Verizon new data plans go live today

[zerocool84]

It's October 28th, and Verizon's full suite of data plans have changed just as foretold -- if you want to save a few bucks, you can revise your megabyte-munching lifestyle right now. There's no need to fear for unlimited 3G smartphone data, as it's still available for the usual $29.99, but that plan's no longer required when buying a new Droid, as you can opt for a new $14.99 plan if you can bare to live with just 150 megabytes. We'll spare you the full breakdown on mobile broadband plans -- as you can find it at our original post right here -- rght down to that promotional 3GB MiFi and Fivespot plan for $35 a month.

3G Feature Phones -- $1.99 pay as you go or $15 monthly access for 150 or 150 MB ($15/150 MB overage) or $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

3G Smartphones Plans – $15 monthly access for 150 MB ($15/150 MB overage) or $29.99 for unlimited monthly access.

3G Tablet Plans – $20 monthly access for 1 GB ($20/1 GB overage), $35 monthly access for 3 GB ($10/ 1 GB overage); $50 monthly access for 5 GB ($10/1 GB overage) and $80 for 10 GB ($10/1G overage).

3G Netbooks/Notebooks Built-In Plans – $50 monthly access for 5 GB ($10/1 GB overage) or $80 monthly access for 10 GB ($10/1 GB overage).

MiFi 2200 and Five Spot Mobile – $50 monthly access for 5 GB ($10 /1 GB overage), $80 for 10 GB ($10/1G overage) or as part of a 90-day promotion $35 monthly access for 3 GB ($10/1 GB overage).

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/28/verizons-tiered-data-plans-go-live-including-30-for-a-smartph/

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/18/verizons-tiered-data-plans-hitting-october-28-smartphones-stil

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Nice to see them have an actual "unlimited" plan even with the new data plans. How about tethering capabilities?

 

[Tristicus]

Still $30 for unlimited? Win in my book.

 

[SunnyD]

Except Verizon's unlimited isn't unlimited. Never has been, never will be.

 

[ew915]

Except Verizon's unlimited isn't unlimited. Never has been, never will be.

There isn't such a thing as unlimited data when there are limited number of weeks, days, hours in a month and a speed cap of the service.

 

[TheStu]

There isn't such a thing as unlimited data when there are limited number of weeks, days, hours in a month and a speed cap of the service.

I think he was more referring to the fact that the fine print is that unlimited=5GB/month.

 

[MrX8503]

There isn't such a thing as unlimited data when there are limited number of weeks, days, hours in a month and a speed cap of the service.

The fine print says 5GB cap. This isn't true unlimited. AFAIK only Sprint and Tmobile offer true unlimited.

 

[gsaldivar]

The fine print says 5GB cap. This isn't true unlimited. AFAIK only Sprint and Tmobile offer true unlimited.

There are no truly unlimited plans.

All wireless providers have either a soft-cap, speed limit, or will simply cancel your contract for excessive usage.

 

[QueBert]

I can attest to Sprint not being truly unlimited, I went ape shit one month and CS called me and said I had 2 options I could pay them an obscene amount of $$$ for the overage or they would be shutting my data off completely. I had them shut it off, and I couldn't even use it as pay per kilobyte. They wanted to pay per kilo charge me for about 4 gigs of what they considered excessive data usage. I dunno what % of customers they actually do this to. But I got definitely got busted. I don't remember the amount but were asking for something like $18,000 if I wanted to keep my data on. I called about 5 times over the next 2.5 before I left them for Verizon, they refused every time.

No such thing as unlimited.

 

[sswingle]

Sounds good. Even though I don't own one, I'm happy to see the feature phones lose the $10 mandatory data. Unfortunately the cheaper smart phone plan wouldn't work for any of us since we use so much data.

 

[Anubis]

The fine print says 5GB cap. This isn't true unlimited. AFAIK only Sprint and Tmobile offer true unlimited.

provided you don't do stupid shit going over 5gb isn't a big deal every now and then. ive hit 5.5 twice this year, bill has never changed and they haven't said shit to me

 

[SunnyD]

The fine print says 5GB cap. This isn't true unlimited. AFAIK only Sprint and Tmobile offer true unlimited.

T-Mobile throttles after 5GB. Used to be 10GB, but now it's 5GB as of last month. Still, better than paying overages.

 

[Deeko]

AT&T's $15 plan is a lot better. As is T-Mobile's $10 plan.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

I can attest to Sprint not being truly unlimited, I went ape shit one month and CS called me and said I had 2 options I could pay them an obscene amount of $$$ for the overage or they would be shutting my data off completely. I had them shut it off, and I couldn't even use it as pay per kilobyte. They wanted to pay per kilo charge me for about 4 gigs of what they considered excessive data usage. I dunno what % of customers they actually do this to. But I got definitely got busted. I don't remember the amount but were asking for something like $18,000 if I wanted to keep my data on. I called about 5 times over the next 2.5 before I left them for Verizon, they refused every time.

No such thing as unlimited.

What was your total data usage for when you went over?

 

[Stang289]

$15 seems excessive for 150MB. $15 per GB would be reasonable.

 

[Fingolfin269]

What was your total data usage for when you went over?

I'm sure it was some obscene amount that would shock most people. You know, the kind of usage we hear about where 90% of the usage is used by 1% of the people or something like that. I mean, you probably really have to screw Sprint for them to basically tell you they don't want your business right now.

Right Q?

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

I'm sure it was some obscene amount that would shock most people. You know, the kind of usage we hear about where 90% of the usage is used by 1% of the people or something like that. I mean, you probably really have to screw Sprint for them to basically tell you they don't want your business right now.

Right Q?

I'm only asking because most people think that they have unlimited (even those on T-Mobile and Sprint) when they really just have a 5GB cap and after that it's like you're pushing it.

 

[Tristicus]

Except Verizon's unlimited isn't unlimited. Never has been, never will be.

And if you go way over 5gb then you are doing something other than just using your smart phone probably...

 

[shortylickens]

And if you go way over 5gb then you are doing something other than just using your smart phone probably...

I guess if you gave up your computer and Streamed 720p from Netflix and Hulu all day every day it wouldnt be hard to go over that.

As for the topic at hand: I am grateful for the price improvements but it doesnt change the fact Verizons been screwing me for the past year and I plan to dump them out of spite. Will just root my Droid and use the Wifi for everything. Dont even need to make calls very often. Can use a tracfone for that.

If they gave me a good deal on data and made a new cheap voice plan (like 50 minutes for 5 bucks a month) then maybe I would stick with them. Provided the deal was in writing and someone at the store actually signed their name to the contract.
I dont trust those asses anymore.

 

[Malak]

I can attest to Sprint not being truly unlimited, I went ape shit one month and CS called me and said I had 2 options I could pay them an obscene amount of $$$ for the overage or they would be shutting my data off completely. I had them shut it off, and I couldn't even use it as pay per kilobyte. They wanted to pay per kilo charge me for about 4 gigs of what they considered excessive data usage. I dunno what % of customers they actually do this to. But I got definitely got busted. I don't remember the amount but were asking for something like $18,000 if I wanted to keep my data on. I called about 5 times over the next 2.5 before I left them for Verizon, they refused every time.

No such thing as unlimited.

98% of users stay under the 5GB cap most providers have, that's why the cap is set there. The few that go beyond that need to be banned from phones.

 

[shortylickens]

98% of users stay under the 5GB cap most providers have, that's why the cap is set there. The few that go beyond that need to be banned from phones.

They dont need to be banned. If theres extra money to be made from hi-capacity users why not do it?
And if the new streaming over 4G is as wonderful as its supposed to be I can see darn near anyone hitting 5GB a month. My mother rides the VRE and the Metro into work everyday and spends an hour or so doing nothing. I got her a portable DVD player but its too bulky for her purse. A true multimedia phone with movie access would be good for her.

 

[YoungGun21]

VZW has no 5GB cap. The contract simply says that if you go over 5GB they can monitor your usage to see if you are using data illegally (and you most likely are). Then if they determine you are illegally using data, they can cut your service or charge you. Similar to what happened to QueBert.

 

[zerocool84]

They dont need to be banned. If theres extra money to be made from hi-capacity users why not do it?
And if the new streaming over 4G is as wonderful as its supposed to be I can see darn near anyone hitting 5GB a month. My mother rides the VRE and the Metro into work everyday and spends an hour or so doing nothing. I got her a portable DVD player but its too bulky for her purse. A true multimedia phone with movie access would be good for her.

These ridiculous caps are holding back mobile technology. Other countries can already stream intense amounts of content to their phones. In other countries, more people have mobile smartphones than they do computers. We need to stop the stupid mobile market we have here and get the ball rolling. It's ridiculous how far behind we are in mobile technology and mobile delivery compared to other first world countries.

 

[Malak]

These ridiculous caps are holding back mobile technology. Other countries can already stream intense amounts of content to their phones. In other countries, more people have mobile smartphones than they do computers. We need to stop the stupid mobile market we have here and get the ball rolling. It's ridiculous how far behind we are in mobile technology and mobile delivery compared to other first world countries.

The network cannot support that much usage, and the caps are not ridiculous since most people do NOT come anywhere near the cap level. Wifi is suggested for smartphones that can do it, because it will be faster and not strain the network. Because of wifi spreading, you'll see people use the network less and things will smooth out.

For people thinking there are no caps, AT&T will even cap your home phone. They'll shut you off if you talk too much. Fact is, people that use their phones enough to hit the caps(written or not) are doing something wrong in their life.

 

[QueBert]

VZW has no 5GB cap. The contract simply says that if you go over 5GB they can monitor your usage to see if you are using data illegally (and you most likely are). Then if they determine you are illegally using data, they can cut your service or charge you. Similar to what happened to QueBert.

It's not that hard to hit 5 gigs on a phone doing shit that's totally legal. I can attest I wasn't illegally tethering. I was at about 12 gigs, and had been for a few months, I guess this was unacceptable to them. I think all cell phone providers should be required by law to remove the word "unlimited" because it's not even close to true. The average user will never go over 5 gigs, but it can be done. And to me unlimited means unlimited, when I go to an all you can eat buffet I expect to be able to eat as many plates of food as I want.