Xfinity Mobile In 2024: What You Need To Know

Xfinity Mobile is an MVNO that launched in 2017 and it is owned and operated by Comcast. Service is primarily provided by using Verizon’s network towers with supplemental coverage provided by Xfinity WiFi hotspots.

Phones can be configured to automatically connect to Comcast Wi-Fi hotspots to provide data to subscribers. Wi-Fi calling is supported for iPhones and select Android devices.

Xfinity Internet subscribers used to be able to get unlimited talk and text on Xfinity Mobile with 100MB of shared data free of charge. However, on August 1st, 2019, Xfinity Mobile reconfigured its wireless plans to Second Generation. Second Generation plan subscribers no longer got unlimited talk and text free of charge or the first 100MB of shared data for free. First Generation plan subscribers are grandfathered in and allowed to keep their plans if they so choose.

In May of 2020, Xfinity Mobile issued another plan update. The base By the Gig plan price was increased to $15/month. However, subscribers on the plan gained 5G data access if they had a compatible phone and lived in a location serviced with 5G. Another important plan change to note with the update is that subscribers have higher network priority access. Priority access is now more in line with those that subscribe to Verizon’s postpaid network. This means that during times that the network is congested, like in a crowded stadium, By the Gig customers will receive higher data speeds compared to other providers that may be using Verizon’s network for service.

In April of 2021, another plan update was issued. This update introduced multi-line discounts for Xfinity’s unlimited data plan.

In March 2024, another update was issued. This update increased the price of Xfinity Mobile’s By the Gig plan to $20 per 1GB of data consumed, but no charge for additional lines on the plan.

Xfinity Mobile Offers 2 Phone Plan Types

Xfinity Mobile offers a total of two phone plan types. There’s a “By the Gig” shared data plan available and what the company calls “unlimited per line” data plans. The shared By the Gig data plan has the following pricing:

• 1GB – $20/month per GB of data consumed. Additional lines are free.

A maximum of 10 lines are allowed on a By the Gig plan. Each line gets unlimited talk and text. Data from the first line is shared with all other lines. Most consumers should avoid this plan. There are far cheaper options on the market. The only persons that may want to consider this plan are subscribers with multiple lines that don’t need any data. Xfinity Mobile does not charge per line on this plan.

Data on the plan is billed on a per GB basis and rounded up to the nearest GB. If a customer goes over their By the Gig plan’s data limit they’ll be billed for an additional GB of data consumed. If a customer is subscribed to the 1GB plan and uses 1.5GB of data during their monthly billing cycle, they’ll have to pay $40 for their service that month for 2GB of data.

Smartwatches And Tablets Are Supported

Xfinity Mobile customers can use tablets and smartwatches with their By the Gig plans. Each smartwatch comes with unlimited talk and text and will count as a line towards their account’s 10 line limit. Smartwatches draw their data from whatever phone plan you are subscribed to. Xfinity charges a $10 line access fee for smartwatches. Regular phone lines do not have to pay this fee.

Tablets cost $20/line per month and include 15GB of monthly high-speed data before data speeds are slowed to 1.5Mbps download and 750Kbps for the rest of the billing cycle. Cellular tablets also count as a line of service on your account.

Xfinity Mobile’s “Unlimited Intro Data” plan option costs $40 for a single line and of course includes unlimited talk, text, and data. Only the first 30GB of data is available at high-speeds before data speeds are throttled to a maximum of 1.5Mbps download and 750Kbps. The plan also includes video streaming at the highest resolution possible when you are connected to their 5G network. But if you are not connected to 5G, you can expect videos to stream at a resolution of 480p. Talk, text, and data roaming is included in Mexico and Canada at no extra cost. However, data speeds while roaming are limited to a maximum of 256Kbps. It also offers unlimited 3G hotspot data, with speeds of up to 600Kbps.

You can upgrade to Xfinity Mobile’s “Unlimited Plus” unlimited plan to get 50GB of high-speed data before throttling and 15GB of mobile hotspot at full speed before throttling to 600Kbps. This plan includes premium priority data for faster data speeds when the network is busy compared to the unlimited “Intro” data plan. The plan also includes full service roaming in Mexico and Canada. The first 5GB of roaming data is available at high-speeds before throttling to 256kbps.

Taxes and fees cost extra with each plan type. Xfinity Mobile says that it charges “regulatory recovery fees, surcharges, and other applicable charges that are subject to change.”

Family Plan Options

Xfinity Mobile does offer discounts to customers when they add more lines to their plans, but only for the unlimited plans. Subscribers on a shared By the Gig data plan don’t get discounts for multiple lines, however, they can add up to 9 additional lines to their plan at no extra charge. Customers can also mix and match and manage By the Gig plans and unlimited plans all under one account.

Features Included With Every Xfinity Mobile Phone Plan

• 4G LTE/5G network access
• 5G ultra-wideband network access (availability depends on location)
• Unlimited talk and text
• No activation fees
• No phone line access fees
• WiFi calling
• Visual Voicemail
• Mobile hotspot/tethering
• Access and auto-connect to millions of Xfinity WiFi hotspots
• App available on Android and iOS to manage your account

Additionally, international roaming is supported. However, it does cost extra and rates vary by country. Customers who wish to enable international roaming on their accounts must first contact customer support to request it. Subscribers must also have accounts in good standing and must have paid for at least their first billing cycle before the feature can be enabled.

Data Speeds

According to Xfinity Mobile’s broadband disclosure, subscribers accessing Xfinity Mobile through a 5G network can expect to have typical download speeds of around 90-170Mbps and upload speeds of around 15-30Mbps. Network latency should be under 30ms.

If service is used over 4G LTE, typical download speeds can be expected to be in the range of 9-56Mbps. Upload speeds can be expected to be 2-13Mbps. Network latency should be under 100ms.

Some customers may have much faster speeds than described and some will have lower speeds.

Plan Limitations

Xfinity Mobile plans do come with multiple limitations. Be sure to familiarize yourself with these limitations so that you do not get caught by any surprises after you signup for service.

Xfinity Mobile is only available to those who are also subscribed to either Comcast Xfinity Internet, Xfinity TV, or Xfinity’s Voice post-pay service. If you subscribe to Xfinity Mobile and later cancel one of the other required services, you will be billed an additional $25 per line per month to maintain your Xfinity Mobile service, regardless of which plan you are subscribed to.

Unlimited May Not Be Unlimited

Different wireless providers and even people have different definitions as to what an unlimited plan is. Here, at BestMVNO, an unlimited plan is considered one that includes unlimited high-speed data with every billing cycle. By that definition, Xfinity Mobile does not have a truly unlimited data plan. The plans that Xfinity Mobile labels as “unlimited” have their data speeds slow down to a maximum of 1.5Mbps download and 750Kbps upload for the rest of the customer’s billing cycle after their high-speed data limit has been reached.

There Are Video Streaming Resolution Limits

Customers on the “unlimited Intro data plan” will have streaming video at a resolution of 480p when using a 4G LTE only device. When connected to the 4G LTE network using a 5G device video streaming will be limited to 720p. When using a 5G device and connected to the 5G network, video will stream at a resolution of 4k. Customers on unlimited “Plus” or “Premium” will have video streaming at a minimum resolution of 720p and a maximum of 4K.

For By the Gig plan subscribers, videos stream at a resolution of 720p over 4G LTE for smartphones and 1080p for tablets. It does not matter if the phone is 5G capable or not, but if it is 5G capable videos will stream at a resolution of 4k when connected to the 5G network. Subscribers can turn on data saver to reduce streaming to a resolution of 480p.

Mobile Hotspot May Not Be Available At High-Speeds

Mobile hotspot tethering speeds may also be limited depending on the plan. If you subscribe to Xfinity’s Unlimited Intro plan, hotspot usage is unlimited but speeds are limited to a maximum of 600Kbps. The Plus plan includes 15GB before throttling kicks in.

Despite Xfinity’s plan limitations, Comcast was able to grow its subscriber count rapidly after launching. Comcast acquired 380,000 Xfinity Mobile subscribers just months after launch and they are now closing in on 7 million subscribers.