Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile: Which American SIM Should You Pick?

American Mobile Proxies sells real SIM cards from the three national carriers in the United States: Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. Many of our customers live in China, Vietnam and other countries far from America. They cannot visit a carrier store and compare. This article explains the three carriers in simple words. It covers what a website sees from each carrier, where we keep each carrier, how the address geolocates, and which carrier fits which kind of work. If you are still not sure after reading, write to support and describe your job. We will tell you which carrier is in stock in the city you need.

Verizon, in short

Verizon is the carrier with the widest network in the United States. Its mobile addresses are announced under AS22394, and some older ranges still sit under AS6167. An IP lookup shows the owner as Verizon Wireless and the connection type as cellular. Verizon 4G lines are strong and stable in every city where we have hardware. Verizon 5G stock is smaller than T-Mobile 5G stock, so ask first if you need Verizon on 5G.

One detail matters for location work. A Verizon address can geolocate a few hundred miles away from the modem. The modem is in Houston, but a database may show Dallas or another city in the same region. The state is usually correct. If your job needs the exact city, Verizon is not the safest choice. If your job needs the state or just a real American mobile address, Verizon is excellent.

AT&T, in short

AT&T Mobility announces its mobile addresses under AS20057. The owner name in a lookup is AT&T Mobility, and the connection type is cellular. AT&T addresses geolocate close to the metro where the modem sits in most of our cities. We hold good AT&T stock in Miami, North Carolina and Houston.

There is one exception that we always tell buyers about. Our Boston AT&T SIMs are physically in Boston, but their addresses geolocate to New York. This is how AT&T registers that range. It is not a fault. If you want a Boston address, pick Verizon or T-Mobile in Boston. If a New York address is fine for you, Boston AT&T is a second pool of New York addresses.

T-Mobile, in short

T-Mobile USA announces under AS21928. A lookup shows T-Mobile USA as the owner and a cellular connection type. T-Mobile has the widest 5G footprint in the eight cities where we run hardware, so most of our 5G lines are T-Mobile SIMs. If speed is the main reason you buy, T-Mobile 5G is the first thing to ask about.

T-Mobile addresses geolocate to the metro of the modem in every city we run, including Boston. For a buyer who wants the city name to match, T-Mobile is the simplest choice. 4G T-Mobile lines are also plentiful and work well for account work and checks.

What every carrier address has in common

All three carriers use carrier-grade NAT. This means one public address is shared by many real phones at the same time. Your SIM gets a session on that address, and so do ordinary subscribers in the same city. This is why websites trust mobile addresses. Blocking the address would block real customers. The website judges your behaviour, not the number.

This also means the address is not yours forever. The carrier can change it when the modem reconnects. On our hardware you control when that happens. You can keep the address for as long as the carrier keeps the session, or rotate it by link, API, dashboard, timer or by hand. Nobody else uses your SIM, so nobody else rotates it.

Which carrier for which job

If the account you manage has an American phone number, pick the same carrier as the number. A Verizon number with a Verizon address tells a consistent story. If the job is a state-level check, such as pricing in Texas or ads shown in Florida, any carrier works, because the state reading is correct on all three. If the job needs the exact city name in a lookup, choose T-Mobile, or AT&T outside Boston.

If the job moves a lot of data, such as video uploads or long app sessions, choose a 5G line, which usually means T-Mobile. 4G lines usually run 20 to 45 Mbps, 5G 50 Mbps and up. For logins, checks and research, 4G is enough. Speed between Asia and the United States is limited by distance more than by the SIM, so a 5G line will not remove the round trip time.

Stock, cities and changing your mind

We run hardware in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Miami, North Carolina and Boston. Carrier stock in each city changes every week. The checkout page shows what is free today. You pick the carrier and the device type at checkout, and the plan activates as soon as it is paid.

If you later need a different city, you can move the plan yourself from the dashboard. The move is free and the remaining time carries over. If you need a different carrier, write to support. The price is the same for all three carriers: 4G is $5 a day, $28 a week or $65 a month; 5G is $6, $31 or $75. An hourly test costs $2 for the first two hours on 4G and $3 on 5G, and it never renews by itself.

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