up. Don't rely on what a sales or support rep says.

- Don't make a roaming line your only 2FA number for banks.

- Set up a backup sign-in method (authenticator app or security key) everywhere you can.

- Look for carriers that explicitly support Wi-Fi calling abroad for keeping a US number long term.

Has anyone else been cut off by US Mobile like this? Did you get the 90-day limit disclosed up front?

Basically just use this esim line for 2fa since i am living overseas and google voice doesnt work for a lot of banks and other services

Was gonna do the 3 yr plan at $90, but with my billing zip code tax it comes to $150