From dropped calls to poor service to huge monthly bills, our cell phones can be an incredible source of frustration. More often than not, how frequently you run into these issues depends on your service provider. And with more options than ever, you shouldn't have to deal with a service that doesn't satisfy. To help you out, we at Best Life looked at the most commonly used cell service providers to determine the most unpopular cell phone carrier based on expert insight and consumer reviews.
The first factor we looked at was how each carrier scored on the most recent American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) Wireless Service and Cellular Telephone Report, which ranks carriers on a 100-point scale based on a variety of consumer benchmarks, including but not limited to range of plans, dropped calls, data speed, and network coverage. Then we turned to trusted tech review and information site Tom's Guide to see where each carrier ranked out of the 12 on the site's best phone carriers of 2021 list. In addition, we included each carrier's unlimited data plan monthly fee, also provided by the most recent data on Tom's Guide. Finally, we gathered each carrier's overall rating out of five stars on Reviews.org, another widely used tech review and consumer resource site.
We then gave each metric a weighted value before running them through our exclusive algorithm to see how each provider scored on our 100-point scale Bad Service Index, where a score of 100 was assigned to the most unpopular cell phone carrier. Read on to find out which one topped the list, and to see which options might serve you better than your current plan. And for more tech services that don't fit the bill, This Is the Least Popular Internet Provider in America, According to Data.
Editor’s note: “N/A” indicates that data was not available for that particular metric. We adjusted the algorithm to ensure that each carrier was scored fairly and accurately.
9 | Consumer Cellular
Consumer Cellular, Inc.ACSI score: 83 out of 100
Tom's Guide rank: 8 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $60.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 4 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 0.00
8 | Verizon
ShutterstockACSI score: 74 out of 100
Tom's Guide rank: 2 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $80.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 6.15
And for more technology that isn't cutting it with consumers, This Is the Least Popular Streaming Service, According to Data.
7 | T-Mobile
ShutterstockACSI score: 76 out of 100
Tom's Guide rank: 1 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $70.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 4 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 6.35
6 | Visible
VisibleACSI score: N/A
Tom's Guide rank: 4 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $40.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 4 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 15.93
5 | Mint Mobile
Mint MobileACSI score: N/A
Tom's Guide rank: 7 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $30.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 4 out 5
Bad Service Index Score: 30.36
4 | AT&T
ShutterstockACSI score: 73 out of 100
Tom's Guide rank: 3 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $85.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 3.75 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 50.06
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3 | XFinity Mobile
Tada Images / Shutterstock.comACSI score: 79 out of 100
Tom's Guide rank: 10 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $45.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 3.5 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 52.91
2 | Cricket Wireless
Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.comACSI score: 76 out of 100
Tom's Guide rank: 11 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $60.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 3.5 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 80.70
1 | Boost Mobile
Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.comACSI score: 74 out of 100
Tom's Guide rank: 9 out of 12
Unlimited data plan monthly fee: $50.00
Reviews.org overall rating: 3 out of 5
Bad Service Index Score: 100.00
And for an important tech tip to keep your phone working well, check out If You're Charging Your iPhone Like This, Apple Says Stop Immediately.
