Share Everything Plans

[TallyHo]

Am I the only one actually liking the pricing on these plans?

I have unlimited data and only use about 1 GB per month (WiFi uses about 6 GBs tho). My wife uses about 500 MB. I could switch to the $80 shared data tier (don't even need that much) and still have a cheaper bill as the $40 unlimited voice/text per phone would save me a ton.

I can easily get away with having our bill nearly cut in half by switching.

Am I missing something?

 

[Ry]

Am I the only one actually liking the pricing on these plans?

I have unlimited data and only use about 1 GB per month (WiFi uses about 6 GBs tho). My wife uses about 500 MB. I could switch to the $80 shared data tier (don't even need that much) and still have a cheaper bill as the $40 unlimited voice/text per phone would save me a ton.

I can easily get away with having our bill nearly cut in half by switching.

Am I missing something?

If it'll save you money, go for it.

 

[sfobrien]

The Share Data plans will be cheaper for some. Like you I don't use allot of data and am going to monitor my useage for two or three bill cycles after getting the S3 and may switch. As of right now I could save about thirty bucks a month but I want to see how much more I use with LTE.

But for those users who use allot of data they will be better off keeping their unlimited. The overage cost on the Shared Data plans are outragious.

 

[TallyHo]

The Share Data plans will be cheaper for some. Like you I don't use allot of data and am going to monitor my useage for two or three bill cycles after getting the S3 and may switch. As of right now I could save about thirty bucks a month but I want to see how much more I use with LTE.

But for those users who use allot of data they will be better off keeping their unlimited. The overage cost on the Shared Data plans are outragious.

Yeah, I think I am going to do the same thing you are. I'll set my data limit in ICS to stop me and see where I end up. I think its getting used to chanign habits too. My Xoom isn't unlimited and I do things like only let apps update over WiFi and stuff like that.

I'll give it a few months and then see......good idea.

 

[dkeven]

perhaps you would hold off till your new phone comes in and see if you are using more than the min with the newest features and easier useability, My thoughts are my usage is only going to go up, never down as I utilize more apps and features which are arriving daily.

 

[goin_nil]

My bill would have gone up by $35/mo. We have 2 smartphones and one basic phone. We used less than 2 GB/mo combined for last 6 mo.

The reason ours would go up on the Share Everything plan is that we don't have text msg ability (use Google Voice and save $30/mo) and we share 700 min/mo between all 3 phones.

If we had text messaging then in would only go up by $5/mo but we would lose unlimited data. I've heard switching to 4G can cause your data usage to rise. Websites, YouTube, and other apps detect the higher speed and send higher quality data (ie more data). Plus, if you can surf faster, you will. Makes sense.

Everyone's situation can be a little different.

 

[akronevan2]

For those of us that don't abuse the network, we'll be fine. According to an article that I saw on imore.com that states that iOS users account for 65% of network traffic, in essence they are data hogs. Why should they punish us when it is the apple users that hurt it? Because there are android users that abuse the network data also. The network is not an infinite resource and they had to do something. There is Wifi almost everywhere you go, so use it. Please keep in mind as well that prices will always go up, rules of econ.:'(

 

[dpham00]

For those of us that don't abuse the network, we'll be fine. According to an article that I saw on imore.com that states that iOS users account for 65% of network traffic, in essence they are data hogs. Why should they punish us when it is the apple users that hurt it? Because there are android users that abuse the network data also. The network is not an infinite resource and they had to do something. There is Wifi almost everywhere you go, so use it. Please keep in mind as well that prices will always go up, rules of econ.:'(

The new plan is shafting me every which way.

CURRENT PLAN = $130:
$60 for 2 lines at 550 min/mo family loyalty plan
$20 for 2 additional dumb phone lines at $10 per line
$30 unlimited data one line
$20 300 mb/mo data one line

SHARED PLAN = $190:
$80 for 2 lines of smartphone
$60 for 2 lines of dumb phone
$50 for 1gb shared data

So, assuming I used minimal data, it would cost me nearly 50% more per month on the shared data plan. Yes, I get unlimited calls and text, which is useless to me since I don't even get close to 550 minutes and no one on my plan uses regular text (Google Voice FTW). Now, even when paying nearly 50% more, I am only getting less than 2% of the bandwidth that I got on the current plan.


I am getting shafted either way you look at it, from a basic user standpoint, or from a power user stand point.

 

[Joe the Insider]

The new plan is shafting me every which way.

CURRENT PLAN = $130:
$60 for 2 lines at 550 min/mo family loyalty plan
$20 for 2 additional dumb phone lines at $10 per line
$30 unlimited data one line
$20 300 mb/mo data one line

SHARED PLAN = $190:
$80 for 2 lines of smartphone
$60 for 2 lines of dumb phone
$50 for 1gb shared data

So, assuming I used minimal data, it would cost me nearly 50% more per month on the shared data plan. Yes, I get unlimited calls and text, which is useless to me since I don't even get close to 550 minutes and no one on my plan uses regular text (Google Voice FTW). Now, even when paying nearly 50% more, I am only getting less than 2% of the bandwidth that I got on the current plan.


I am getting shafted either way you look at it, from a basic user standpoint, or from a power user stand point.

That's Because your on a loyalty that most people do not have. The plan you are on is rare and only certain people have it, So in your case you are losing out, But others are benefiting.

 

[dpham00]

That's Because your on a loyalty that most people do not have. The plan you are on is rare and only certain people have it, So in your case you are losing out, But others are benefiting.

Even without the loyalty plan, it is only an extra $10 for the standard family 700 minute plan, so i would still be saving $50.

 

[ibcop]

And they still offer the corporate discount(s) with the Family Shared Plan, if you are eligible for one.

 

[Cruiserdude]

The killer is those access charges, in addition to the high rates for smaller amounts of data ($50 for 1GB, are you kidding me??) But those "access charges" are $30 a month for each dumbphone, and $40 a month for each smartphone, just for the privilege of actually being a part of the plan you already pay for. I currently pay $130 a month after a 9% discount and before $20 or so in taxes/fees, for 2 dumbphones and 1 smartphone on a 1400 Nationwide plan, and Unlimited Data and 500 texts for myself. With this new plan, I would be spending $120 a month just for the privilege of using the plan I already pay for. Which leaves about $10 for the plan itself, which ain't happening. So obviously I would stand to lose quite a bit of money with one of these new plans, and I don't see how VZW hopes to attract new customers when this is the case.

Sure, its nice to be able to share a bucket of data if you have to have artificially imposed data caps, but it has to be a reasonable amount. No way is 1gb gonna suffice for even 1 person with an LTE smartphone, much less a freaking family. I used to recommend Verizon to everyone because of their superior service, but I can no longer do that. They've shown they have no loyalty to long-time customers by ending Unlimited Data grandfathering, and now with this Share Everything plans, they don't even have a reasonable option for many customers, and I couldn't recommend anything even if I still wanted to.

I just hope Verizon gets burned so bad on this in terms of lost revenue that they are forced to go back to a more consumer-friendly structure.

 

[tekhna]

For those of us that don't abuse the network, we'll be fine. According to an article that I saw on imore.com that states that iOS users account for 65% of network traffic, in essence they are data hogs. Why should they punish us when it is the apple users that hurt it? Because there are android users that abuse the network data also. The network is not an infinite resource and they had to do something. There is Wifi almost everywhere you go, so use it. Please keep in mind as well that prices will always go up, rules of econ.:'(

There's no such thing as abuse when your plan is unlimited. That's why it's called unlimited.
And no, prices don't always go up. There's this nasty thing called deflation. It's an ugly mother.

As for the original question, just be careful. A couple months of heavy data use could hurt. For me, it's minimize my maximum possible loss. I do use data, and it would cost me more for service I don't need. No one actually makes phone calls still, do they? Unlimited calling seems to be the equivalent of unlimited telegrams or something.

 

[PJnc284]

There's no such thing as abuse when your plan is unlimited. That's why it's called unlimited.

Your contract terms state otherwise.

 

[xsists]

I just hope Verizon gets burned so bad on this in terms of lost revenue that they are forced to go back to a more consumer-friendly structure.

This won't happen as soon as all the other major companies switch to the same pricing breakdown. Why would they do that you ask? It's profitable.

 

[tekhna]

Your contract terms state otherwise.

Which is why Verizon throttles LTE? Oh wait, no, they don't. And legally can't.

 

[PJnc284]

Which is why Verizon throttles LTE? Oh wait, no, they don't. And legally can't.

Has nothing to do with throttling. There's a specific clause in there for abuse of network

Data Services: Prohibited Uses
You may not use our Data Plans and Features for illegal purposes or purposes that infringe upon others? intellectual property rights, or in a manner that interferes with other users? service; that violates trade and economic sanctions and prohibitions as promulgated by the departments of Commerce, Treasury or any other U.S. government agency; that interferes with the network?s ability to fairly allocate capacity among users or that otherwise degrades service quality for other users. Examples of prohibited usage include: (i) server devices or host computer applications that are broadcast to multiple servers or recipients such that they could enable ?bots? or similar routines (as set forth in more detail in (ii) below) or otherwise degrade network capacity or functionality; (ii) ?auto-responders,? ?cancel-bots,? or similar automated or manual routines that generate amounts of net traffic that could disrupt net user groups or email use by others; (iii) generating ?spam? or unsolicited commercial or bulk email (or activities that facilitate the dissemination of such email); (iv) any activity that adversely affects the ability of other users or systems to use either Verizon Wireless? services or the Internet-based resources of others, including the generation or dissemination of viruses, malware or ?denial of service? attacks; (v) accessing, or attempting to access without authority, the information, accounts or devices of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, Verizon Wireless? or another entity?s network or systems; or (vi) running software or other devices that maintain continuous active Internet connections when a computer?s connection would otherwise be idle, or ?keep alive? functions, unless they adhere to Verizon Wireless? requirements for such usage, which may be changed from time to time.

We further reserve the right to take measures to protect our network and other users from harm, compromised capacity or degradation in performance. These measures may impact your service, and we reserve the right to deny, modify or terminate service, with or without notice, to anyone we believe is using Data Plans or Features in a manner that adversely impacts our network.

 

[tekhna]

Has nothing to do with throttling. There's a specific clause in there for abuse of network

Did you read the whole sentence? It's either massively broad, including virtually anything Verizon wants it to, or very narrow, relating very specifically to the distribution of malware.

The whole sentence reads:
(iv) any activity that adversely affects the ability of other users or systems to use either Verizon Wireless’ services or the Internet-based resources of others, including the generation or dissemination of viruses, malware or “denial of service” attacks.

It would be something of a stretch to apply that to excessive bandwidth use, wouldn't? Not that I would put it past Verizon.

Edit: and it's not even clear legally speaking if Verizon can throttle Block C spectrum, so the second part may not even apply.

 

[PJnc284]

It's purposefully broad. Kind of like an included but not limited to kind of thing. Main point is it's all up to Verizon's interpretation of your usage and that "unlimited" isn't really unlimited.

 

[kilofoxtrot]

Am I the only one actually liking the pricing on these plans?

Yes... you are the only one.