Xfinity (Comcast) Mobile

geoduck no quahog

not particularly consistent
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Nov 8, 2002
13,024
Seattle, WA
I'm looking for anyone who may actually be using this service. The pricing looks too good to be true - there must be a hidden trap.

1. Must be an Xfinity Internet User
2. Uses Verizon System when not connected to Internet
3. Can only buy phone from Xfinity (something about a unique SIM that defaults to Xfinity Internet when a wifi source becomes available)
4. $12/GB up to $45 (when it automatically becomes unlimited)
5. No Access Fee - no hidden charges
6. Phones priced the same as everyone else

I can't sift through the online reviews because so many of them are tainted by insanity.

Is this a real thing? Or is it a fail...
 

Bowhemian

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Nov 10, 2015
5,700
Bow, NH
I'm looking for anyone who may actually be using this service. The pricing looks too good to be true - there must be a hidden trap.

1. Must be an Xfinity Internet User
2. Uses Verizon System when not connected to Internet
3. Can only buy phone from Xfinity (something about a unique SIM that defaults to Xfinity Internet when a wifi source becomes available)
4. $12/GB up to $45 (when it automatically becomes unlimited)
5. No Access Fee - no hidden charges
6. Phones priced the same as everyone else

I can't sift through the online reviews because so many of them are tainted by insanity.

Is this a real thing? Or is it a fail...
I hope someone can give an honest review, because I have considered it as well. But it does seem too good to be true.
 

teddykgb

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Jul 16, 2005
11,016
Chelmsford, MA
If they allowed BYOD i'd be there already. I've read that you can buy their cheapest phone and pop the SIM in another device but I don't want to deal with the hassle.

It's a super competitive price on a good network. They're really just an MVNO so short of knowing what the throttling rules are it's likely to be a very good deal and if I needed to buy a new phone and was willing to buy from a provider I'd probably give it a go.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
That last point is incorrect.

At this time Xfinity does not support Wifi calling, but it forces you to connect to Xfinity hot spots. I looked into this a couple months ago and the no-wifi calling killed it. Our house does not have a great signal, but Wifi calling works fantastic.

The forcing to connect to Xfinity hot spots blows as well. When I had that on my phone you'd drive down the street and pick up 100 hot spots with 1 bar of signal and as a result, no data.

When they get wifi calling i'm going to switch my wife to it. She uses under 1gb of data a month.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Correct, but you can't do Wifi calling the phones, but they force you to connect to Xfiniti hot spots for data wherever you are.
 

ManhattanRedSox

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Jan 3, 2006
482
Little Silver, NJ
FWIW I called Xfinity about the WiFi calling and the BYOD and the rep said hang tight a few months then they are rolling both out. I’ll be keeping an eye on this because as an Xfinity subscriber this would appeal to me over the super costly Verizon plan we’re currently on.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
FWIW I called Xfinity about the WiFi calling and the BYOD and the rep said hang tight a few months then they are rolling both out. I’ll be keeping an eye on this because as an Xfinity subscriber this would appeal to me over the super costly Verizon plan we’re currently on.
Yep. I’m off Att the moment WiFi Calling arrives. Will save me about $50 a month.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Got an email yesterday that Bring your own Device is now available to XFinity Mobile. I will be bringing a device to it tomorrow to see how it goes. I have an old Verizon phone I don't need anymore, so I'm going to get a new number for it and test it out before sending the wife onto it.
 

teddykgb

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Jul 16, 2005
11,016
Chelmsford, MA
Got an email yesterday that Bring your own Device is now available to XFinity Mobile. I will be bringing a device to it tomorrow to see how it goes. I have an old Verizon phone I don't need anymore, so I'm going to get a new number for it and test it out before sending the wife onto it.
Only iPhones for now to save some the trouble
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Just went to switch and called in. Apparently you have to go to a Comcast store to transfer it.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Apparently there is now WiFi calling for iPhones on 11.2 or greater. I'll have to test this out once I have time to spend an hour at Comcast.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
Apparently there is now WiFi calling for iPhones on 11.2 or greater. I'll have to test this out once I have time to spend an hour at Comcast.
Three posts in a row, but my wife's iPhone is now on Xfinity Mobile.

1) The transfer process was brutal. They couldn't get the phone activated, so I had to go back today, then they gave me a bad SIM, but it's now working. This was 100% not the guys in the stores fault as they actually knew their shit but were at mercy of the system.

2) They're giving me a $100 credit for my troubles, so now my bill is going to be $68 this year for cell service. My wife uses sub 1gb a month (she's always on Wifi) so my bill is going to be $14 and change a month.

3) Service is exactly the same as my iPhone (from work) on Verizon.

4) Wifi calling works as expected

5) I haven't tested this extensively, but you can just set the Xfinitywifi to not auto join which gets around the entire "forces you to join Xfinitywifi which I was dreading as those hotspots often have awful coverage.

6) If you are transferring a number from anything but Verizon, it takes up to an hour to transfer so have enough time.

7) When you to go do it make sure you have your actual mobile account number (not just the phone number) and at least on ATT you need your wireless passcode (which is not your password)

Only on day 1 here, but we're going to be saving a ton of money this year through this.
 

Max Power

thai good. you like shirt?
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
7,878
Boston, MA
I've been testing the service as well and have come to the same conclusion. I've actually been using a Pixel 2, which I got unlocked from Verizon. If you activate any old Verizon iPhone with them, you can pop out the SIM and put it in any unlocked Verizon phone. The only thing that won't work is voicemail, so you have to set up forwarding and a Google Voice line to workaround that one.

I plan to move my wife and me over with our real AT&T numbers soon, so the warning about knowing all our info and having enough time is much appreciated.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
I've been looking into this. We currently pay about $180 a month for ATT and leasing iphone 7s, with 6 GB data, that we never use. We can't move our phones over because they aren't compatible with Verizon network, but they're quoting me $60/ month for both phones on lease, plus $12/GB data. Thats crazy. Our contract is up in September, I expect we will be swapping over. Fort hose that have done it, is the long wait just porting the number over or actually BYOD? The closest shop is about an hour away from me, I just want to know what I'm in for.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
The issue is ATT just takes a bit to transfer the number. In my case it was like 30 minutes.

Aren’t all newer iPhones comparable? Checking on their website it says you can bring an ATT iPhone.
 

SumnerH

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Jul 18, 2005
31,893
Alexandria, VA
4. $12/GB up to $45 (when it automatically becomes unlimited)
5. No Access Fee - no hidden charges
6. Phones priced the same as everyone else
That's an okay price but not great by modern standards, right? Straight Talk is $35 unlimited, for low-data users Fi is cheaper, and Ting and Republic are both cheaper for most users as well.

If you're still stuck on one of the super expensive old ATT/Verizon plans then it looks great, but that's because they're so horrible. Think about shopping around before you settle for it.
 

Marceline

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Sep 9, 2002
6,441
Canton, MA
$12/gb is really expensive given the current market for cell phone plans. Depending on your needs and data usage, any of Straight Talk, MintSim, Cricket, or Fi are better deals.

Edit: maybe not...looking at the xfinity page, is there no line charge, you just pay for the data only? That seems decent if you use 1gb or less a month.
 

timlinin8th

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Jun 6, 2009
1,521
That's an okay price but not great by modern standards, right? Straight Talk is $35 unlimited, for low-data users Fi is cheaper, and Ting and Republic are both cheaper for most users as well.
I was surprised by that Straight Talk price, so went to their website and found the catch. It throttles down to 2G after 2GB of usage, and 2g is effectively useless for pretty much everything so its unlimited in name only. If you only use 2GB of data the xfinitymobile bill will be $24. I think the xfinitymobile unlimited doesn’t throttle until 20GB (though I haven’t verified that).

Fi the price per gig is cheaper, but you have to pay $20 up front for voice and text service, so that same 2GB plus voice plus data is $40, and unlimited doesn’t kick in until 6GB (couldn’t find at what threshhold it throttles speed at).
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
The issue is ATT just takes a bit to transfer the number. In my case it was like 30 minutes.

Aren’t all newer iPhones comparable? Checking on their website it says you can bring an ATT iPhone.
I’ll check again, but I looked at the site last night and when I input having an AT&T iPhone 7, it said it was not compatible.

Edit:

Yeah, this is what I'm getting

 
Last edited:

Soxy

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Dec 1, 2008
6,095
I was surprised by that Straight Talk price, so went to their website and found the catch. It throttles down to 2G after 2GB of usage, and 2g is effectively useless for pretty much everything so its unlimited in name only. If you only use 2GB of data the xfinitymobile bill will be $24. I think the xfinitymobile unlimited doesn’t throttle until 20GB (though I haven’t verified that).

Fi the price per gig is cheaper, but you have to pay $20 up front for voice and text service, so that same 2GB plus voice plus data is $40, and unlimited doesn’t kick in until 6GB (couldn’t find at what threshhold it throttles speed at).
This is correct. I went from Straight Talk to Fi and now to Xfinity and my bill is significantly cheaper with Xfinity than it was with the other two. I get better cell service too. I consistently use <1GB per month as I'm almost always on wi-fi when I'm using my phone, so my monthly bill is $12 + taxes. I have yet to see a cheaper cell phone plan than that.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
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Dec 4, 2005
19,615
Portsmouth, NH
It’s cool, I don’t mind paying a little for a new phone. It still will save us a lot. Problem now is we are house hunting and Comcast isn’t in the town we’re looking at so it’s probably all moot.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
It’s cool, I don’t mind paying a little for a new phone. It still will save us a lot. Problem now is we are house hunting and Comcast isn’t in the town we’re looking at so it’s probably all moot.
It only goes up $10 a month if you don't have Comcast Internet. So that may still be an option.

As to above, the total bill i believe is $14.12 a month for the one phone. I can't believe anyone can get cheaper than that.
 

NortheasternPJ

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Nov 16, 2004
19,271
So after 4 months on Xfinity Mobile, i have no idea why you'd ever pay for Verizon or AT&T if you have Comcast Internet if you aren't a heavy data user. The experience as on Verizon is exactly the same, they have Wi-Fi calling, they don't actually force you to connect to hotspots. My wife is not a heavy data user and my personal phone isn't either. We've saved $300 over the last 4 months. We've paid $44 to Comcast for 4 months total vs $340 to what would have been our AT&T bill.
 

Marbleheader

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Sep 27, 2004
11,726
Someone opened an account under my name, had 3 phones sent to freaking CA and I live in NH. Never got an email or phone call, just showed up on my credit report. Their customer service is wildly incompetent. It has been 6 months and they still send me bills.
 

Max Power

thai good. you like shirt?
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2005
7,878
Boston, MA
As this is really just Verizon, I wonder if it'd work if you just took an iPhone in, got the SIM, then just threw it in an Android.
Like I said in post #16, you can and I did. Voicemail still doesn't work, so you'll need to use a forwarding option for that, but everything else is good.
 

amlothi

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Jan 5, 2007
802
Like I said in post #16, you can and I did. Voicemail still doesn't work, so you'll need to use a forwarding option for that, but everything else is good.
That's good to know!

Unfortunately, we have 5 lines and zero Apple phones so it would be quite a hassle.