What Towers Does Consumer Cellular Use?

Consumer Cellular is a small prepaid carrier (or MVNO) that makes use of AT&T's and T-Mobile's coverage networks and towers to provide cell phone service to its customers.

This is good news, since AT&T wields some of the best and most far-reaching 4G and 5G coverage in America and T-Mobile operates the country's largest 5G network. In this article, we'll explore Consumer Cellular's coverage map so you can decide whether its impressive enough to convince you to make the switch to the carrier.

Consumer Cellular Coverage Map

Wondering how good Consumer Cellular’s coverage is? The answer depends on your location. Consumer Cellular uses both AT&T and T-Mobile's towers to offer coverage to its customers. Consumer Cellular uses the network with the superior coverage for each customer's address. That means, in theory, Consumer Cellular gives you the best of both worlds: if you're in an area with excellent AT&T coverage, you'll score excellent 4G LTE coverage and if you live near T-Mobile towers, you'll get that networks renowned 5G service.

Take a look at the map below (derived from the FCC) to see what kind of 4G and 5G coverage AT&T offers throughout the United States.

Below, you can find the T-Mobile coverage map, which includes the country's largest 5G network.

Consumer Cellular 4G LTE Coverage

Consumer Cellular uses AT&T's formidable network, so its customers in turn get access to AT&T's great 4G LTE coverage. One look at the map above shows just how far-reaching the Consumer Cellular/AT&T 4G coverage is throughout the United States—aside from some small and isolated dead spots in rural areas of Idaho, Oregon, and Montana, the entire country is blanketed.

Consumer Cellular also uses T-Mobile's network, which is not as strong as AT&T's 4G LTE. The upside is that if you're in an area where AT&T's coverage is substantially better, Consumer Cellular will designate AT&T as your network.

Consumer Cellular 5G Coverage

Consumer Cellular customers not only get access to AT&T's 4G coverage network, but its 5G coverage network as well. This is good news if you're signed up with Consumer Cellular, since AT&T wields the second-most 5G coverage nationally.

Don’t be put off by claims that AT&T’s 5G network isn’t that great – while their geographic 5G coverage is “just” 28% of the US’s land area, that covers over 295 million people in the US, since most of the US population lives in big cities.

What if you don’t live in that 28% of the US that the 5G AT&T network covers? When 5G is not available, AT&T’s 4G network covers nearly 58% of the land area, amounting to coverage for over 99% of Americans.

Some Consumer Cellular plans operate on the T-Mobile network. This is good news for Consumer Cellular 5G because T-Mobile's 5G network is the largest in the country, covering 29% of the country.

You should, of course, always check the Consumer Cellular coverage map to make sure that you’re in an area with reliable and good coverage. We also recommend checking with nearby friends and neighbors to get a first-hand opinion of the best coverage nearby.

What is an MVNO?

If you’ve shopped for cell phone plans before, you’ve likely noted a wide variety of carriers, prices, perks, and more. One of the big differentiators between carriers is whether they’re an MVNO or not. 

The MVNO cell phone carrier model is typically geared toward budget-conscious shoppers. MVNOs save money by leasing network capacity. They pass those savings on to their customers. However, MVNOs are typically less of a premium experience – you usually get less high-speed data, no bundled perks, and less or no hotspot data. Plus, with MVNOs, once you run out of premium data, data speeds typically slow to just a few Mbps (read: very slow). Last, the best phone deals on new phones are typically reserved for the Big Three. 

Basically, if you’re the kind of person who likes to stream YouTube videos on your hour-long commute, you are interested in getting a Netflix or Disney+ membership, and you always want the best price on the latest iPhone, you’ll have better luck with the Big Three. 

However, if you’re not interested in perks, you’re okay with slow data when you run out of premium data, and you don’t mind missing out on the latest phone deals, then you can save money on your cell phone bill by going with an MVNO carrier like Consumer Cellular.

Who Owns Consumer Cellular?

In 2020, a Chicago private equity company called GTCR bought Consumer Cellular for around $2.3 billion, beating out Dish Network, Altice USA, Ultra Mobile, Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton and others. 

Consumer Cellular Plans

Sound good so far? You may want to learn about the cell phone plans Consumer Cellular offers. While all their cell phone plans include unlimited talk and text as well as unlimited calls to Canada and Mexico, there’s only one plan with unlimited data. This plan provides 50 GB of premium data at high speeds, after which data speeds slow. 

All other cell phone plans are capped, meaning they only offer a set amount of data usage per month. 

Consumer Cellular does provide plenty of affordable plans, but you should make sure that they fit your data needs before choosing this carrier.

The Bottom Line

Consumer Cellular leases network capacity from AT&T and T-Mobile, ensuring great coverage for their customers at a lower price than is typically available from the Big Three carriers. While the cell phone plans might only offer limited data in most cases, there is an option for more premium data if you need it.

Want to find the best phone plan deals from other carriers? Check out our free, unbiased Phone Deal Finder. With just a few clicks, we’ll sort through thousands of plan features to find the best options for you based on how much data you want, what perks you care about, and what your budget is. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What network is Consumer Cellular?

Consumer Cellular operates on AT&T's 4G LTE and 5G and T-Mobile's 4G LTE and 5G networks, so you'll get the same coverage AT&T and T-Mobile provide. Since the company uses AT&T's and T-Mobile's towers, the service is virtually identical between the two.

Why is my Consumer Cellular signal so weak?

If your Consumer Cellular signal is weak, it's likely because you're too far from a cell tower or there are physical barriers in the way. Buildings, hills, and trees can weaken the signal between your phone and a tower.

Does Consumer Cellular throttle down data?

Yes, Consumer Cellular throttles data. While Consumer Cellular offers unlimited data with its largest plan, after using 50GB in a billing cycle, your data speeds will slow down for the rest of the month. To avoid reduced speeds, connecting to WiFi whenever possible is a good idea.