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 Review by somitho 
Posted: 63 days ago
member for 5.2 years, 292 visits, last login: 54 days ago
 Richmond,Richmond City,VA
 Business customer
 $60 per month (24 month contract)
 about 1 days
 "Great throughput, and stability"
 "5G limit"
 "Worth it if you need mobility and can stay under 5G."
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I recently purchased a new line of service on my account and decided to get the Blackberry Tour for myself which comes with the free HP Mini netbook; and upgrade my other line (was a storm) to an EnV3 for my Fiancé.
The HP Mini takes a bit of getting used to (It has a small keyboard) but its very nice, and comes spec'ed out well compared to other netbooks. I use it on wifi where I can, but the broadband card built in is very stable and gets pretty good speeds.
Overall I would recommend it. The rep at the short pump, va location who set it all up was not as knowledgeable as I would have liked but she was very good in going over things with me that she does know about.
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Review by BellSouthBS
UPDATED: 123 days ago
member for 7.7 years, 107 visits, last login: 106 days ago
Fort Lauderdale,Broward,FL
$59 per month (month by month)
"Support has VERY good technical expertise"
"low speed, low signal, high cost vs. throughput,"
"high cost does not reflect performance"
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This review is for Verizon Wireless Broadband Service in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The reviewer is a consultant for RF communications, including Cell and Broadcast.
I purchased a Pantech PC5750 wireless data card on July 19, 2009, from a Verizon store near Plantation Florida. The Pantech PC5750 was installed at the store. Downlink speed was 2330 kbps in the store, and uplink speed was 820 kbps in the store. The signal through the store's microcell caused all four bars on the Verizon software connection manager to turn green.
Returning home, I looked at my online banking account, and found I had been billed a total of $580.00 for the cost of the card plus deposit. No one mentioned the actual cost of the deposit at the store, nor did it appear on any receipt, only my business banking account. The Verizon receipt further stated that my first month's bill would be $135 and change. This amounts to over $715.00 worth of charges to start service with a wireless data card only, for 954-809-198x
At home, the Verizon signal levels fluctuated between a low of -113 dbm to a maximum RF signal strength of -92 dbm in the house. RF signal strength peaked at -85 dbm when the laptop was placed on the roof of a car in the driveway. Typical speed outside the residence was 400 kbps down, and 320 kbps up. Inside the residence, typical speeds on all 3 laptops ranged between 80 to 450 kbps down, and between 18 and 400 kbps up. I noted that uplink speeds sometime exceeded downlink speeds. The connection disconnected and reconnected several times.
The residence is clean of internal and external RF near 1.9575 GHz, one of the downlink frequencies for Verizon devices in my area. The Pantech PC5750 data card transmit envelope was right on frequency at 1.8775 GHz. The modulation envelope showed a good flat plateau with good shape factor, as viewed on my Anritsu spectrum analyzer.
With Google.com as the target from the Fort Lauderdale area, Ping Plotter Pro diagnostic software revealed 15 hops, six of which were internal to the Verizon Network. The average round trip time was 104 milliseconds after settling, and average jitter was 45.33 milliseconds. Very little packet loss was observed.
I further observed data stream fragmentation, which is characteristic of using the same platform and pipe to process data at a cell site. Another cause might be insufficient capacity, since this was observed during peak hours in the early afternoon.
I then fired up a microcell repeater, with an HAAT of 30'. Although the signal levels maxed out, downlink throughput at no time exceeded 1050 kbps (for less than 3 seconds), then returned to a 500 kbps typical throughput, indicating insufficient capacity in the system.
Conclusion valid for the Fort Lauderdale Florida Market: 1. This is an overpriced service that cannot deliver claimed throughput in its stated service areas. 2. Throughput is further degraded during peak hours due to what appears to be packet congestion and cell tower loading. 3. Verizon appears to be waiting and holding off 3G/4G upgrades because of its rollout of LTE (possibly hoping fed up customers will migrate to Verizon's 700 MHz spectrum that it paid billions for).
--- Added after a return call from Verizon Tech -------
A Verizon tech called me at home tonight after I had complained about low signal levels at home, I found out the NEAREST cell site was 1.71 miles away! A second site is located 1.98 miles to the NW. A third site is located 1.74 miles to the SW.
Good engineering practices dictate that urban cell sites cover a radius of about ONE MILE. Although Verizon may show a coverage map that blows the competition away, the signal strength may be greatly diminished, resulting in dropped calls.
For my location, a repeater with a high antenna is a necessity. This adds an additional $300-$400 for this project.
P.S. The Verizon network, in my area, automatically disconnects if it sees other IP's, such as you would find in a VPN Network, or VOIP telephone adaptor.
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Review by jameswade
UPDATED: 136 days ago
member for 7.9 years, 1851 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Marshall,Madison,NC
$60 per month (24 month contract)
"Available in most places in the US"
"High latency, slow, expensive, no recourse to poor service if roaming"
"See if US Cellular EVDO is now available in your area..."
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Original review:
We are located a little North of Hot Springs, NC. Only choices for Internet access are dialup (except dialup in this area is very limited, it's usually a long distance call, and only runs at about 21k), satellite (POOR service, unreliable, latency makes VOIP and VPN unworkable), and cell phone.
We are using cell phone. Until recently we had to climb up the side of a mountain and plug in a high gain Yagi antenna to make a call or get Internet access (1xRTT - slow) . Barely! This only worked with Verizon or US Cellular. After years of requests Verizon still isn't covering the area, but US Cellular put a site in Hot Springs last year.
Fortunately Verizon roams on US Cellular because Verizon won't put in a site and US Cellular wouldn't sell me a data plan.
So now we can make phone calls and get Internet access in the cabin. Unfortunately the latency is worse than satellite Internet access! It's at about .9 to 1 second! This kills VPN and VOIP.
If you read the Terms Of Service VOIP, streaming audio or video, almost anything but email and light web surfing seems to be forbidden in the TOS.
I can only get about 80kbps up and down, I could actually live with that, but not the latency.
I can't call and complain to US Cellular because I'm with Verizon and Verizon won't cause US Cellular to fix the problem.
There are other problems:
I'm paying for EVDO, but it's not available.
While I'm using Internet access I can't use the phone, nor will it ring. I could do this with a card, but then I would have to pay another $45 for email on my phone.
While traveling I can get EVDO, but it's not all that great either - I can get around 120k, but the latency is still high.
I'm using a tethered Palm Treo 700w. Verizon told me that I could tether the phone until I bought it. Then they told me that I couldn't . I had to buy third party software to make tethering work. The phone crashes and locks up often, forcing reboots and multiple attempts to troubleshoot.
In summary, this works, but just barely, and it's expensive...
2009.03.16
I switched to a wireless data card and installed a yagi high on the roof about a year ago. It sort of worked barely - we just don't get a good signal from Verizon and their roaming partner here (US Cellular) just can't seem to get with EVDO.
For a couple of months we got usable Internet access, but the signal would just go away occasionally. Since Verizon Wireless claims that they don't cover this area they won't do anything about it - but they were glad to sell me service when I signed up!
I'm not really happy with Verizon - they have the local phone service and won't provide DSL. Their telephone service has hum and noise on it so can't really be used for dialup. Their wireless division won't cover the area, charge too much, and have this ridiculous 5 GB per month cap with an even more ridiculous fee if you go over the cap.
Not recommended if you have any other alternatives. (Except satellite, that's even worse!)
Updated 7/2009 In May of 2008 we got one of Verizon's wireless cards and roamed on US Cellular's tower (1X only  ).
I put a high gain Yagi on the roof and hooked it to a cell amplifier then hooked it to the wireless card and got a weak EVDO connection from a Verizon tower. This might work (not well) for a couple of weeks and with no change in weather, sunspots, or any other reason that I could surmise I would lose all signal and have to go back to US Cellular's 1X. I would call Verizon support and be told that I was not in their service area (apparently they've worked out an agreement with US Cellular that they wouldn't compete here!) and there was nothing that they could do. Then magically it would start working again!
A couple of weeks ago I found out that US Cellular got EVDO working here the middle of May 2009. I immediately picked up a card from them and after a lot of miscommunications on their part it started working with EVDO. (Local store said that they had EVDO, but corporate support insisted that they didn't!)
I get a good strong EVDO signal from US Cellular and 1.3 Mbits down and 667 kbits up! Fairly low ping times too, VOIP works great now!
Verizon's solution was to always offer to let me out of my contract, I finally was able to take them up on their offer. Next Verizon loses us as cell phone customers. Then our neighbors... 
Followup comments:  astiyosti
join:2005-11-10
Asheville, NC
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| why every one knows that u cant run an voip over wireless or satellite connection due to the latency before you put down an isp you need to review the product and what it capability's are before you buy.From the location you are at you will have to live with what you can get. | |
| | jameswade
join:2001-12-09
Hot Springs, NC
 ·US Cellular
·Verizon BroadbandA..
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: why Actually, not everyone knows these things. I happen to know that with the high latency of satellite VOIP is difficult, but there are people doing it.
But we're discussing terrestrial wireless here - there's not a physical reason why the latency can't be lower - the cell site is not in space - it's close by.
My experience with Verizon Wireless has been less that stellar and less than I'm even paying for. Before defending them maybe you should try them out yourself.
I wrote a review of my experience with the product, I'm not asking you for your opinions about how I shop for an ISP. | |
| 
Jayp0411
@amlaw.com
| re: notin but trouble started an acct w/ Verizon since March. was not too bad except that its very slow. then comes April, started to get dropped constantly... been calling Tech Support at least once a month. W/ the same bull shit every time. But i thought, its temporary. Until last month, the service just went dead.
Called again, and finally scheduled a tech guy to come check out my line. Only to find out (from their own tech) that at my location, i can only get the worse than slower speed which they never bother to let me know. Anyway, after he "fixed" it, w/ everything supposedly working fine. comes later in the evening, the dsl doesn't work again!!!
Wasted half a day of my time, my pay, and all they can say is perhaps we can schedule another appointment for a tech guy to check out your line. I wonder if these people can only say whats they were told to say. After that, i just canceled the service. If i knew this is how Verizon is in the first place, i would've never bothered with it even if they only charge $5.00 per month.
Not able to provide service they promise is bad enough, having your customer call to complain for no less than 10 times and say that there is nothing they can do and there is nothing anyone else in the company can help you! man, I've got to say, they got some "top class" Customer Rep. working for them. | |
| cwire
join:2007-06-07
Bedford, KY | why is this review on dsl? your review is on verizon wireless cell service, why did you put it in as a dsl review? | |
| ydoucare
join:2003-03-12
Rensselaer, IN
2 edits | ... Where exactly is your logic behind posting this review? You're roaming on US Celluar, what part of Verizon's network are you reviewing? lol | |
| | jameswade
join:2001-12-09
Hot Springs, NC
·US Cellular
·Verizon BroadbandA..
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: ... Pay close attention now...
My complaint is that Verizon did not build a cell site where US Cellular did.
Since US Cellular built the site and Verizon roams on US Cellular Verizon no longer needs to build a site.
Still with me?
The problem is now that Verizon can say that they service this area, and they do - for voice, nobody cares that they are roaming.
The problem is that I paid for data. Verizon finally brought EVDO close to this area, but they won't overlap with US Cellular.
US Cellular only supplies 1xRTT. Not that 1xRTT is that bad, it's just that they have a problem with it - it runs at about 80kb/s, not so bad, the real problem is the latency - it jumps around between .9 and 4 seconds - worse than satellite Internet. Unusable for remote desktop and VPN.
Now who do I complain to about this? Verizon? Not their network. US Cellular? They don't even offer data to their customers last time I checked. I can't complain to them since I don't have service with them.
I do have service with Verizon and they are not making me happy.
That's my complaint and I'm entitled to my own complaints.
Others read these posts and may be trying to deal with a similar problem or may want to make purchase decisions based on other's experiences.
To bad if you don't understand... | |
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 Review by Pyrion
Posted: 304 days ago
member for 7.9 years, 3765 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
Poway,San Diego,CA
$70 per month (24 month contract)
about 2 days
"Usable practically anywhere."
"Horrible latency during peak hours, 5GB/billing cycle cap."
"Good if you're on the go, or extremely desperate. Otherwise find something else."
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The circumstances that brought me to Verizon for broadband service go as follows: I'm in the midst of an extensive home remodeling that's going to take the better half of this year, and needed broadband connectivity that could be practically guaranteed regardless of location. Living with relatives out in the boonies where cable and dsl don't service means one's options are severely limited.
Anyways, I mostly have gripes regarding this service stemming from my life as a consummate gamer. The 5GB cap is extremely restrictive, basically it is useful only for daily web browsing, emailing and the occasional Windows patch download. It is too limiting for anything else. Forget playing games over this sort of connection, at best you'll see pings of 100-120ms, more than likely 150-170ms, and during peak hours, 450+. The maximum download rate of the service barely competes with the cheapest of DSL plans, 2Mbit down and roughly half a megabit up. If the local cell node is congested, then speeds and overall service responsiveness drop like a brick of lead.
Really the only positive aspect of service like this is that you can use it practically anywhere. If you have cellphone service, you have internet access, and it's better than nothing in most cases (but dialup is at very least consistent).
I rated Pre-Sales Information 3/5 cuz Verizon's sales associates are largely clueless. You really have to speak to someone accustomed to servicing corporate customers to find out the difference between the USB and ExpressCard phones (yes, they're still technically phones, with their own numbers), and their USB phones are flimsy and easily breakable. The ExpressCard (which I have) seems much less prone to incidental breakage, which is just as well, as Asurion WPP insurance is $5 extra per month.
I rated Install process 3/5 because nowhere do they explain that you have to call up Verizon to activate the phone (and agree to the terms of the contract) before you can actually start using the thing. Only after repeated failures of trying to activate the phone through VZAccess Manager did it finally spit out a phone number to call to activate the phone manually.
Connection reliability 2/5 since I've been forced to reset the connection multiple times in the last few days (and I've only had the service for this long) due to overcrowding on the local node. Plus the aforementioned gripes regarding latency, particularly during peak hours.
Services 4/5 because yes, I'm that desperate for internet connectivity in the first place. I'm shamelessly addicted to the Internet, particularly online gaming, and even though I can't do much of that with this service, I'm not completely disconnected from the modern outside world as I would be if I went without this service.
Value for money 2/5 cuz $70/month for service that I have very few positive things to say (and much to complain about) doesn't deserve anything higher. It's not absolute crap (or I'd have eaten the $150 early termination fee already) but for this much money, Verizon has a lot to answer for. If you can live without internet access or can find something better in your area, then I suggest you go that route. This is only for those few of us that are hopelessly addicted to net connectivity stuck in areas where there are very few options.
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Review by Devilmaji
UPDATED: 324 days ago
member for 2.5 years, 7 visits, last login: 83 days ago
Vance,Tuscaloosa,AL
$60 per month (24 month contract)
"Available in most areas that no high speed is."
"HORRIBLE speeds for the money."
"Worste Customer service i've ever encountered."
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There is no other alternative for high speed in my area. So this was the clear choice. Well there is so many LIMITS to what you can do with this internet is almost not even worth it.
Not to mention the horrid hardware they give and do not fix or replace.
I purchased the Novatel USB 720 and its been a nightmare since.
Followup comments: bullet087
join:2006-05-17
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Cebridge Connections
·Verizon BroadbandA..
| do some more research the only REAL limit is 5gb a month.
if you have wireless phone service with verizon, you can sign up for tethering service WITH YOUR PHONE. there are NO hardware issues, and NO limits.
i pay $85 a month for phone service (450 anytime, unlimited in+night+weekend), text messaging, and data access when i tether my phone to my laptop
so you should really take a look at that too...
(i actually happen to be using this connection now while typing!) | |
| | geoffinak3
Premium
join:2004-09-15
Big Lake, AK
 ·StarBand Communica..
| Re: do some more research Most Satellite companies have limits GB limits that are less then then Verizon's 5 GB a month, plus Verizon's accuracy of use of those Gbs seem much closer to reality then what I have experienced with over 3 years on Star Band, this is much better, read the contract of any satellite provider closely most have a minimum speed they have to provide of 125 kbs down and 25 kbs up. With the investment cost in the thousands of dollars, satellites give you those Gbs at a much higher cost. They may go a little faster but there are ways to get better connections in fringe areas for Verizon. Do the research there are ways to boost your signal.
G | |
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 1.7 years ago
(review was emailed from domain gmail.com)
Clearfield,Davis,UT
$67 per month (12 month contract)
"When not throttled and the system isn't sluggish, it actually has amazingly fast (200KB/s+) downloads"
"5gb/month limit"
"Avoid Verizon!"
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All I really have to say is Verizon's UNLIMITED Broadband Access [their capitalization - not mine] is *anything but UNLIMITED* and is only going to be less unlimited starting early March '08. Avoid if possible.
If you want more details:
Pre Sales Information: Their salesperson assured me that I could use the *supposedly* UNLIMITED Broadband Access to completely replace my broadband line. - == WRONG ==
Install process: Technically the software was easy to install. However, the usb card they sent be was defective and their tech support doesn't know enough about Macs to offer support so it took 3 WEEKS before they were willing to admit that it was likely a hardware issue and offer a replacement! == HELLISHLY FRUSTRATING ==
Connection reliability: When there is a connection, that isn't being throttled, it's typically a good quality/speed connection. Getting connected and staying connected are actually iffy, and I have to reconnect several times a day because of dropped connections. == RUSSIAN ROULETTE ANYONE? ==
Tech Support: As previously mentioned, the tech support individuals don't know squat when it comes to Macs and OS X. == I HAVE A BRUISED FOREHEAD FROM BANGING MY HEAD ON WALLS ==
Services: UNLIMITED *ISN'T* Unlimited, in fact it is far from it! - == LIE & FALSE ADVERTISING! ==
Value for money: How do I get them to terminate my service so I don't have to pay a stinkin' ETF? == ADVISING ALL TO AVOID VERIZON ==
As mentioned by J_Walker on another EVDO site, "If they're so stretched on bandwidth that they have to keep a 5 GB cap, I don't want to go anywhere near their network." I only wish I knew about the 5 GB cap before I committed to a year.
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Review by jbizzle
UPDATED: 2.1 years ago
member for 2.7 years, 57 visits, last login: 359 days ago
Placerville,El Dorado,CA
$70 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"wireless internet where CDMA service avaliable"
"shut my service off."
"advertised the service to be"
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I think i payed $70 a month for the service. I used to pcmcia adapter for one of my desktop comps and shared to other comps with MS ICS and a router with DHCP turned off. it wasn't good for gaming at all. Verizon only had the slower speeds in my area but as soon as they upgraded the tower (which i can see from my house) my speeds were doubled and then some. I went nuts and tried to dload everything under the sun. Verizon didn't like this and there you have it. Coolest thing about the whole deal: They shut me off with out having to pay the cancellation feel. I'd recommend doing this so you can get out of your service if you need to.
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Review by sommopfle
Posted: 2.1 years ago
member for 5.3 years, 11 visits, last login: 2.1 years ago
Pinconning,Bay,MI
$110 per month (24 month contract)
"If you get a EV-DO I get 800Kbit, but it hardly does 128kbit at home"
"It hardly does 128kbit at home, 16 Kbytes / Second"
"Expensive, but a 800 Kbit Bluetooth Modem is nice ;P"
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I looked at other companys, like Alltel which had EV-DO is my area 48650 Pinconning, MI. Before Verizon did, but after Verizons was on.... I was kinda happy with the service, but I still fight to get 1 Bar at home, forcing me to spend money on a Repeater for my phone...
But if your out in the sticks and happen to get a good cell signal... for $60 a month you get unlimited (Almost 1 Mbit) hehe service... Better than Dial-up tho!
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Review by jonathanlord
Posted: 2.2 years ago
member for 5.3 years, 926 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Boynton Beach,Palm Beach,FL
Business customer
$45 per month
"easy install, relieable speeds"
"no matter what plan you choose it is overpriced"
"I have used both VZ and AT&T HSPDA. VZ seems to have better speeds in my area"
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A little pricy, but overall a good service
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Review by fiberdude9
Posted: 2.8 years ago
member for 3.6 years, 33 visits, last login: 2 years ago
Half Moon Bay,San Mateo,CA
Business customer
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 5 days
"it works!"
"NOT REALLY "UNLIMITED ACCESS""
"Don't try to do real work on VZW - they will kick you off"
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Just got kicked off (for the second time) from VZW Broadband Access. Very pissed. I had VZW BB access for ~ 9 months.
Totally bogus, arbitrary, unclear rules on data downloads. (cant exceet ~ 150MB/day or 5GB/month.).
I use this for work - I live in a semi rural part of the SF Bay area and I have no cable or DSL availability.
They provide no tool or warning, that this will happen, Last time it happened, I just re-uped (at a lower monthly rate!). Two times is too much however.
Overall where I live I could count on about 600 k, down and 130 k up. With occational moments of 1m down and sometimes only 100 k down. up never seemd to change from about ~ 130k.
When I roam most locations around the Si Valley give me ~ 1.5M down.
I am giving Sprint EV-DO a try and will report
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(15)
5G? not a limit
