My master plan on leaving Verizon

[Droidintorrance]

Morning fellas.. been doing a lot of research this week and reading a lot of articles... as I'm gathering info and getting my facts straight, I will lay out my step-by-step master plan on leaving Verizon so that I don't get interrupted cell service. Please correct my if I get anything wrong and I am actively looking for advice...!

I posted this on my G+ the other day... My current VZ bill is around $178 every month... That is a whopping: $2062+ bill a year..!



That alone is my motivation for leaving. To make things a bit complicated, I do have a family plan with my wife's feature phone and my Gnex, we share 1,400 minutes.

Here is my plan of attack in chronological order:

1) This morning - finally activated my Google Voice - got a random number that doesn't work yet - will try call forwarding to my current VZ number and get to know the app and web interface.

2) On Nov 4th - my billing VZ billing cycle ends

3) Nov -13th - Place order for the Nexus 4 on Play store

4) Whenever the phone comes, hopefully in November - I have narrow it down to these two pre-paid plans to start off:

Straight Talk - $45 - Unlimited talk, text, web
Welcome To Straight Talk

T-Mo - $30 - 100 min talk, unlimted text & web
Monthly 4G Prepaid Plans | Compare Prepaid Data Plans | T-Mobile

Activate it going thru the web prompts, get new SIM card, get new phone number.

5) Once pre-paid service is proven, call, voice, data. I will cancel service with VZ. Pay my Early Termination Fee and transfer my number to Google Voice, pay the $20 to port my number.

6) Call forward my my new pre-paid number to my old VZ now Google Voice number. I can now call forward to any new pre-paid number I choose, I can get a new pre-paid sim every month and just add that to my Google Voice call forwarding.

7) Wipe the Gnex, and sell it on Craigslist.

8) Find the wife an unlock feature or basic qwerty Android phone. She will also be on pre-paid $30 (T-Mo 1,500 minutes), since she doesn't use data. Back up her contacts, she doesn't mind getting a new phone number. Or do the same and get her a Google Voice number also.


Question for current Google Voice users:

If someone calls my Google Voice number, and it is forwarded to my pre-paid number, will I be using minutes? I'm assuming yes, cause it is just being forwarded. And of course, calling out with the pre-paid will use minutes, even tho, it'll show my old VZ number as the caller ID. The only way Google Voice can save money by only using 100 minuets/month is if I forward it to a land line right?

I can call out using my Google Voice app? Somehow I don't see the dailer like I do on Skype...? In that case, I might just get the Straight Talk, so I don't worry about minutes.

thoughts..? recommendations...?

thanks...!

 

[Droidintorrance]

Alright.. got another piece of the puzzle... just paid for Groove IP, make a few calls over just 3G, not even 4G... sounds freaken 10 times better than Verizon, I'm so excited... all this freaken time, paying for VZ service and being treated like crap...! Alright, just waiting for my Google Voice number to activate...! and gonna try the incoming calls..!!! plan is coming together...

 

[phattysalz]

In my opinion, the most important step is 5) once service is proven....

Make sure of that. In my experience, no other service comes close to Verizon in terms of coverage (in general). Obviously this depends on location and if you are in a major city at&t and t-mo are probably just as good.

We have a 22% discount on our VZW bill and even with that we could still be cheaper going prepaid or even Sprint. The thing is, everywhere we travel, home, work, family, vacation spots, etc... VZW has excellent service. Ultimately that is most important. If you pay cheap but you don't have voice or data available, you are wasting money.

Also, see how data speeds are. I've been spoiled with the VZW 4g speeds.

Good luck! Hope it works out for you. I'll be hanging on to my Gnex another year and hope there is some Nexus option on VZW then.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Spiderman13]

Would like to know how this works for you.

My bill is the same amount as yours. My second line is an air card for my laptop which i hardly use.

Can't wait to chitcan my gnex for a non battery hog phone. Plus something i can hear other people on. I bought a cheap china prepaid phone just call people back on to be able to understand them!

 

[Bosgarage57]

Def make sure you are ok with the service on straight talk. Also are you unlimited data or 2gb? If 2gb, I would like to suggest Page plus (Kitty Wireless is a reseller). They have a plan with unlimited talk, text, and 2gb of data for $55, and then other plans as low as $30 for your wife on a feature phone. They use Verizons towers, and I currently use an older phone on that plan jsut to try it out. So far I like it.

On my vzw bill: we Have 4 phones, 3 that are feature phones, and my smart phone that is unlimited and I pay for mobile hotspot. 700 minutes and unlimited texts. For $170.

 

[Droidintorrance]

So the key element to a smooth transition is using Google Voice.. again, so I thought this morning that I can activate Google Voice without cancelling my Verizon account, but that is not possible... Instead of porting my number to T-Mo or Straight Talk, keeping it at G-V will allow me to change numbers or carriers if I want on a monthly basis. I live in freaken Los Angeles, so an unlock plan with someone should work it would be here... interested in going back to an LG phone, always had great call quality with LG feature phones...!

 

[Touchpaddle]

How can put this delicately? Once someone is used to Verizon's 4G speeds, it's really hard to go back down to AT&T or T-Mobile "4G" speeds.
In my case, Verizon 4G has always given me 12mbps to 15mbps download and 8mbps to 11mbps uploads.(frequently tested using various speed
test sites)

It will be like asking me to trade in my Bugatti Veyron for a Toyota Prius Hybrid. Sure, I'll save tons of money on gasoline.

 

[Droidintorrance]

I do hear you.. 4G is great but a bit too schizophrenic.. all or noting, but yeah for the most part it works and works good.. I will need to test hspa but as long as it is consistent I will adjust usage.. for the most part, I really only listen to podcasts and watch occasional videos on my commutes..

Everting else I can have downloaded.. battery would be a win, calls should be a win and the savings on to of that...

Who knows my GN is in mint conditions that i might even just keep it.. if I want VZ prepaid 4G once in a while..

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[MrBigFeathers]

I was thinking the same thing about not wanting to lose Verizon lte but then I realized I don't get very good lte speeds anyway.



Might be going to ATT when I thought I wasn't. I'll have to try some speed tests on hspa with att.

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[Windfrenzy]

Suggest you try using Google voice before making the jump. I was on Sprint with integrated Google voice. I found it less reliable then the carrier's service. I was trying to decide whether to port to GV or VZW. I went with VZW. One of the great things about text is they go through even when signal is low but GV text requires a data connection.

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[dhendriksen]

I have Verizon and use Google Voice. I use Google Voice as my work number, and my real number for personal. I love Google Voice and find it very reliable.

Sent from my Droid RAZR HD MAXX

 

[Revolutionary]

I'll echo windfrenzy: I've had trouble getting GV to behave reliably. Especially with incoming calls going straight to voicemail for no apparent reason whatever. Try it before you buy it.

 

[Droidintorrance]

just using Groove IP for an whole evening... call quality is fantastic, the UI could use a little improvement, but overall not too bad... call logs appear on my Google Voice history, gonna set up some VM greetings...I don't really know all the differences between voip and VZ's 'digital' voice, but I get a suspension that it's not much better...

 

[Bosgarage57]

I tried using groove last night but the area code that was calling out is a 706 and my local is 865 so I don't think its gonna work for me. In sure its something in my settings

Sent from my HTC Rezound

 

[greydarrah]

I'm curious, if you switch over to a Google Voice number, when you call someone, is there any way to make it show whatever your current phone number is to the person you are calling? my biggest issue is that I've had the same cell number for 15 plus years. I don't want to start calling people via Google Voice (from a different carrier) and then have them not know it's me, as well as have them keeping 2 phone numbers for me.

 

[Fleury14]

When you port your Verizon number to gvoice it will automatically terminate your contract. There are various reports on how long the actual port takes to go through.

 

[gregs1213]

That T-Mobile plan looks so sweet.. If only it was like 500 minutes for $40 bucks.. I don't make many phone calls, but I don't think I can do 100 minutes.

 

[Erckul]

When you port your Verizon number to gvoice it will automatically terminate your contract. There are various reports on how long the actual port takes to go through.

Does this terminate my Verizon contract without any additional fees and such? I'm half way through my two year contract and if I can port my number for $20 with no Verizon etf, I'll be over the moon

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[moosc]

I doubt it. Vzw will still charge you the pro rated etf

Does this terminate my Verizon contract without any additional fees and such? I'm half way through my two year contract and if I can port my number for $20 with no Verizon etf, I'll be over the moon

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[Erckul]

I doubt it. Vzw will still charge you the pro rated etf



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That's what I figured, but thought it was worth a shot. Thanks

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