Visible Review: Best Cell Phone Carrier for Van Life

As a van lifer who works from the road, having reliable internet in my van is crucial. A typical work day in my van might include Zoom calls with my van coaching clients, sending dozens of emails, updating my website, and uploading photos to my blog and videos to Instagram. These are data-heavy activities, and a slow internet connection means glitchy video calls and a lot of wasted time while I sit around waiting for pages to load.

I have a Starlink for when I’m camping in my van and out of cell range, but the Starlink dish isn’t permanently installed on the roof of my van. So unless I’m parked somewhere for an extended period and take the time to set up my Starlink, it means that I’m more often than not using my cell phone as my primary source of internet.

I’ve been a Verizon customer for nearly 20 years. When comparing service while camping with my van life friends, it’s clear that Verizon has the best coverage, especially in remote areas around the US. However, a few years ago, one of my Bearfoot Theory contributors (Courtney Stephenson) switched to a carrier I’d never heard of: Visible. As a full-time van lifer who was working remotely (including from down in Baja), Courtney was so happy with the service that she wrote a Visible review here on the blog.

This year as my contract with Verizon was up, I decided to switch to Visible too. With Verizon, I was paying $115 a month, and now with Visible+, my plan is only $45 a month (or $395 for an entire year when paid annually). Switching to Visible was a lot easier than I expected, and I’m sooooo happy to be saving nearly $1,000 a year on my phone bill, especially when the service is comparable.

Visible is actually owned by Verizon and operates on Verizon’s 5G and 4G LTE networks. Apart from having the same coverage as Verizon, Visible also offers unlimited data, talk, text, and mobile hotspot usage. It almost seemed too good to be true, but I had nothing to lose giving Visible a try. Visible requires no annual contract, so I knew if I didn’t like it as much as Courtney did, I could easily switch back to Verizon or another carrier.

I’ve been testing Visible for a few months now – and I’m convinced it’s the best cell phone carrier on the market for van lifers. It was so simple to switch over, billing is straightforward, and there are no hidden taxes or fees. Also in comparing my service to my partner Ryan’s (who is still with Verizon), I haven’t noticed any difference in speed or coverage, and I’ve done speed tests to prove it.

In this updated Visible review, I break down Visible plan options and pricing, the pros and cons of Visible, and my personal experience using Visible to work remotely on the road.

This post may contain affiliate links.

What Is Visible?

Visible is a low-cost cell phone carrier that is owned by Verizon and runs off of Verizon’s 5G/4G LTE network so anytime there is Verizon coverage, Visible should also have coverage. Even if you’re not a van lifer, Visible could be a great carrier option if you live in an area with strong Verizon coverage.

I mentioned above that Ryan is still on Verizon. This has given us the opportunity to test Visible against Verizon both at home and on a recent road trip to Arizona. There hasn’t been anywhere where Ryan has had coverage with Verizon that I didn’t have the same number of bars with Visible.

Visible has two simple plans – the Visible plan ($25/month) and the Visible+ plan ($45/month). Both plans offer unlimited data, talk, text, and mobile hotspot usage. I’ll get into the details and differences between the two plans below.

Visible is a pre-paid service that requires no credit check unless you’re financing a new phone. There are no required annual contracts or activation fees, so there’s greater flexibility than other phone companies. Billing is handled through their app where you can easily set up monthly auto-pay or manage your payments. You can also pay annually for even greater savings.

Visible’s plans are designed for single-line users instead of families, and there are no multi-line discounts. This makes it especially good for solo van lifers and travelers. Even with Ryan and I, if we both had the most expensive Visible+ plan ($45/month), it would still be cheaper than if we were on a family plan with another carrier.

Visible Pros

Visible Cons

Visible Pricing and Plan Comparisons

There are currently two plans available, Visible ($25/month) and Visible+ ($45/month). There are some obvious benefits of the Visible+ plan and some key differences to consider when choosing a plan.

Visible vs Visible+

The biggest differences between Visible vs Visible+ are:

I personally chose Visible+ because high speeds are important to me, especially when I’m working remotely, so my Visible review is focused on the Visible+ plan. Even when I’m not working on the blog, I rely on my phone for so many things. I use my phone to find campsites, potable water, hiking trails, directions, grocery stores, and more. To minimize my frustrations with daily planning on my phone, I wanted the fastest network available.

What I love about Visible is that I’m not locked into a plan and can change my service at any time. For example, if there is a stretch of time when I’m not traveling, I can downgrade to the Visible plan with the click of a button, saving myself $20 a month. Or if I’m on the Visible plan and am headed to Baja or Canada, I can instantly upgrade to the Visible+ plan.

Plan Pricing and Comparison

Below is a breakdown of what each plan provides and the cost when paying monthly. You can check out the details of the two Visible plans on their website. The final price is what you see here. There are no hidden taxes or fees tacked on to your bill.

Paying Annually

Recently, Visible started offering the ability to pay annually which comes with additional savings. When see the annual cost compared to what you’d pay for a year with another carrier, it really puts it into perspective.

My Experience Switching to Visible

I was a bit nervous about switching from Verizon to Visible. It seems like whenever I get a new phone, it’s always a hassle dealing with my cell phone provider. I didn’t expect this experience to be any different.

I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was. All I had to do was sign up on their website, download the Visible app to my phone, pop out my old SIM card, and enter some information like my phone’s IMEI number (which can be found in your settings). The app walks you through the step-by-step process that in general was pretty easy to follow.

There were a couple of times during the process when I had questions, and I was able to start an online chat. It took a minute to go from the bot assistant to getting a real person in the chat. After that, the person stayed in the chat to walk me through the entire process, making sure my phone number was transferred properly, and I was able to receive and send texts and calls before we said goodbye.

One of the reasons Visible is so inexpensive compared to other carriers is they don’t have a phone number you can call or brick-and-mortar stores. Instead, you can start an online chat with a Visible Rep any time of the day or week either on their website or right in the app.

One thing you’ll need to do before you switch over is to make sure your phone is compatible. You can use Visible’s compatibility checker to ensure your device is supported, and if it’s not, you can get a new phone through Visible. In addition, if you want to bring your current phone with you, you’ll need to make sure your phone is unlocked. You can usually find that info in your phone’s settings or you can call your current provider to find out.

If you’re feeling skeptical, you can also try Visible for free for 15 days. I did this to make sure I liked it before making the switch. Basically, they set you up with a trial phone number that you can use to make calls, text, and surf the net using your existing phone.

It doesn’t affect your existing service or phone number, and it was mostly easy to set up. It took about an hour, and I did need some assistance from the Visible Rep in the chat, but it made me feel more confident about switching and was also a chance to see what their customer service is like.

How Fast is Visible’s Data?

The biggest difference between the Visible plan and the Visible+ plan is data speeds. Here is what you can expect:

To see just how fast Visible+ is in practice, I ran a speed test on my iPhone 12 Pro max with Visible+, as well as on Ryan’s iPhone 13 Pro with Verizon. Here are the results.

I ran the test multiple times on both phones and got pretty similar results every time. You can see that the Verizon phone had slightly higher download speeds, but the Visible+ phone had higher upload speeds. Overall though, there isn’t too much difference in data speeds between Verizon and Visible+.

The 306 Mbps download speed on the Visible+ phone is very fast. For a Zoom meeting at 1080p resolution, you need 3.8 Mbps (upload speed) and 3.0 Mbps (download speed). For 720p resolution, this requirement drops to 1.2 Mbps. For Netflix 1080p streaming (which is all you really need if you are watching on an iPad), Netflix recommends a minimum of 5 Mbps download speed.

I did this speed test at my home in the mountains outside of Park City. Obviously in a more remote area where there isn’t a 5G network available, data speeds are going to be slower. The point of this speed test though is to show there there is a negligible difference in data speeds between Verizon and Visible+.

While on the Visible plan, BFT Contributor Courtney Stephenson reported that she rarely had any issues with slow internet speeds in areas with coverage. In her original Visible review, she wrote, “When running internet speed tests from my phone, my download speeds with the Visible plan are often 60Mbps or greater, sometimes even topping 100Mbps. With these speeds, I’m able to browse the internet, stream Netflix, and use my phone without lag or much thought at all about data speeds.”

Courtney added, “I’ve only noticed slower service twice – once at a music festival in San Francisco and once having no cell reception in the small town of Stanley, Idaho while my friends with Verizon had a slow connection. I chalked this up to the town itself having super spotty coverage, and to date, that’s the only time I’ve ever not had any reception when Verizon customers had signal.”

Visible Mobile Hotspot

What sets Visible apart from other carriers is its unlimited mobile hotspot. Using a phone as a hotspot is a very common way for van lifers to get internet on the road, but it’s pretty uncommon to have a plan that offers truly unlimited mobile hotspot data usage. Most other carriers will cap data usage and severely slow down your internet speeds once you’ve hit your data limit for the month, making your hotspot unreliable and unusable once you’ve hit the cap.

Instead of capping data allowance, Visible caps your data speeds. Using your phone as a hotspot, the Visible plan offers unlimited data at 5 Mbps and 10 Mbps on the Visible+ plan. This means you’ll always be able to use your phone as a reliable hotspot, no matter how much data you’ve used each month.

For the average person, this shouldn’t cause many issues. Courtney used Visible’s mobile hotspot as her primary internet source for working on the road for 2+ years with no complaints. She was able to do all of her computer work with no issues and join our BFT team video calls with minimal to no disruption.

I also used my Visible+ plan as a hotspot while in Arizona recently and found it more than adequate for basic tasks. I was able to write my weekly newsletter, upload photos, and make some updates on my website without any frustrations.

However, if you are someone who frequently downloads/uploads large files, is on video calls all day, or requires incredibly fast internet speeds, you may find 5-10 Mbps hotspot speeds limiting. However this would be the case whether it’s Visible, Verizon, T-mobile, or some other cell phone provider. On days when I need to do data-heavy work (like uploading a YouTube video), I will either set up my Starlink or I’ll head to the nearest town with a coffee shop or library.

Visible International Service

If you want to go to Mexico or Canada in your van, you’ll need the Visible+ plan since the Visible plan doesn’t include any international service. On the Visible+ plan, you get unlimited talk, text, and roaming in Mexico and Canada (as well as Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands).

This allows you to make local calls or to call back to the US or a number of other countries. It also includes 2 GB of high-speed data per day. After you use the 2 GB, speeds are reduced to 3G, which if I’m being honest is frustratingly slow.

In order to make the 2 GB last, you’ll want to go to your settings and turn off “background app refresh” for all of your apps. That way apps like Instagram and Facebook aren’t refreshing in the background wasting your data. You can also turn off cellular data for all of your apps that you aren’t using regularly (like Zillow, Amazon, or whatever they may be), so those apps won’t work unless you’re on wi-fi.

While I haven’t gone to Mexico in my van, BFT Contributor Courtney made an annual van life trip to the Baja Peninsula every winter. She relied on the Visible+ plan to keep in touch with people in the States, as well as to work remotely.

Courtney upgraded her plan to Visible+ right before crossing the border. The upgrade took less than 10 minutes and could be done right in the Visible app without any assistance. The change took place immediately, and she didn’t have to wait for another billing cycle.

After using Visible+ in Baja for an entire winter, in her Visible review she reported, “I’ve been really impressed with Visible’s service down here. In areas with cell coverage, I’ve been able to call and text family and friends back in the US as normal and use my phone minimally for Google Maps, social media, and light internet browsing. The speeds are fastest in the morning and slow down over the course of the day, as data usage is capped at 2 GB a day and slows down significantly after that. As long as you manage your expectations (you’re not going to see the same internet speeds roaming in Mexico as in the US), it’s a great perk and the service is comparable to other major carriers’ international services.”

Now, there are limitations to Visible’s international capabilities – most notably that international talk, text, and data are limited to Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands, unless you purchase a Global Pass which works in over 140 countries.

Visible+ Members get 1 free Global Pass per month. Otherwise, the Global Pass is $5/day in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Virigin Islands or $10/day for coverage in over 140 countries. Global Pass includes unlimited talk and text and 2 GB of high-speed data per day before it’s reduced to 3G speeds.

If you’re only traveling for a week, that’s fine, but if you are going abroad for any extended period of time and relying on Global Pass, $10/day can really add up. Alternatively, if you have Visible and your phone is unlocked, you can buy a prepaid local SIM card in the country you are traveling in which is generally cheaper than paying for international service on any carrier.

Conclusion

Overall, I’ve been super happy with Visible+. I honestly can’t believe how much cheaper it is than the competition while providing a majority of the same benefits. It’s plenty fast, I don’t have to worry about any extra fees or charges, and it’s month to month, so there is no long-term commitment.

Despite having no customer service number, in the few online chats I’ve had during the sign-up process, I’ve found the customer service agents to be helpful, responsive, and genuinely interested in finding solutions.

The unlimited mobile hotspot data is a huge perk, and since most of the travel I’m doing right now is domestic I’m not too worried by the lack of international coverage. I am hopeful that Visible will expand its international roaming coverage in the future, and the fact that it’s month-to-month means I can always switch to another carrier if need be.

If you’re interested in giving Visible a whirl, remember you can get $10 off any Visible monthly plan for the first 3 months. Use code MOOLAH during check-out.

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Have you heard of Visible or have you tried it? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.