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Review by caseywor See Profile

  • Location: Mobile, Mobile, AL, USA
  • Cost: $45 per month
  • Install: about 2 days
It is really fast for the price, comparable to cable speeds
40 ms ping times, slightly higher than cable and fiber
Verizon Home Internet is a good option for those unhappy with their local incumbents.
Pre Sales Information:
Install process:
Connection reliability:
Services:
Value for money:

My Other Reviews

·AT&T FTTP
I have been using AT&T Fiber, a service I have been overall very happy with. However, I had been curious about T-Mobile and Verizon's Home Internet offerings since the prices for their service are very good. Also, the people I have talked to who use them have been very happy, especially since these people have had no other choices for good internet in their areas. In my case, I can get cable through Mediacom and have AT&T Fiber but was interested in Verizon since I have their cell service and customers can get really good prices if they have 5G service already. Previously, I haven't had Verizon 5G Home Internet available to my address. I got notification via email and a postcard that it was now available to my home address. Furthermore, I was offered the 30-day money back guarantee on the service and the gateway/Wi-Fi access point at no charge. I thought it was a no brainer to see if it works well for me, especially considering the price and the fact that I get good Verizon 5G Ultra-Wideband speeds on my iPhone as it is.

I went ahead and placed an order via Verizon's website. I got free two-day FedEx shipping on it. When the gateway arrived, I was very surprised how easy the setup was for the it and to begin using the service. Literally, since I already had a Verizon account and a login setup, it was a five-minute process to unbox the unit, for it to connect and have the Wi-Fi up and running. Literally I plugged the gateway in, it connected to Verizon's network then I just had to scan a QR code a couple of times.



After the gateway connected to the Verizon 5G network, I began the process of connecting devices in my home to the Wi-Fi network or directly to the gateway via the two available ethernet ports. I needed to work some more on my work from home job, so I went ahead and plugged my work laptop into one ethernet port for the sake of testing it. I was immediately impressed that my Citrix connection to my work was fast and as responsive as my AT&T Fiber connection overall. upon doing speed tests, I found that I could get a consistent 300 Mbps download speed and 20 Mbps up. The only thing I noticed is that the ping times are around 40 milliseconds as opposed to the typical 20 or so I get with AT&T Fiber. However, for me, this isn't a dealbreaker. I don't do gaming, the only thing I do regularly that ping times could affect is video conferencing.

After my initial tests on my work laptop and cell phone using Wi-Fi, I then began the process of migrating other devices in my house to the new Verizon Wi-Fi network. This included streaming devices for DirecTV Stream, my security system and cameras, my thermostat for my HVAC, and finally my cats' Litter Robot! Yes, even their litter box is on Wi-Fi!

After a few days of depending on Verizon Home Internet, just keeping AT&T Fiber online as a fallback if my testing of the service doesn't go well, I must say I am really impressed with it as a viable internet service provider. In the case of a 5G fixed wireless someone must understand that results can and will vary depending on location. However, in my case it is a great alternative especially when considering price. Overall, I consider the test of their service an overwhelming success in my case.

I am not 100% sure I will drop AT&T Fiber; I think there is a good chance of me doing it though. For me, it comes down to a matter of money. I am going to be saving about $35 a month and then also am getting the price lock for three years with it.

If I decide to keep Verizon Home Internet, I will update this post as time progresses.

member for 19.9 years, 1533 visits, last login: 106 days ago
updated 180 days ago

ham3842
join:2022-08-17

ham3842

Member

Terrible upload speeds.

I'm surprised that your work situation can tolerate such slow uploads, especially if others in your home are doing work or other things requiring uploads as well.

AT&T Fiber seems like a better match for your needs, and usually they will bargain on price as well if you call retentions.

DocDrew
How can I help?
Premium Member
join:2009-01-28
SoCal
Ubee E31U2V1
Technicolor TC4400
Linksys EA6900

1 edit

DocDrew

Premium Member

Re: Terrible upload speeds.

said by ham3842:

I'm surprised that your work situation can tolerate such slow uploads

What slow upload speeds are you talking about? The OP was consistently getting 20Mbps upload and seemingly happy with it. Short of sending large video files or large amounts of pictures, that should be more than adequate for the majority of work situations.
ham3842
join:2022-08-17

ham3842

Member

Re: Terrible upload speeds.

I just mentioned that other household members might be doing things that require a high upload speed. The fact is that today 20 megs up is slow for a supposedly advanced product.

caseywor
join:2004-04-19
Mobile, AL
·Verizon Broadban..
·AT&T FTTP

2 recommendations

caseywor to ham3842

Member

to ham3842
The upload speeds have been fine for me, I really don't push that much up to the cloud or anything similar more than some personal things. I mostly maintain a Citrix connection to work and that has been working out well for me. To be clear, I like the upload speeds of fiber better, but the 20 Mbps of Verizon isn't a dealbreaker. Just to be sure, I am going to call AT&T and get retentions and negotiate on price! If they get close, I will keep them.
ROLLTIDE
join:2023-02-09
Mobile, AL

ROLLTIDE

Member

Re: Terrible upload speeds.

What part of Mobile are you in ?

caseywor
join:2004-04-19
Mobile, AL

1 recommendation

caseywor

Member

Re: Terrible upload speeds.

I am at Snow and Airport. There is a Verizon tower right next to Compass Urgent Care, across from Whataburger.

Review by JF3324 See Profile

  • Location: Curwensville, Clearfield, PA, USA
  • Cost: $180 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 1 days
  • Caps of 10 gigabytes/month
It is fast and reliable.
It is exspensive
If you can afford it, it's worth every penny.
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Value for money:

I have the 10 GB package. It suites my needs.

member for 10.3 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 10.3 years ago







Review by ke4pym See Profile

  • Location: Charlotte, Mecklenburg, NC, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 1 days
Service works well.
None
If you've got the coin to blow, it's worth it!
Pre Sales Information:
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Services:
Value for money:

10/13 - No longer subscribe to this service directly. Got a Galaxy S4 with unlimited data and spent the extra $30/mo to tether via WiFi. That service works great. Ended up saving about $35/mo.

--------

12/11 - Started noticing stability issues with my KPC-680. Wouldn't keep a connection or would revert to 1x and stay there. Called VZW to get help. They sent a new card. New card wouldn't fit into my laptop (it was the correct size, but still to big to slide in and out of the card slot).

They sent another card. And as they were, I noticed the 1st new card was doing the same thing (staying in 1x, unstable, etc). It dawned on me that I'd never forced the card into EVDO only mode like I had on my old laptop. So, I ended up sending back both "new" cards and keeping the KPC680 with it forced in EVDO mode. Since then, no issues and even managed to pull down a 2.1Mbps speed test!

Still wish it was cheaper. Really getting tired of dropping $60 a month on this thing. Would use my Thunderbolt and save $30/mo, but it does not have a stable 4G (or 3G) connection where I use it most.

-----------------

1/11 - Still truckin'. No issues. Speeds are fine. Wish their LTE service had an unlimited data option. I'd upgrade to that.

4/10 - No issues since the last update. Card is performing very well. Was in Myrtle Beach, SC in January and recorded a 2.5Mbps download speed test! Get around 1-1.5Mbps at work where I normally use the card. On occasion the connection will drop. And the only way to get it back is to reboot Windows 7. It happens maybe 2 times every 6 months. Annoying. But not enough to research and fix.

12/27/09 - Got a new laptop in June of 09. Switched over to the RevA card they gave me some time back (KPC680). Service has been flawless. 1.4Mb/sec down, 800Kb/sec up is my best speed test. My account is due for renewal at any time now. I'm going to hold out until Q2 2010 in hopes that big red will release a 3G/4G card.

1/09 - Service at work (where I mainly use this device) had some issues awhile back when Verizon moved their tower from a building to a stand alone tower. Tech support wasn't very helpful but I finally got to some folks that knew a thing or two. Still using a Rev0 card since I've not upgraded my laptop to use the RevA card they gave me this year. Service works fine and the issues at work seem to have magically disappeared.

My bill still says "Unlimited KB per month". But I only download around 500MB a month. Too lazy to test them on their 5GB quota.

-----------

3/30 - Noticed my bill had gone up $0.60 this month. I called in to inquire why my bill had gone up (I never use my minutes, roam, call LD or go over my data plan). The person I spoke with said that the administrative fee had gone up $0.30 for both the data and voice lines. I told her I was going to review my customer agreement because when I bought the plans I agreed that my rate would not change for 2 years. She agreed and said that she would credit my account every month for the remainder of my contract for the said $0.60! Now that's service.

Also, sometime back in February my data card decided that it no longer wanted to maintain a stable connection. Called them up on a Friday afternoon and had my new card on Monday morning. Took 1 10 minute call to get the new card up and running.

12/1 - recently, I grabbed Dr TCP and modified my laptop's RWin settings. Speed is now running around 1.3Mbps down and 130kbps up. Latency is still a little high - average to www.yahoo.com was 208ms. Not too bad for surfing or telnet applications. Still worth the coin to me. Wish I used my cell phone as much as I use this card.

The one complaint I have is the connection reliability during rain/thunderstorms. The card has a lot of trouble staying connected. I've got 4 bars of signal and it will still drop quite a bit in nasty weather. I quit using the VZN Manager software once tech support told me how to configure DUN to make the connection. VPN issues are gone now that I use a Juniper client instead of a Checkpoint client. The Juniper dealie is a ActiveX plugin for Internet Explorer and seems to work very well. Every time the card has connection issues I call up tech support and complain.

I use this card 99.8% of the time at work. I've used it at home twice. I am too far away from the tower for the card to work with any speed. If my primary internet connection failed and I just HAD to get to the internet it'd be ok.

----------------

So I came into the early 90's by getting a cell phone. Actually, I was more interested in the wireless internet than the cell phone. Service, without voice is about $100 a month. I figure I'm getting the cell phone for free in this case.

I started with the free 5740 something card. It worked, but not so well. No external antenna on it. Did manage to get a 700/200ish connection standing next to a tower. I took the card back before my 15 days were up and ordered the Kyocera 650 card. It has an external antenna as well as antenna ports. Took them a week to get me the new card (even though after a delay and screw up of the order and a reorder via over night).

This new card works much better at my home. I'm sure it should prove to work as well as if not better at work (were aforementioned cell tower lives). Got 400/100 at the house on 2 bars.

Hope I like this service to keep paying $60/mo for 2 years. And that I don't go over my "unlimited" 10GB/month allotment of bandwidth.

Paid $19.99 for the card using my work's discount plan. So far, it's worth the 20 bucks.

member for 19.6 years, 8254 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 10.4 years ago

channelzero0
join:2008-12-15
Sedalia, MO

channelzero0

Member

Nickel and Dime

"3/30 - Noticed my bill had gone up $0.60 this month. I called in to inquire why my bill had gone up (I never use my minutes, roam, call LD or go over my data plan). The person I spoke with said that the administrative fee had gone up $0.30 for both the data and voice lines. I told her I was going to review my customer agreement because when I bought the plans I agreed that my rate would not change for 2 years. She agreed and said that she would credit my account every month for the remainder of my contract for the said $0.60! Now that's service."

They are just trying to nickel and dime everyone that does not notice. But good for you for checking your bill.

Review by thatissick See Profile

  • Location: Atlanta, Fulton, GA, USA
  • Cost: $93 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 6 days
4G footprint getting bigger
Price...maybe.
It's good, for the money.
Pre Sales Information:
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Connection reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:

Update 11/2012

Have the GNex. Stock android phone. Their 4G service is still fast. So far so good.
-------------------------

member for 13.6 years, 533 visits, last login: 11.3 years ago
updated 11.3 years ago


trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

Just got the Droid Charge

I just got the Droid Charge and in my area there are some LTE issues too. Around my house I have no LTE but less than a quarter of a mile in either direction I have LTE coverage. I have a ticket open with Verizon.

Google Voice provides free Visual Voicemail. All you have to is download an app for your phone and change your voicemail provider via a special code you dial.
jonthebru
join:2011-06-28

jonthebru

Member

4G/3G issues are minor.

I really like my Thunderbolt. But being the first LTE phone has brought some challenges. I understand why Apple has not implemented 4G as it requires user participation, switching between the two, in order to make it work well. The bugs will get worked out though. Great speeds around 13 mbps down and above 3, up to 5mbps upload pleases me. The upload is much faster that my wired cable modem, AOL Time Warner is that provider.
I have an unlimited data contract with the hotspot feature. My workplace filters heavily so I look forward to having access to the Internet for personal use during breaks and to stream music and talk shows of my choice as I work. I never thought I would pay for media consumption this way, but then I never thought I would buy pure water either.

Red Dog
@myvzw.com

Red Dog

Anon

LTE mifi device can't access some pages?

We just picked up an LTE mifi device from Verizon and are testing it out. Super fast - but strange things are going on. It's odd that some pages simply won't load on computers connected through the device. Many are working, but here are a few that simply refuse to load:
www.speedtest.net
www.verizon.com
www.ups.com

These load fine on other computers next to me that are connected to our DSL connection.

Any ideas what is going on here?






Review by HB61 See Profile

  • Location: 00000
  • Cost: $50 per month (24 month contract)
Reliable, fast, low latency
5GB cap and $10/GB overage fees
Way better than I had anticipated
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When my Megapath/COVAD T1 went down for the zillionth time my small business was stuck yet again without phones, fax or Internet service. I had to ship an urgent job with Fedex and needed to file my SED for export (requires the Internet). Long story short I ran over to Verizon Wireless to pick up a Verizon branded 4510L MiFi 4G LTE hotspot. They explained how it worked, up front pricing and set me up with an account. It all went down in about 30 minutes and I walked out with the device.

Got it fired up and it synced in about 45 seconds to a minute and provided 12Mb down and 3Mb up. I was floored as this is in an interior office of a concrete tilt-up building. And obviously the MiFi device allows connection sharing so I was able to get a few of the office computers connected and I was able to ship my job. I was also surprised to see sub 100ms latency reliably. A far cry from the 200-300ms I see with my AT&T 3G iPhones.

It works so well I dropped the 3G plan for my iPad and am just going with the MiFi since the battery lasts me more than 4 hours with minimal power savings settings. It would probably do more if I turned on those power saving features.

The only drawback is the low usage cap, but since this is a backup for my horrible T1 I don't use that much data. Lucky for them it is capped because I would be using it all the time. The overage fee is darn steep too at $10/GB but they were upfront about it. I certainly knew what I was getting into before signing a 24 month deal.

Device: Verizon MiFi 4510L 4G LTE
Price: $50/mo+taxes and junk fees for 5GB/mo ($80 for 10GB is an option) Overage fees are $10/GB
Typical Speed: 12Mb/3Mb
Typical Latency: 90-100ms

Overall I am very pleased and if the iPhone 5 has 4G LTE I will definitely switch.

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member for 12.7 years, 57 visits, last login: 12.6 years ago
updated 12.6 years ago


Review by econman5 See Profile

  • Location: Carrollton, Denton, TX, USA
  • Cost: $60 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 1 days
effectively 100% reliable. Have not had an outage or shutdown in years. Before FIOS, this was commonplace, especially anytime
Poor quality technicians on the "TV side" who like to manupulate your router settings
Great for Internet
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The internet side of my Verizon FIOS service is outstanding. I have found the techs well trained and the service for years has run darn close to 100% up. I have never noticed an outage. I especially enjoy the strong upload times as I work from home a lot via VPN. The negative is the TV side. The TV has good uptime but *if* you ever experience a problem, say with a STB acting up in need of replacement, they are trained to want to Hard Reset your router; something especially annoying if you've spent time configuring for various special purposes as I have. They always ask permission but when you say "NO" it results in a lengthy wait to talk to a supervisor to convince them you've already done the detective work regarding cause and effect (yes Mr. Phone Tech I really do know it is a bad STB because I have switched them and observed the logical results!

I have the $50/mth package. Wired I get about 20/12 but usually I'm using wireless so that limits my speed. However, I do use a wired connection for my PS3 and XBOX and that makes all the difference in the world.

member for 21.7 years, 22 visits, last login: 9.5 years ago
lodged 12.7 years ago


Review by rosea1961 See Profile

  • Location: Livonia, Wayne, MI, USA
  • Cost: $80 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 1 days
Strong Signal, Reliable Service, Easy Install,,
10Gb Data Cap!!! 4G now in Michigan!!!
Had Sprint for 4 years, No Signal,,Got Verizon,, And Ruled The Airwaves
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Looked and shopped around, Verizon had the best coverage with consistent signal strength. Just Got the VL 600 modem for Verizon 4G LTE. Consistent speeds of 12M/7M all day long, no drops always on so far!!

member for 19.9 years, 331 visits, last login: 11.3 years ago
updated 12.9 years ago







Review by EnzonE See Profile

  • Location: Indiana, Indiana, PA, USA
  • Cost: $70 per month (24 month contract)
Included 3g connection with phone can tether to netbook
connection sometimes drops, need to install additional programs on PC
great value for $ was able to save on $40 comcast bill
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After going unemployed something had to go and that was Comcast's economy for $40 monthly. There was no way Id get rid of my 3g smartphone so a friend let me know you can teher your cell phone connection to the PC by downloading PDA Net to your phone then install to your PC. Doesn't work for Xbox 360 trust me I tried and yes you need to usb connect your cell to your PC when you want to tether but its a great value for the bundle with 3g smartphone like speeds. I still have Internet to my netbook without the additional costs!

member for 24 years, 2991 visits, last login: 2.2 years ago
lodged 13 years ago

Alexpenn88
join:2010-04-23
Crossett, AR

Alexpenn88

Member

Wireless

Why does it not work for Xbox 360, is the speed to slow or is there another issue?

EnzonE
join:2000-03-23
Indiana, PA

EnzonE

Member

Re: Wireless

It does work with xbox 360 if you pay the $10 extra a month to make your cell a 3g wireless hotspot

Review by expattyke See Profile

  • Location: Centreville, Fairfax, VA, USA
  • Business customer Business customer
  • Cost: $60 per month (24 month contract)
Coverage area, speed, access to higher wifi speeds in many areas
Could be faster, keeping it updated is a pain
Great when on the road, or when a customer's connection is down
Pre Sales Information:
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I've used Verizon Wireless Broadband for about 5 years. I'm grandfathered on an unlimited plan. I love the coverage, and the flexibility of the MiFi 2200 to run all my devices. If I need more speed, in many cases I can use Verizon wifi, by tethering the unit, but that does limit me to a single connection. Great for watching Netflix on the road, without paying the hotel's daily broadband charge. Keeping the software and coverage information up to date is a pain. It seems like I have to do it every time I use it. Also the installation process would try the patience of a saint. It has trouble locating the unit until you disconnect and reconnect it multiple times. One last thought, nothing beats working in the car, while someone else is driving of course. Overall, the nits are well worth putting up with.

member for 13.1 years, driveby review (so far)
updated 13.1 years ago


Review by emhl See Profile

  • Location: Miami Beach, Miami-Dade, FL, USA
  • Cost: $80 per month
Amazing speeds on the go! Something never possible before!
You can use your entire monthly allowance in a couple of hours!
It works for the money, comparable to cable beats any DSL!
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I walk to a nearby Verizon store on Sunday(5th) morning and decided to go with the Pantech 4g/lte usb (instead the LG, it has a flexible usb plug and provision for external antenna) It took like 15min to activate and maybe another hour to figure out how to configure it on my MacBook (there is no vzw manager for Mac so far, it requires network settings manual configuration) Once live, I got consisted speed tests around 10Mbps download/upload. Also I travel around the city with the notebook streaming tv from my slingbox with a steady, always over 2Mbps (limited by my home u-verse 3Mbps upload) The only problem is video streaming/downloading can eat the 10G allowance very quickly. I use 5G on the first day testing and have to deal with the remaining 5G for the entire month. After a couple of weeks everything so far so good. Much better than expected, maybe due the vzw/lte network almost unpopulated but anyway results are amazing.

member for 20.7 years, 706 visits, last login: 5 years ago
lodged 13.1 years ago


IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

VZW Mac Compatibility

I also have Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess and the VZW Access Manager works just fine with my late 2007 MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard and my late 2003 iBook G4 running Tiger. There is a Mac Version of VZW Access Manager on the device (depending on the device). I have the MiFi 2200 and I prefer to use it tethered with the USB cable when using the laptops but I use it's WiFi capabilities when using devices such as iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone that do not have the capability to connect via USB. Some VZW devices are NOT Mac Compatible like the Fivespot or some of the Global compatible USB modems. I know the VZW Novatel USB 760 is Mac Compatible along with some of the Express cards as well. If your running a Mac and do not have access to a PC, you'll need to buy a Mac compatible aircard because you'll still need the VZW access manager to activate the device as well as perform periodic updates to the device.
emhl
Premium Member
join:2003-07-05
Miami Beach, FL

emhl

Premium Member

Re: VZW Mac Compatibility

Yes wzw manager works fine with 3g devices but as far as I know is still not compatible with 4g/lte now. Without the vzw manager the 4g cards will work only in 4g areas, there is not 4g/3g transition. I need to keep the mifi card to use out 4g areas. I agree with you on the MIFI card, when usb tethered it looks like a little faster and keeps the battery charged.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Re: VZW Mac Compatibility

I just checked the VZW website and it did say that both of the LTE device are not Mac compatible at launch. The problem I would have with carrying two different devices is you would have to call customer service to switch between the devices unless you have two separate lines/plans for them. I have AT&T for cell phones and if you want to switch the device you just switch the SIM cards. The VZW 4G devices use SIM cards but the 3G devices do not. I got my MiFi through Verizon because they had a better price on mobile broadband and much more reasonable prices on overages. AT&T gets $60 for 5GB or $35 for 200 MB. The one I got through VZW is $35 for 3 GB which is much more generous that the AT&T offering. I have had AT&T for six years with no issues but their mobile broadband was just too expensive so I got it through VZW. I originally switched from Verizon (for cell phone service) to AT&T, which was Cingular at the time in 2004 because my area had very poor signal strength on Verizon but the signal strength in my area for Verizon has improved dramatically and I may consider switching back if and when the new iPhone comes out and when my contract with AT&T is up. I know the iPhone 4 is coming to VZW Feb 10 but I am going to wait and see if a new generation of iPhone is on the horizon.

As for compatibility, I choose the MiFi 2200 because the Fivespot (newer, same price as the MiFi 2200 and global compatible) was not Mac compatible.