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I CANNOT BELIEVE How Much of a Rip-off Shared Data Plans Are!

I love all the posters who say that metered data is cheap because they are only using 2GB's of it. Sure, $5 gas is cheap too, if you only buy a Gal a week.

These plans are a price increase. Period. That's what they are. Pay attention to the post that explained revenue growth. Voice will be gone in a few years as we move to VoLTE. Text is already going away today with iMessage and the like. It's all about data. Carriers see how much the growth in data is. They are looking to capitalize on it. Also do not expect them to ever give this up. Without a change in the present situation, Unlimited is dead.
 
My wife and I have an iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S on AT&T (grandfathered unlimited, we pay circa $180 a month) and I have an iPad 3 LTE on Verizon ($30 a month for 2GB). Have given thought to moving to Verizon if we were to both upgrade to iPhone 5 at some point. Is it worth losing the unlimited? Would I save $ or spend more to have a shared data plan on Verizon with 2 iPhone 5's and my current iPad 3 LTE?
 
opeepingtomo said:
Not sure where to put this thread, but since it was iPhone related I just threw it up here. I really have been wanting to upgrade my phone without throwing out $600 plus all at once to pay retail (so I do not lose my unlimited data plan).

I started debating just finally sucking it up and getting on the share everything plan, and after looking at the prices it is such a rip off. It is really unbelievable.

I mean seriously $150 a month for 4GB shared data on Verizon (2 smartphones). I'm sure this doesn't even include the extra monthly fees and for sure doesn't include phone insurance if you want that. After that you would be paying probably 180 a month for two smartphones with 4GB data shared, and 170 if you decided to step down to 2GB shared data.

I pay less than this now total for two smartphones with unlimited data. If they were really going to do this, they should have at least made the lower ended tiers of the shared data cheaper then what unlimited was before the switch. This would have actually given me an incentive to want to move to the share everything plan even though I would lose my unlimited.

Charge me $95 a month for 2GB shared data or $105 for 4GB, unlimited minutes and unlimited texts and I may have done it. But 140 freaking dollars before fees taxes and insurance is a freaking ripoff. If you want people to use less data then you shouldn't charge MORE for them to do so.

So stupid.

<end of rant>
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Get used to this, paying a lot of data, since the carriers get away with it, to some it may not pay off to others like family it works.

also get used to high gas prices, it is all part of the daily rip off we have been getting used to like it or not.
 
No dont get used to it.

Right now two of five carriers around me dont offer unlimited.

Only ATT and Verizon dont have unlimited plans available, all other carriers do.

If my unlimited with VZW is pulled I will be gone the same day, since other carriers with just as fast and good coverage (around me at least) have unlimited and for cheap then its a no brain er.

Within the next two years you will see unlimited back on all carriers. or you will see a mass migration from the big two to other smaller carriers.
 
not worth it

Not worth it for my family plan.

Family plan with ATT. 2 Iphone's (one unlimited, one 3gb) and 2 basic phones

700 minute family plan and unlimited messaging and we pay $180 before 22% discount on all services.

6gb family share is $220 without discount and from what I'm hearing my 22% FAN would only apply to the mobile share plan and not the addons. So I lose unlimited data on one phone and gain unlimited minutes which isn't needed as our plan includes unlimited mobile to mobile calling (any mobile not just ATT) so we use maybe 200-300 minutes a month and pay $40 more a month or maybe more depending on the discount
 
tdar said:
I love all the posters who say that metered data is cheap because they are only using 2GB's of it. Sure, $5 gas is cheap too, if you only buy a Gal a week.

These plans are a price increase. Period. That's what they are. Pay attention to the post that explained revenue growth. Voice will be gone in a few years as we move to VoLTE. Text is already going away today with iMessage and the like. It's all about data. Carriers see how much the growth in data is. They are looking to capitalize on it. Also do not expect them to ever give this up. Without a change in the present situation, Unlimited is dead.
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I agree about voice since VoLTE is the future. But until iMessage works for all phones I doubt Text messages are going anywhere. I also think that text messages are so cheap to run that it'd be stupid for any company to get rid of it. Especially since it (I read this somewhere but I can't back it up) uses a frequency that has low bandwidth and is pretty much useless for anything else... text messages are like the malt liquor of phones services. Cheap to make and tons of people partake for a high profit margin.

----------
howyoudoin said:
Not worth it for my family plan.

Family plan with ATT. 2 Iphone's (one unlimited, one 3gb) and 2 basic phones

700 minute family plan and unlimited messaging and we pay $180 before 22% discount on all services.

6gb family share is $220 without discount and from what I'm hearing my 22% FAN would only apply to the mobile share plan and not the addons. So I lose unlimited data on one phone and gain unlimited minutes which isn't needed as our plan includes unlimited mobile to mobile calling (any mobile not just ATT) so we use maybe 200-300 minutes a month and pay $40 more a month or maybe more depending on the discount
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I gave my wife my old SERO plan $40/month for 500 minutes (to landlines) and unlimited everything else, also includes free mobile to mobile and nights and weekend starting at 7pm. $10 add on for Smartphone. So 58 bucks after taxes for unlimited everything essentially.

Dan Hesse will have to pry that deal out of my cold dead hands. I'll try and take it to hell with me so I can call him from there.
 
tdar said:
i love all the posters who say that metered data is cheap because they are only using 2gb's of it. Sure, $5 gas is cheap too, if you only buy a gal a week.

These plans are a price increase. Period. That's what they are. Pay attention to the post that explained revenue growth. Voice will be gone in a few years as we move to volte. Text is already going away today with imessage and the like. It's all about data. Carriers see how much the growth in data is. They are looking to capitalize on it. Also do not expect them to ever give this up. Without a change in the present situation, unlimited is dead.
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+1
 
MrXiro said:
I agree about voice since VoLTE is the future. But until iMessage works for all phones I doubt Text messages are going anywhere. I also think that text messages are so cheap to run that it'd be stupid for any company to get rid of it. Especially since it (I read this somewhere but I can't back it up) uses a frequency that has low bandwidth and is pretty much useless for anything else... text messages are like the malt liquor of phones services. Cheap to make and tons of people partake for a high profit margin.

Actually it's even better than that. Texts are sent in empty spaces of voice data. It literally costs them nothing in bandwidth and just the CPU power of processing them, way way less than a penny a pop. That's why they are so mad with iMessage. Texts were a major cash cow, essentially all profit. Losing that was/is a bit hit to their bottom line.
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Kaze105 said:
Ill probably change to shared once I get my iphone 5.

Currently pay around total of 230-245 with 3 smartphone and ipad. It should become around 215 when I change to shared considering the amount of usage my other family members use. Cost of smartphone doesnt really change, but since ipad is only +10 dollars for shared compared to 30 dollars with individual data.
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it's like watching cattle go to their slaughter... and to save $15???
 
This thread is LULZ literally. I can't believe people are in here defending shared data plans. They are crap point blank period. We don't care about your $17 savings.
 
I have been thinking about going to a shared data plan. Lets see my current situation is I use around 20 to 30 gigs a month, and no texts, and I have a $29.00 200 minute voice plan that I use 0 minutes on.

29. + $30 (unlimited data) + 7.99 insurance. So I spend about $65.00 a month (with fees and taxes and all).

If I go to shared I pay 49 for my device then $100. for ten gigs then $15. per gig over so on a 30 gig month I would pay

49 +100 + 7.99 + $225 = $382 oh plus taxes and fees So lets just call it $400. a month...

Wow that sounds great, I cant wait to change.

LOL NOT!

When my verizon unlimited data goes, so do I, same day.
 
einmusiker said:
it's like watching cattle go to their slaughter... and to save $15???
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15 dollars a month. 175 a year. Saving even a mere 175 a year helps me a lot. Perhaps once im a millionaire or rich enough not to mind wasting money, ill change to individual data plans.
 
Kaze105 said:
15 dollars a month. 175 a year. Saving even a mere 175 a year helps me a lot. Perhaps once im a millionaire or rich enough not to mind wasting money, ill change to individual data plans.
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I agree with you...BUT, the problem is you don't realize how much more data you will use on LTE. Unless you plan on keeping LTE off at all times (what's the point of having an iphone then?) you will be going over your limit and subject to huge data overages. please think it through
 
EstaVidaLoca said:
This thread is LULZ literally. I can't believe people are in here defending shared data plans. They are crap point blank period. We don't care about your $17 savings.
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It's pretty simple for someone like me. Since you obviously don't have the capacity to look at things from different aspects or different scenarios, let me break it down for you.

For the past 2 years I have done EVERYTHING I want with my phone. EVERYTHING. I had an android phone that I played with quite a bit (even though it was a POS) and then an iPhone 4s. I've been on unlimited data for those two years so I had no concerns of overages.

Considering the above, I reviewed and graphed the combined data use of my wife and I. Average over 2 years was .6GB with a maximum of 1.5GB COMBINED.

We have done everything we wanted... streamed pandora on multiple trips there and back, used google nav as needed, any kinds of games or apps, everything.

So tell me, why would I want to keep unlimited data and pay a premium for it by losing my subsidy when I can still do EVERYTHING I want to do and pay less?

Going to tiered data plan:
$17/month x 24 months = $408 that I will save over 2 years

Keeping Unlimited:
$450 subsidy (I personally had an extra $50 ne2)/24 months = $18.75/month more that you're essentially "paying" to keep unlimited.

So the total "loss" for me ($18.75/month extra to keep unlimited)+($17/month opportunity cost lost by keeping unlimited) = $35.75/month or $858 over a 24-month period.
questions?
 
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einmusiker said:
I agree with you...BUT, the problem is you don't realize how much more data you will use on LTE. Unless you plan on keeping LTE off at all times (what's the point of having an iphone then?) you will be going over your limit and subject to huge data overages. please think it through
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You make a good point. It's not even been one billing cycle for me so it's going to be impossible to tell. We are on day 16 of our 30 day billing cycle and we are at .485GB. So we're on track to use a bit more than average. In there though were data-use tests (i.e. speedtests, "how much data does x amount of hotspot use", "how much data does X minutes of facetime use").

But I considered this... with an average of .6GB, we could effectively TRIPLE our average and still be within our limits. I expected to possibly double our average and there may even be an overage on a month or two... I'm still coming out ahead in the end.
 
Shared data plans are a major rip off. I went into the apple store at the launch of the iPhone 5 and the apple employee didn't know how to not reset my data plan apparently. They put me on this pos shared data plan thing.

Good thing they had att reps in the store that put me back on my unlimited plan.

Those prices??? Give me a break!!!
 
I have two phones and a iPad 3 on the share everything plan. I have 20gb data allowance and I'm happy with it.
 
iamthekiller said:
False. Shared plans are a better deal in terms of voice, texts, and data if you're doing a plan of 2 or more people.

People need to stop trying to hold onto their precious "unlimited" plans. Throttling on an unlimited plan means you're not getting unlimited.
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This isn't the case with everyone. I have three smartphones, two dumb phones. If we were to go with the share plan that equals our data usage, our bill will go up $40 per month.

So right now we have unlimited data on all three smarts, 1400 mins that we never even come close to half of that, and unlimited texting for all five phones. As far as the throttling comment; we've never experienced this at all. We actually don't use more than 4-5GB per month between all the phones.
Small White Car said:
I still have no clue how there are people here who are saying they're saving money with this.

I have 4 iPhones on my plan and currently pay $220.

To switch to sharing I'd pay $260 and end up with less overall data than I currently get.

An extra $40 to lose data. I keep hearing how it mainly benefits families with multiple lines. Well, I'm up to 4 phones and it's still terrible. What do you all have, 10 phones??
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Amen, that's how it would be for us.
Leonard1818 said:
LoL... Your data use will increase over time and they will eventually force you onto a tiered data plan. They CAN do that you know...

Not to mention you really ought to consider dropping to a plan that covers your current use stats and saves you some money. That's what I did. I'm saving $204/year ($17/month) and I don't have to change a single thing about how I use my phone.
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They literally can't FORCE anyone to any plans. If they say "starting next billing cycle, your plan will be X instead of what you are on now", that just means I cancel my service with them. No problem.
 
einmusiker said:
I agree with you...BUT, the problem is you don't realize how much more data you will use on LTE. Unless you plan on keeping LTE off at all times (what's the point of having an iphone then?) you will be going over your limit and subject to huge data overages. please think it through
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The truth is, I already calculated how much I use a month, plus my family. 95% of the area I go to has Wifi and majority of the time I am on LTE is when im driving so I wont use it much. My family, excluding me, uses 3-400 MB max combined.

I used to be on Verizon LTE until I changed to AT&T to save around 30 a month. Even then, my family used around 2 GB a month maximum. Fortunately, Wifi in the area I go is always in the 20-30mbps download, I dont see any point of using LTE during then.
 
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