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Review by kingfisher 
member for 4.5 years, 2273 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 18 days ago
 Webster,Monroe,NY
 $60 per month "Has never failed to work acceptably when I needed it" "I am usually hard wired to the internet so don't use it much" "Good when traveling and as a backup to my cable internet service"
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I use the service by tethering my BlackBerry to my laptop. Serves the purpose for which I obtained it. Performance is acceptable in every geographic location where I have tried it.
January 2009 - Replaced my BlackBerry 7130e with a BlackBerry Storm during the latter part of November 2008. The Storm is Ev-DO Rev. A capable and I have seen download speeds above 2Mbps in testing. My satisfaction with the level of service remains high based on my usage.
March 2010 - I have been spending some time at the home of a relative who doesn't have internet access. Verizon Wireless Broadband is reliable at his home in a small town in Central Florida, although considerably slower than near a bigger city. Far more satisfying than having no Internet access at all. My satisfaction with the service overall is good. I am a good candidate to upgrade to LTE when available.
January 2012 - I have moved from BlackBerry to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. 4G speeds are impressive and the connection remains reliable. Speeds are so good, I am considering dropping my cable internet and using wireless only. At our house, total internet usage has been ~15GB/mo. Although we have two Verizon phones with "unlimited" data, I wonder if there might be repercussions at the 15GB/mo usage level.
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Review by dplantz
member for 11.5 years, 4478 visits, last login: a few hours ago
lodged 21 days ago
- Roslindale,Suffolk,MA
- $60 per month
- (24 month contract)
 about 2 days- "Very Fast with LTE, better upload than my RCN Cable Modem"
- "handoffs from 3g to 4g don't work well"
- "Very Fast in LTE area"
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I Ordered a Mifi device just as Boston was lighting LTE up. I have the 5gig for 50 a month package. I don't use it enough to get the 10 gig for 80 package. The only issue I have is the handoff from 3g to 4g can cause you to need to reboot the device after returning to LTE area to get connectivity again. I see 18+ mbs down and 4+ mbs upload. Low latency also.
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Review by dbushy
member for 10.8 years, 820 visits, last login: 11 days ago
updated 37 days ago
- Glendive,Dawson,MT
- $52 per month
- about 5 days
- "mobile as I travel for my job"
- "slow at times--only 3g and paying for 4g"
- "fits my needs best at this time"
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I am using LG LV-600 modem. It has been very reliable.
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 Review by DrDubious
member for 9.9 years, 999 visits, last login: 5 days ago
lodged 46 days ago
- Olean,Cattaraugus,NY
- $80 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 1 days
- "When it works, it's good: Comparable to DSL"
- "Expensive; Random terrible latency; Random connection loss."
- "If you can't get anything else, it's better than satellite. Watch Cap."
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Verizon is the ONLY service available beside satellite in this area.
Speed is slow, cost is high and customer service is awful.
Maximum speed is between 700k and 2meg down/800k up. Latency runs from 100ms to over 500ms, sometimes 700-800ms. Service stops completely at least once a day, usually around midnight.
10GB cap is easily exceeded with typical internet usage and moderate gaming and software updates. No heavy downloads or file-sharing.
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Review by dmc271
member for 3.4 years, 302 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 52 days ago
- Stillwater,Payne,OK
- $50 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 1 days
- "Fast LTE speeds most times"
- "Signal can be unreliable; sometime disconnects"
- "A viable option if you don't have a wired connection"
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LTE can be both very fast and very slow, depending on the time of day. At its best, I get speeds up to 20 Mbps. At its worst (during some peak times), my speeds have dropped to as low as 1.5 Mbps and ping times worse than dialup (400+ ms; though, see my update below). This is with a UML290 aircard.
Overall, 4G is still much, much better than the WISP that I was using previously. If you're like me and don't have access to a wired connection, keep 4G LTE in mind, but do some thorough speed and ping tests during your 14-day trial.
Update December 2011:The manager of the local VZW store sent a local tech to investigate the issue. It was corrected, and the speeds are now consistently high. I always keep my eye on the speeds now. In fact, I waste much of my quota just running speed tests! 
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Review by jlibuszowski
member for 6.3 years, 517 visits, last login: 2 days ago
lodged 55 days ago
- Hoffman Estates,Cook,IL
 Business customer- $130 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 1 days
- "fantastic connection,great customer support, works well even in rural areas, or urban areas"
- "none"
- "cdma by nature (which is what Verizon uses) is better than GSM in rural and urban areas"
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AT&T wireless - it didn't work since it is in a rural area by a lake.
Clear 4G- Would work, but at the time, we needed unlimited voice minutes, and also the phone to work in Datacenters and hosting companies in downtown chicago and also in rural areas, which strictly a 4G device may not have worked.
3g Verizon service. It was already setup on a corporate blackberry and works well. Monthly cost is about $130/month.
Customer support is picked up by a live person the 1st time you call. And it works hands down.
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 Review by deadheadrjp
member for 7 years, 214 visits, last login: 28 days ago
updated 62 days ago
- Auburn,Placer,CA
- $29 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 730 days
- "Excellent signal in my local rural region - even my very remote fishing spots"
- "Tethering $; No Data-Only option; no unlimited data on new #s"
- "Only carrier to cover almost all of the rural areas that I frequent; a little too costly, but good service"
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4gLTE is excellent in my area. I have been a Verizon Wireless customer since its network was owned by the CellularOne company (first in this area in 1990s and I had a bag-phone initially).
For a time AT&T Wireless owned this network, but now Verizon Wireless does. The current AT&T wireless (as of my writing this) is not the same network that the old AT&T Wireless was on (current AT&T Wireless bought Cingular and is looking to expand with more companies now).
When 4gLTE isn't covered, I get good 3g coverage (first a Droid-X; now a Droid-Charge) - and even my 3g signals are good enough speeds for Netflix as transportation passenger, etc. in most areas I frequent.
I wish that I could drop my VZW Voice Plan & just keep my grandfathered unlimited plan - and also dropping the extra $30 for tethering un-rooted would be nice, since I am not the richest person in the world. I could use a VoIP service on my Android phone - and I would look to VZW for any VoIP plans first; so, I would agree to still keep me paying some sort of fee for Voice Plan, but hopefully if they started a VoIP offering of their own if would be better value than the current Voice Plan Minutes structures\offerings. Even if they didn't want to venture into VoIP service of their own, it would be nice if I could keep my account as data only plan, use tethering & VoIP for voice and of course use video calls via 4gLTE\3g.
I could have bought my Xoom without any contract discount, and that would save me its $30 limited (since new account) data plan, since I connect it to 4gLTE unlimited VZW via my phone's tethering wifi VZW plan - but, I can't really complain about that because my Xoom was 1) Fairly well priced with "Black Friday Discount" and 2) Promotional Code found via Google; and 3) Discount for being "Upgrade Eligible," instead of # listed by VZW as "Full Price; Eligible for Discount on ______."
So all in all, my option is either excellent Xoom VZW price (but, with $30\month for 2GB Xoom 4gLTE Data Plan, when I really just want to connect to 4gLTE via WiFi to Droid-Charge with the Unlimited Data Plan); or, if not that situation, I could pay Xoom or other tablet full VZW price, or price from somewhere else perhaps with sale & no contract - and then connect that way without VZW Data Plan for the Tablet and just WiFi to Droid-Charge; but, then again, I doubt I could find that sort of heavy discounted deal anywhere else, as I found on that particular day from VZW itself, in order to add a Tablet to my VZW account (even with its additional required contract for $30\month for lowly 2GB data\month).
So, to recap:
1) I'd be really, really happy if VZW started offering Data Only billing option for Tablets & Smartphones; and they should perhaps consider themselves starting a VoIP service to add, or let someone pick Gmail, or Skype - for access to traditional phone system.
2) Also, I wish this tethering $30\month fee required for mobile wifi would be lowered, or eliminated again. That being said, their service is excellent; I would have no coverage in over half of my regular locations, if I picked any of their current competitors' networks (as of me typing this, 12-10-2011).
3) It would be nice if my Xoom didn't require a data plan and just use WiFi to connect to tethered phone for 4gLTW & 3g; but then again as I mentioned, I wouldn't have been able to get this Xoom for nearly-free via VZW.
4) Essentially, this VZW 4gLTE speed, service and coverage for my area is good enough for me to drop my home internet service, if I lived alone and there were not others needing to use internet, while I am away from the house with the required hotspot-creating 4gLTE phone.
* GENERAL GRIPE: New customers that aren't fortunate enough as myself to have "grandfathered" VZW Unlimited Data Plans, are really being taken to the woodshed, with these $30 for 2gb or 4gb Data Plans. One family road trip (even a simple day-trip) would totally cap your monthly Data limits and create huge overage charges, if you passengers watched more than two, or so Netflix streamed movies in the vehicle\during your trip.
* GENERAL ADVICE FOR VZW: Bring back unlimited data for new #s - or, at least better plans, since many people get Tablets for streaming mobile media (data); keep expanding 4gLTE & beyond; look at marketing possibilities & business plans that don't make VZW look so greedy & emphasize the superior coverage in many regions.
* GENERAL ADVICE FOR CONSUMERS: Check for carriers with unlimited data plans that are available to you, but be sure to compare coverage maps, for the areas you'll most be needing service\signal in. Additionally, you may want to consider setting up VPN connection, for your 3g\4gLTE\data; better privacy, especially good for better privacy using mobile carriers as WANs.
UPDATE, 12-11-11 - Here's a speed test that is about average, but an area with a "Fair" 4gLTE signal and WiFi-tethered to a Win7 laptop: »www.speedtest.net/result/1642514171.png ...(it does burst higher in this location)...
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Review by Fotch
member for 3.8 years, 37 visits, last login: 12 days ago
updated 100 days ago
- Burlington,Racine,WI
- $50 per month
- (month by month)
- about 1 days
- "4 to 5 times faster than Sprint Wireless that I just dumped after 5yrs."
- "None at this time. Should of got rid of Sprint sooner."
- "Less costly, really really fast compared to Sprint"
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Sprint started out being faster but each year it got slower and slower and s l o w e r, so even though I had unlimited use, even if I worked round the clock, I could not get close even if I had a cap. Sprint was usually around 250k download, 80 up, fastest lately at 500k down, 150k up. Verizon is running about 1.5 to 2M down, 400k up. Ping time is 1/3 of Sprints.
And no contract, purchased USB MIFI off of Ebay for $20, and now month to month at $50. Huge improvement. Maybe switch my 3 cell phones over from US Cellular to Verizon. I am looking forward to 4G if they eventually do SE WI.
Wish I would of done this sooner.
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Review by roll1320
member for 100 days, 0 visits, last login: 100 days ago
updated 100 days ago
- Sunnyvale,Santa Clara,CA
- $50 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 60 days
- "4g is great when you can connect"
- "Red map may be smaller than it looks. Tech just ordered 3rd air card."
- "May be going back to 3g for reliability"
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Let me preface this report by saying we travel several months a year and use the air card for mobile connection, usually our only connection. Our 3G card (Pantech 190, $60/mo.) was bulletproof. If there was a signal, there was a connection. When in weak signal areas, we use an external antenna which usually doubles the signal. And now on to the 4G (Pantech 290, $50/mo.) card.
Well, tech support is very...supportive but. It took a WEEK for my first 4G connection to work in a 4G area where we "upgraded" from our 3G air card. Worked at the store, not at "home" in the RV. 4G connect speeds have been up to 9.6/4.4 when the card was new to .3/.1 with disconnects with an old/failing card.
Within two weeks of purchase, the first card failed, first by becoming more signal critical and then by refusing to connect at all. Card replaced. Error statements were "sim card failure" and 2001, 2002, and 2003 error codes.
New card (#2). Failure after about 4 weeks. Same failure mode. New card (#3) "in the mail". After 30 days, the stores won't exchange a card. You have to get one shipped from (Texas?). So if you are on the road traveling, being somewhere predictable to get mail is problematic.
If the #3 card fails, back to 3g. I am tired of being the engineering test department.
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Review by QLR
member for 2.6 years, 581 visits, last login: 2 days ago
lodged 102 days ago
- Tallahassee,Leon,FL
- Contract price not specified.
- (24 month contract)
- "Glad I have unlimited data. LTE rocks!"
- "Data drops more frequent than before"
- "Don't bother with the new $30 plan unless you're using a Blackberry..."
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I have had a smartphone for the last 2 years... 3G is ok but I've been experiencing slow downs. I switched to a Bionic and the LTE is wickedly fast compared to 3G. I normally get 8mb download and 7 up. On 3G, I only get about 1 up and down. I was able to keep my unlimited smartphone data plan and it is discounted to $24 per month on the bill
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