Cricket Wireless 5G is Slower than Promised?

Has Cricket Wireless let you down? Is their 5G slower than promised? Here is what to do to get compensation. Or, you can start a claim now for free.

What is 5G?

5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks around the globe, released in 2018 it slowly made its way across America. 5G is the latest generation of mobile networks that allows for the best connectivity across multiple apps. It makes smartphones better, allegedly offers lower costs per bit, more uniform data rates for customers, lower latency, and better reliability so that anything connected to the internet can successfully and quickly correspond with anything else.

When did Cricket Wireless start offering 5G? 

Cricket Wireless began offering 5G in August of 2020.

And for what price?

The prices for the unlimited plans compatible with the 5G network start at $60 per month, per line assuming you have a compatible device. If you want higher data plans, they offer plans at $90 per month providing 100 gigabytes of data. Additional cost of an upgraded 5G compatible device is added to that.

What did Cricket Wireless say 5G should provide? 

The announcement for 5G in August of 2020 made it clear that customers could enjoy faster downloads for their on-demand viewing, low-latency for gamers using their mobile devices, a range of connectivity no matter where individuals were located, and increased capacity for transmitting data to and from their devices.

Cricket Wireless deals offered for new 5G service and devices

At one time Cricket offered access to 5G with the Samsung Galaxy s20 through the $60 per month unlimited plan. The first 5G capable smartphone offered by Cricket is the cosmic gray which sells for $1,200 through the website.

Customers who signed up immediately and invested in the Samsung Galaxy got access to the Simply Data plan with the fastest available speeds and the highest level of data for only $90 per month. However, all of these included the caveat that 5G coverage may not be available where you live, Cricket Wireless reserved the right to temporarily slow your data speeds if things got busy, and of course additional fees as well as usage and restrictions could apply.

The Reality

How does this company rank in terms of 5G promises? Well, seeing as Cricket Wireless is owned by AT&T, it ranks just as poorly as AT&T which is: bottom of the barrel. 

The BBB has a 1.25 out of 5 star rating for Cricket Wireless, and their customers have many issues with the trade in deals, phones, and service received. One customer noted, “I purchased a new phone from CRICKET that sent me a used phone and fraudulently tried to pass it off as new. I paid new price not a used price. The Cricket rep even said that it appears you have a refurbished phone, I told him the website indicated that it was new and I paid a new price. He provided a claim number to return it, I told him I didn’t want this phone as I do not trust CRICKET now.”

As one FairShake customer explained, Cricket Wireless is not doing well honoring their “deals” for those who switch to 5G coverage:

“Cricket offers free and discounted phones when porting over a phone number. Regardless if you are leasing the phone or paying for it in full, it is supposed to be discounted. On Feb 27 my girlfriend and I went into a cricket store to port over our numbers, and get the discount on the new phones. The store did not port our numbers, which we only found out after paying. We are currently leasing the phones. The LG K92™ 5G was supposed to be $99.99 leased to us at $159.99 https://www.cricketwireless.com/cellphones/smartphones/lgk925gtitangray.html . The IPhone 12 was supposed to be 679.99 leased to us.”

Their service remains poor too, with one customer explaining that the calls drop frequently and speeds are very slow. Below is the coverage map for AT&T:

In addition to problems with honoring their deals and the 5G devices they offer, Cricket Wireless has problems with their coverage and their speed because they are owned by AT&T. AT&T has limited coverage areas for 5G and is known as offering the worst, slowest 5G speeds out of all the big providers. According to OpenSignal the average 5G speeds were found to be as follows:

• 494.7Mbps for Verizon
• 60.8Mbps for AT&T
• 49Mbps for both T-Mobile and Sprint

AT&T has the slowest 5G network coverage which means Cricket Wireless users get to enjoy that saying slow coverage with an average download speed of 103.1 Mbps, a rate that is exactly the same as Verizon’s 4G network.

What you can do if your 5G is slower than promised

It’s possible that you can get compensation from Cricket Wireless if your 5G service or device is not what was promised to you when you purchased it. Let our expert team help you submit a claim and win. Tell us what happened below.