Boost Wireless Pros and Cons: The Phone Company Owned by Dish Wireless

When it comes to searching for a phone plan that fits your budget and gives you the coverage you need, things can get overwhelming fast. With so many wireless networks on the market, the choices seem unlimited and if you don’t know what to look for you can end up paying for a less than stellar phone plan. 

There’s a lot of factors to look for: data speeds and usage, how many minutes and texts you get, international calling, hotspot capability, family plans, good customer service, reliability, and of course the deciding factor for many: the price.

And Boost Mobile is a wireless company that seemingly takes all of those factors to heart.

You might have seen the commercials over the years for Boost Mobile, they have been around for a long time now, since 2001 in fact, but it wasn’t until a few years later that they really started making a name for themselves when their commercials started coming out. Originally marketing towards late teens and young adults, 90s and 2000s kids will remember the signature “Where You At?” slogan started by Fat Joe the American Rapper in this iconic commercial featuring his animal talking capabilities. 

Now Boost Mobile, also known as Boost Wireless, is sweeping the market for their affordable phone plans that don’t limit your data coverage or speeds like other wireless companies. They offer prepaid wireless plans where you get to pay for what you need, so the majority of your phone bill is for what you used and not what you didn’t. 

But what does Boost Mobile offer? What are their plans like? And are they your perfect fit or are they not your perfect puzzle piece? Today we’re going to talk all about Boost Wireless pros and cons and all about the prepaid wireless company:

• How Boost Mobile works
• What plans does Boost offer?
• Boost Wireless pros and cons
• What people are saying about Boost Mobile

How Boost Mobile Works

Boost Mobile is a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) owned by Dish Wireless, Dish Wireless is a subsidiary of Dish Network the famous TV provider. Dish Wireless acquired Boost Mobile in 2020 and because Boost is an MVNO they piggyback their signal off of Dish Wireless’s towers instead of having their own. And Boost doesn’t just use Dish’s towers, they also use AT&T and T-Mobile’s towers as well. With this combination of coverage, Boost Wireless certainly elevates themselves above other MVNOs. 

Now that you know where they get their signals from, how does it all work?

Boost Mobile is a “pay as you go” wireless plan, you might have seen the pay as you go wireless companies before, most famously Tracfone is a pioneer in this field. But if you’re new to the prepaid mobile phone game, let’s lay out how it works:

• With Prepaid you will pay for everything upfront before service use and you get exactly what you pay for, that means there’s no contract, no monthly bills, and no overage fees you might see from a postpaid phone plan.

How do I get started with Boost?

1. Go onto the official Boost Mobile website and choose the “Plans” tab which can be found here.
2. Choose whether you want to: “Bring Your Own Phone” or “Buy A New Phone”

• If you choose to “Bring Your Own Phone” you will need to replace your SIM card, which Boost will provide, and then you will get to choose your plan- (more on that in our next section).
• If you choose to “Buy A New Phone” you will be brought to their Store Page where you will get to choose from a number of phones and then will have a select plan to choose from specific to the phone you choose- (also more on that in our next section).

3. Once you select your phone/plan you will be brought to the Checkout page where you will fill out your billing information, payment, and set up your official Boost Mobile account. 

Boost Mobile makes the entire phone and phone plan buying process pretty easy with just a few simple steps. 

What Plans does Boost Mobile offer?

Since Boost Mobile is a MVNO you will get a lot of great deals on phone plans you might now find anywhere else. They have 3 month and 12 month annual plans along with a monthly prepaid plan. And if you’re a new customer you will find four incredible plans available only to you. 

Let’s first go over their New Customers Only plans available through their website:

¹Hotspot usage will draw from monthly data allotment.

²There are two 5GB “New Customer Only” Plans available on the website, one is a Monthly Plan and the other is the 3 Month Plan which is where the $45 total comes from.

³Data allotment applies, when your monthly data exceeds you may experience slower data speeds due to high network congestion because Boost Wireless is a MVNO.

Boost Mobile even has a website exclusive plan for New Customers Only which can be found in full here, but here are the highlights of this plan:

Plans available to all, not just new customers, include the following:

¹Data allotment applies, when your monthly data exceeds you may experience slower data speeds due to high network congestion because Boost Wireless is a MVNO.

²Hotspot usage will draw from monthly data allotment.

³Through the Boost Mobile website: “Unlimited calling and SMS to and from Mexico along with SMS to 200+ countries and up to 8GB roaming data while in Mexico.”

And finally there is an online only with Autopay plan which is available to both new and existing customers:

On the Boost Mobile website you will find there’s a few stipulations regarding the “Autopay Only” plan listed at the bottom of their plans: “$25/mo Unlimited Offer. Available online only with AutoPay. Unlimited Data, Talk & Text + 30GB of 5G/4G Data. Customers who do not enroll in AutoPay pay $35/month.”

As we were going through the plans we mentioned that Boost Wireless has data allotment. Each cell phone plan has a monthly “data allotment” which means once you use over your limit of data (say you have 10GB of data per month) speeds will slow by a certain margin until your cycle renews in the next month. Even “unlimited” plans will have this happen and that’s because you have an MVNO plan. If you were to go through a major network and sign up directly, your speeds wouldn’t slow down as much, if at all.

• According to the Boost Mobile website, their data terms include: “Customers who use more than 30GB of data during a billing cycle on a line will have speeds reduced. Data Speed: 5G service requires a 5G capable device. 5G not available in all areas.”

It’s a good thing to note that if you’re going to go for one of the 3 Month or 12 Month Boost Mobile plans then you will have to pay your three or twelve month cost upfront. 

For example, if you go for the “Unlimited $30/mo 3 Month Plan” then when you go to check out you will pay $90 upfront. 

With “Monthly” plans you will only pay that month's total upfront.

That may seem scary at first but if you can afford the upfront cost, you will be getting a great deal on your phone plans, cheaper than some others in the market. 

Boost Wireless Pros and Cons

Like most wireless networks, Boost Mobile has its ups and downs. Luckily through our research and customer testimonials, we’ve got a list of pros and cons that will help you decide if signing up for Boost Mobile is worth it.

Pros

• Amazing Affordable Phone Plans
• Stellar Coverage
• Add-ons and Perks
• In-Store Availability

Affordable Phone Plans 

With major wireless network’s pricing increasing, you’ll find that your smaller wireless companies will start to lower prices, but Boost Mobile’s plans are pretty unbeatable. People rave about Boost’s $25/mo Unlimited Plan and for good reason! It’s not often you find an Unlimited Plan for under $30 a month or starts lower but gradually increases- with Boost you’ll get your unlimited data for $25 and it stays at $25.

Even Boost Wireless’s other plans can’t be topped by other phone companies, and if you’re interested in comparing and contrasting Boost Mobile’s prices with other carriers you can go through REALLY. 

If you want to compare and contrast Boost Wireless 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.

Stellar Coverage 

We mentioned before that Boost Mobile uses all three Dish Wireless, AT&T, and T-Mobile’s network for their data speeds and with that selection you know you’re going to get reliable data. Some MVNO’s only use one major network’s data, while Boost uses three. 

We will preface this by saying most SIM cards and/or phones you get through Boost will go through only one of these networks’s signal, however there is a “Rainbow SIM” card where you can bounce around to the best available network between the three depending on where you are. 

The Rainbow SIM card is only available through certain phones and it seems a bit elusive at the time of writing this with only a few reports on it. 

You can view Boost Mobile’s Coverage Map here.

Add-ons and Perks

If you’ve done your research you’ll know that a lot of MVNOs and small carriers won’t have a lot of perks or add-on features to their plans. But Boost Wireless is one of the few that does. 

Here’s some of the add-ons and perks you can get with Boost Wireless:

• Boost Wireless has a “Limited Time Offers” page on their website full of deals and steals on their wireless plans. You’ll see plan prices slashed and half for new customers and online exclusive deals through the page.
• Boost Shield covers any accidents or mishaps with your phone including a cracked screen, water damage, loss & theft, and out-of-warranty breakdowns for just $7 a month.
• Boost Mobile will have Smartphone deals with select Android and Apple products which can be found through this page here.
• Need more data? Boost has Data Packs when you need to add on to your plan. 

There’s “Ongoing Data Packs” which include: 1GB for $5/mo (4G LTE Data), 2GB for $10/mo (4G LTE Data), 5GB for $15/mo (4G LTE Data), and 10GB for $20/mo (4G LTE Data).

And then there’s the “”One-Time Data Packs” and you have 30 days to use it: 1GB for $5/mo (4G LTE Data), 2GB for $10/mo (4G LTE Data), 5GB for $15/mo (4G LTE Data), and 10GB for $20/mo (4G LTE Data).

• Todo Mexico PLUS plan is a plan that allows you to use Boost Wireless services while in Mexico and calls to Mexico. (You can find the full layout of the Todo Mexico PLUS plan here).

In-Store Availability

You’ll find that most MVNOs will only have their services available online which can lead to frustration and a lot of back and forth between a customer service representative and customer. But Boost Mobile has stores in many locations throughout the country. There you can get in-store perks and sign up with a team member.

Cons:

• Data Deprioritization
• Can’t pick your preferred Network

Data Deprioritization

With most MVNOs you will experience slower speeds when in high traffic areas or there’s network congestion, that’s due to the major networks prioritizing their direct customers and subscribers over those who are signed up through an MVNO like Boost Wireless. Though Boost does have a wider data limit before speeds start to slow- (30 GBs), slower speeds can be a real downside for many when it comes to picking their service provider as you might experience dropped calls, texts not going through, or a website not loading.

Can’t Pick Your Preferred Network

When you’re sent a Boost Mobile SIM card you won’t know what network umbrella you’re under until you activate it. And for some they might prefer using x to y. Unfortunately you can’t pick what network you want to be looped in under which can cause slower speeds depending on the area you’re in if you’re under a certain network over the other.

There has been quite the amount of green flags waved in Boost’s direction from their unbeatable unlimited plan prices. The Boost Wireless pros and cons are now up for you to see and read through so you can decide if this wireless service is right for you.

And remember you can compare Boost Wireless easily on the REALLY compare page here.