Visible 5G so slow?

[Joshuazzx]

I just switched from cricket and found that the mobile data speed is much slower. Only get 2-3 mbps download. Checked the map and have 5G coverage. I got 30+ mbps from 4G LTE before. Is that normal?

[HarvestClouds]

I'm about to make the change. It's nice to know that my speeds may not be as fast as what I was accustomed to. But, I'd really rather pay half as much, more than have high speed data. There are so many hotspots out there, that it almost becomes a moot point! 

[SimpleSavings2]

Hi Joshuazzx & HarvestClouds,

Welcome to Visible.

I was going to say, "If you carefully read through the information about Visible's phone plan, you will see that they offer unlimited data, but at the rate of 5Mbs. Therefore, if you sign up with Visible you are signing up for no more than 5mbs, with the additional possibility that it will be slowed further only when there is high traffic."

But having just reviewed the site again, myself, I see their plan info has changed. You now have to hover over a "more info" icon (something similar to this ℹ️), which then tells you that 5G is capped at 200Mbs, which, in turn, makes me wonder if the 5Mbs has been changed.

So, I too would now like to hear from Visible to find out what exactly is going on with 5G.

Thanks, Joshuazzx, for posting here in the forum.

[phoneman2021]

Sadly yes.  Cricket speeds are way faster then Visible no matter the time of day or night.  If Visible doesn't improve I will leave and go back to Cricket.  The old adage you get what you pay for is true.

[phoneman2021]

Yes with Visible it is normal.  They slow down your data.  If you read the terms of service that no one reads the Data speed on 5g is max of 200 mbps.  You are better off on Cricket unfortunately.

[SimpleSavings2]

I think I have figured out the answer to my own question, though it would be nice to get confirmation.

At https://www.visible.com/plan/ go to where it says:

Get to know the Visible Plan

Here’s what’s included, in addition to 5G ℹ️, when you join Visible: 

If you hover over the "more info" icon (which looks a bit different on that page), an info bubble pops up which says, "Service on Verizon's 4G LTE, 5G Nationwide, or Ultra Wideband Networks. 5G capped at 200Mbps...." (emphasis, mine).

Just below that, if you hover over the info icon in the "All the hotspot usage you can handle." box, it reads, "Mobile hotspot with unlimited data at speeds up to 5Mbps, limited to one device." (Emphasis, mine).

Therefore, what they seem to be saying is that if you (first of all) have a 5G compatible phone, then you can surf on your phone at up to 200Mbps, but if you are using the phone as a hotspot (with another device connected to it), then you will be capped at 5Mbps.

I'm not sure how to understand that any other way. That's an enormous difference, though. It would be nice, if at some point, Visible could raise the 5Mbps to at least 25Mbps or more for those with a 5G compatible phone, or 10 - 15 Mbs for those with 4G LTE. I guess we will have to wait and see.

[HarvestClouds]

I’ve been on Visible for a while now, and it has been perfect for me. The key is not to dwell on speed. That said, I’ve been testing speed at various times, and have never been disappointed. Ultimately the measure should be how well the service performs under my normal data load. And that’s been flawless. 

[jimjrfl]

I agree on dwelling on speed tests. I came from ATT. Fantastic coverage, fast speeds. Couple places it sucked. (Likke inside most Targets! Don't know why.) I was paying a lot of money though. Figured I'd switch to Visible. Yes I was astonished at how slow the speeds were when looking at it on Speedtest. But in reality, the phone worked the same in everyday use. I must have ran 70+ speed tests and speeds varied greatly between location and time of day. I was running as low a 1mps to 50mps down. But once I stopped measuring speed and just used the phone like normal I was very happy with it. Once I got out of the speed measuring fixation and just used the phone, I found out it was TOTALY worth switching. Sure, inside Targets still sucks. Sure, if I send photos I see it sometimes takes 6-8 seconds instead of 1-3 seconds. And yes I've been inside of stores on two occasions where I went to use the web to check another price and it was too slow to use when it was normally not an issue. But that Pales in comparison to the $1000+ a year I save after leaving ATT. By the way I was on an old grandfathered in Government plan with ATT which they could no longer match. Even still I save $1000+ a year!!! The moral of the story? Yes Visible "could" be better. Does it suck? No. Do you save a boat load of money? Yes. Try to stay away from the speedtest rabbit hole and just use the phone and see how it works, for you, in day-to-day usage. (BTW I only have 4gLTE)

[gluethje]

I am considering switching back to Verizon because of the slow data speeds. It's not all the time, but there have been several times now where I am out and literally cannot load anything. I tried my wife's phone which is still on Verizon and things loaded just fine. I ran a speed test on my phone and when it finally ran, I was at like 0.15 Mbps. I understand that MVNOs are treated as second class when there is network congestion, and the low price is wonderful and would be well worth it if the data was just slow once in awhile, but I can't have a phone that just can't access data at all when I need it. 

[TK-SOC]

Lately, I have been getting .5 Mbps, and that is unacceptable. ATT prepaid is cheaper - and speeds are significantly faster.
I am waiting already 30 min for support to see if this can be fixed - and most probably, I will switch.
I was sitting today in front of Mcdonald's trying to order, and it took me 10 minutes.
Life is too short to wait that long 😉

[jimjrfl]

Unfortunately I had to switch also. While I was saving over 1K a year coming to Visible from ATT the inability to send photos or load and connect to web pages while only on cellular proved to be to much. Visible is great from phone calls and text only texts. Anything data related while only on cellular in the central Florida area is only successful 10 to 15% of the time. I really liked Visible, but the data service was far to poor to even be used. I moved to another carrier