Technologies
Google Fi, Mint Mobile, Xfinity Mobile, Visible: Which Wireless Networks Do Smaller Providers Use?
Smaller wireless carriers often use more popular networks.
When it comes to picking a wireless provider, there are plenty of options beyond AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Your cable provider — particularly if you have Optimum, Comcast’s Xfinity or Charter’s Spectrum — has likely tried to get you to move to their mobile service over the last year. You also have smaller players like Mint Mobile, Visible, Boost Mobile and others.
Here’s the not-so-secret twist: These providers don’t actually run their own cellular networks, for the most part. Instead, most are what’s called MVNOs, which stands for mobile virtual network operators. They partner with the larger carriers and piggyback on their networks. Let’s break down who is partnered with whom and if features like 5G are included.
Mint Mobile uses T-Mobile
Ryan Reynolds’ cell carrier is actually using T-Mobile’s service for its network.
Is 5G included? Mint has access to T-Mobile’s 5G network and like T-Mobile, Mint also includes 5G access with all plans so long as you have a 5G phone.
Google Fi uses T-Mobile
Google’s mobile phone service uses an amalgamation of different networks to provide service. Post T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint, the group of three networks dropped to just T-Mobile and US Cellular. Now the carrier seems set to drop US Cellular and will rely mainly on T-Mobile for service.
Is 5G included? 5G is included with all Fi plans, but you will need to make sure your phone works with T-Mobile’s 5G network. At the moment that list includes a variety of Android phones, namely recent Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel devices as well as some Motorola phones. Google Fi still does not allow the iPhone to access 5G on its network.
Visible uses Verizon
Visible is a sub-brand of Verizon and, as such, runs on its network.
Is 5G included? Visible plans include access to Verizon’s 5G network. This includes Verizon’s low-band nationwide network as well as its fastest millimeter-wave service that is available in parts of certain cities. Speeds, even when on the faster flavor of 5G, are capped at 200Mbps.
Boost Mobile uses AT&T, T-Mobile and Dish
Boost Mobile, which was spun off to Dish by Sprint as part of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, runs on AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s networks. Dish is in the process of building out its own 5G network and will begin transitioning users in those areas to its service as it becomes available.
The first city, Las Vegas, is now live, and last May the company listed 100 additional cities that it planned to expand to. As part of the merger, Dish was granted the ability to continue using T-Mobile’s network for seven years as it builds out its own network.
While T-Mobile was expected to be the roaming network, in 2021 Dish announced a new deal with AT&T that will let it roam on the latter’s wireless network for 10 years. Although it will still be able to tap into T-Mobile for part of this time, expect to use a combination AT&T, T-Mobile and Dish’s own network going forward.
Is 5G included? Boost does not charge extra for accessing 5G.
US Mobile uses T-Mobile and Verizon
US Mobile, a newer player in the wireless game, uses a combination of T-Mobile and Verizon.
Is 5G included? US Mobile includes 5G with all of its plans, though whether you are connecting to Verizon or T-Mobile isn’t as simple as an option like Google Fi. Whereas that service will automatically switch you to whichever network has the best coverage, US Mobile actually has two different SIM cards: the black SIM card is for Verizon (what the company calls Warp 5G), while the white SIM card is for T-Mobile (which the company calls GSM).
The Warp 5G network the carrier is pushing uses Verizon’s network.
Spectrum Mobile uses Verizon
Charter’s Spectrum Mobile uses Verizon’s network for its coverage.
Is 5G included? Spectrum Mobile includes access to Verizon’s 5G networks. Data speeds aren’t capped but, per the company’s disclosures, your data may be slowed in busy areas with a lot of network congestion. The company states once the congestion «lessens,» however, «your speed will return to normal.»
Xfinity Mobile uses Verizon
Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile uses Verizon’s network for its coverage.
Is 5G included? Like Spectrum Mobile, Comcast’s offering has access to Verizon’s 5G networks. As with that service, data speeds aren’t capped but Comcast notes in its disclosure that in busy areas where Verizon’s network may be congested, Xfinity Mobile customers may see their data slowed until the congestion clears.
Optimum Mobile (formerly Altice) uses T-Mobile
Optimum Mobile (once known as Altice Mobile), which is offered to Optimum and Suddenlink users, uses T-Mobile’s network.
Is 5G included? Optimum Mobile includes 5G with all of its plans, though if you go over your monthly data limit for its 1GB or 3GB plans you will be «reduced to 2G speeds» for the remainder of your billing cycle. If you have the company’s «Unlimited» or «Unlimited Max» plans your data will slow to «3G speeds» after 20GB or 50GB is used, respectively.
Technologies
Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt Trade Blows in Latest AI Slop Video, and Hollywood Won’t Stand for It
While some Hollywood icons are feeling doom and gloom over the AI-generated clip, labor unions are fighting back with legal threats.
Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are trading blows in a viral AI-generated clip on social media, sparking backlash from the film industry. Chinese company ByteDance’s new video generation model, Seedance 2.0, allowed people to create fictional videos of real likenesses with short prompts. Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson used two lines to generate the clip of Pitt and Cruise fighting.
If ByteDance sounds familiar to you, it’s because the company also owns TikTok internationally, though it recently sold its US ownership of the social media and video-sharing platform to US companies. Oracle, MGX and Silver Lake each hold a 15% stake.
The actors in this latest viral AI slop video still don’t look like perfect re-creations — close-up shots of the fake Brad Pitt’s face, especially, have an «uncanny valley,» dreamlike AI look where the cuts blend into his flesh a little too smoothly. However, a CNET survey from earlier Tuesday showed that while 94% of US adults believe they encounter AI slop on social media, just 44% say they’re confident they can tell real videos from AI-generated ones.
One of the most inflammatory parts of the Pitt-Cruise video is the dialogue, as the computerized facsimiles of the actors fight over a supposed assassination plot regarding Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who maintained ties to rich and powerful people worldwide. The two actors’ likenesses became a vehicle to push conspiracy theories that have been picking up steam as the millions of pages of redacted emails, receipts and other documents that make up the Epstein files continue to trickle out of the US Department of Justice.
Hollywood is fighting back as AI-generated content consumes and spits out actor likenesses and copyrighted content alike. Major studios and their labor forces alike have united to push back against the precedent set by the viral AI video.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Motion Picture Association demanded that ByteDance «immediately cease its infringing activity» through Seedance. SAG-AFTRA, the labor union that represents Hollywood performers, released a statement on Friday saying it «stands with the studios» in condemning the Seedance video generation model.
The Screen Actors Guild specifically pointed to Seedance’s unauthorized use of members’ faces, likenesses and voices as a threat that could put actors out of work.
«Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent,» the actors’ guild said in its statement.
Representatives for the MPA and SAG-AFTRA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Similar videos generated by Seedance have depicted Star Wars characters dueling with lightsabers as well as Marvel superheroes Spider-Man and Captain America brawling. Disney issued a cease-and-desist order to ByteDance on Friday in response to these videos, which it alleges constitute copyright infringement, according to the BBC.
A representative for ByteDance didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment, but issued a statement to the BBC saying it is «taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.»
Following the viral incident, ByteDance updated its tool to prevent people from uploading images of real people for AI-generated content, but it remains to be seen how effective that policy will be. Certainly, it won’t curb the output of videos depicting fictional masked or anthropomorphic characters like Spider-Man or Mickey Mouse.
As AI models continue to create mediocre copies of cultural icons, this won’t be the first — or last — legal battleground for AI video generation.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Feb. 18, #983
Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Feb. 18 #983.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle was great fun for me, as I’m the co-author of two pop-culture encyclopedias, one about the 1970s, and 1980s and the other about the 1990s. Two of the categories are retro-themed! Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Farrah hair.
Green group hint: Totally tubular!
Blue group hint: Bock-bock!
Purple group hint: Can refer to a dairy product or a cosmetic.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Retro hair directives.
Green group: Retro slang for cool.
Blue group: Chicken descriptors.
Purple group: ____ cream.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is retro hair directives. The four answers are crimp, curl, feather and tease.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is retro slang for cool. The four answers are bad, fly, rad and wicked.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is chicken descriptors. The four answers are bantam, crested, free-range and leghorn.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ cream. The four answers are heavy, shaving, sour and topical.
Technologies
Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Feb. 18, #1705
Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Feb. 18, No. 1,705.
Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Wordle answer is a word I thought I’d seen in Wordle before, but I guess not. The letters aren’t super common, so it may take a few guesses. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.
Read more: New Study Reveals Wordle’s Top 10 Toughest Words of 2025
Today’s Wordle hints
Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.
Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats
Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.
Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels
Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.
Wordle hint No. 3: First letter
Today’s Wordle answer begins with M.
Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter
Today’s Wordle answer ends with L.
Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning
Today’s Wordle answer can refer to an important or powerful person.
TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER
Today’s Wordle answer is MOGUL.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Feb. 17, No. 1704 was SQUAD.
Recent Wordle answers
Feb. 13, No. 1700: MOOCH
Feb. 14, No. 1701: BLOOM
Feb. 15, No. 1702: SKULL
Feb. 16, No. 1703: ROOST
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