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hattrup
join:2002-04-03
Sunnyvale, CA

hattrup

Member

Millenicom or Verizon? for Home Use - in the new world order

(For home use.... not mobile )

So after reviewing options available at my new house (no Sprint service, other Line of site WISP, etc. not viewable) I am looking at either Verizon Home Fusion or
Millenicom
(possibly BroadbandWirelessQ / BroadbandQ Wireless - they say that they serve the area, but in this forum folks claim they are Sprint only, so tbd)

Not sure how much data I can get by with - but 20GB or less would require some retraining but may be possible.

For the "new" Millenicom I get for 20GB/month:
$290 in one times fees, and $70/month
(this includes a MBR95 for wired Ethernet I need for 2 VOIP phones and printer)

For Verizon Home Fusion I get for 20GB/month:
$0 in hardware, fees & install, 2-year contract, $90/month
includes the 4-port router, external antenna, and installation.

So Verizon comes out ahead through month 14.

If I need 30GB a month, Verizon is $120/month,
but Millenicom jumps up to $140/month, plus $165 in Hardware/activation
(I actually get 40GB, but for over 20GB, you need to pay for 40)

Not sure if Verizon offers more than 30GB/month, except by the $10/1 GB overage.

So I am now leaning strongly toward Verizon since it is cheaper the first 14 months for 20GB, and a real win at anything between 20GB and 30GB - $120 vs. $140 month plus save $455 in fees/activation/hardware.

Am I missing anything here?

(Still need to call BWQ or?? BQW and see if they actually do service Verizon LTE area like there automated responses claimed multiple times)
ggultra2764
join:2007-09-13
Cambridge, NY

2 edits

ggultra2764

Member

Only thing to beware of is that since the Verizon plan is on a contract, you are looking at a very good chance of having taxes, fees and surcharges tacked on to whatever advertised price you agree to with the data cap. Since Millenicom's service isn't on a contract, you are paying full price for the hotspot and one-time shipping and activation fees, yet are only paying at the advertised monthly payments with nothing attached. Not discouraging you from choosing one over the other, but don't want you to be surprised with anything you wouldn't expect.
haresear
join:2010-03-05
Montrose, CO

haresear to hattrup

Member

to hattrup
+1 From my experience, Verizon contract final prices are 40% to 50% higher than the advertised price after taxes and fees. The annoying thing is that they won't tell you ahead of time what the actual cost is going to be. You usually will have a grace period to cancel without penalty if you don't like the final cost.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

Verizon's advertised fees are correct for Verizon's plan. They have no control over the various fees and taxes imposed on phone bills by the Federal, state and local governments which can be and usually are different in each location. Just look at your local phone bill and the fees and taxes there would apply to their internet plan.

Diugo
@blackberry.net

Diugo

Anon

With Home Fusion you will also get a bonus: 30GB for the price of 20GB for the first two months.

However, ensure your home is in a strong Verizon 4G LTE area---Home Fusion cannot fall back to 3G.
Diugo

Diugo

Anon

Millenicom may simply "forgive you" if you happen to exceed your 20GB by 2-3 GB/mo. Verizon, OTOH, will invariably ding you $10 for each and every GB over---unless you switch to the 30GB plan mid-month.

VZW may or may not let you switch from 20GB to 30GB and back again more than once, so you may be forced to ultimately upgrade to the 30GB plan---and possibly for an additional two years. It's all up to Big Red.
gcinsetn
join:2004-09-05
Cleveland, TN

gcinsetn to hattrup

Member

to hattrup
hattrup,

Let me not be the one to interject negative vibes here … before committing one way or another I’d strongly encourage you to search out other’s experience with Home Fusion on discussion boards not owned by Verizon. For whatever reason(s) there are lots and lots of horror stories out there from new Home Fusion users. These are now mainly about huge unexplained data usage sometimes [allegedly] when the cantenna & all other local equipment is unplugged.

Verizon has (apparently) recently begun deleting some Home Fusion complaints from their own discussion boards, at least one was deleted within the past 7 days. I first noticed this a of couple weeks ago. Set up a Google Alert for “home fusion” and see for yourself. As for me, I’ve got no irons in this fire; would just like to point out information and end-user experiences I’ve seen that don’t always fit the Verizon P/R model.

BTW, I’ve got no alternatives other than Millenicom and have been a happy user of theirs for a few years now. Was on sat but found it’s support & reliability to be sub-standard.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

dslreports verizon wireless discussion here:

»Verizon Wireless
BlueHeron
join:2013-11-14

BlueHeron to Jack_in_VA

Member

to Jack_in_VA
said by Jack_in_VA:

Verizon's advertised fees are correct for Verizon's plan. They have no control over the various fees and taxes imposed on phone bills by the Federal, state and local governments which can be and usually are different in each location. Just look at your local phone bill and the fees and taxes there would apply to their internet plan.

Yeah, right! If I look at my phone bills, I see bogus fees and taxes usually labeled something along the line of regulatory cost recovery fee, or some such nonsense. In the (very) fine print it will say that the fee(s) is not a tax or imposed by any governmental agency or law.

It the same dodge that's used by the car dealers with their documentation and preparations fees. It's nothing more than added markup that isn't included in the advertised price. They get away with it because they can, and because they have the ethics and morals of the robber baron class, which by the way, pretty much describes the owners of the telephone and cable companies.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

when Millenicom says its 69.99 per month ...that is the total ... no bullshit added on taxes and regulatory fees that can jack it up.
BlueHeron
join:2013-11-14

BlueHeron

Member

said by Jim_in_VA:

when Millenicom says its 69.99 per month ...that is the total ... no bullshit added on taxes and regulatory fees that can jack it up.

Let me get this straight, you are actually agreeing with me and disagreeing with your boy Jack? Must be a really cold day down there. LOL
ggultra2764
join:2007-09-13
Cambridge, NY

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Member

to hattrup
Speaking of BroadbandQ Wireless, whose towers do they use for coverage? I see their 4G offering is 6 Mbps, which would imply WiMax from Sprint. However, they say I have coverage for their service, even though past cases I've had with tracking Sprint coverage say I only get off-network roaming where I live.
Expand your moderator at work
tcassette
join:2013-01-29
Cleveland, TN

tcassette to gcinsetn

Member

to gcinsetn

Re: Millenicom or Verizon? for Home Use - in the new world order

I had Verizon broadband through a Pantech USB modem/Cradlepoint router setup. Verizon several times tried to ding me for going over the monthly 10GB limit even though their online monitor system always said I was under. I would have to go to their closest retail store with printouts of usage to get them to rescind the charge. They claimed that their monitor wasn't that accurate!

Anyway, I considered their Homefusion service after my contract expired in the spring, but I too read all the horror stories. With a little more research, I found out about the MVNOs like Millenicom and Wirelessnwifi. Luckily, I chose the latter...
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

3 edits

Jim_in_VA (banned) to BlueHeron

Member

to BlueHeron
let ME set this straight. Jack is not my "boy" we have separate agendas and opinions. I'm a "solve the tech issues" kinda guy. So yep, I agree with you

edited for atrocious misspelling and sentence structure

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

1 edit

Jack_in_VA to BlueHeron

Premium Member

to BlueHeron
said by BlueHeron:

Yeah, right! If I look at my phone bills, I see bogus fees and taxes usually labeled something along the line of regulatory cost recovery fee, or some such nonsense. In the (very) fine print it will say that the fee(s) is not a tax or imposed by any governmental agency or law.

It the same dodge that's used by the car dealers with their documentation and preparations fees. It's nothing more than added markup that isn't included in the advertised price. They get away with it because they can, and because they have the ethics and morals of the robber baron class, which by the way, pretty much describes the owners of the telephone and cable companies.

My cell bill from verizon: Along with fees, taxes and other charges. I don't really see any bogus charges on it. I listed the definitions of the ones that are not state and local government fees, taxes and surcharges. There's nothing more effective than documentation to make a point.

9/26 - 10/ 25 39.99

Fed universal service charge: 1.52
Regulatory recovery fee federal: .21
Administrative fee: .90
VA Gross Receipts Surchg: .07
Local Business Lic Surchg: .16
VA State 911 fee .75
VA Communication Sales tax 2.14

total taxes and fees: 5.75
Total current charges 45.74

The Universal Service Fund (USF) was created by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1997 to meet Congressional universal service goals as mandated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The 1996 Act states that all providers of telecommunications services should contribute to federal universal service in some equitable and nondiscriminatory manner; there should be specific, predictable, and sufficient Federal and State mechanisms to preserve and advance universal service; all schools, classrooms, health care providers, and libraries should, generally, have access to advanced telecommunications services; and finally, that the Federal-State Joint Board and the FCC should determine those other principles that, consistent with the 1996 Act, are necessary to protect the public interest. Recent quarterly USF fees can be found at Contribution Factor & Quarterly Filings - Universal Service Fund (USF) Management Support. As of the first quarter of 2013, the USF fee, equals 16.1 percent of a telecom company's interstate end-user revenues. As of the second quarter of 2013, the USF fee is 15.5 percent.[1]

Regulatory Recovery Fee - Federal: This fee is a monthly Verizon surcharge that helps to recover the annual per subscriber fee that Verizon pays to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fund the FCC’s administrative costs.

Administrative Fee: Consistent with similar fees charged by other carriers, the monthly fee of 90 cents per line will help cover certain expenses, such as interconnection and cell site rents and maintenance

bcltoys
join:2008-07-21

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The USF is used to pad profit's now how more bogus can it get. Carriers dip in and do nothing.

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA

Premium Member

It doesn't matter. The federal government requires that it be collected by the companies. The fee for the 2nd quarter of 2013 was 15.5 percent. Your anger should be directed at the feds for providing all those free cell phones with free minutes and texts. Right now that's where the primary funding is spent.
haresear
join:2010-03-05
Montrose, CO

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I don't care how the added charges are labeled -- I just want to know the final price (at least an estimate) so I can compare with prepaid services (like Millenicom). My complaint is that Verizon (and probably the other post-paid carriers) refuses to discuss or estimate those extra charges until the contract is signed and you get the first bill. The only way to comparison shop is to find a customer with the Verizon service who can tell you what they are paying.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

Jack pretty much laid out what taxes and fee's will be with a Verizon account. None of that with Millenicom.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

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For what it's worth, while Verizon Wireless may not be up front about all the additional taxes and fees, Verizon is extraordinarily honest and conscientious about that. When I first got FIOS TV over a year ago, they told me exactly what my monthly bill would probably be for the first twelve months, and included their best guesstimate of the average taxes and fees, and they were usually right within a dollar or two. Assuming you are correct about Verizon Wireless, it surprises me that Verizon Wireless is so ethically sloppy about that when their parent company bends over backward to be meticulously scrupulous and accurate about that.
hattrup
join:2002-04-03
Sunnyvale, CA

hattrup

Member

The "local" VZW store I spoke with (an affiliate/franchisee I think, as 15 of 16 seem to be), was clear about add on fees, fed/state/local taxes would be about $8 (we will see...). They did not seem to duck the issue at all. You do need to show up at their store and create an account in person, so definitely more of a hassle the Millenicom to start-up. Until they actually put our info into the VZW "computer" you may not be able to get complete final monthly pricing.

At this point I am many times more concerned about managing the usage, and the accuracy of VZW's meter on the HF service. On the VZ forum, like
»community.verizonwireles ··· tstart=0
I see some people doing just fine, others are a complete mess.

Lots of stories and complaints - but a lot sound poorly informed. However, it does seem a requirement to monitor your own usage and be prepared to challenge the VZW numbers.

Not sure how or why this would be any different using Millenicom though, since it they
would appear to use the same data sources for usage.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

In this regard, it appears that it's possible to fall into a trap of sorts.

When I first signed up with Millenicom almost two years ago, they recommended Rokario's Bandwidth Meter as an accurate and reliable way to measure my usage in real time. I indeed found it be so, and it was very useful to me during my time with Millenicom.

Then I switched to Wireless 'n' WiFi, and quickly discovered that I needed to monitor and limit my usage on that account as well (my goal was no more than 100 gigs a month, roughly twice that of Millenicom).

In any event, in the second full month of use (I believe it was July), my Rokario Meter showed that I had used 96 gigs of data. Eventually Wireless 'n' WiFi told me I had used 93 gigs. On that basis, I concluded that the Rokario Bandwidth Meter was still accurate and useful.

And then something quite peculiar happened. In the months of September and October, the Rokario reported 79 and 80 gigs. But Wireless 'n' WiFi told me their records showed only 47 and 55 gigs! WTF???

One poster on this web site suggested that Sprint might have implemented data compression on my local tower.

Here's the point: there might be bandwidth meters out there that assume the data IS compressed. Is that technologically possible? So folks are using those meters, but their local tower does NOT compress data. In that situation, one would wind up with a month's worth of data figures significantly greater than was showing up on an individual's bandwidth meter.

Is that a possible explanation? Do different real-time bandwidth meters operate on the basis of different assumptions about data streams?
rb5505
join:2013-02-06
united state

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i checked home fusion on many review sites and only came up with the many issues people were having at that time (spring '12). millenicom and their hotspot plan is a much better value and dl speeds for us have been 10-15 mbps. it was an easy decision that we're glad we went with.
haresear
join:2010-03-05
Montrose, CO

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Member

to criggs
Your experience has been different from mine. I have two acquaintances who each got FIOS and canceled after the first bill. The advertised price was ~$90, the actual monthly bill was ~$137. My Verizon landline service is advertised as $20/mo, and my actual bill was $32/mo. I get FIOS fliers in the mail twice a week, and we have FIOS salesmen walking the neighborhood periodically with a pretty hard sell.
criggs
join:2000-07-14
New York, NY

criggs

Member

Odd. Maybe it's the New York Verizon people who have a conscience, not the corporation as a whole. That might also explain why it was so easy for me to get the new Verizon Internet router free with my speed tier (50/25).
haresear
join:2010-03-05
Montrose, CO

haresear

Member

My experience with Verizon Wireless prepaid customer service has actually been fairly positive, although the information they provide hasn't always been accurate.
stenman
join:2007-03-07
Salinas, CA

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I would not trust Millenicom/Verizon for phone service. If you have a problem it will take weeks to get back your landline service. I know as I went with the VOIP plan and it took that long to get back to AT&T landline service.

Putting all your eggs into one basket is never a good idea and it applies doubly to communications.

Why pay the ridiculously high data rates for voice? Makes no sense at all. If for any reason you go over the limit you will get no notice and only have your service terminated until the end of the billing period. I know - it just happened to us and we lost all service for 3 days, had to buy a new hotspot and pay to have it activated or have no connectivity for 3 weeks.

Would you want to take a chance of being cutoff with no notice for weeks? Well that is what you get with Millenicom.
Jim_in_VA (banned)
join:2004-07-11
Cobbs Creek, VA

Jim_in_VA (banned)

Member

Millenicom is data only, not a phone service

Jack_in_VA
Premium Member
join:2007-11-26
North, VA

Jack_in_VA to stenman

Premium Member

to stenman
When did Millenicom offer a VOIP voice plan? It's a data plan and VOIP is a customer add on.

Personally I would never ever use VOIP for my phone service. I use Verizon Home Connect which serves my needs perfectly and I'm willing to pay a little for the security of my phone service.