  IowaCowboyIowa native
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA
kudos:1 |
Postpaid user hereToo 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. | |
|
 | | |
Re: Postpaid user hereWhat 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. | |
|
| | | |
Re: Postpaid user hereThe 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. | |
|
| | |  88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
88615298
Premium Member
2012-Nov-26 11:02 am
Re: Postpaid user heresaid 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. | |
|
| | | | | |
Re: Postpaid user heresaid 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. | |
|
| | | | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX
kudos:2 |
to 88615298
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. | |
|
| | | | | |
to 88615298
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. | |
|
| | |  FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ
kudos:5 |
to Crookshanks
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 | |
|
| | 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
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. | |
|
| | | | |
Re: Postpaid user heresaid 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. | |
|
| | | | 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
88615298
Premium Member
2012-Nov-26 6:27 pm
Re: Postpaid user heresaid by fifty nine: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. I didn't say it was. But Verizon will start offering VoLTE a year from now. What say you then? Who cares about 10 years from now. Today I don't want to pay for voice service that I don't really use. Then get your cell service elsewhere | |
|
 Simba7I Void Warranties
join:2003-03-24
Billings, MT |
Simba7
Member
2012-Nov-26 9:52 am
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. | |
|
| | |
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. | |
|
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX
kudos:2 |
iansltx
Member
2012-Nov-26 12:42 pm
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. | |
|
| IowaCowboyIowa native
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA
kudos:1 |
to Simba7
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. | |
|
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX
kudos:2 |
iansltx
Member
2012-Nov-26 12:43 pm
Re: Still not a good deal..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? | |
|
| 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
to Simba7
said by Simba7: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? | |
|
| | | |
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 | |
|
| | | 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
88615298
Premium Member
2012-Nov-26 6:18 pm
Re: Still not a good deal..said by jseymour: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 Yes space which SHOULD be used for THEIR own customers. I wonder if at&t and Verizon could still offer unlimited or at least higher caps if they weren't FORCED to sell precious space and use precious spectrum on these companies. Which then turn around and get customers by telling you how much more expensive at&t and Verizon are. | |
|
| | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX
kudos:2 |
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. | |
|
| | | 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
88615298
Premium Member
2012-Nov-26 6:20 pm
Re: Still not a good deal..said by iansltx: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.
The cost accompany like Straight Talks pays to use the major carriers pipes is FAR cheaper than if they had to build out their own network. FACT. And if they had to build out their own network they would NOT being offering unlimited everything for $45 a month. | |
|
| | | | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX
kudos:2 |
Re: Still not a good deal.....and if the major carriers that Straight Talk wholesales from had a problem with that, they wouldn't be reselling their service to ST cheaply enough for ST to make a profit.
Also, Page Plus Cellular resells VZW's network for $55 per month for unlimited everything except data (2GB). No 4G though. | |
|
| | | | | 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
88615298
Premium Member
2012-Nov-26 6:28 pm
Re: Still not a good deal..said by iansltx:...and if the major carriers that Straight Talk wholesales from had a problem with that, they wouldn't be reselling their service to ST cheaply enough for ST to make a profit. Carriers are forced to sell to companies like Straight Talk and they are limited in the amount they can charge. | |
|
| | | | | | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX
kudos:2 |
Re: Still not a good deal..What forces them to do this? Federal regulation? What's the regulation? | |
|
| |
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? | |
|
| | |
Os
Member
2012-Nov-26 10:53 am
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
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
to Skippy25
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. | |
|
| | | |
Re: Say it isnt so!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. | |
|
| | | iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX
kudos:2 |
iansltx
Member
2012-Nov-26 12:45 pm
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. | |
|
| | | 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
to Eagles1221
said by Eagles1221: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.
Maybe because most people in your area might still have 3G phones. Also many probably still have unlimited data. | |
|
| | | | | |
Re: Say it isnt so!Or one tower with only 3*T1 backauls and a university might have something to do with it. | |
|
| | | |
to 88615298
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 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.
[/BQUOTE : | |
|
 ChadSchA work in progress
join:2002-05-08
San Francisco, CA |
ChadSch
Member
2012-Nov-26 11:45 am
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! | |
|
| 88615298
Premium Member
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness |
88615298
Premium Member
2012-Nov-26 6:12 pm
Re: New Smartphones only?said by ChadSch: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. | |
|
| |
Verizon is OVERPRICEDThere'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.  | |
|
|
•••• |
 Acuity
join:2002-06-22
Londonderry, NH |
Acuity
Member
2012-Nov-26 7:45 pm
Still too expensive...I just took a Nexus 4 to T-Mobile's pre-paid. For $30/month I get 100 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data (first 5 GB @ 4G). I use GrooVe IP for any calls, and am quite happy with it.
T-Mobile's coverage is spotty in some areas. If you go into the very rural areas, you might not have 4G/3G coverage, but where that's lacking I usually have wifi so it isn't much of an issue. My work phone is with VZW, so I'm all set for any emergency calls.
T-Mobile pre-paid isn't for everyone, and if you need coverage everywhere, you're probably off paying VWZ's premium price, but I'm with T-Mobile now and don't see myself looking back. | |
|
|
|
