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 |  elwoodbluesElwood BluesPremium
join:2006-08-30
HarperLand | Re: ... What did crumble was their profit model. | |
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| | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2 | Re: ... How so? | |
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| Reviews:
 ·Frontier Communi..
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by Smith6612:... and Verizon's network didn't crumble because of people exploiting unlimited data. Crumble is the wrong word but I have noticed that parts of their network are congested at all reasonable hours. The tower in Endicott can't even provide enough bandwidth for me to stream Pandora (uses 60-70kbits/s) reliably. Using my 3G data card I've noted speeds ranging from sub-dialup (20kbit/s) to ISDN'ish (64kbit/s) during peak hours.
If I drive a quarter of a mile and let my phone/data card pick up a different tower I'll get 500-600kbit/s.
I'm not advocating in favor of tiered data plans -- much nicer would be an upgrade to LTE in my market -- just saying that parts of their network really are congested. It's pathetic that I can't get speeds superior to that which I received in 1996 with my v.34+ modem. | |
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| |  Smith6612Premium,MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
kudos:21
·Frontier Communi..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: ... Out where I am we see the same thing; congested towers. The reason? There's one or two T1s feeding an entire tower, except everyone is overloading the tower because of a lack of DSL and Cable service. The Fiber-Fed towers have no issue with capacity even on 3G in Buffalo or Niagara Falls. | |
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| | | Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: ... I don't think it's a backhaul issue here. The tower that isn't congested appears to have a microwave uplink to the one that is. I would presume that's because the non-congested tower is located in a hard to reach spot (it's in the woods near the river; it was under water during our floods) and it was too expensive to pull backhual to it?
Maybe you aren't dealing with an issue in Buffalo because the cell sites are closer together? The tower that I'm referring to is the primary tower for the entire Village of Endicott and surrounding areas; Endicott alone is 13,000 people, plus another couple of thousand outside the village that also see that tower as their primary.
It annoys me because I used to stream Pandora on my ride to work and now I can't do it unless I wait until ten minutes into the ride to start it. Initially I thought I might have been throttled but without Pandora my data usage has dropped to <200MB/mo and I still can't do it. Nor do I see better speeds on my non-unlimited data card.
I'm waiting for LTE to get deployed here; presumably that will improve the 3G network as users begin to migrate off it. | |
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| | | | Smith6612Premium,MVM
join:2008-02-01
North Tonawanda, NY
kudos:21 Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: ... Out where I am, the overloaded towers are actually in more rural areas, and do not have LTE radios on them. Less people to slam the towers as compared to the city or suburbs, but the towers just don't have good backhaul and a lot of spots cannot get DSL or Cable, rely on 3G access for Internet instead. In Amherst where the towers are lower to the ground and are perhaps more dense, no speed issues regardless of which tower I test speeds on. All fiber on those towers since they also run LTE there, too. | |
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| | | | | Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: ... I get better performance out in the rural areas here. Sometimes speeds >T-1 (upwards of 2200kbit/s). That doesn't happen in the suburban areas.
Pandora is a good stress test of your 3G connection; I can stream it just fine on road trips but attempt to do it around town and it dies. | |
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| | But they keep on coming Sad thing is, VZW is a good example of proving people have no backbone and will keep bending over to take it up the @!@. They keep charging more, giving you less. There are ONLY a FEW places where they have ok service most of the time, FiOS and are pretty much the market in that area. Other places in the country they have crappy service, no FiOS but still, people think they are gods gift to the wireless world. Shame there are so many stupid people walking the earth.  | |
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| | | Re: But they keep on coming Speaking of stupid people...if people have no backbone, how are they "bending over to take it up the @!@"? Seems like people without backbones wouldn't bend over at all, they'd just be piles of mush.
I'm just sayin'. | |
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|  King PDon't blame me. I voted for Ron PaulPremium
join:2004-11-17
Franklin, TN | and they'll be the first to go, once the Zombie Apocalypse happens.
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My Music blog:
»www.zunetracks.net | |
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| | | said by NoVZW4Me :Sad thing is, VZW is a good example of proving people have no backbone and will keep bending over to take it up the @!@. They keep charging more, giving you less. There are ONLY a FEW places where they have ok service most of the time, FiOS and are pretty much the market in that area. Other places in the country they have crappy service, no FiOS but still, people think they are gods gift to the wireless world. Shame there are so many stupid people walking the earth.
Why don't people speak with their feet? | |
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| |  The LimitPremium
join:2007-09-25
Greensboro, NC
kudos:2
·Windstream
| Re: But they keep on coming Where else are we supposed to go? Sprint and its lackluster network? T-mobile and its sparse coverage? How about any of the numerous mnvos? Some of us really benefit from mobile data, because some of us are mobile.
We can't exactly turn to another provider to provide the quality of service that Verizon Wireless does, and Verizon Wireless knows this. Why else would this corporation exploit users like it does?
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Do or do not, there is no try! - Yoda | |
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| | rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO | The reason folks don't "walk" is there aren't any compelling competitive options. Sprint has a bit better pricing but their coverage doesn't compare. Even though AT&T voice coverage arguably matches Verizon's, their prices are essentially the same.
I suppose if you are happy having coverage in larger population centers, there's some choice but leave town and they are all lacking vs. Sprint, AT&T and Verizon.
So back to my original hypothesis, there's no compelling competitive option. Add to that the cost of a switch requires a new phone. If you are locked into a multi-year smart phone contract, termination and new phone costs quickly eradicate any potential incremental savings. If you wait until your contract is finished, time will have quenched your anger and the landscape has shifted as evidenced by Sprint's slow erosion of price and cap advantages. | |
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| | | | | Re: But they keep on coming Sounds to me like you guys want to have your cake and eat it too.
Nobody said speaking with your feet was going to be pleasant. If you truly believe in something, then you might just have to sacrifice a little to get it. | |
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| | | | The LimitPremium
join:2007-09-25
Greensboro, NC
kudos:2 | Re: But they keep on coming Actually, we just want fair pricing. That's not too much to ask.
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Do or do not, there is no try! - Yoda | |
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| | | | |  ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: But they keep on coming said by The Limit:Actually, we just want fair pricing. That's not too much to ask.
Actually, according to Verizon's terms, it is. Either enjoy your lot, or vote with your wallet and move elsewhere. Otherwise, you're wasting your breath on a company that's very content with the extra revenue it receives. | |
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| | | | | | The LimitPremium
join:2007-09-25
Greensboro, NC
kudos:2 Reviews:
·Windstream
| Re: But they keep on coming Sorry, but your experience and location may vary among other users here. For some of us, Verizon Wireless is our only option.
Please don't ask me to move. I can't just pick up my bags and move where ever I please, I'm not made of money. 
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Do or do not, there is no try! - Yoda | |
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| | | | | | | ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: But they keep on coming New phones on contracts are normally free, or pretty close to it. Also, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint all have about the same retail monthly price, so unless you're on a special plan currently, there wouldn't be much of a price hike involved.
Asking Verizon to change their pricing, but continuing to pay the high rates, ends up as a wash as far as they're concerned. No company is going to take a hit to revenues unless there's a good fiscal reason to do so. | |
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| | | ThalerPremium
join:2004-02-02
Los Angeles, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·DSL EXTREME
| said by rradina:The reason folks don't "walk" is there aren't any compelling competitive options. Sprint has a bit better pricing but their coverage doesn't compare. Even though AT&T voice coverage arguably matches Verizon's, their prices are essentially the same.
Oddly enough, friends & family that visit using Verizon have to walk to the end of our block to make/receive calls reliably. AT&T users are SOL unless they take a 5-10 minute to get reliable service. Our Sprint phones work reliably both in/around our house & our surrounding neighborhood. Why things are this way in a densely populated area...I have no idea. | |
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BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| Consistency There needs to be some consistency with the plans. Having some people grandfathered makes absolutely no sense. If they want to change things going forward, then it should be for ALL customers, with grandfathered people losing their grandfathering as soon as they upgrade a handset or their contract runs out.
Also, Verizon didn't give the consumer anything when they capped off their plans. AT&T gave them a $5 discount. Without a lower priced or fair option, even if Verizon suited me better at some point in the future, I probably wouldn't switch just on the principle of it. | |
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| Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Consistency said by BiggA:Having some people grandfathered makes absolutely no sense. If they want to change things going forward, then it should be for ALL customers Cell phone companies have always grandfathered plans. I know someone who is still on a $20/mo Verizon plan that provides no minutes. She pays $0.39 for each minute that she uses or some such. AFAIK this plan hasn't been offered since the 90s, yet she still has it. I also know people who are still on the original America's Choice plan that didn't include roaming. They pay $0.69/min whenever they wind up on one of Verizon's partner networks.
Verizon knows that in the long term the vast majority of their customers will be talked into giving up their grandfathered plans for one reason or another. They probably don't see any upside to forcing people to abandon them. It costs them nothing to provide -- if anything the grandfathered plans are usually MORE expensive once you crunch all the numbers. | |
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| |  MSaukMSaukPremium
join:2002-01-17
Sandy, UT
 ·Vonage
| Re: Consistency Thank goodness for being grandfathered.
Also I will always ask when is having enough billions enough. When will the customer come first after making billions off of them.
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801 Images | |
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| |  birdfeedrPremium,MVM
join:2001-08-11
Warwick, RI
kudos:5 | A grandfathered prepay plan used to be $15/mo. for 100 minutes, but they rollover. Now up to 29 hours of daytime usage. Lose the minutes if the monthly payment gets broken. The monthly has actually come down to $12. | |
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| | |  FutureMonKeep your Mitts off RMoneyPremium,ExMod 2002-05
join:2000-10-05
Seaside, CA | Re: Consistency **KNOCK ON WOOD***
I'm on a VZW Grandfathered unlimited data plan, PLUS I was able to get in on a special promotion they offered about a year ago for $20 off my data plans.
So for TWO 3G phones, I'm paying a total of $20/mo for unlimited data and text.
- FM
--
Q: How many theoretical physicists specializing in general relativity does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to hold the bulb and one to rotate the universe.
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| | | | | | Re: Consistency Cool story, bro. | |
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| | BiggA
join:2005-11-23
EARTH Reviews:
·Comcast
| The downside on the backend with the really old plans is more complication for the billing and CSR's for a very small number of customers.
The downside on data is congestion. The whole point of tiered data is to ease congestion, but a lot of their customers aren't on the tiered plans. They should work to change that as quickly as possible, or just put everyone on unlimited*, and offer the 2GB plan as an option, or allow anyone currently on tiered to switch to unlimited*.
*after 2,048MB, your data speed will be throttled to 200kbps. | |
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| | coverage not sure why anyone would worry about coverage. if i dont get coverage from sprint, which happens hardly ever, i roam on verizon anyways. unlimited ftw | |
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|  AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ | Re: coverage said by bandit8623:not sure why anyone would worry about coverage. if i dont get coverage from sprint, which happens hardly ever, i roam on verizon anyways. unlimited ftw
depends where you live, but +1.
--
--Standard disclaimers apply.--
google this "(sqrt(cos(x))*cos(200*x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(9-x^2), -sqrt(9-x^2)" | |
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| Reviews:
·Frontier Communi..
·Verizon Online DSL
| said by bandit8623:not sure why anyone would worry about coverage. if i dont get coverage from sprint, which happens hardly ever, i roam on verizon anyways. unlimited ftw
Works for you in an urban area but what happens to someone who lives in the sticks if Verizon decides not to renew that roaming agreement? | |
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| bn1221
join:2009-04-29
Cortland, NY | Funny my Sprint rep says the roaming allowance on Verizon is 300 MB and my Verizon rep says the roaming on Sprint is 200 MB. And my Vz phone kicks to 1X on roaming. | |
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| | | | Re: coverage weird, on the sprint account it says unlimited on the tab for roaming.
so it may be a soft cap? | |
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| | | AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ | Re: coverage depends if you are grandfathered or not. | |
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PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR | Yea right, blame it on "the blogs" Because this site a a private, closed entity, totally unknown and unaccessible to anyone who works for VZ -- NOT!!!
These things happen all the time. Once someone finds the loophole, it gets published for free, worldwide distribution on the web, and the Powers That Be eventually get around to fixing it.
I used to use a loophole in the American Airlines automated ugrade system to jump the queue and score upgrades ahead of other people in the waitlist. It was well-known on the frequent flyer forums. They eventually got around to closing it.  | |
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 jhboricuaExMod 2000-01
join:2000-06-06
Minneapolis, MN | Amazing, isn't it. What I find hilarious is how quickly they fixed this. When they were charging the bogus $1 or $2 fee for 'accidental browsing', they whined about how difficult it was to fix the issue in their system. But obviously that only applies when they are the ones who stand to benefit from the 'glitch'.
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." - Albert Einstein
Jose A. Hernandez * System Engineer * MPLS, Minnesota, USA * | |
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| | Just start using prepaid cards. Go with a company that has a sane prepaid plan. The investment is a little higher, depending on your phone, but it seems more worthwhile to me.
Eh, I just ditched Verizon Wireless awhile ago, and went with Virgin Mobile, prepaid. I'm actually happy with it, and while it doesn't have the coverage of Verizon or ATT, it does what I need it to do, except play flash. I'm finding I prefer buying the prepaid cards rather than paying for a 2 year contract. That's only because you pay only the taxes on the face value of the card, and not have to worry about hidden fees or such. | |
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| | Fortunate Was one of the fortunate ones to get in on the unlimited deal on its last day of availability thanks to browsing sites like dslreports. The network is completely unreliable but at least it's unlimited. | |
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