What Happened to Q Link Wireless? Where Your Service Went, and the Best Alternatives in 2026

Q Link Wireless is closed. The company no longer takes part in the Lifeline program, and its service has stopped. The website, the login page, and the customer service lines are all shut down. There is nothing left to log into and nobody there to call.

Its Lifeline customers were transferred to StandUp Wireless.

That is the whole situation in three sentences. The rest of this article is about what actually matters now: where you stand today, and what your options are.

The most important thing to know is this your Lifeline benefit never belonged to Q Link. It belongs to you. Lifeline is a federal program, it is still running, and you can still get free phone service through it. You just need to get connected to a company that is still standing.

Let’s get you there.

Step one: Find out if You are Still Enrolled

Do this before anything else. It takes one phone call, and it changes everything that follows.

Lifeline has a rule you need to know about, because it is quietly working in the background right now. It is called the usage rule:

To keep a free Lifeline benefit, you must use the service at least once every 30 days. A call, a text, or a little data all count. If 30 days pass with no use, your provider sends a warning and gives you a 15-day window to use the service. If you still don’t, you are removed from the program.

Now think about how that played out for a lot of Q Link customers. The Q Link phone stopped working. A StandUp SIM card arrived in the mail and sat unopened, or never arrived at all. The line went unused. The 30 days passed, then the 15.

A great many former Q Link customers are no longer enrolled in Lifeline and have no idea.

If that is you, hear this clearly: being dropped for non-use is not a punishment and it is not permanent. It is not a black mark on your record. It does not make you ineligible. You simply sign up again.

How to check your status

• Call the Lifeline Support Center: 1-800-234-9473 (9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Eastern, seven days a week). Tell them you were a Q Link customer and ask whether you currently have an active Lifeline benefit.
• Or sign in to your National Verifier account at LifelineSupport.org. If the web address switches to getinternet.gov when you click “Sign In,” don’t worry that is the correct government site.

You will land in one of two places:

• Still enrolled? Good. You have a benefit you can move to a better provider. Skip ahead to Your best alternatives.
• Not enrolled? Also fine. You will re-apply, and the steps are near the bottom of this page.

The most common thing I hear from former Q Link customers is not anger it’s confusion. Most assume they are still in the program and are just having phone trouble. The five-minute status check is the single most useful thing I ask anyone to do.

What StandUp Wireless Actually Gives You

StandUp Wireless is run by Global Connection Inc. of America. It is a real, FCC-approved Lifeline provider. There is nothing shady about it, and if it is working for you, you are welcome to stay.

But you should know exactly what you were placed into, because it catches people off guard.

StandUp’s free Lifeline plan: at least 1,000 minutes, unlimited texts, and 4.5 GB of data per month, on a nationwide 5G network.

Look hard at those numbers. That is the federal minimum, exactly. Every Lifeline company in the country is required to provide at least 1,000 minutes and 4.5 GB. StandUp meets that floor. It does not go above it.

And here is the part that matters most:

StandUp is a bring-your-own-phone carrier. Their free offer is the SIM card and the service — not a handset. Their own site leads with “bring your own phone, keep your number.” If you don’t already own a working, compatible phone, they point you toward buying one.

Put those two facts together and you can see the trap. A customer whose Q Link phone died gets handed a company whose free offer is a SIM card for a phone they no longer have. So the SIM sits in a drawer, and the 30-day clock runs out.

If you have a working phone, StandUp is a perfectly reasonable option and there’s no reason to move unless you want more data.

If you do not have a working phone, StandUp cannot solve your problem. You need a provider that ships you a device. That is what the next section is for.

A few other StandUp details worth knowing:

• Use the service at least once every 30 days or you’ll get an inactivity notice and a 15-day window to fix it.
• You must recertify your eligibility once a year.
• In Texas, you will likely need printed proof of your qualifying program instead of an automatic database check.

Your best alternatives to Q Link Wireless in 2026

Before you compare anyone, here is the one fact that makes all the advertising make sense:

Every Lifeline provider is paid the same $9.25 a month by the government. The federal service floor is identical for all of them: 1,000 minutes, unlimited texts, 4.5 GB of data.

So everything above that floor the free smartphone, the extra data, the hotspot; is the company’s own money, spent to win your business. That is why offers change without warning, why they vary from state to state, and why “free iPhone” ads appear and disappear.

Once you understand that, you stop shopping for the loudest ad and start shopping for what you actually need.

At a glance

Provider	Free phone?	Typical free plan	Best for
Assurance Wireless	✅ Yes	Up to 10 GB in most states; a $1/month upgrade adds more data plus a mobile hotspot	Best all-round value — the strongest data deal in the market
AirTalk Wireless	✅ Yes — widest device choice, sometimes including iPhones	Varies by state	If you need a phone and want to pick which one
SafeLink Wireless	✅ Yes — usually a Samsung Galaxy A or Motorola Moto G	Varies by state	Seniors, and areas where Verizon-based coverage is stronger
Life Wireless	✅ Yes — usually a basic Android	Varies by state	A simple, no-fuss nationwide option
Gen Mobile	✅ Yes	Varies by state	Broad state coverage
TruConnect	⚠️ Only for California LifeLine and Tribal applicants. Everyone else gets a SIM card only	Varies	Only if you already have a phone
StandUp Wireless	❌ No — SIM card only	1,000 min / unlimited text / 4.5 GB	Only if you already have a phone

How to choose, based on your actual situation

If your Q Link phone is dead and you need a handset → Look at Assurance, AirTalk, SafeLink, Life Wireless, or Gen Mobile. Do not sign up with a SIM-only company. This is the single most common mistake former Q Link customers make.

If you already own a working phone → You have the most freedom. Assurance is still worth a look for the data, but any bring-your-own-phone provider will work, including staying with StandUp.

If you want the most data for your money → Assurance Wireless. Their $1-a-month upgrade is the best-value tip in this entire market and almost nobody publishes it: about ten dollars a year gets you a much larger data allowance plus a mobile hotspot. A hotspot means a child can do homework on a laptop. That is a real difference in a household.

If you are a senior, or you live somewhere rural → SafeLink runs on a Verizon-based network, which is often stronger outside cities. Their free handsets tend to be simple and dependable.

If you live on Tribal lands → You qualify for an enhanced benefit worth up to $34.25 a month instead of $9.25. That is a much larger benefit, and it is badly underused. Ask any provider you call whether they offer the Tribal Lifeline rate.

Two honest warnings

For the full breakdown, see our Best Lifeline Providers 2026 comparison and our Best Free Lifeline Phones 2026 guide.

How to move to a new provider

Moving your Lifeline benefit is called a benefit transfer, and it is simpler than most websites make it sound.

1. Pick the new company you want.
2. Apply with them and give your consent to move your benefit.
3. They do the rest. Your new provider logs into the national Lifeline database and moves the benefit over on your behalf.
4. Your old account closes automatically. You do not need to call your old provider to cancel.

That’s it. It costs nothing and there is no cancellation fee, because there was never a contract.

About the “60-day rule” you keep reading about

You will see it everywhere: “You must wait 60 days before switching Lifeline providers.” Other sites say 90 days.

We went looking for that rule in the official documentation and could not find it. USAC the organization that actually operates the Lifeline database publishes the full benefit-transfer process, and it contains no waiting period at all. The new provider simply obtains your consent and makes the transfer.

Individual companies may still apply their own internal policies, and some state programs have their own rules. So if a provider tells you that you have to wait, you are entirely within your rights to ask which rule they mean and you can call the Lifeline Support Center at 1-800-234-9473 to check for yourself.

The one rule that is absolutely real

You may only have one Lifeline benefit at a time, and only one per household. Never sign up with two companies at once, even by accident. That is the rule that genuinely gets people removed from the program.

Don’t throw away your old Q Link phone yet

Before that handset disappears into a drawer forever, give it five minutes. It might save you a wait.

How to check it:

1. Dial *#06# on the phone. A long number appears that’s the IMEI, the phone’s serial number.
2. Take that number to whichever provider you’re considering and run it through their “check my phone” or compatibility tool. It’s free.

Two things can stop an old Q Link phone from working:

• It may be locked to Q Link and Q Link is not around to unlock it.
• It may be too old for today’s networks.

If it passes the check, you can walk straight into a bring-your-own-phone provider and skip waiting for a device. If it doesn’t, choose a provider from the table above that actually ships you a phone.

I’ve watched people give up on a perfectly good handset because they assumed a dead line meant a dead phone. Those are two different things. The IMEI check costs nothing and takes two minutes always run it before you write the phone off.

Can you keep your old phone number?

Maybe. The honest answer depends entirely on timing, so read this before you cancel anything.

Your number is yours under federal law, and you have the right to move it to a new company. That process is called porting. But porting only works while the number is still alive on some carrier’s system. A number that has been dead for months is usually gone for good.

If your Lifeline line is still active (with StandUp, for example): You’re in good shape. Do not cancel it. Start the sign-up with your new provider first, and ask them to port your number in. The old line has to stay alive until the transfer finishes.

If your number was on the Hello Mobile side (Q Link’s separate paid brand): That number now sits with Liberty Wireless, not StandUp. To move it you need your account number and your port-out PIN, and you have to get those from Liberty. Consumer reporters covering that transition noted that some customers had success using their phone number as the account number and the last four digits as the PIN. It’s not guaranteed, but it costs nothing to try.

If your line has been dead for many months: The number has most likely been released and reassigned. I’d rather tell you that plainly than have you spend three weeks chasing it.

To port a number you’ll need three things: the number itself, the account number, and the port-out PIN. Gather all three before you cancel anything.

How to get back on Lifeline: the full path

If your status check showed you are no longer enrolled, this is your route back. It is not complicated.

Step 1 — Confirm you qualify

You automatically qualify if you or anyone in your household takes part in:

• SNAP (food stamps)
• Medicaid
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Federal Public Housing Assistance
• Veterans Pension or Survivors Benefit

You also qualify on income alone if your household is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. For 2026, in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.:

Household size	Yearly income limit
1 person	$21,546
2 people	$29,214
3 people	$36,882
4 people	$44,550
Each additional person	add $7,668

Alaska and Hawaii have their own higher limits.

Step 2 — Apply through the National Verifier

This is the government’s official eligibility check. Start at LifelineSupport.org and click “Apply Now.” You can also apply by mail. Full walkthrough: How to Apply for Lifeline.

Step 3 — Once approved, you have 90 days to sign up with a company

This is the step people miss, and it is the most expensive mistake in the whole process.

Approval is not service. Getting approved by the National Verifier means you’re eligible it does not give you a phone. You then have 90 days to enroll with an actual provider. Miss that window and your approval expires and you start over from the beginning.

Pick your provider the same week you’re approved. Don’t set the letter down.

Step 4 — Get your SIM or phone, and activate it right away

Step 5 — Use the service at least once every 30 days

Make a call. Send a text. Set a monthly reminder on your calendar if it helps. This is the rule that quietly took the benefit away from thousands of Q Link customers, and it is the easiest rule in the entire program to follow.

Step 6 — Recertify once a year

You’ll get a notice. Answer it. Ignoring recertification mail is the second most common way people lose this benefit.

One man I helped had his approval letter sitting in a stack of mail for four months. He thought approval meant he was finished. It expired, and we had to start over. Now the first thing I tell anyone is: approved isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting gun.

One warning before you sign up anywhere

Scammers follow the news, and they know a great many people are searching for Q Link right now.

There is no Q Link payout, refund, or settlement check for customers. If you get a text, email, or call about “claiming your Q Link settlement,” with a link to click or a fee to pay, it is a scam. Delete it. Do not click. Do not give out your Social Security number.

And when you choose a new provider:

• Verify the company is authorized at lifelinesupport.org/companies-near-me before you share any personal information.
• A real Lifeline provider will never charge you a fee to enroll, never demand your full Social Security number by text message, and never claim to be “the government” while pressuring you to act immediately.
• You are always allowed to leave. No contract. No cancellation fee. If the service is bad, move. See How to Switch Lifeline Providers.

Frequently asked questions

You still have this benefit

Q Link is closed. That chapter is finished, and there’s nothing there for you anymore.

But the program that paid for your phone is still standing, still funded, and still yours to use. Millions of people are on it today.

Make one call to check your status. Then pick a company that actually gives you what you need a real phone, real data, and a support line that answers.

You’re allowed to have this.