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Comments on news posted 2012-11-26 09:49:41: Verizon has recently tinkered with offering postpaid contract customers double data cap allotments in order to lure them to the LTE network. ..

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

1 recommendation

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Postpaid user here

Too bad I couldn't double my data. I am on the 4GB plan which is split between an iPhone, iPad 3, iPad mini, a Jetpack, and two dumb phones. I use about 1-2 GB per month.

I am looking forward to the iPhone 5. Maybe Christmas will come early as my upgrade is less than a week away.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

1 recommendation

fifty nine

Member

What pissed me off the most about the new share plans is the fact that I have no means whatsoever to opt out of voice minutes, or pay for a reduced amount. I use nowhere near "unlimited" voice minutes. I hate talking on the phone and use maybe 30 minutes a month at most.

Text messages? They've done a clever end run around iMessage too by making all share plans include unlimited text messages. Of course with iMessage you're using your data allotment instead of your free texts.

SimbaSeven
I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT

1 recommendation

SimbaSeven

Member

Still not a good deal..

Especially with Straight Talk's $45/mo unlimited plan, which already includes 2GB of Data.

at&t and VZ really need to get with the times.
Skippy25
join:2000-09-13
Hazelwood, MO

Skippy25

Member

Say it isnt so!

How are they possibly going to handle double the data on such a full and fragile network?

So did Verizon double their capacity over the weekend and I missed it?
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband to SimbaSeven

Member

to SimbaSeven

Re: Still not a good deal..

Net10 is offering a similar plan as their sister company. Pretty soon all TracFone companies most likely will- especially since they already have a business side of the company.

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

IowaCowboy to SimbaSeven

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to SimbaSeven
Straight Talk may be good for price but not for customer service. Hopefully you'll never have any issues. My former neighbor has a TracPhone and he says they may be good on price but the customer service is not the best.

I had a problem with the 4G connection on my newly purchased iPad Mini and a quick call to customer service resolved the issue. They had me power down the device, remove and insert the SIM card (which was a pain in the butt as they now use those nano SIM cards, which are hard to handle with my large hands) and the CSR (who was a tier 2 tech support representative in a US-based call center) changed a few provisioning settings on VZW's end and problem solved.

I don't even think MVNOs have access to their host carrier's network settings past activation/deactivation. And the tier 1 carriers can address network issues better.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

1 recommendation

Crookshanks to fifty nine

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Re: Postpaid user here

The unlimited voice/text is essentially a giveaway with the new plans. The per-device cost exists primarily to recover the device subsidy, hence why tablets cost next to nothing, while smartphones are $40/mo. The data packages are the true revenue source with the new plans.

The real crime here is that you can't BYOD and pay a reduced per-device cost. I believe that T-Mobile has slightly cheaper plans for BYOD users, but none of the other carriers have ever shown an inclination to follow in their footsteps.
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os to Skippy25

Member

to Skippy25

Re: Say it isnt so!

Ha, like this pricing was ever about network congestion.

It's price gouging for a market with insatiable demand and limited competition.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to Crookshanks

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to Crookshanks

Re: Postpaid user here

said by Crookshanks:

The unlimited voice/text is essentially a giveaway with the new plans. The per-device cost exists primarily to recover the device subsidy, hence why tablets cost next to nothing, while smartphones are $40/mo. The data packages are the true revenue source with the new plans.

The real crime here is that you can't BYOD and pay a reduced per-device cost. I believe that T-Mobile has slightly cheaper plans for BYOD users, but none of the other carriers have ever shown an inclination to follow in their footsteps.

What do you mean BYOD? what device would you use besides one that actually works on Verizon's network? And T-Mobile's coverage sucks dick.
88615298

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to fifty nine
said by fifty nine:

What pissed me off the most about the new share plans is the fact that I have no means whatsoever to opt out of voice minutes, or pay for a reduced amount. I use nowhere near "unlimited" voice minutes. I hate talking on the phone and use maybe 30 minutes a month at most.

Text messages? They've done a clever end run around iMessage too by making all share plans include unlimited text messages. Of course with iMessage you're using your data allotment instead of your free texts.

They give everyone unlimited minutes/text so everyone is on the same plan. Besides the future is making everything data anyways since it is actually all data. In 10 yeas you won't have "minutes", texting" and "data" it will just all be data. So you might as well get used to it.
88615298

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to SimbaSeven

Re: Still not a good deal..

said by SimbaSeven:

Especially with Straight Talk's $45/mo unlimited plan, which already includes 2GB of Data.

at&t and VZ really need to get with the times.

Well let's see Straight Talk uses At&t, Verizon's and Sprint's networks and have ZERO infrastructure costs. Gee I wonder why they can offer unlimited everything or $45 a month?
88615298

88615298 (banned) to Skippy25

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to Skippy25

Re: Say it isnt so!

said by Skippy25:

How are they possibly going to handle double the data on such a full and fragile network?

So did Verizon double their capacity over the weekend and I missed it?

You do realize their smartphone plans are strictly 3G. And as they expand their 4G network and as more people buy 4G devices there are fewer people using 3G thus bandwidth is freed up. But I'm sure you knew this and took the time to actually educate yourself on the technical details of cellular technology.

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221

Member

Where I live you'd be hard pressed to get 1Gb a month on 3G. Verizon so overloaded I get .01 mbit/sec on 3G. Get 12 mbit on LTE though.

Chad
A work in progress
join:2002-05-08
Redwood City, CA

Chad

Member

New Smartphones only?

Anyone know if this promo is available to new subscribers who bring their own hardware? i.e. not purchase a new smartphone from Verizon? I have a used CDMA iPhone 4 I'd like to active.

Thanks!
genzoulv
join:2004-10-05
Las Vegas, NV

genzoulv

Member

Verizon is OVERPRICED

There's many other choices for prepaid besides them. $80/mo is ridiculous (that's what you're paying when you're STUCK IN A CONTRACT). So many other carriers are offering better deals..straight talk, t-mobile, virgin, metro pcs, boost, etc. I don't know why anyone would be crazy enough to pay that much. Do your research before buying a phone. Paying for the phone up front and going prepaid is definitely better in the long term (cost wise). Especially if you've got an unlocked phone.
Crookshanks
join:2008-02-04
Binghamton, NY

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to 88615298

Re: Postpaid user here

said by 88615298:

What do you mean BYOD? what device would you use besides one that actually works on Verizon's network?

I guess you've never considered the option of buying a lightly used phone at a quarter of the price off eBay? Or an old phone from a friend? Or (*gasp*) paying retail for one? There are lots of ways to get a Verizon phone without purchasing it with a 2yr contract through big red. I've gone 5+ years without renewing my contract at times.
said by 88615298:

And T-Mobile's coverage sucks dick.

T-Mobile is a perfectly viable option for many people, no reason to bash them because they aren't good for you.

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

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Re: Still not a good deal..

said by 88615298:

Well let's see Straight Talk uses At&t, Verizon's and Sprint's networks and have ZERO infrastructure costs. Gee I wonder why they can offer unlimited everything or $45 a month?

Unless you believe those providers are selling room on their networks at a loss, which seems unlikely, the MVNOs are paying for those infrastructure costs in what they pay those providers for space on their networks.

Jim
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to 88615298

Member

to 88615298

Re: Postpaid user here

For those of us in medium sized or larger cities, T-Mobile is at times faster than Verizon LTE.

That said, I'm using Sprint because they offer LTE where T-Mobile offers GPRS, an hour and forty from here.
iansltx

iansltx to TBBroadband

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to TBBroadband

Re: Still not a good deal..

Nah; normal Tracfone is a standard pay-per-minute prepaid offering, with lower-end phones. You can get similar phones on Net10 or Straight Talk with the unlimited plan if you want, but they key differentiator between TF and Net10 is that you can get smartphones on Net10 and Straight Talk (unlimited plans only), whereas that doesn't happen on TF.
iansltx

iansltx to IowaCowboy

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to IowaCowboy
You're right; Tracfone customer service is poor. However you can do most things online. And is it worth $45 per month to get good customer service from your wireless carrier?
iansltx

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to 88615298
You forgot T-Mobile.

Also, they have smaller (but still existent) infrastructure costs...and they pay the big carriers per minute/text/megabyte wholesale. So it isn't like they're getting a free ride.
iansltx

iansltx to Eagles1221

Member

to Eagles1221

Re: Say it isnt so!

Depends on your area. I've seen plenty of places where VZW can hit 2 Mbps over 3G. The number of places where that's possible are shrinking, but there are still some out there.
iansltx

iansltx to genzoulv

Member

to genzoulv

Re: Verizon is OVERPRICED

You're missing one important piece of the equation: if you want to use a smartphone on Verizon's LTE network (the largest LLTE network in the US by far at this point) you have exactly one option: VZW postpaid.

If you can put up with lower coverage for LTE (everyone), lower data speeds for LTE (MetroPCS or CricKet) or lower upload speeds for 4G (T-Mobile), a spotty non-LTE 4G network (Boost/Virgin 4G) or no LTE/WiMAX at all (Straight Talk), they are indeed cheaper. You can get unlimited everything-except-data and 5GB of that, plus tethering, for $60 per month on CricKet, but their LTE footprint is limited at this point and I'm seeing peak speeds of 6 or 7 Mbps with full signal, days after the network launched. Performance will likely go down from there for several months until CricKet can refarm CDMA to boost its LTE bandwidth.

Verizon has the premium network and they know it. So they charge a metric ton for folks to use it.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to Crookshanks

Premium Member

to Crookshanks

Re: Postpaid user here

said by Crookshanks:

The real crime here is that you can't BYOD and pay a reduced per-device cost. I believe that T-Mobile has slightly cheaper plans for BYOD users, but none of the other carriers have ever shown an inclination to follow in their footsteps.

The new buyer of Sprint has plans to shake up the cellphone plans to force AT&T & Verizon to compete. If he follows thru, maybe customers will get a break.
»Sprint's new buyer wants to stick it to AT&T & Verizon

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

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said by 88615298:

What do you mean BYOD? what device would you use besides one that actually works on Verizon's network? And T-Mobile's coverage sucks dick.

A used phone.
fifty nine

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said by 88615298:

They give everyone unlimited minutes/text so everyone is on the same plan. Besides the future is making everything data anyways since it is actually all data. In 10 yeas you won't have "minutes", texting" and "data" it will just all be data. So you might as well get used to it.

They give everyone unlimited minutes/text so that they can bump up the price without actually increasing the price.

It's $70 for 4GB of data and unlimited minutes and text.

It's not "all data" now. The voice and text are carried independent of the data stream.

Who cares about 10 years from now. Today I don't want to pay for voice service that I don't really use.

compuguybna
join:2009-06-17
Nashville, TN

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Re: Say it isnt so!

Yep, even Wal-Mart had a pre-paid Verizon on the black friday sale for $69.88 (was $129.88), but it was strictly 3G. did have a sticker on the box that said "NOW 2GB DATA".
said by 88615298 See ProfileYou do realize their smartphone plans are strictly 3G. And as they expand their 4G network and as more people buy 4G devices there are fewer people using 3G thus bandwidth is freed up. But I'm sure you knew this and took the time to actually educate yourself on the technical details of cellular technology.
[/BQUOTE :


Justin24
@bankone.com

Justin24 to iansltx

Anon

to iansltx

Re: Verizon is OVERPRICED

I totally agree with this. Verizon has the best LTE coverage by far and to those that want cheaper plans and/or spotty coverage can make their own decision.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to Chad

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Re: New Smartphones only?

said by Chad:

Anyone know if this promo is available to new subscribers who bring their own hardware? i.e. not purchase a new smartphone from Verizon? I have a used CDMA iPhone 4 I'd like to active.

Thanks!

They have 3 smartphones available for this if you have one of these 3 phones you can use it.
88615298

88615298 (banned) to genzoulv

Member

to genzoulv

Re: Verizon is OVERPRICED

said by genzoulv:

There's many other choices for prepaid besides them. $80/mo is ridiculous (that's what you're paying when you're STUCK IN A CONTRACT). So many other carriers are offering better deals..straight talk, t-mobile, virgin, metro pcs, boost, etc.

Most of which if any don't have any infrastructure. Kind of easier to offer cheaper service if you don't have to spend any money on towers or a network or maintenance etc etc
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