What’s new on cellt
The most recent additions and updates: plans, carriers, cities, states, guides, glossary terms, and phone manuals. Listed newest-first. Useful if you’ve been here before and want to see what’s changed.
- Glossary MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) MMS is the standard for sending pictures, video, audio, and group texts over cellular. Routes differ
- Glossary IMSI IMSI is the unique identifier for a SIM card on a cellular network — not to be confused with I
- Glossary DSDS (Dual SIM Dual Standby) DSDS is the dual-SIM mode most modern Android phones use: both SIMs are registered to their networks
- Glossary MVNE (Mobile Virtual Network Enabler) MVNE is the wholesale layer between an MNO and an MVNO. It buys bulk capacity from the MNO, handles
- Glossary Voicemail to text Voicemail-to-text transcribes voicemail audio into a readable transcript delivered alongside the aud
- Guide How to unlock your cell phone Most US phones bought through a carrier are locked to that carrier until financing is paid off. The
- Guide Auto-pay discounts: the mechanics and the gotchas US carriers offer $5-15/month off when you set up auto-pay — but the rules are weirdly inconsistent.
- Guide Wi-Fi calling: the practical guide Wi-Fi calling routes voice and SMS over your home/office Wi-Fi when cellular signal is weak. Free on
- Glossary VoNR (Voice over New Radio) VoNR is the 5G-native voice standard, succeeding VoLTE. Calls run end-to-end on the 5G radio with no
- Glossary Lifeline (federal phone subsidy) Lifeline is a federal program providing $9.25/month wireless service subsidies (or $34.25 on Tribal
- Glossary A2P SMS Application-to-Person SMS is messaging from businesses to consumers (delivery alerts, 2FA codes, mar
- Glossary Carrier Settings A small profile your phone downloads from each carrier on first activation. Configures APN, MMS, voi
- Glossary RTT (Real-Time Text) RTT is a 911-mandated successor to TTY for hearing- and speech-impaired users. Characters appear let
- Guide Understanding 5G: low-band, mid-band, and mmWave explained Why your phone shows "5G" but the speed test is no faster than LTE. A practical guide to the three 5
- City Best cell phone plan for Salt Lake City Downtown, Sugar House, Cottonwood Heights, the Wasatch Front — Salt Lake's carrier coverage favors V
- City Best cell phone plan for Buffalo Downtown, Allentown, Elmwood Village, the Northtowns and Southtowns, Niagara Falls — Buffalo carrier
- City Best cell phone plan for Milwaukee Downtown, the Third Ward, Bay View, the East Side, Wauwatosa, Brookfield — Milwaukee's metro carrier
- City Best cell phone plan for Albany Downtown, Center Square, the Pine Bush, Schenectady, Troy — Albany's Capital District has solid carr
- City Best cell phone plan for Hartford Downtown, West End, Frog Hollow, West Hartford, Glastonbury — Hartford carrier coverage is solid in
- Glossary Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) is an FCC rating system for how well a phone interoperates with hear
- Glossary Fixed Wireless Access Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is residential or business internet delivered over the same 5G cellular
- Glossary Carrier billing Carrier billing lets you charge digital purchases (apps, streaming subscriptions, donations) to your
- Glossary Mobile hotspot device A dedicated mobile hotspot device — a Verizon Jetpack, Netgear Nighthawk MiFi, Skyroam Solis — pulls
- Glossary 2FA via SMS Two-factor authentication via SMS — a one-time code texted to your phone — is the most common (and l
- Glossary Rollover data Rollover data is unused monthly data carried over to the next billing cycle. Common on prepaid plans
- Phone manual Samsung Galaxy S23 FE Released 2023
- Phone manual Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max Released 2020
- Phone manual Apple iPhone 13 mini Released 2021
- Phone manual Samsung Galaxy A35 5G Released 2024
- Phone manual Apple iPhone 14 Plus Released 2022
- State Best cell phone plan for Nevada Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe, the long rural runs across the Great Basin — Nevada's sparse population
- State Best cell phone plan for Mississippi Jackson, Tupelo, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, the Delta — Mississippi's rural geography and Gulf Coast make
- State Best cell phone plan for Arkansas Little Rock, Fayetteville (NW corner / Walmart corridor), Fort Smith, Jonesboro — Arkansas carrier c
- State Best cell phone plan for Iowa Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Davenport — Iowa coverage is solid in the metros and along the
- State Best cell phone plan for Kansas Kansas City (KS side), Wichita, Topeka, Lawrence — Kansas carrier coverage benefits from Sprint's ol
- Guide Why is my cell phone bill so high? A line-by-line audit of why a US cell phone bill creeps past $100/month per line. Taxes, device fina
- Guide The hidden costs of carrier device financing How "free" iPhone deals from Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T actually work — the 36-month commitment, lo
- City Best cell phone plan for Sacramento Downtown, Midtown, East Sac, Folsom, Roseville — Sacramento's Central Valley geography and governmen
- City Best cell phone plan for Cincinnati Downtown, Over-the-Rhine, Hyde Park, the Ohio River suburbs, Northern Kentucky — Cincinnati's tri-st
- City Best cell phone plan for Indianapolis Downtown, Broad Ripple, Mass Ave, Carmel, Fishers — Indy's sprawl and tech corridor make all three c