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Are you sure about that? I had an unlimited data plan with MobileBroadband and like 2 years ago when they switched to tiered, Verizon told me if I so much as sneeze on my account I'll lose the unlimited, but leave everything alone and I'm grandfathered in.
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Jun 2, 2011 18:06
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bull3964 posted:Doesn't changing equipment qualify as sneezing? Believe it or not, in my scenario, changing devices did not in fact count. I kept switching between these two PCMCIA and USB models I had for whatever reason. However, I did not upgrade to a newer device; perhaps that would have messed me up. By "sneezing" I meant changing anything about my account/plan. The device thing is interesting, though. What if, a month from now, Verizon enacts (not just announces, but begins doing it) bandwidth caps. As soon as I hear about this, I buy a Thunderbolt. Would this be a "tough poo poo, bought it too late" scenario? Or would it be a thing where the Thunderbolt is never going to be capped because it was released beforehand?
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Jun 2, 2011 19:51
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bull3964 posted:It's hard to say before it happens. Typically, it seems that plan changes are known at least a few days ahead of their start date so you should be able to sidestep it. I know. I'm still on a piece of poo poo Windows Mobile 6.5 phone because I'm basically waiting until the last possible second (Verizon announces data caps) before I buy my Android phone. Hoping for a 4g with a physical keyboard but if it never happens I'll obviously switch before they change over.
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Jun 2, 2011 20:09
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Nice! Droid 3 has a keyboard, now I just gotta pray for 4g and it being a world phone (probably will since Droid X was global) and be rootable and I'm there.
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Jun 8, 2011 17:27
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bull3964 posted:It will be a world phone, but it will not be 4G. That's pretty much certain at this point. Cripes, I was a cunthair away from the perfect phone for me. I'll just keep waiting. To be honest, 4g isn't of utmost importance, but since I basically wireless tether all day I'd benefit greatly from it, I'm sure.
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Jun 8, 2011 18:25
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I always wondered how people on Verizon dealt with having a phone call while using the GPS. It would suck to miss an exit because your GPS wouldn't keep a data connection while you talked to your dad on speakerphone (this is why I use Igo8; the maps (all 4 gigs of them) are on the SD card and don't use data).
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Jun 14, 2011 19:37
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Eh, it's not common, but on 5 hour long car trips your bound to get a few phone calls. I mount my phone to my windshield and talk on speakerphone. Igo8 will make a nice PING! noise when there's a maneuver coming up so it's hard to miss.
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Jun 14, 2011 20:11
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zeldadude posted:Hey guys, taking a shot in the dark here cuz I'm pretty sure I'm poo poo out of luck but might as well ask the experts. This is an interesting question because I'd like to know the answer too, but I can help you a little bit. The network extender won't help at all. Verizon really does have the best coverage, but my block for some strange reason has almost no Verizon service at all. No exaggeration; go down a block and it works great. On my block? poo poo don't work. And I do not live in a rural area. Got the network extender, went from being able to make 0 calls to every call working perfectly and never, ever dropping one in 2 years. However, text messages are flaky, and forget about sending/receiving MMS. My wife laughed about how she can upload a 5MP photo to Facebook in 3 seconds on her iPhone but if she tries to send an MMS it will literally take hours (if it ever sends). We thought it was totally goofy that since our phones are always on wifi when in our homes, that data (like texts) wouldn't be sent that way (figured it would take the burden off of Verizon's towers, no?). So I guess the only thing I can add other than wanting to know your question too, is that I can safely say the network extender will do jack poo poo for your text message/MMS problem (but does wonders for phone calls). It REALLY sucks for my friends to send me an MMS and for me to say "hey can you resend that at 10 am tomorrow when I'm at work?".
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Jun 15, 2011 16:06
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Kyrosiris posted:Well it's not like they make 10 billion annual profits or anything. Oh wait. Not to mention my friend who worked for Verizon got laid off 1 week before his wedding because, as they claimed, they were on "hard financial times". He was a union worker, too, and his union was strong-armed into an agreement that they can fire anyone at any time for any reason if they were hired after 2003. Kinda defeats, you know, the point of being in a loving union, doesn't it? I swear, if AT&T wasn't such poo poo I would have left this company eons ago.
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Jun 21, 2011 11:56
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NofrikinfuN posted:Well, looks like I'm going to have to keep my Pixi forever. I actually have it on the $15 150MB data plan and get a free 5GB mobile hotspot. Even if I never used anything but the hotspot again, it's turning into a hell of a value at $25 a month on the family plan. (Cheater option: If I absolutely have to use more than 150MB on the mobile web, turning on the hotspot will cause it to tap the 5GB instead.) I'm probably going to have to stick with my poo poo WinMo 6.5 phone until the end of time because of the unlimited bandwidth and I'm not risking switching to a 4g Android phone because it's considered a different "plan" or whatever.
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Jun 21, 2011 14:10
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SpacedOut posted:Hmmm, perhaps I just never noticed the data plan change when activating OS -> OS. For what it's worth, when I activated my wife's iPhone 4 online, I noticed it said "iPhone data plan" when selecting a package. Not that it means internally Verizon sees a difference, but I thought it was strange because it didn't differentiate between WinMo/Android when I tried those as a test. For anyone super paranoid or upset there will be no phones you are interested in before the switch, I'm with you. Because I'm dying for a 4g phone with a physical keyboard but it looks like I'm poo poo out of luck. So do what I do (as much as it sucks) and buy the best 4g phone you can right before the 7th, even if all of them suck, and live with that phone until whatever you want comes out. Sell it, and buy the phone you like out of contract. You'll lose a few bucks but it sure beats the gently caress out of counting your bandwidth.
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Jun 22, 2011 12:59
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Erinyes posted:So I'm a bit confused. I've been meaning to upgrade recently and have been looking at multiple plans from AT&T and Verizon. As far as I'm aware, AT&T has been tiered for a while and Verizon is just catching up. I guess the sudden shock factor of losing an unlimited plan may be the reason why people are talking of switching, but all things equal, doesn't Verizon still have a more reliable network? People are probably talking about switching to Sprint is my guess. I don't think anyone would consider AT&T over Verizon. yamdankee posted:Ok yesterday I was under the impression that as long as you don't make a change to your plan, you don't have to worry about losing unlimited data. This all hinged on whether or not activating a 4G phone from a 3G phone on your own changed your plan or not. Is there really a feature change of some sort? This is what I'm a bit worried about, too. I'm probably going to order a 4g phone (drat it...none of them are remotely desirable to me) right before they switch just to be ultra safe.
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Jun 22, 2011 14:05
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bull3964 posted:Here are the full screen shots of all the known verizon information. This is bothering me the most. I want an iPhone 4, but I sure as gently caress don't want to be stuck using 3g the rest of my life.
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Jun 22, 2011 20:28
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If Verizon drops my employee discount (it's like 26%) I'm officially jumping ship. Which makes me wonder...if I bought a new phone today, signed a 2 year contract, and then in July they increase my bill (due to dropping my employee discount) can't I get out of my contract?
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Jun 23, 2011 01:03
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WithoutTheFezOn posted:To clarify, the article implied that *only the feature discount would no longer apply* (and only for the $30 data plan), not the access discount for your plan. Alright, that's livable. I really, really wish I knew for sure if they'd consider going from 3g to 4g some sort of data change. Bleh.
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Jun 23, 2011 01:45
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Interestingly enough, I had Asurion mysteriously appear on my bill. I in no way asked for it, in fact I've had my current phone for 8 months now and never had Asurion. I didn't even get my phone through Verizon. No loving clue how it happened. My friend has poo poo like that happen so often with Verizon Wireless (and FiOS) that he jokes they probably do it on purpose when they need to report earnings and then refund a month later.
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Jun 23, 2011 02:00
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Acrolos posted:The opposite happened to me, as it mysteriously disappeared from my account. When I called and inquired about a replacement, she told me that Asurian was cancelled the week before with no notes on the account explaining why it happened or who requested it. Yep. She couldn't even tell me who requested it or on what date. The difference here is I was being hosed out of money because I wouldn't even be eligible for a replacement under Asurion since I bought my phone on eBay. Cute how yours was mysteriously gone when having it would have benefited you, and mine was mysteriously there when it wouldn't be benefiting me.
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Jun 23, 2011 02:53
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sirbeefalot posted:...unless they run webOS (aGPS anyway). I'm confused about aGPS and GPS. I know aGPS is assisted GPS, which I think means it uses triangulation for the navigation. So basically if you're in an area with no cell service, you're hosed. GPS actually has a GPS receiver built into it which is infinitely better (I think) because as long as you can see the sky, you'll get navigation. In fact, if you use IGO8 on your phone (which stores all the maps/software on your SDcard and it doesn't use data at all) you could actually use your phone as a GPS even with the cell being inactive, right? Did I get this right? And why does the Thunderbolt I just ordered say aGPS/GPS. It does both? Why?
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Jun 24, 2011 12:13
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Penguissimo posted:You got the basics right, but every Android phone (including your new Thunderbolt) has both aGPS and a real GPS chip inside. The reason is that the aGPS helps the GPS chip get a faster lock by giving it a rough location approximation, which narrows the window of satellites that the GPS has to search for. I believe you can still get a lock with no data/cell connection on an Android phone, but it takes much longer. Awesome info, thank you. I never found regular GPS' to take too long to get a lock; my $60 Mio used to lock from a fresh boot to a lock in like 40 seconds. So let's say I'm in the Lincoln Tunnel in Manhattan, where a normal GPS will lose signal, but I could still make a phone call. Would my navigation software still work? Or does it just use aGPS for the initial lock, then any time GPS is lost you're screwed?
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Jun 24, 2011 13:22
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Penguissimo posted:Not exactly sure how it would work in that case to be honest, but Google Navigation caches your route as soon as you set it, so as long as you had done that before entering the tunnel, in the worst case it would pick up your location as soon as you exited. Thanks for the information. I won't really be using Google Navigation because I kind of hate the idea that if someone calls me, Google Navigation won't be able to keep drawing maps (due to Google Navigation downloading data as you move). It's a major reason I use iGo8: all the maps are stored on the SD card. It's only like 1gb for the entirety of the US. Ryokurin posted:The only time you would take a really long time to get a GPS lock is if say it's been months since you last turned it on, or the last time it was on you were on the other side of the world. In cases like that, the system does what is known as a 'cold start' and has to lock on to several satelites before it's ready and that can take up to 15 minutes on some hardware. Thanks. I'm not too worried about it taking a long time every once in a while, but my current phone (LG Fathom) takes drat near forever, where my Touch Pro2 (also a WinMo phone) took no time at all. The only difference I could tell between the two is that the Touch Pro2 used a COM port for the GPS, and the Fathom uses a driver. No idea if that's what is making the difference, though!
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Jun 24, 2011 16:55
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bull3964 posted:a) Google navigation caches your entire route so it's not really using the data connection most of the time unless it has to recalculate That's friggin' brilliant! My friend had an Android phone (one of the older Motorola ones with a huge screen) and I remember him being so annoyed when he got phone calls while driving because his GPS wouldn't be able to keep drawing the maps. Good to know they fixed that. bull3964 posted:b) If you are going with the thunderbolt it's all moot anyways. Since it's an LTE device, you can be on the phone and get 4G data simultaneously. I know about the 4g being able to do voice+data but I'd imagine on any decent sized car ride you're gonna leave a lot of 4g spots. bull3964 posted:b) The thunderbolt also supports SVDO which allows you to be on a call and use 3G data simultaneously. That's....loving awesome. I had never heard of this before. So I don't have to ignore phone calls while I'm wireless tethering? This is getting better and better.
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Jun 24, 2011 18:33
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gregday posted:I ditched my GSM iPhone for a CDMA iPhone this weekend, and I noticed that the tethering option just seems to work. I can turn it on, and it creates a 3G hotspot and works. But uh, I didn't agree to tethering on my plan and it's not listed as a feature when I check my account. I got the 450 minutes + unlimited txt + unlimited data. If it turns off after a few moments, it might be because your phone's wifi turns off when it goes to sleep (a lot of phones do this). You'll have to look into how to force it to stay on.
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Jun 28, 2011 18:45
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ManiacClown posted:Just yesterday my wife got a new LG Cosmos Touch (after signing a new agreement, naturally). After charging it and getting Backup Assistant set up, she got in the tub, came out, and found either a deep scratch or a crack on the screen. The more I look at it the more I think it's a crack. The odd thing is we have no idea how it could have gotten there. Our kid was asleep and where it was, had one of our cats jumped up there it would have fallen on the floor. My passenger window in my car once completely cracked one autumn day because, according to the guy who replaced it, it was boiling loving hot in my car and it was relatively cool out. He said it's not uncommon, so take that for whatever you will. Been driving for 11 years, it only happened once so I don't know.
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Jul 1, 2011 19:57
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Kyrosiris posted:I'm crossing my fingers and toes for a Droid 4 with LTE, a good keyboard like the D2G, and stock Android (either Gingerbread or ICS if it's out by then). Ha, you had to see my disturbing list of requirements: 4g/LTE World phone Physical keyboard SAMOLED screen Rootable I would have probably died waiting.
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Jul 1, 2011 20:05
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Kyrosiris posted:I'm 3/5 on that list (don't care about the world phone aspect and really am not fussed about the screen so much), so... I'm not super anal about the screen but SAMOLED is the most gorgeous thing in the world; only thing I ever seen it on is a Gameboy Micro and a GP2x Wiz (handheld console) and it's stunning. But then there's the fact that it's viewable in the sunlight. I cannot see poo poo on my Thunderbolt outdoors. The worldphone I could live without but it seems so utterly lazy. I like to travel to Europe around twice a year and it's really sucky having no phone or having to keep an old one around that somehow managed to cram a GSM radio in there.
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Jul 1, 2011 23:33
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kitten smoothie posted:Is there any price match period after in-store purchases? Uh, I'd love to know this too because I just spent $200 on my Thunderbolt.
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Jul 7, 2011 13:41
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yamdankee posted:I recently moved from an apartment that had great signal to a house that has pretty poor signal. Before I start paying for two forms of Internet again (cable + 3G), is there a recommended signal booster device that I can buy? Googling comes up with a lot of results but I have no idea where to begin with this sort of thing. Verizon actually sells a signal booster. It's made by Samsung and it's great. Actually, it's more of a signal "maker" than a booster. It hooks up to your computer's router and actually makes calls through that instead. I went from not being able to making a single call in my house to never having a dropped call ever. Only thing that sucks about it is it doesn't do data at all, so while you'll get 5 bars, it will be CDMA only. Don't expect to get text messages in a timely fashion (and forget about MMS).
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Jul 8, 2011 16:02
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bull3964 posted:a) He wanted a booster so he didn't have to get cable internet so the signal extender would do him no good since he doesn't have a source of internet to hook it up to. Sorry, I missed that he doesn't have a broadband internet connection. Thanks for the head's up on the 3g data, though I'm incredibly surprised even though mine is kind of old that it doesn't do 3g. It's connected to the freakin' internet, how does it not support 3g? Which begs the question, if I am using my internet connection to make a phone call/use data, why would I be charged for it against my cell plan? Duckman2008 posted:Same reason Sprint charges the $10 a month data plan even if it is a Palm Centro, Instinct or Windows Mobile 6.x phone, they want the stuff to die out and they don't want a "black market." I'm confused; what's the "black market" of having one of those phones? There's a data-plan scheme or something? Chumbawumba4ever97 fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Jul 12, 2011 |
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Jul 12, 2011 17:56
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Duckman2008 posted:As mentioned, certain phones are or were grandfathered in on features. So even when the carrier discontinues the phones, people still buy them used online. Beyond the value of the phones staying up, the issue for carriers if people buying those phones are mnot signing contracts. In the US people not under contract are the biggest risk of churn. Right, I was just wondering what those grandfathered features are that the cellphone companies hate.
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Jul 13, 2011 11:57
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DanManIt posted:Update for the thunderbolt was pushed out a couple days ago. Definite improvement with reboots and battery but it kills the free wireless hotspot Anyone know if the radio got updated? My 4g constantly completely dies (and it kills 3g, too) in a spot where 4g is at full blast and the phone isn't being touched. I'd update my radio the "illegitimate" way but then I'm pretty sure to even use it I have to update to Gingerbread which I don't want to do until it's officially rolled out (and will help iron out the kinks).
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Jul 13, 2011 14:47
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mrchina posted:Have a Thunderbolt, and pay the $30 for unlimited tethering feature... funny thing is the stock application keeps kicking me off the network (no 4g here, turned off 4G services to keep 3g only) but just rooted my phone, installed the android tether app and it works great! I thought they capped tethering to 5gb, even a few years ago? They tried to sell me a tethering plan on my Touch Pro2 and even though data used on the phone was unlimited, I was told 5gb was the cap for tethering. Again, this was like 2009.
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Jul 19, 2011 20:00
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Like a lunatic I was flashing 4g and 3g radios all morning because I couldn't get me phone online for my life. I'd get 3g if I were lucky or 1x which I have never seen on this Thunderbolt since I got it, but it has been all day off and on in an area where I'd normally have full 4g service. Local radio just reported outages from Verizon Wireless so I've been wasting my time 
Chumbawumba4ever97 fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Dec 21, 2011 |
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Dec 21, 2011 16:48
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bull3964 posted:Right now, you can upgrade to 4G without losing unlimited. There's no real hoops you have to jump through other than making sure the person that performs the upgrade doesn't screw up and change your plan. I'm not sure if this is known yet or not, but if I have a 4g phone right now, and the iPhone 5 ends up having 4g, can I get the iPhone 5 and not lose 4g?
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May 30, 2012 18:35
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bull3964 posted:Maybe. We don't know yet. In all likelihood you will have to buy it at full retail. They've mentioned already that if they do put the changes into effect, they will only force you on to a new plan if you buy a subsidized phone. If you buy your phones full retail, you may be able to sidestep it. That....sucks. What's funny though is that Verizon would then be giving incentive not to sign a contract with them. I remember when before smart phones I feverishly stuck with my old-rear end Nokia. They would call me regularly, practically begging me to sign a contract (offering things like discount on my bill, free minutes, etc. if I signed). I guess it will be back to those days, then.
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May 30, 2012 19:15
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Here's a question I didn't see answered. I am on unlimited on Verizon, so is my wife under our family plan. When the iPhone 5 comes out, I will buy it for full price instead of subsidizing. Does that mean I get FREE HOTSPOT as well? Or since I'm on unlimited (an "old" plan), that won't apply to me? Edit: Never mind, it seems like the question was answered a few pages ago. Apparently, I'd have to jailbreak to get it. Bravo, Verizon!  Rent posted:Considering a lot of these companies run an overall 40%+ net profit margin, it's sickening. And Verizon completely destroyed their union employees by forcing anyone hired after 2003 to be able to be fired for any reason  I'm pretty sure I'm hosed with this data thing anyway. I have a 4g phone, but my wife has a 3g phone (iPhone 4) and I'm willing to bet anything that if she ever wants anything newer than an iPhone 4, even though we're willing to pay full price for it, we're hosed out of unlimited. Chumbawumba4ever97 fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 12:09
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WeaselWeaz posted:Yes, you will lose unlimited. I'm not sure "hosed" is right since they have warned about it for over a year. They've been warning us for a full year that going from a 3g iPhone to a full price 4g iPhone would make me lose unlimited? Even though about 4 pages back people still didn't know the answer? edit: hope I didn't come across as a dick but I think you may have read my previous post wrong. I thought people were still uncertain. Chumbawumba4ever97 fucked around with this message at 14:50 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 14:29
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I am about to bite the bullet and get myself an iPhone 5. I have a "family plan" where my wife has an iPhone 4; and we are still on unlimited data. I could have sworn I saw someone here post that there was trickery I could do to get the new phone at a cheaper price, without losing unlimited data. Something like add a new line for $10 a month, then switch the transfer or something? I don't know, perhaps I dreamed this?
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Nov 2, 2012 14:33
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Lblitzer posted:Add a new line to the account, buy iPhone 5 with that new line. Have Verizon do an equipment change to move the iPhone 5 to the desired line. From there you can either decide to pay an ETF fee to remove that line or just pay $10/month over 2 years. Paying $240 over two years sure does sound better than paying $800 for an iPhone. Any idea how people managed to keep unlimited data when upgrading? Were they just crossing their fingers or is there a way they can tell online before agreeing? Thank you so much.
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Nov 2, 2012 15:15
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Oh crap, I just realized they are still charging an extra 30 bucks a month to tether! I thought some FCC thing stopped that and that's why the iPhone had a built in app. drat it. Going to have to wait for iPhone 5 jailbreak 
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Nov 2, 2012 15:34
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AlexDeGruven posted:You can add a tiered data line. I'm surprised that only adds $10 a month to the bill! The Gasmask posted:It's free if you're on the new share plans, but not free for unlimited. Dumb as hell in my opinion, but they're desperate to get people off of it. Yeah that's nuts. I am used to just running PDANet on my current phone. I certainly am not looking forward to adding $40 a month to my bill to get the new iPhone. drat it! Just gotta wait for the iPhone 5 jailbreak I guess; which if it's anything like the AppleTV 3 jailbreak, it will never happen  By the way I'd go to the local Verizon store but 1) they have no power still due to hurricane Sandy and 2) I had no idea that telling them I am looking to find a loophole around getting a subsidized phone would be met with warm response. Good to know! 
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Nov 2, 2012 16:20
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