In mid-April, I switched over to Ting, a cellular service provider from Tucows that promises lower bills and greater control over usage. One month, and a pleasantly low $45 bill later, here are my impressions.

Important note: I have not been paid by Ting for this post. But after a month with them I thought the service was well worth writing about!

Ting's premise is giving you more control over your bill. You are charged based on usage, which is split into "sizes" to simplify the process and make it a little more predictable. They provide regularly updated stats on your usage, which you can view right from your phone, and allow you to set alerts or disable a device if it goes over a pre-set limit on minutes, messages or data. All this adds up to allow them to claim that the average monthly bill on their service is just $23. So let's start by looking at what I actually paid.

Prices

With my typical usage (plus a few extended calls I wouldn't normally be making in a given month), my first month's bill came to around $45 including tax. Given that most people I know are paying anywhere from $60-120 per month, that can represent a huge saving.

Ok, I'll level with you, Ting isn't actually saving me a huge amount of money, since I was getting unlimited service for $50 a month. You might wonder why I wanted to switch at all, given I was already getting a great deal. Looking at my usage statistics (which weren't readily available from StraightTalk, requiring a hunt for a number to text), I figured I could save a few dollars, plus make use of some of the features that Ting had over and above StraightTalk.

There was one gotcha, though, which anyone thinking of moving would need to be aware of. In the US (apparently), you are charged based on incoming as well as outgoing calls and texts. I discovered this after taking an hour-long call and being surprised to see it show up on my used minutes. This is not the case in the UK, and having been on an unlimited plan before, I'd forgotten it might be a thing.

Features

Small savings aside, what really got me to switch to Ting was the array of features, in particular, tethering.

This is something that I've only seen offered at a hefty premium with other providers, and something I've always wanted to have so I could avoid fiddling with hotspots I only use for a few days after I move apartments. Granted, the extra bandwidth can add up, but for getting online when there's no other option, it's nice to know I can always fire up my phone.

Another thing that Ting offers over other low cost providers is international calling and roaming. International calls are charged by the minute on top of your existing numbers, similar for roaming. As of right now, there's no roaming to the UK, which is what I'd be really interested in. But I still have my old pay as you go phone for when I travel, so I can wait to see if they add it.

Coverage

I've not left NYC at all this month, so can't comment too much on coverage. But coverage seems pretty good compared to my previous service. In situations where people were complaining about not being able to get online, I've only been dropped to 3G, and almost everywhere I've been, I've got full LTE. So thus far I'm impressed.

This will vary depending on your device, though, as Ting resells other carriers to get around unlocking.

Switching

The most surprising part of my experience with Ting was how easy it was to switch. Once I'd ordered an appropriate SIM card and went to the activation page I just had to dig out relevant account numbers and such to set up the switch. I expected this to take 24 hours, but I ended up receiving notification within an hour, switched my SIM and I was away!

So the ease of switching to Ting earned them some big points from my point-of-view. They even offer rebates for early termination fees.

Customer Service

A big part of Ting's marketing blurb is that customer service calls will go straight through to a human being rather than a robotic phone tree or hold music. Just before signing up I had a question about their phone compatibility check and gave them a call. Sadly, they fell down on the promise of a direct connection to a person and I went to a message apologizing for there not being someone available. Not a good start.

But on the website, there was a handy little chat box and I got in touch with someone immediately through that, who was able to answer my question right away.

Overall impression, Ting's customer service is good, but perhaps not as amazing as they promise.

Conclusions

I'm more than happy with my experience so far and will be sticking with Ting for the foreseeable future. Seeing as I get more features and better service than my previous provider for slightly less money, I can't complain at all. And for someone who's on one of the bigger carriers, the savings might make Ting even more attractive. I can heartily recommend them!

Get $25 Off

With that recommendation, I have a referral code that you can use to get a discount on a device or your first month. Just click below to sign up.

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