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How do I keep Unlimited LTE on Verizon?
- Thread starter TimG
- Start date
Verizon no longer offers unlimited 4G if you don't already have it on your contract. They ended that over a year ago. So if you don't have a 4g phone already, no you won't get unlimited. Your next option is to jump on with a tiered plan before they start this "Shared Everything" bullshit on 6/28.
I just had them push my upgrade ahead 6 months to today so I could use it and still keep my grandfathered unlimited LTE.
I just had them push my upgrade ahead 6 months to today so I could use it and still keep my grandfathered unlimited LTE.
There are not two grandfathered plans, just the one unlimited that goes away on the 28th.
To keep unlimited you will need to purchase any future phone unsubsidized. If you have an upgrade available you can use it before the 28th and keep it. A preorder of the sgs3 will also keep unlimited data.
To keep unlimited you will need to purchase any future phone unsubsidized. If you have an upgrade available you can use it before the 28th and keep it. A preorder of the sgs3 will also keep unlimited data.
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[H]ard|Gawd
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this was my experience when i upgraded a few weeks ago to a GNex from my Incredible
Unlimited 4G data, even if I already don't have 4G on my account, correct?
I'd like to stay off contract, but I would really like the GS3.
caw2007
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either get a 4g phone now unsubsidized and convert your plan, then just keep buying unsubsidized phones
caw2007
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you can pre order the SGS3 and as long as you buy it unsubsidised you can get it AND convert to a 4G unlimited plan
Droid Life has the proof if you want to see
Droid Life has the proof if you want to see
UnknownSouljer
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Less than the cumulative cost over time of paying higher prices month to month. Verizon, AT&T and every other contracted plan provider knows this, that's why they are moving to the tiered plan in the first place. It's about nickle and dime'ing to increase the price of cell phone plan features five dollars here and five dollars there.
Even without grandfathered plans, I think buying a phone outright and going contractless is the way to go. That's the way it's done in Japan, China, and well most of asia. If at any time a carrier pisses you off, you're not beholden to them and you can simply jump ship. Want a new phone? Then you don't have to wait 6 months or a year or until your contract runs out to upgrade. Simply sell your current phone on eBay and upgrade. When talking about phones like the iPhone or high-end Android phones, if done regularly the cost of moving from one phone to the next will only be a few hundred dollars.
I'm personally waiting for Virgin to get the iPhone. Rumors-ville says that will happen soon. Then I'll really be able to get the best of both worlds, low month to month cost, prepaid, contract-less, and the phone I want.
BeavermanA
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But if you want Verizon's LTE service, you probably were under a contract at some time, even if it's expired and you're month to month.
I renewed my contract by pre-ordering the S3. Why? Cause I've paid the same damn price for the past 6 months out of contract, and will continue to do so and keep the same features, so may as well just take my $400+ discount on the phone.
Plus if I want out of the contract, don't you just pay $350 minus $10/mo of each month you kept the contract. Less than the price I'd have bought the phone off contract, over $700 after taxes.
You can also sell your phone at any time and buy one retail for use on your contract, long as you keep paying for the contract.
Basically just boils down to service if you still have a good grandfathered plan on Verizon with LTE. It's more expensive than prepaid and other carriers, but coverage for data and voice is excellent. I've had T-Mobile, company phone is Sprint, friends have ATT, and they all suck around here compared to Verizon.
If I were a new customer after this shared bullshit starts, I'd definitely look elsewhere though.
I renewed my contract by pre-ordering the S3. Why? Cause I've paid the same damn price for the past 6 months out of contract, and will continue to do so and keep the same features, so may as well just take my $400+ discount on the phone.
Plus if I want out of the contract, don't you just pay $350 minus $10/mo of each month you kept the contract. Less than the price I'd have bought the phone off contract, over $700 after taxes.
You can also sell your phone at any time and buy one retail for use on your contract, long as you keep paying for the contract.
Basically just boils down to service if you still have a good grandfathered plan on Verizon with LTE. It's more expensive than prepaid and other carriers, but coverage for data and voice is excellent. I've had T-Mobile, company phone is Sprint, friends have ATT, and they all suck around here compared to Verizon.
If I were a new customer after this shared bullshit starts, I'd definitely look elsewhere though.
That's not true here in Korea, and I'm pretty damn sure it's not true in Japan, either, from my coworker who just finished three years there. (And I'm heading there myself for three years next March.) You CAN buy a phone outright and do pay as you go but plans are more common. They just suck less than American mobile plans.
T4rd
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Yes, if you stay off contract and buy any phone right now (even on contract until June 28th), you will stay on unlimited data. But if you're off contract and still using a 2 year old phone, why not upgrade right now and re-new your contract with your current plan while you still can? This is your last opportunity to get a new subsidized phone from Verizon and stay on unlimited data.
After June 28th, Verizon has stated that you can keep your unlimited data if you buy your phones off-contract and don't re-new your contract anymore, paying on a month to month basis (as you said you are right now). But I'm not sure I would trust them to adhere to that because at that point they are no longer under any obligation to keep your pricing and plan the same and could move you to their new shared data plans whenever they want since neither of you are bound to a contractual agreement. But at least on that same token, you can leave them with no ETF or penalties whatsoever.
I still have like 20 months before my contract ends, so until then, I'll watch people in the forums as they come off contract and buy their phones unsubsidized to see if Verizon messes with their account. Hopefully they don't care about it too much because I'm sure less than 5% of their customer base will be doing this to hang onto their unlimited data plans and now (more importantly), their overall cheaper plans. I would hate to leave Verizon since their coverage and service are the best, but I will not pay the new retarded prices under any circumstance. I would be paying significantly more for less service. $50 for 1 friggin GB.. shared across all of my phones (that all have individual $40 access charges still)?!?! lol.. no thanks. It's time to start voting with our wallets. I understand that they need to make profits while building more infrastructure, but they're already breaking profit records and now they're just gouging the shit out of us (even more so) while they do it.
Exactly. I've been off contract for about five months now. Still paying the same per month as I did the previous two years. I could either pay $200 and get a top-of-the-line device and be "stuck" with Verizon ( Is that really that bad? ) for another two years or stay contract-free and loose the ability to get a cheap upgrade while keeping my unlimited plan. Kinda seems like a no brainer. Upgrade now and pre-order the phone.
Same thing I ultimately decided to do. Hopefully, next year when my wife's contract is up (2nd line on Family Share), I can get her a 4G phone unsubsidized, and she can retain her grandfathered unlimited.
madFive
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Man, I got into the 4G boat just in time! Upgraded from HTC Incredible to Razr Maxx this week, and I got to keep my unlimited data plan from 2 years ago, and got to upgrade to unlimited 4G data with no additional cost. Here's hoping my current rate gets grandfathered over for the next two years... but I won't be terribly surprised if they kick me to a different plan later this summer though.
nerdydesi
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I do know that having worked at a VZW call center last year, that unlimited data for smartphones and feature-phones are completely different feature codes in their billing system. So if you had unlimited data on your flip-phone, it wouldn't carry over to a smartphone after July 2011 when they killed off unlimited data for new customers. I'm sure that upset a lot of customers that were looking forward to that.
I don't know since leaving them, if now, you can preserve your unlimited data going from a 3G to 4G smartphone. I believe the same feature code for unlimited data for smartphones really is for all smartphones, 3G or 4G.
Also, one neat thing you can do is if you have unlimited data on your LTE smartphone, you can use that same SIM card in any other non-smartphone LTE device like a Motorola Xoom, USB modem, iPad 3, etc. and keep the unlimited data, whereas you can't get unlimited data for those devices separately.
Of course, you'll have to keep paying for your voice plan (and texting plan if applicable) even though they can't be used on non-smartphones and wouldn't receive calls nor texts while the card is out of your phone.
I don't know since leaving them, if now, you can preserve your unlimited data going from a 3G to 4G smartphone. I believe the same feature code for unlimited data for smartphones really is for all smartphones, 3G or 4G.
Also, one neat thing you can do is if you have unlimited data on your LTE smartphone, you can use that same SIM card in any other non-smartphone LTE device like a Motorola Xoom, USB modem, iPad 3, etc. and keep the unlimited data, whereas you can't get unlimited data for those devices separately.
Of course, you'll have to keep paying for your voice plan (and texting plan if applicable) even though they can't be used on non-smartphones and wouldn't receive calls nor texts while the card is out of your phone.
terrybogard21
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You can even have 3g unlimited grandfathered in & move to 4g & keep it unlimited. Granted you pay full price for the phone that is 4g. The unlimited data package isn't two separate things in the sense of 3g/ 4g it's just Data altogether.
There is no financial incentive to being off contract (not talking about pre-paid plans) with Verizon. They will charge you the same amount month-to-month even if you bring your own device. The exception being if you want to keep unlimited data which you will lose after June 28 if you use an upgrade. Its really dumb honestly, I wish they would give you a monthly discount for using an unsubsidized phone.
Parja
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They can't just make a change to your contract mid-stream. If they do, they broke your contract and you can get out with no ETF.
Yup, with Verizon (at least), there's no longer any difference between 3G and 4G. It's just a smartphone data plan.
Until the 28th, you can re-up a 2yr agreement and get a new subsidized phone and keep unlimited data. After that, yes, your only option will be to pay full price for a phone or bring your own. But for right now, if you're out of contract or eligible for an upgrade and currently have a smartphone, you can still re-up for 2 more years and keep unlimited data.
This reasoning doesn't actually work. What you are missing is:
-You are never locked into any contract, you just have to pay early termination.
-You get no discount for providing your own phone, part of your bill is going to subsidize a phone you don't even have.
-With no contract if prices go up you pay higher price, if price goes down you pay loser price. With contract if prices go up you pay old price and if prices go down you pay lower price.
For example:
Phone w/ contract $200
Phone w/o contract $500
On Verizon early termination is $350 minus $10 per month of service you've paid.
If you do early termination in the first 5 months you would have saved money by buying phone w/o contract, between 0-50$. After 5 months, you are paying more to have bought your own phone. Eg at 8 months:
w/o contract = $500
w/ contract = $200 + $270 = $470
Not only is it cheaper but you only had to put $200 up front and paid the rest at the end.
The only way you will save money by buying phone is if you never stay on carrier for more than 5 months.
Thanks for the information guys. Looks like I'll be preordering the S3 in the next couple days here and renewing my account for another two years. Might as well get a S3 on the "cheap" right?
EDIT - What is this bullshit "Upgrade Fee?" They charge me to upgrade my freaking phone? Love how I get a $30 discount for being with them for two years, then they charge me $30 to upgrade my phone
.
EDIT - What is this bullshit "Upgrade Fee?" They charge me to upgrade my freaking phone? Love how I get a $30 discount for being with them for two years, then they charge me $30 to upgrade my phone
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I just upgraded mine online this evening from an original Droid. I had no problem keeping unlimited data. The pop-up with all the code changes to the account even showed 3G being dropped for 4G, but still unlimited.
The $30 upgrade fee is pure horse shit. It's the equivalent to the phones costing $30 more, but just hiding the damn price.
The $30 upgrade fee is pure horse shit. It's the equivalent to the phones costing $30 more, but just hiding the damn price.
collegeboy69us
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I know what you mean -- however in a way it makes sense what they are doing.
They are giving people a 700 dollar phone for 200 dollars. (generally) That difference in price is the cost to them for a guaranteed income for 24 months in the future.
Time value of money really - it's the same thing that banks do with CD's and such - They will give you a certificate worth 10,000 dollars at a future point in time, but it might only cost you 9,000 today. (just an example)
In situations like this, there is zero incentive to go contract-less with Verizon. I just switched from Sprint to Verizon and am generally happy. LTE is awesome and I love my Galaxy Nexus
By and large though the entire cell phone business in the united states is a racket. Just like home broadband. The fact that bandwidth seems to get MORE expensive and limited as time goes on just plain sucks. Seems most people these days are convinced that "bandwidth" is some super rare resource that we can never get any more of.Activate: AMD
[H]ard|Gawd
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Yes and no. They're telling people they're getting a $700 phone for $200, but in reality verizon pays much less than that. Just look at the prices for off-contract phones at other retailers.. much lower than getting the same phone off contract through the carrier. The lower prices are likely much closer to the true cost. I.e. Verizon will sell you an off-contract GNex for $650, but it probably costs them more like $350-400 based off the fact that the GSM model is $400 from google directly. So it makes sense, but they're still ripping people off
Yes and no again. The costs for bandwith on home broadband (wires) should be decreasing and caps should be going UP not down. Wired bandwith is limited by the company's willingness to upgrade their infrastructure, nothing more. Wireless bandwith on the other hand, is limited by the nature of the spectrum. I'd also guess that planning/permitting/building cell sites is more expensive than wired infrastructure, so you're also limited by costs to build out the cell network. It really doesn't help the consumers from a price and consumer power standpoint that the technology is advancing so fast because it dramatically increases the infrastructure costs for the carriers. Say we got to a point where LTE was fully implemented and there was no technical need for 5G, the more mature technology and networks would reduce the need for capital expenditures and we'd probably see more competition on price between the carriers.In situations like this, there is zero incentive to go contract-less with Verizon. I just switched from Sprint to Verizon and am generally happy. LTE is awesome and I love my Galaxy Nexus
I agree on the whole though, that the US cell market is a racket. If more people would buy their own phones and demand discounts for BYOD, they might be compelled to lower prices, but as it stands theres just no demand and not enough network interoperability (fuck CDMA vs GSM
) to make it matter to the big boyscollegeboy69us
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Yes, the only reason I pulled out the number $700 is because that's what was listed on amazon wireless a few months ago.
Since I'm under contract for at least another year to year and a half before an upgrade comes down, I haven't kept up with the prices.
I have no doubt that the actual cost of the phone to Verizon (or google) is only 300-400 dollars in parts. If google is selling it out the door for 400 I'd imagine it could even be just a hair under 300 maybe.
I only paid $79 out of pocket for my Galaxy Nexus -- for what it can do I'm pretty damn happy. Just checked on amazon wireless and it looks like you can get the Galaxy Nexus for 1 cent.
I can see the value (to some) by having an unlocked phone. I personally never travel and stick out my contract to avoid crazy fees.
Since I'm under contract for at least another year to year and a half before an upgrade comes down, I haven't kept up with the prices.
I have no doubt that the actual cost of the phone to Verizon (or google) is only 300-400 dollars in parts. If google is selling it out the door for 400 I'd imagine it could even be just a hair under 300 maybe.
I only paid $79 out of pocket for my Galaxy Nexus -- for what it can do I'm pretty damn happy. Just checked on amazon wireless and it looks like you can get the Galaxy Nexus for 1 cent.
I can see the value (to some) by having an unlocked phone. I personally never travel and stick out my contract to avoid crazy fees.
MavericK
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Agreed. It is complete bullshit.
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Oh yea, I totally understood what you meant. I'm not trying to quibble over the dollar figure, I was just agreeing with you that it makes sense for them to do it from a profit standpoint, but it doesn't make a ton of sense for us as consumers to do it. We're basically taking a $100-200 discount and saying that our freedom of choice in cell plans is worth that. The carriers try to make it seem like we're getting a much better deal than that because their phone prices are so damn high. Now that they've got everyone fooled by the low up-front cost, the incentive for them to make deals with the few who'd like to do things differently is pretty much nonexistant