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Verizon Giving Customers 15GB Extra Hotspot Data for May

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Apr 12, 2001
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Verizon today announced that it is planning to provide an additional 15GB of LTE data to all consumer and small business plans in May to continue to support its customers who are working from home.

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The 15GB of data will be automatically added to consumer and small business shared data plans, hotspots, and jetpacks, and can be used from May 1 through May 31.
Verizon continues to support customers who may find themselves needing additional data in order to learn, work or keep connected during this challenging time. That's why today, we announced we are automatically adding an additional 15GB of 4G LTE data to consumer and small business* shared data plans, hotspots and jetpacks to be used from May 1 through May 31. There is no action needed as this data will automatically be added to consumer and small business accounts.
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Verizon in April provided customers with an extra 15GB of data to use, and the extra data is available to all postpaid metered customers, prepaid customers, and Jetpack owners. Customers with unlimited data plans are able to use the extra data as hotspot data, but data caps remain in place.

During the ongoing health crisis, Verizon has waived overage charges and has promised not to terminate service for customers who are unable to pay at this time.

Other wireless carriers have also been providing additional benefits to customers. T-Mobile scrapped smartphone data caps entirely for 60 days, while AT&T provided extra hotspot data.

Article Link: Verizon Giving Customers 15GB Extra Hotspot Data for May
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/04/22/verizon-15gb-extra-hotspot-data-may/
And again, AT&T has done....NOTHING.

I don't really need the extra data though as my son, the data hog, is not in school and not leaving the house hardly at all.
 
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Who are these ppl who are home during a pandemic and aren't using wifi? I've used 160*MB* of cell data this month.

These increased data caps carriers are offering makes it seems like OMG SO GENEROUS but excepting essential employees who have to be out and about, cell data usage generally has to be waaaaaay down...? Right? Or am I missing something? Or stupid? (most likely)
 
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RalfTheDog said:
If you are working from home, why would you need hotspot data?
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It’s nice to have as a backup in case your ISP goes down and you need to finish something up. I know that in my area, internet speeds have been slower and less reliable because of the increased demand.
 
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nikhsub1 said:
"unlimited data plans are able to use the extra data as hotspot data, but data caps remain in place." You have unlimited data until you don't. These people...
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Not so complicated! Verizon doesn’t have an unlimited hotspot plan. Only the data on the device for which you have a line gets unlimited. Even their top-of-the line plan only has 30gb of hotspot data.
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fonzy91 said:
Yawn. T-mobile already did that last month.
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So did Verizon - read the article when you’re not too tired to comprehend.
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RalfTheDog said:
If you are working from home, why would you need hotspot data?
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if you don’t have an isp.
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While I’m thankful Verizon is giving those extra 15gb hotspot data, that’s not nearly enough for folks who telecommute or learn (both of which were mentioned as motivators by Verizon).

We got stuck in our new, but rural house when the lock down came. No ISP and the only carrier that has service there is Verizon. We’re TMobile (no reception at all) so we opened a completely separate Verizon account to be able to WFH. Even their most expensive plan has only 30gb of hotspot data - 45 since they added those extra 15. My usage for the month? 95gb! My wife and I are both in software and need to attend lots of video meetings, do remote desktops sometimes, and need to sometimes watch learning video. I had to resort to a trick to be able to get through the month (search for “ttl” if you care).

Before I went to Verizon I even tried an expensive signal amplifier for T Mobile. That got me 2 bars, but I was given the wrong advice for the kind of antenna i needed on the roof, so data is only good for one user at a time :-(. Think MIMO if you need to go that route. Too late for me.
 
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fonzy91 said:
Yawn. T-mobile already did that last month.
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T-Mobile is also offering 50% off your T-Mobile bill for 3 months in exchange for capping each line at 3 GB/month. You must request to opt in, but not a bad deal if you are sheltered at home with good broadband Internet barely using cellular data.
 
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ScreenSavers said:
Is it just me, or does this encourage people to go out, instead of stay at home?
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I think it’s just you. Why would people rush out of their houses to use free extra hotspot data when nearly most of them have internet in their homes?
 
Didn't get any extra this month, don't expect any next month.

That said, we used 300MB in March so got 3.97GB rollover on our 4GB shared plan. Barely made a dent in the now 7.97GB for April...
 
compwiz1202 said:
I don't even remember any notification. Where do you even confirm you got the extra?
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I don't think there was any notification. The extra doesn't even show in "My Verizon" when you do go there. It simply shows how much hotspot data you've used out the regular max (and only the web version even shows that - the app doesn't give you any hotspot usage info!) and the only indication you have that you've been given extra is when you don't slow down to 0.6mbps after you hit your limit :-(
 
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dannyyankou said:
If you don’t have broadband I guess
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Or you have crap slow DSL like my parents. Although, they have a choice to switch to cable for much cheaper but are too stubborn to switch. Some only have choices of junky landline internet.
 
dannyyankou said:
If you don’t have broadband I guess
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This happens especially if one needs to minimize ongoing expenses. One of my mom's coworkers only has internet via her smartphone.
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twolf2919 said:
While I’m thankful Verizon is giving those extra 15gb hotspot data, that’s not nearly enough for folks who telecommute or learn (both of which were mentioned as motivators by Verizon).
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Depends. Our work's VPN software reports traffic and it looks like remote desktop only uses ~200-300MB for an 8-hour day.

Of course, we don't need to video conference.
 
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