Separate cell service providers

[Tortuga]

I am currently using Xfinity mobile for my cell service and my wife's device is still on ATT. I plan to switch her phone to Xfinity but it seems there may be an advantage to having two separate cell service providers. 

 

Xfinity uses the Verizon towers and ATT has their own. If one service is disabled during a natural disaster, possibly the other service will still be available. When we travel, there may be areas that one service is available and the other isn't.

 

Are those valid reasons to keep two different cell service providers?

[Californiamama]

30 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

I am currently using Xfinity mobile for my cell service and my wife's device is still on ATT. I plan to switch her phone to Xfinity but it seems there may be an advantage to having two separate cell service providers. 

 

Xfinity uses the Verizon towers and ATT has their own. If one service is disabled during a natural disaster, possibly the other service will still be available. When we travel, there may be areas that one service is available and the other isn't.

 

Are those valid reasons to keep two different cell service providers?

You seemed to list some practical reasons to have two providers.  I would think the advantage to combining would mostly be the cost.  A family package is bound to be less expensive than two singles.  You presented some interesting scenarios.

[Precision]

55 minutes ago, Tortuga said:

 

 

Are those valid reasons to keep two different cell service providers?

No you can always come and stay with your friends, we always have an extra bed for you,

come on over the gas is cheaper here...

[Jarred]

I have a Chevy Bolt EUV and it has an ATT hotspot with unlimited usage for $20/mo.  It allows me to share that with people in the car with tablets, etc and I have used it via wi-fi calling when I'm in an area with poor coverage with TMobile, my primary carrier. 

 

There are some areas where T-Mobile works and ATT doesn't, but I like the idea of having redundancy and it's good for the kids and their tablets when we are traveling.

 

My work phone is on Verizon, and so far I haven't been somewhere where at least one of them works...

 

I got T-Mobile a long time ago when they had a family plan at $20/line for unlimited, and have not found anything that compares to it.

[jwhess]

I have my wife and I  and a separate number for the field ministry (on my contact card).  But all of the numbers are on the same cell providers service.  In our rural are, none of the providers have total coverage.  We are all used to that every day.  So we don't envision any difference during emergencies.

 

This is one reason some brothers keep their landlines connected.

[Pabo]

Here in Australia, we generally have just 3 mobile providers for mobile phone coverage (Telstra, Optus and Vodaphone), and 4th for mobile internet coverage only (NBN Co). But we have many more phone carriers that use these 3 mobile phone towers providers. But

 

Depending on where you live, you may get better service with one provider that with another depending on where the nearest tower is. Also if you are using one of the main 3 providers, you get priority over those who are only a subsidiary or third party to a particular carrier.

 

But in any case, if you happen not to be in connection with your current provider, you can still call emergency services on another carrier tower.

 

 

[Floyd]

On 10/2/2022 at 4:51 PM, jwhess said:

This is one reason some brothers keep their landlines connected.

I actually had my landline go out during Hurricane Isabelle but my cell phone never went out. It was difficult to make a call because of the congestion but I could easily get a text message out. Overhead phone lines will go out very quickly. Most of the lines were underground but there was a spot that was overhead that fed everyone in the area.

 

The potential problem with different providers is that many times they are still on the same physical tower using the same power source. So there may not as much redundancy as you might think.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Floyd

[jwhess]

1 hour ago, Floyd said:

I actually had my landline go out during Hurricane Isabelle but my cell phone never went out. It was difficult to make a call because of the congestion but I could easily get a text message out. Overhead phone lines will go out very quickly. Most of the lines were underground but there was a spot that was overhead that fed everyone in the area.

 

The potential problem with different providers is that many times they are still on the same physical tower using the same power source. So there may not as much redundancy as you might think.

In our area the potential loss of power is more common than the destruction of physical lines.  Since the landlines are powered independently and we can call and report issues or contact the brothers even in the dark.  I gave up my last "wired" connection when I moved to town at the start of the  Pandemic.