Open Internet Transparency

This web page contains important information about the terms, performance, and management of Boost Mobile’s wireless broadband Internet access services and is intended to help you make informed choices about the purchase and use of Boost Mobile’s services. It applies to Boost Mobile branded prepaid and postpaid services. Broadband Internet access services provide Boost Mobile customers with the ability to transmit and receive data from all or substantially all points on the internet while using Boost Mobile’s data networks. In some cases we will refer you to other web pages that will provide additional information about Boost Mobile’s terms and practices. The information provided relates to your experience while using Boost Mobile’s data networks and may not describe the terms, performance, or management you may experience while using extended coverage networks or roaming on non-Boost Mobile networks.

For questions that are not answered on this page, Boost Mobile customers may chat with us at any time, or reach out via any of the methods listed on our Contact us page. For information on resolving disputes with Boost Mobile, please review the “Dispute Resolution and Arbitration” section of our General Terms & Conditions.

Commercial Terms

Where can I find pricing and other terms and Conditions for Boost Mobile broadband internet access?

Boost Mobile’s Terms and Conditions, including guidelines on such topics as service plans, activation procedures, data usage and dispute resolution, can be viewed at the bottom of all of our online shopping pages. They can also be viewed in our General Terms & Conditions.

Detailed information on all of Boost Mobile’s broadband internet access service plans for phones, broadband cards, laptops, tablets, mobile hotspots, and more can be found on boostmobile.com.

What is Boost Mobile’s policy for online privacy?

Boost Mobile is committed to protecting the privacy of our customers. Boost Mobile's Privacy Policy describes how Boost Mobile may collect, access, use, or disclose your personal information while using our products or services. Review Boost Mobile’s Privacy Policy to learn more.

Performance

Broadband internet access service network performance is generally described by looking at two measurements — speed and latency. Speed refers to the amount of data that can be transmitted over a period of time and is typically expressed in megabits of data per second. Latency refers to the amount of time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another. Boost Mobile measures latency as the time it takes a packet to be returned to its sender in milliseconds.

Network speed and latency determine how applications perform on a network. Many commonly used applications do not require high speeds. Applications like email, general web surfing, posting on social media, and other similar applications work well even when connected at lower speeds and are not generally affected by latency. Applications like streaming music and video may require higher speeds, but because they can be buffered, are also not affected by higher latency. Applications like real-time gaming, two way video conferencing, and other interactive audio/video applications usually work best when customers have high speed connections and low latency. Boost Mobile customers will enjoy the best experience with these interactive applications when connected to Boost Mobile’s newest network technology.

What performance can I expect from Boost Mobile’s data networks?

Our average speed and latency ranges are based on a combination of independent third-party testing and Boost Mobile-generated results including actual customer performance results. Coverage isn’t available everywhere, and speeds and latency may vary considerably from these averages based on factors both within and beyond Boost Mobile’s control, such as network problems, software, signal strength, your wireless device, structures, buildings, weather, geography, topography, etc. It is important that you consider the capabilities of your device, Boost Mobile’s network coverage, and Boost Mobile’s expected speed and latency estimates for Boost Mobile’s network technologies in determining whether Boost Mobile’s data services are right for you. Performance will also differ if roaming internationally.

5G Networks
Boost Mobile provides you access to the first, largest standalone 5G network, with service available in more than 5,000 cities and towns across the country. In addition to Boost Mobile’s groundbreaking 5G network, our partnerships with AT&T and T-Mobile mean that a user’s 5G experience could be powered by AT&T or T-Mobile instead.

Boost Mobile measures the average performance users can expect by looking at the bottom 25th, and the top 75th, percentage of user experiences. Speed is measured in megabits per second (aka, how much data is transmitted each second). Latency measures how many milliseconds it takes for a data packet to be received after it was sent.

By combining our own measurements from the Boost Mobile 5G network with third party measurements and the information from AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s public performance disclosures about their 5G networks, we estimate that the average Boost Mobile user should experience the following performance:

• Average Download Speeds: 70-356 Mbps
• Average Upload Speeds: 5-26 Mbps
• Average Latency: 21-37 ms

Partner 4G Networks
Some of Boost Mobile users’ experiences are powered by our partner’s networks at AT&T or T-Mobile. AT&T or T-Mobile may sometimes have customers fall back onto their 4G networks. But, unlike for the performance estimate we provide above for 5G networks, Boost Mobile cannot calculate a weighted average for its partners’ 4G networks because it only has the performance information that AT&T and T-Mobile publicly post about these technologies. Boost Mobile also cannot predict when a user will fall back to the 4G network because that is under AT&T’s or T-Mobile’s respective control. Users should instead review the AT&T and T-Mobile performance pages to learn more about what they can experience on our partners’ 4G networks:

AT&T Performance Page

T-Mobile Performance Page

Do different Boost Mobile plans have different data allowances and performance levels?

Yes. To help ensure that our customers have access to the services that best suit their needs, Boost Mobile offers a wide variety of different plans. Depending on the plan, you may be allotted fixed amounts of high-speed data per billing period after which your data access speeds may be reduced to speeds closer to 512kbps or suspended. Users on such plans will typically be directed to an informational web page with further options after exceeding any plan limits on these types of applications.

Some of our plans may provide different performance characteristics optimized to different user experiences. For example, some plans may come with standard DVD quality video streaming at one price, while providing an HD video experience for an additional charge. Similarly some plans may also limit gaming or audio streaming to standard or high definition. Boost Mobile plans may also differ in terms of how data allocations work for specialized applications such as use of your device as a Wi-Fi hotspot, to engage in peer to peer file sharing, virtual private networks (“VPN”), and device tethering. For some plans, users may experience reduced speed for those applications for the remainder of the billing period after exceeding their allotments. For some other plans, the amount of data available to users for those specialized applications may be capped after a certain amount of use.

For more information on the performance characteristics of current plans, please visit our Plans FAQ page.

Network Management

To ensure that all Boost Mobile customers enjoy the best possible network experience, Boost Mobile uses reasonable network management practices that are consistent with mobile broadband industry standards and guidance provided by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). Boost Mobile’s network management practices are primarily used for and tailored to achieve legitimate network management purposes taking into account Boost Mobile’s network architecture and technology.

The following is intended to help you understand what Boost Mobile means by network management and explain Boost Mobile’s network management techniques and approaches.

Why does Boost Mobile manage its network?

Boost Mobile manages its network with the goal of delivering the best possible mobile broadband Internet access experience to our customers. Mobile network resources are not infinite. Managing the network is essential to promote the use and enjoyment of mobile data by our customers. We use reasonable network management practices that are consistent with industry standards for protecting Boost Mobile’s network and customers and for managing the delivery of mobile broadband services. Just as the Internet continues to change and evolve, so too will our network management practices address the challenges and threats on the Internet.

How does Boost Mobile manage its network?

Boost Mobile employs a holistic approach to managing congestion on its data network. Boost Mobile’s first goal is to avoid congestion altogether by directing traffic to the best available spectrum resources and cell sites. Boost Mobile also attempts to avoid congestion by managing tonnage on its network. Finally, when congestion does occur, meaning that the demand on a particular sector temporarily exceeds the ability of that sector to meet the demand, Boost Mobile relies on the radio scheduling software provided by Boost Mobile’s hardware vendors to allocate resources to users.

Techniques to Direct Traffic to the Best Available Spectrum Resources and Cell Sites

All mobile networks, including Boost Mobile’s, employ a Radio Access Network (“RAN”) that manages connectivity between mobile client devices and the core network. The RAN functions to identify mobile devices permitted to access the network and their locations and assigns the mobile device to an available frequency band and cell site serving the location. The RAN also controls device “hand off” between neighboring cell site resources to balance loads across network resources or as a mobile device moves from one location to another. As part of managing those connections, Boost Mobile’s RAN is designed to dynamically connect customers to the best available spectrum resources and cell sites — and reassign those connections as circumstances change.

Managing Tonnage

Some of Boost Mobile’s traffic management efforts are aimed at avoiding congestion by managing the total volume of data transmitted, referred to colloquially as “tonnage.” Boost Mobile may work with high-volume content providers to help ensure that their content is delivered in a way that uses Boost Mobile’s network in an efficient manner. In addition, some applications may reduce or increase their traffic volume depending on network conditions. For example, some streaming video applications employ adaptive bitrate protocol to stream video. These applications automatically and continuously monitor the available bandwidth and adjust the streaming video bitrate to current user conditions. Depending on available bandwidth, users may notice differences in video streaming quality as the application adjusts the video streaming bitrate to account for changing channel conditions.

Allocating Resources During Times of Congestion

Despite our best efforts to prevent congestion through managing tonnage and directing customers to the best available network resources, the demand on a particular network sector sometimes temporarily exceeds the ability of that sector to meet the demand. During these times, Boost Mobile relies on the radio scheduling software provided by Boost Mobile’s hardware vendors to allocate resources to users. This radio scheduling software includes a set of generic fairness algorithms that allocate resources based on signal quality, number of users, and other metrics. These algorithms are active at all times, whether or not the cell is congested; however, during times of congestion, the algorithms operate with the goal of ensuring that no single user is deprived of access to the network.

Quality of Service (“QoS”) for Boost Mobile Customers

To ensure a fairer browsing experience for all users, Boost Mobile employs network prioritization, network traffic management or QoS on the Boost Mobile network. For customers on unlimited data handset plans that use more GB of data during a single billing cycle (the QoS Threshold) as specified in their Offer terms, Boost Mobile reserves the right to deprioritize or to reduce the speed available to a customer for the remainder of that billing cycle. Affected unlimited data customers will continue to be able to enjoy unlimited amounts of data without the worry of overage charges. Customers subject to deprioritization may experience reduced throughput and increased latency compared to other customers on the constrained site and as compared to their normal experience on the Boost Mobile network. Unlimited customers may also notice changes in the performance of data intensive applications such as streaming video or online gaming when subject to de-prioritization or the reduction in speeds. In the situation where the traffic is deprioritized, the performance will return to normal as soon as the resource constraints have been relieved or the customer has relocated to a non-constrained location.

How does congestion management impact me and my data services?

The goal of congestion management is to ensure that all users during times of congestion have access to a fair share of the network resources and that no user is starved of resources. When congestion occasionally occurs, customers may experience reduced throughput or speed compared to their normal experience on non-congested sites.

How often does Boost Mobile use congestion management?

Because of the peaked nature of mobile data traffic, congestion management software is actively looking for network congestion at all times. When it detects congestion, the fairness algorithms described above operate with the goal of ensuring that all customers are allocated a fair share of network resources.

To help reduce congestion, Boost Mobile evaluates its overall network performance and enhances its network by adding capacity or making other network adjustments to help improve network performance.

Does Boost Mobile discriminate against particular types of online content?

Boost Mobile does not block lawful, legitimate and non-infringing online content. However, we are committed to protecting our network and customers from spam, phishing, viruses, malware, security attacks and other unwanted harmful or malicious online activities. Boost Mobile uses industry standard tools and generally accepted best practices and policies including our own analysis and third party intelligence to help it meet this goal. In cases where these tools and policies identify certain traffic patterns, addresses, or destinations as being harmful or malicious, Boost Mobile may deploy technical controls to block or prevent access to harmful or malicious traffic. In other cases, these tools and policies may permit customers to identify certain content that is not clearly harmful or unwanted, such as bulk email or websites with questionable security ratings, and enable those customers to inspect the content further if they want to do so.

Boost Mobile does not block sites based on content or subject, unless the Internet address hosts unlawful content or is blocked as part of an opted-in customer service. Similarly, Boost Mobile does not not prioritize or deprioritize traffic based on the type of traffic it is.

Despite the actions that Boost Mobile takes to protect its network and customers, Boost Mobile cannot guarantee that you may not encounter unwanted or harmful or malicious internet traffic while using Boost Mobile’s broadband Internet access services. We encourage you to engage in your own security practices including using antivirus/antimalware products.

Do device software upgrades affect the performance of my device on Boost Mobile's network?

From time to time, Boost Mobile may push software updates to your device to improve device features, security, and performance. These updates may include components that optimize the way your device (and applications on the device) use network resources by, for example, managing connections between a user's Wi-Fi networks and the Boost Mobile network or by managing the intervals at which certain background applications, not being used by the user, connect to the network. Updates that manage radio resources are intended to improve performance and device battery life while at the same maintaining a high quality user experience.

Does Boost Mobile have rules regarding the attachment of devices to its network by customers?

Any device certified as being Boost Mobile network compatible may be used on the Boost Mobile network including compatible devices not purchased from Boost Mobile. Boost Mobile will not activate devices that have been reported as lost or stolen or associated with accounts that are found not to be in good standing.