AT&T vs Simple Mobile: Who Should You Go With?

There’s a lot to decide when you’re comparing multiple wireless carriers. You’ve got to note the price, coverage, international plans/add-ons, hotspot benefits, data, extra potential fees, and additional perks. 

You might have even begun a new notebook page listing down what each company includes in their plans so you can easily look between it all. But if you’ve wanted the true scoop and an entire guide detailing out exactly what you should know about two cell phone plans, specifically AT&T and Simple Mobile, well you’ve come to the right place.

We’re going to be taking a look at the two companies so you can make your final leap to signing up for your next phone plan. AT&T of course being one of the “big three” in wireless alongside Verizon and T-Mobile needs no introduction. While Simple Mobile, a lesser known MVNO may be your golden goose egg. There’s obviously a lot to consider so let’s get started comparing AT&T vs Simple Mobile.

• Quick Overview: AT&T and Simple Mobile
• What the Coverage Looks Like from Both Providers
• How the Plans Compare: From Price to Features
• The Verdict

Before we get into what to expect from the coverage and phone plans of each provider, we should talk a little bit about the two companies as a whole. Think of this as a first date and these are your first impressions. This way you’ll be able to see what each company looks like from a broad view before getting into the cold hard facts.

-> AT&T

On October 13th, 1983, AT&T was the first to launch a commercial cellular telephone service in Chicago, and ever since then they’ve been expanding to one of the biggest industries in the wireless world the world has ever seen. We described them as one of the “big three” in the intro and that’s the name many commonly use to describe AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile together as they are some of the only provider’s with wide ranging cell towers spread throughout the country and select parts of other regions. 

As you’ll take a look later in our “coverage” section, AT&T has a pretty big signal range and along with that comes the demand for phone plans that can keep up with that movement. Luckily AT&T is known for having the perfect plan(s) for those on the hunt for lots of data. In fact if you are someone that’s rarely connected to wifi and is always getting their speeds throttled after going over their monthly allotment then you will absolutely love their AT&T Unlimited Premium® PL plan where the data never slows down no matter how much you use.

In this day and age having truly unlimited data is a must for some which is what makes that plan so beneficial and even if you don’t end up splurging on their $85.99/mo. plan then you’ll be happy to take note that a majority of their other plans have a pretty incredible monthly data threshold.

A REALLY Helpful Tip

Data throttling or simply, “throttling”, is “the dramatic slowing of your data speeds to the point that it becomes almost unusable.” This happens when a phone user will go over their data allotment number for the month. For example, a phone plan can say that it’s “Unlimited” but in small text under that or in fine print under the plan it’ll give a number of gigabytes for each month you can use and when you use over that amount your data speeds will slow. Always make sure to look at the phone plan in full detail, especially if you aren’t ever connected to wifi and are a frequent data user. 

-> Simple Mobile

Simple Mobile is a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) known for their great deals on cell phone plans which is great for anyone looking to save a few extra bucks a month. A MVNO is used to describe smaller cell phone carriers that don’t own their own cell towers and instead will piggyback the signal(s) from a company that does own their own instructure. In Simple Mobile’s case, they are under the T-Mobile umbrella, who we all know, is a direct competitor of AT&T. 

Simple Mobile keeps things…simple with their no contract plans and flexible pricing, it’s a great choice for those not looking for anything too complicated. You can refill your service with ease and join their rewards program for points that you can then use to save money on service plans and add-ons. 

For a MVNO, Simple Mobile definitely has a lot of cool and interesting perks, and when you’re comparing it to other MVNOs which can sometimes have limited resources, it’s a definite plus. 

Now that you’ve got a “sneak peek” into AT&T and Simple Mobile, it’s time to go over their coverage.

What the Coverage Looks Like from Both Providers

-> AT&T

Since AT&T has been around for a long while, they have quite the track record to look at and luckily there has been a ton of research into the current 5G and 4G LTE climate from our three major competitors: Verizon, T-Mobile, and of course AT&T. When it may seem like one side is better than the other, there actually isn’t a huge difference between the three, it kind of depends where you live and if you have a 5G capable phone. 

Verizon wins the race in sheer surface area coverage of 4G LTE coverage, while T-Mobile reigns supreme overall in 5G. AT&T is above T-Mobile in 4G LTE and a bit behind in 5G, there’s only a few percentage(s) differences between them all.

With any good wireless provider, AT&T has a coverage map for you to zoom in and out of and get a closer look at your area so you can see if AT&T has the coverage you need.

AT&T’s network covers a majority of the United States along with parts of Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. If you want to see where coverage falls in your area you can view the AT&T Coverage Map in full here.

And now moving onto Simple Mobile’s Coverage Map:

Simple Mobile shows off their 5G, 4G LTE Data, Roaming, and International Roaming on their coverage map. As you can see it’s less coverage overall than AT&T but offers roaming and international roaming coverage in parts of Mexico, Alaska, and South America (not pictured above). You also are able to differentiate between their 5G and 4G LTE Data coverage which is very useful for those looking for a specific type of coverage. 

Look up your ZIP code and see Simple Mobile’s Coverage Map in full here.

How the Plans Compare: From Price to Features

Now that we’ve done the overview and looked at the coverage of both providers it’s time for us to discuss the phone plans so you can decide which one is right for you. First we have at the starting plate: AT&T’s postpaid plans which are their most popular:

And then they have two “value-friendly” plans to look at:

Now before we talk about the plan(s) in depth we should mention that the prices we’ve listed aren’t necessarily the finalized prices of each plan. These prices don’t include taxes and fees and are only if you sign up for AutoPay- so definitely keep that in mind as you might have to adjust your budgeting. 

Each plan gives you varying access to their AT&T ActiveArmor^SM app which can help prevent spam calls and monitor your online footprint so it doesn’t step into any darker internet corners. Along with the security app you’ll get some international benefits in Canada, Mexico, and select countries. And obviously you’ll see that with the top three plans we’ve discussed the data threshold is really really nice.

Moving onto Simple Mobile’s phone plans, they feature “30-Day Smartphone Plans” and have three “limited” data plans and two “unlimited” plans, let’s first talk their limited plans:

And now onto their two unlimited 30-Day Smartphone Plans:

As we’ve said before, Simple Mobile keeps their phone plans simple and as you can see they lay out what you’ll get with each plan and how the pricing works with full clarity. They even have a full digest of each plan including the fine print details all on their Plans Page.

Simple Mobile’s unlimited data cap is 40GB and that means that after 40GBs of usage on their unlimited plans you’ll experience those 2G speeds, which anyone can tell you- aren’t the best. But if you need add-ons they have three data add-ons to browse which will kick in when you go over your normal allotment for the month:

• 2GB High-Speed Data for $5.00
• 5GB High-Speed Data for $10.00
• 10GB High-Speed Data for $20.00

Simple Mobile’s typical data speeds are listed on their plans which are:

5G:

Typical Download Speed: 34-149 Mbps

Typical Upload Speed: 6-37 Mbps

Typical Latency: 42-63 ms

4G LTE:

Typical Download Speed: 9-69 Mbps

Typical Upload Speed: 1-13 Mbps

Typical Latency: 51-82 m

As with any MVNO you’re bound to experience data deprioritization which is temporary slowing of data speeds in times of network congestion and high traffic areas like concerts or sporting events. It will give priority to direct customers of T-Mobile in those peak times.

The Verdict

We’ve compared the coverage, plans, prices, and features- now’s the time for the verdict. If you are someone that has always gravitated towards the “pay as you go” method for phone plans in the past and you want to keep it that way, Simple Mobile is a great carrier for you. Especially with their add-ons and rewards program. However, if you are looking for a change of pace with more quality to your phone plan, then AT&T is the pick as you’re joining millions of customers with lots of dedicated resources at its disposal. 

Still shopping around? Don’t go far because we’ve got the tool for you! If you want to compare and contrast AT&T and Hello Mobile to over 1,200 other phone plans so you know you’re getting the service that’s right for you, then make sure to check out the REALLY compare page which allows you to look at pricing, coverage, what phone plans are available, current deals and steals, and how you can make the most of your potential phone bill.