For those not in the know, Verizon has switched to a 2GB/mo. maximum data plan instead of unlimited data, which they’ve been carrying for years. Those with existing contracts were grandfathered into keeping their unlimited data. The catch is, if you want to change your plan or upgrade your phone, you’ll need to sign a new contract and lose your unlimited data.
I was grandfathered in and as I write this, am currently on the unlimited data plan. However, I haven’t received a new phone in about 3 years. I was using a rooted Droid2Global, but that phone’s a piece of crap, so I downgraded to my reliable-but-unsupported Droid 1. The Android OS is so old that most apps don’t work anymore, and I can’t download new ones. I’ve been holding out just to keep my unlimited data.
I checked with Verizon yesterday and since January 1st, my data usage has been about 1GB/mo. However, that was after switching to my Droid 1, which carries very few apps still supported by Verizon. I remember calling last year and them telling me I was using about 2.12GB/mo. And the Droid Razr Maxx HD is looking seriously appealing.
TL;DR: What’s the catch? I can monitor my data usage through apps, but is Verizon pulling something else here that I should be wary of?
Don’t know Verizon’s rules, but is their grandfathered unlimited data truly unlimited, without strings attached? I ask because I’m going through the same decision process with AT&T. I was grandfathered into the unlimited data plan on my iPhone, but since I hit one of their triggers last month, this month I’m throttled. Great, I have unlimited data, but at an annoyingly slow speed.
I’m considering dropping the unlimited and just paying for one of the data buckets, like the 5 Gig plan.
Does Verizon not let you keep your rate plan if you upgrade phones? AT&T does. I upgraded my iPhone last year without any impact to my grandfathered rate plan.
You can still get a new phone and retain your unlimited data plan, you just have to pay full unsubsidized price for the phone. My VZ unlimited data plan is so much cheaper than the comparable tiered plan I’d have to buy that I ultimately save more money by taking a big upfront hit and keeping it.
I’m sure they’ll eventually come up with some way to wean everyone off, but hopefully by then T-Mobile won’t suck in my area anymore.
You lose your unlimited data if you do a subsidized upgrade. If you purchase a phone outright, you can keep your current data plan.
I’m also grandfathered in and I’ve wrestled with the idea of changing networks, but unlimited is just a bit too valuable. I plan to just sell my devices and purchase new ones, unsubsidized, from here on out. It helps to take some of the bite out of the cost, while I enjoy the benefit of being able to upgrade whenever I feel like.
Since 4.0 (I believe), you’ve been able to set a data cap through the OS, but it’s not something I’d rely too much on. VZW is aware of consumers average data usage, and they set that limit for a reason-- data usage will rise as mobile continues to grow-- overage charges will then set in, which won’t be fun. Personally, and based on what you’re willing to afford, I’d try to purchase a device outright, or even lightly used, in order to keep unlimited data.
Here is a popular site for selling phones. Take a look:
Did you know you can upgrade to a new phone if you buy it yourself (or from Verizon at full price)? I was considering doing the same thing as you (I have an old Thunderbolt… 2 years old now) and they told me if I upgrade to a new phone on my own, I can still keep the unlimited data plan.
You might try that! I say keep it. I love Verizon’s unlimited data… regularly use way more than 2GB per month and never notice any throttling.
Is this some recent change? Because I’ve upgraded my phone a couple of times and held on to the unlimited data plan.
I’ve had to be very careful though, you have to click through several screens where they try to get you to ‘upgrade’ to one of the new plans, but if you decline everything you stay with your original plan.
Oh, ok. My last upgrade was before last summer. Since that’s pretty much the only reason we still have our family plan with Verizon, I think I’ll be jumping ship the next time my contract is up.
When I last needed a new phone, I was in the OP’s/your situation. I wasn’t going to pay full price for a phone and still pay the same per month as what I did when the phone was subsidized. I also wasn’t going to pay more for a plan that gave me less data. Fortunately, T-Mobile doesn’t suck in my area. The difference between what I was paying to Verizon and my current prepaid plan is more than $50. With the $300 phone I bought, I was even in about 6 months. Every month since then it almost feels like I’m paying nothing at all for service.
I’m aware that I can buy my own phone and keep my plan, but the type of phones I like are prohibitively expensive. I know I’ll hear, “Well, maybe you should downgrade your tastes” or something like that, but honestly, I’m the paying customer… I feel perfectly entitled to get my service how I want it and on the phone I want it.
I’m also on Verizon, and I managed to upgrade to a Galaxy S3 and keep my unlimited data right before the policy change last summer. I plan to hold on to my unlimited data, as well, since it’s nice to not have to worry about overage charges.
That said, there’s no guarantee that Verizon won’t make another policy change to try to knock more people off the unlimited data plan. As HD streaming becomes ever more popular, the spectrum crunch is only going to get worse, and carriers are going to take whatever measures they can to save money. Odds are, we probably won’t get to keep our unlimited data for more than a few more years anyway.
As you know, there are steps you can take to minimize your cell data usage: using WiFi whenever possible, storing frequently used media on your phone rather than streaming, etc. Many data intensive apps come with options to only download stuff on Wifi. I just wish Netflix had the ability to cache a movie, it’d be great for plane rides.
If you really want to keep unlimited and want a newer phone, I’d go with Krouget’s suggestion, which is what I plan to do when I next want to upgrade. Get something used, or get something newer, but not cutting edge. You could probably wait until the Galaxy S4 comes out, and be able to find a new Galaxy S3 (or something similar) for cheap.
Another alternative is to budget for a phone fund. Set aside some cash every month until you’ve got the $600 or so for a fancy new phone, off contract. I recognize that this sounds easier than it usually is, but it’d probably be cheaper than data overage charges.
I was in your exact same boat 2 weeks ago. My old droid Incredible was showing its age and after I got a crack in the screen decided to bite the bullet and upgrade. The one thing I haven’t seen mentioned in this threat is that they will **increase your monthly bill **when they force you into the limited plan. On top of whatever you’re paying now, you have to pay about $20 a month more to get the limited data plan. (They have other options for limits other than 2GB, but I think it was $20 a month for 2GB). Yeah, more money for less service, go figure.
I wasn’t about to stand for that, so I paid full price for a RAZR MAXX HD myself. I was able to activate it myself on the website and keep my plan. I was scared when at one point the website forced me to select a NEW plan, but it ended up being the same as I had before, but with 4G. It’s considered a “new plan” but with the same unlimited data and price I had before (actually, it was $5 cheaper somehow shrug).
I found my RAZR on Ebay (careful to get one with a clean Verizon SIM card) for $599. It would have been $160 to upgrade through Verizon with my upgrade discount and contract, but I figure for the extra $20 a month it would have cost me, that difference will pay for itself in 2 years (plus I still get unlimited data as a bonus). It was worth it for me because I don’t plan on getting anything else for a while, YMMV.
Good luck with whatever you decide. And BTW, I’m very happy with the RAZR. Big screen, great battery, lots of new Android features I couldn’t get on my old phone.
What I ended up doing was dropping Verizon completely and moving to T-Mobile. I paid ~$300 for a Nexus 4 and got a month plan with T-Mobile that’s 100 minutes/unlimited text/data for $30/month.
I wish more carriers would agree with you, but they feel entitled to our wallets. It’s also sad that even if you do purchase a phone at full price, your monthly payments aren’t adjusted to account for it.:mad:
Google has recently sold the Nexus 4 for a very nice unlocked price, but that would require jumping networks. Until some OEM releases something with LTE compatibility (hopefully in the near future), we’re sort of limited with options.
I was very very close to doing RandMcnally’s exact idea, but I wasn’t confident of T-Mobile’s coverage.
I got a Galaxy III the week before they changed the pricing so it doesn’t affect me for a while; but I remeber something about the new plans you can share among all of your devices. That’s what the ‘extra’ cost is for :rolleyes:
Yeah, I hate how Verizon reduces your options and gives you way more than you need (with a price to match), and then tries to convince you that it’s a good deal. Though I think existing customers can still get individual plans, which are somewhat less of a ripoff. New customers are forced to get pay-as-you-go or their heinously overpriced Share Everything plans. I’m kind of amazed that they haven’t seen a huge drop off in new subscribers.
I used 56k of data last month. Can someone tell me how to get Big Red to let me go with a lower data tier? 'Cuz they won’t let me go under paying for 1GB I don’t use.
It’s also sad that even if you do purchase a phone at full price, your monthly payments aren’t adjusted to account for it.:mad: