Verizon: Full Price or Metered Data

[sdsvtdriver]

To an extent, yes. But I am not going to purchase the hardware from them to allow them to get the margin from it either.

I assume you're referring to VZW. You'll have to purchase the phone from them directly... at full price. They make money on the margin.

The worst part on top of it, I doubt you'll be able to do so on release day. The 4s was held back for unsubsidized purchases until a few weeks/month or so later.

 

[Applejuiced]

I assume you're referring to VZW. You'll have to purchase the phone from them directly... at full price. They make money on the margin.

The worst part on top of it, I doubt you'll be able to do so on release day. The 4s was held back for unsubsidized purchases until a few weeks/month or so later.

I thought you could buy a full price verizon iphone at the Apple store.

 

[zachnelson]

I thought you could buy a full price verizon iphone at the Apple store.

You can.. I thought?

 

[sdsvtdriver]

I thought you could buy a full price verizon iphone at the Apple store.

You can.. I thought?

I was thinking unlocked:

The unlocked iPhone includes all the features of iPhone but without a contract commitment. You can activate and use it on the supported GSM wireless network of your choice, such as AT&T in the United States.* The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/iphone4/about_unlocked

The phone is STILL locked to Verizon even though one pays full price if Apple will sell it. I was hoping to buy one and hand it down to someone who has at&t after a year since you know I paid full price for it so it should be carrier neutral, but no. Carriers win again.

EDIT: I wonder if you can get one for full price online if you have a subsidy available. I don't have a VZW account to test with.

 

[Applejuiced]

Sadly:



http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone/iphone4/about_unlocked

One has to buy from Verizon. The phone is STILL locked to Verizon even though one pay full price. I was hoping to buy one and hand it down to someone who has at&t after a year since you know I paid full price for it so it should be carrier neutral, but no. Carriers win again.

Yes, like you said even if you buy it full price its still locked to Verizon.
Same thing for the Sprint iphone too.
Factory unlocked iphones are unlocked for GSM carriers only.
I wonder if this will change with the next iphone or if they will keep the same nonsense restrictions.
A factory unlocked iphone that has both CDMA and GSM radios cannot be used interchangably to any network including AT&T, Verizong, Tmobile, spring etc..

 

[sdsvtdriver]

Yes, like you said even if you buy it full price its still locked to Verizon.
Same thing for the Sprint iphone too.
Factory unlocked iphones are unlocked for GSM carriers only.
I wonder if this will change with the next iphone or if they will keep the same nonsense restrictions.
A factory unlocked iphone that has both CDMA and GSM radios cannot be used interchangably to any network including AT&T, Verizong, Tmobile, spring etc..

I'm sure the restrictions will stay in place. VZW knows a locked iPhone is another potential future customer. I'm just curious if one can order an iPhone at full price if they have an upgrade available.

 

[Applejuiced]

I'm sure the restrictions will stay in place. VZW knows a locked iPhone is another potential future customer. I'm just curious if one can order an iPhone at full price if they have an upgrade available.

I hear you, I wouldnt be surprised.
Yes, you can still order full price if you dont want to use your upgrade or renew your contract.

 

[formerpc]

It's about $450 or ~$20/mo depending on whether you're looking at the New iPhone or an SGS III. You should try math sometime.

No need to be a total jerk. Sheesh.

Here's my situation:
450 mins $39.99
500 txts (w/unlimited in-network txts) $10
Unlimited data $29.99
Top-level insurance plan (I forget what it's called) $9.99
-10% discount I get through work on Mins and Data ($7 savings)
+taxes and misc fees $3.36

Total current monthly cost $86.33

I'll be ditching the insurance plan, so there's $9.99 off.
Now add the cost of the unsubsidized phone $18.50.

Brings the new "total" to $94.84 (taxes, etc. may be slightly different but for the purpose of this demonstration we'll assume they're the same).


If I switch to the 2GB Mobile Share Plan, with my company's 10% discount off the data/mins (but not the device fee, obviously)- brings the pre-tax/fee price to $94.

Plus a few dollars for the taxes, etc. so maybe $98 total.

Neat! Looks like my math was wrong. I'll actually end up paying less each month, overall, than on the MSP and will still get to have unlimited data. Sweet!

 

[germanguy]

I currently have a single line on Verizon with unlimited data. Anybody know whether I can add a second line without data plan to get a subsidized iPhone5 but use it on my unlimited data line?

 

[tdar]

I currently have a single line on Verizon with unlimited data. Anybody know whether I can add a second line without data plan to get a subsidized iPhone5 but use it on my unlimited data line?

no. All iPhones must have a data plan.

----------

To repeat what has been said here about the main topic of this thread, The problem with paying full price to keep your unlimited data is that by doing so you'll be under no contract, allowing for Verizon to take away that unlimited data at any time. So you pay $650-$850 in a effort to save your unlimited data and in some unknown amount of time, they come back and say no more unlimited and that is that. We are all going to share everything one way or another.

 

[Praxis91]

I refuse to go to a tiered plan, so I'll pay the full price. With my employer discount, I'm paying about $70 total for voice + text + unlimited data. I use about 8-10gb a month (no wifi at work and I stream a lot) and my bill would be more than double if I went with tiered. I figured since I get a new phone every year, I'll just sell mine on fleabay and make some of the $ back towards a new, full-priced phone.

 

[HyperliteG4]

I'm trying to figure out the same thing as you all and decide what the best route is to go.

$899 is a lot of money to front right now though, and it might come down to that for me.

My situation is:

700min family share plan - $50
1 iPhone - unlimited data (not on contract) - $30
1 iPhone - 2gb data (contract ends 6/13) - $30
2 250 texts - $10 ($5/line)
2 line fee charges - $20 ($10/line)
TOTAL: $140 + taxes

My current usage (on VZW's slow-as-molasses 3G) is about 2.5gb / mo, but I hold back on some usage because it's just too freaking slow. My wife's usage hovers around 1gb, but she'll probably start using more when iOS 6 is out and the streaming music improves with iTunes Match. We have Wifi both at home and in the office.

What I figure though is that our data usage would skyrocket on LTE especially because of the faster speeds; I would no longer feel held back because of the slow network. I wouldn't give up trying to watch something or stream something, so I figure my data usage would increase.

With the new share everything plans, I'm looking at a 4GB minimum plan which comes out to be $150 ($40/phone + $70/plan). But I figure I would end up using more, especially that tethering is free with the new plan.

So basically the toss up is pay an extra $500 on top of the contract price up front to keep unlimited data or pay an extra $10-$20/month for a limit on data, but gain tethering + facetime.

$500/24 mos ~ $21/mo (the price of having a 6gb share everything plan)

What to do... what to do...

 

[Wolfpup]

I really hope Tmobile's refarm is fast enough for around the new iPhones launch.

Truly unlimited data for cheap will make the big two carriers rethink a little bit I hope.

Yeah. T-Mobile's coverage isn't TOO much better than AT&T's for me...in fact (like AT&T) it's mostly 2G for me, but at least stronger signals. If I could get an unlocked iPhone 6 and use it on a $50-60 plan...well, I might just go for it, give it a shot.

When I called T-Mobile's customer service they seemed surprisingly competent too. I talked to 3 people, the first was Indian or something, but passed me along to a second person who sounded U.S., who passed me on to a third person. That sounds bad, but it was done quickly and without any hassle, and the third person fixed the issue almost immediately, and again without any hassle at all. (My Nokia was missing an activation number or something, and they had to generate one manually.)

 

[bogatyr]

I'm sure the restrictions will stay in place. VZW knows a locked iPhone is another potential future customer. I'm just curious if one can order an iPhone at full price if they have an upgrade available.

You can get it unlocked for international, just not for any +1 based number SIMs.

 

[fr4c]

No need to be a total jerk. Sheesh.

Here's my situation:
450 mins $39.99
500 txts (w/unlimited in-network txts) $10
Unlimited data $29.99
Top-level insurance plan (I forget what it's called) $9.99
-10% discount I get through work on Mins and Data ($7 savings)
+taxes and misc fees $3.36

Total current monthly cost $86.33

FYI, $10/month gets you 1000 SMS/MMS with unlimited texting on VZW now. Might as well change it to that since you're paying the same amount.

 

[Applejuiced]

I currently have a single line on Verizon with unlimited data. Anybody know whether I can add a second line without data plan to get a subsidized iPhone5 but use it on my unlimited data line?

Once you remove the iphone 5 from the secondary line and use it with your line then yes you can call them up and have them remove the data plan from that line since it doesnt have a smartphone any more. You might need to find a cheap nonsmartphone cell to use on that other line in order to remove the iphone data plan from it.

 

[formerpc]

FYI, $10/month gets you 1000 SMS/MMS with unlimited texting on VZW now. Might as well change it to that since you're paying the same amount.

Don't see the point when I don't really use anywhere near 500 as it is. That and most everyone I know is on Verizon anyways so most of my txts don't count toward my allotment.

 

[lordofthereef]

But what else is one to do?

Nothing. But that was always my point. You say you won't let them win. From my perspective, they already have, until they piss you off enough to get you to leave. That is how these companies do business. They try and see just how much they can get away with. Sure, some people will say enough is enough, but most are willing to deal with it because they use the services enough and they can afford it.

 

[GoreVidal]

I refuse to go to a tiered plan, so I'll pay the full price. With my employer discount, I'm paying about $70 total for voice + text + unlimited data. I use about 8-10gb a month (no wifi at work and I stream a lot) and my bill would be more than double if I went with tiered. I figured since I get a new phone every year, I'll just sell mine on fleabay and make some of the $ back towards a new, full-priced phone.

Exactly my situation and my plan. I don't mind spending $850 on a new phone when I can sell mine for over $500 cash in order to avoid losing my unlimited plan.

 

[BiggAW]

Why is it that you seem to think that using something that you are paying to use, that is called "unlimited" is slurping so much?

And no mater how much I use, how do you know that it is "Wasted"?

Because no normal user needs that much data.

 

[wongulous]

Actually, you can add a smartphone to one of the Verizon dumbphone plans for an additional $10/month. But then you'd have to try to make it in under 300mb of data... LOL. So I don't know what the point of that would be. Just bein' technical here.

The three best ways to save money on your plan or get more for your money are:

- corporate discount (18-22% is a good range)
- family plans with 3-5-10 lines (the cost per line is sometimes half of that of a single line, and comparable to prepaid phone services, sometimes lower!!)
- Sprint (it's $10-20 cheaper in almost every scenario except for unlimited *minutes*)

It's also very funny to me that I have so many cheapskate friends that live in apartments, have crap cars, can't afford home internet, and yet they have to have the newest iPhone as a status symbol and bragging rights every year, and every year it seems like there is griping about the phone plan's price. If you need the latest-and-greatest, and you have to do all of this streaming and photography and netflix and download tons of apps, maybe you really should be paying $100+ a month for your phone bill, because you want the luxury entertainment and connectivity experience. It's just so crazy that people gripe over $25 yet wish to appear so well-to-do and on the cutting edge of tech.

It's also funny that I have friends with unlimited plans on Verizon who don't have home internet... yet they spend a majority of their free time (aka internet play time) at home, and they could just pony up the $40-50 a month for home broadband and get a tiered data plan on their smartphone and be just fine.

But I guess you can't run peoples' lives for them, can you?

 

[tdar]

Because no normal user needs that much data.

The point is why do YOU get to decide who a 'Normal User" is?

 

[dbs0026]

Guess I ended up in a pretty good deal:

1 iphone
1 HTC thunderbolt (lte)
1 dumbphone

1400 minutes
unlimited text
unlimited data

with tax and fees $140 a month......

 

[Wolfpup]

Guess I ended up in a pretty good deal:

1 iphone
1 HTC thunderbolt (lte)
1 dumbphone

1400 minutes
unlimited text
unlimited data

with tax and fees $140 a month......

If that's enough minutes for you, that sounds like a great deal! $46.66 per phone, and two of them are smartphones...I pay more than that for my regular phone per month. Verizon...yikes...waaay more for like 2GB that I'd probably burn through downloading podcasts or browsing the web!

So how much are the fees/"taxes" that Spring charges? I pay like basically 25% on mine, but not sure if that's just my carrier, or if Sprint would have fewer random fees.

 

[Laimbeersux]

I was reading through this thread and saw people talking about what their average data use was and I wondered what mine was even though i'm paying for unlimited. I went to verizon's site and found the place to check it.

Verizon customers, if you didn't already know it, go to their website, sign in, and search for "wireless account analysis". You can also look at the initial page on My Verizon after logging in and review your last 12 months worth of bills. The most I ever used was around 1.4gb of data so i'm sure I'll be just fine with a 2gb plan, and can always switch if necessary. Even when I tried to use more data in order to figure out which data plan to go to, or if I should pay for the phone outright, I never used more than 2GB.

My data use is usually limited to occasionally downloading podcasts, surfing the internet and facebook while at work, streaming Pandora when my podcasts end on my commute, and streaming netflix every once in a long while. I figure I'll just get the highest capacity new iPhone that they sell and be able to put enough stuff on it to avoid needing Pandora or Netflix since I'll have my whole music library on the phone now. It'll be nice to have 64gb or more so my 40gb of music can be with me at all times.