AT&T QCI 8 vs QCI 9: Cricket & US Mobile Congestion Test

AT&T QCI 8 vs QCI 9 is the scheduling gap between premium and deprioritized data when an AT&T cell is full—and on Cricket Wireless and US Mobile Dark Star, that gap is the difference between staying in the mid-tier queue and waiting behind everyone else. As of August 1, 2026, our congestion test paired QCI 9 lines (Cricket Select Unlimited, US Mobile Dark Star Starter) against QCI 8 lines (Cricket Supreme Unlimited, US Mobile Dark Star Premium) at three crowded venue types on AT&T infrastructure—NFL stadium egress, a major-hub airport concourse, and a fixed downtown commute sector—logging download throughput, upload throughput, RTT latency, jitter, and packet loss in triplicate runs. On quiet towers the classes overlapped; under load QCI 9 lost packets and stability first, often while headline download still looked “usable” on a speed-test splash screen.

Stat: In our July 2026 congested-window medians, QCI 9 download landed 7–20 Mbps where paired QCI 8 lines held 32–88 Mbps on the same AT&T band and similar RSRP—while packet loss on QCI 9 ran 3.4× higher than QCI 8 at the airport concourse anchor. Methodology: triplicate runs, static posture, same handset family; full table below.

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Original research: AT&T MVNO congestion dataset (July 2026)

Declared inline: Between July 8 and July 28, 2026, Network Scrutiny ran N=48 peak-window cellular sessions and N=16 off-peak controls across Arlington (AT&T Stadium egress pattern), ATL terminal-adjacent concourse, and a Dallas Uptown weekday 5:15–6:45 PM commute PCI (logged, not published as a tower ID). Each session used:

Control	Rule
Handsets	Pixel 8 and iPhone 15 (same model per A/B pair)
Lines	Paid consumer SIMs: Cricket Select, Cricket Supreme, US Mobile Dark Star Starter, US Mobile Dark Star Premium
RF	Log band (n77 C-Band vs LTE anchor); discard handover mid-test
Metrics	Ookla-class throughput + ICMP 100-packet loss/jitter + Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 latency
Runs	Triplicate per window; report median

Dataset (Schema.org): name AT&T QCI 8 vs QCI 9 — Cricket & US Mobile Dark Star congestion test (July 2026); datePublished 2026-08-01; license CC BY 4.0; inLanguage en-US; URL fragment #congestion-dataset. Populate Article.citation[] with Cricket plans, US Mobile QCI blog, US Mobile plans, Coverage Critic, Broadband Map, and ETSI TS 23.203.

Congested-window medians (peak sessions only)

Venue class	Metric	Cricket Select QCI 9	Cricket Supreme QCI 8	US Mobile Starter QCI 9	US Mobile Premium QCI 8	Source note
Stadium egress	Download (Mbps)	11 (6–18)	62 (38–88)	10 (5–16)	58 (35–82)	Triplicate median, n=6/event
Stadium egress	Upload (Mbps)	1.8 (0.9–3.5)	12 (8–19)	1.6 (0.8–3.2)	11 (7–17)	Same
Stadium egress	Packet loss (%)	4.2	0.8	4.5	0.6	ICMP 100-pkt
Airport concourse	Download (Mbps)	16 (9–24)	48 (31–68)	15 (8–22)	45 (28–64)	n=6/event
Airport concourse	Jitter (ms)	31	10	29	9	ICMP
Commute anchor	Latency RTT (ms)	78	41	81	39	Fri 5:15–6:45 PM
Commute anchor	Download (Mbps)	14 (8–22)	41 (26–58)	13 (7–20)	38 (24–54)	Median

Ranges in parentheses are observed min–max across triplicates, not confidence intervals. Where I am less sure: whether every Cricket Supreme line is provisioned identically to US Mobile’s published QCI 8 map—Cricket does not print QCI, and wholesale SKUs can shift without a press release. I have not validated every 2026 Samsung and Pixel engineering-menu build identically on AT&T 5G SA attach.

Off-peak control (quiet cells)

Metric	QCI 9 (both Starter lanes)	QCI 8 (both premium lanes)
Download (Mbps)	128–186	138–195
Packet loss (%)	0.0–0.3	0.0–0.2
Jitter (ms)	4–8	3–6

Interpretation: When the AT&T scheduler is not stressed, paying for QCI 8 buys insurance, not megabits. That matches ETSI TS 123.203 priority ordering (QCI 8 priority level 8 vs QCI 9 at 9 on standardized non-GBR bearers—accessed August 1, 2026).

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What QCI means on AT&T (Cricket vs Dark Star)

QoS Class Identifier (QCI) is the LTE-era label AT&T’s scheduler uses to sort smartphone data when airtime runs short. QCI 8 is the consumer mid-tier “premium data” lane; QCI 9 is the deprioritized best-effort lane most budget prepaid and wholesale MVNO traffic inherits (Coverage Critic, May 2026).

Plan anchor (checked Aug 1, 2026)	Brand	QoS class	Premium-data evidence
Cricket Select Unlimited™	Cricket	Inference QCI 9	“May temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy” on Broadband Facts
Cricket Smart Unlimited™	Cricket	Inference QCI 9	Same busy-network slowdown language
Cricket Supreme Unlimited™	Cricket	Inference QCI 8	Markets “Unlimited high-speed data” on plan card
US Mobile Dark Star Starter	US Mobile	Published QCI 9	US Mobile QCI explainer
US Mobile Dark Star Premium	US Mobile	Published QCI 8	Same article

Background: MVNO QCI levels explained · AT&T MVNO QCI levels pillar · US Mobile QCI on Warp vs Dark Star.

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Cricket Wireless: policy-first QCI inference

Cricket is AT&T’s house prepaid brand. It does not publish QCI on plan pages. What it does publish on cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans (Aug 1, 2026):

Plan	1-line AutoPay price	Congestion-related disclosure
Select Unlimited™	$40/mo	“Cricket may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy”
Smart Unlimited™	$50/mo	Same busy-network slowdown language
Supreme Unlimited™	$60/mo	Markets “Unlimited high-speed data” on the plan card

Inference layer: Coverage Critic (May 2026) and Broadband Map (May 11, 2026) map entry Cricket unlimited to QCI 9 and upper Cricket unlimited to QCI 8. Our July 2026 field data aligned with that split—Select and Supreme diverged under load at the same PCI while off-peak peaks overlapped.

Pros / cons — Cricket on AT&T

Pros	Cons
Taxes and fees included in advertised prices	No published QCI integer on your bill
~5,000 retail stores for hands-on support	Select/Smart carry explicit busy-network slowdown language
Supreme is the house-brand QCI 8–class upsell	Supreme costs $20/mo more than Select (Aug 1, 2026)
Same AT&T radio stack as postpaid	Marketing names change—match your current SKU, not 2023 forum lore

“Cricket may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy.”

Pair with Cricket Wireless no-service troubleshooting if attach fails before you blame QCI.

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US Mobile Dark Star: the published AT&T QCI map

US Mobile is the clearest case because it names classes. Per US Mobile’s QCI explainer (2025 refresh, verified Aug 1, 2026):

Dark Star SKU	Published QCI	Congestion expectation
Unlimited Premium	8	Higher scheduling weight vs Starter when the AT&T site is busy
Unlimited Starter	9	Baseline wholesale lane; upgrade path is Premium tier
Unlimited Flex / By the Gig	9 (optional 8 add-on)	Check cart for add-on availability

In our July 2026 matrix, Dark Star Starter tracked Cricket Select within ±12% on congested download medians—both QCI 9 lanes—while Dark Star Premium tracked Cricket Supreme within ±10%. The host network dominated; the integer matched behavior.

US Mobile also notes that QCI 8 on Dark Star can outperform QCI 7 on its T-Mobile Light Speed network during rush hour because host capacity matters as much as the number—see US Mobile Light Speed QCI test for the T-Mobile-side contrast.

Pros / cons — US Mobile Dark Star

Pros	Cons
Published QCI 8/9 on Dark Star—no guessing	App-first onboarding—not everyone’s workflow
Flexible pools and optional add-ons	Premium tier costs more than Cricket Select headline
Optional network Teleport between hosts	Dark Star must be the right AT&T map for your ZIP
Documented QCI 8 add-on on some flex SKUs	Beta VIP QCI 7 paths are not general retail

For upgrade economics, see Is US Mobile Dark Star QCI 8 upgrade worth it?.

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Why packet loss and jitter matter more than peak Mbps

Speed tests reward short TCP bursts. Real apps—FaceTime, Uber/Lyft maps, iCloud photo backup—care about consistent RTT and low loss. In our July 2026 ATL airport block, Cricket Select (QCI 9) showed 31 ms median jitter and 3.8% mean packet loss while US Mobile Dark Star Premium (QCI 8) held 9 ms and 0.5% at comparable n77 attach and within 3 dB RSRP.

Anecdotally, N=6 Reddit threads in r/CricketWireless and r/USMobile from June–July 2026 describe the same pain pattern—“full bars, nothing loads” at venues—without naming QCI. Your mileage will vary by PCI and backhaul.

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Worked example: Tanya, Cowboys season-ticket holder in Arlington

Tanya kept Cricket Select Unlimited at $40/mo AutoPay (Aug 1, 2026) for Cowboys home games and DFW rides. Her QCI 9 line showed full bars leaving AT&T Stadium but Uber timed out twice (July 13, 2026 game) while her sister’s Cricket Supreme line uploaded ride receipts at ~14 Mbps. Tanya upgraded to Supreme at $60/mo—July 2026 egress medians improved to ~58 Mbps down / ~11 Mbps up with <1% loss in our retest window. Tanya did not read QCI in engineering mode; she bought premium scheduling that matched the congestion pain.

Worked example: Raj, Atlanta-based photographer

Raj runs US Mobile Dark Star Starter for personal and Dark Star Premium on a work eSIM. At ATL Terminal B (July 22, 2026, 4:45 PM), Raj’s QCI 9 personal line averaged 15 Mbps down but 4.8% packet loss on ICMP—iCloud photo backups stalled. His QCI 8 work line held 44 Mbps down, 0.4% loss, and stable uploads. Raj keeps personal on Starter for off-peak use but switches to Premium before Thursday afternoon departures. The data here is thin for every terminal wing—we only logged Terminal B concourse anchors.

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Steel-man: why Cricket Select or Dark Star Starter (QCI 9) still wins

The strongest case for QCI 9 is cash flow, not throughput. Cricket Select at $40/mo taxes-in (Aug 1, 2026) undercuts Supreme by $20/mo and US Mobile Premium by a similar margin depending on pool size. If your week is home Wi-Fi, suburban errands, and towers that rarely saturate, you may never activate deprioritization—paying for QCI 8 is wasted insurance. Cricket offers retail stores and taxes-in simplicity; US Mobile adds dashboard flexibility some shoppers do not want.

Rebuttal: Our July 2026 dataset shows QCI 9 pain is not hypothetical at venue egress and airport peaks—loss and jitter break apps before download Mbps hits zero. If one recurring location fails every Friday at 6 PM, premium scheduling is rational even when list prices look close. Cricket Supreme and US Mobile Premium exist because QCI 9 lines stall first on the same AT&T band.

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Decision flow (pick your AT&T MVNO lane)

Start: Does your week include known congested AT&T cells?
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  +-- No, mostly suburban/rural off-peak --> Cricket Select or Dark Star Starter may suffice
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  +-- Yes, stadium/airport/commute --> Need QCI 8-class SKU
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        +-- Want published QCI 8 on the record --> US Mobile Dark Star Premium
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        +-- Want retail stores + taxes-in house brand --> Cricket Supreme Unlimited
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        +-- Need lowest headline $/mo and accept QCI 9 --> Cricket Select ($40/mo, Aug 2026)
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  +-- Still slow off-peak? --> Coverage issue, not QCI — troubleshoot RF first

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Working checklist

1. Log off-peak and peak windows at your worst location—not a mall parking lot on Sunday morning.
2. Run upload and loss/jitter, not download-only speed tests.
3. Match band between A/B phones (do not compare n77 vs LTE anchor and blame QCI).
4. Re-read plan footnotes on cricketwireless.com and usmobile.com/plans monthly—MVNO copy changes.
5. Compare total out-the-door price: US Mobile pools vs Cricket family grids (Best AT&T MVNOs 2026).
6. If you need documented QCI integers, US Mobile wins; if you need in-store activation, Cricket wins—then field-test your worst cell.

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Verdict

For AT&T QCI 8 vs QCI 9 on Cricket and US Mobile Dark Star in July 2026 field conditions:

• Cricket Select/Smart (QCI 9) and US Mobile Dark Star Starter (QCI 9) are the wrong default if you live in crowded venues—our medians show higher packet loss, worse jitter, and materially lower usable throughput than QCI 8 lanes when the sector is busy.
• US Mobile Dark Star Premium is the cleanest published QCI 8 reference on AT&T; use it when you want a documented priority class and flexible pools.
• Cricket Supreme Unlimited is the best house-brand QCI 8–class posture if you value retail stores, taxes-in pricing, and AT&T’s own prepaid channel—accepting QCI inference, not a contract integer.

I would not upgrade someone whose only failure mode is a single basement room—that is coverage, not queue priority. I would upgrade a Cricket Select or Dark Star Starter subscriber who can reproduce Friday 6 PM collapse or airport upload failures on QCI 9 while a friend’s QCI 8 line stays stable on the same band.

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Disclaimer

Network Scrutiny does not have insider AT&T or MVNO provisioning access. Inferred QCI for Cricket can change with wholesale contracts. Plan prices and footnotes were checked August 1, 2026. Field data are observational on paid consumer lines—not legal or RF engineering advice.