Thunderbolt Training At Verizon Starts Today during the demo, data/voice was done

[Sokar]

I had the training today, voice/data on 3g is possible for the Thunderbolt.

Soooooo.... that would make you a Verizon employee? Don't suppose you know the magic date, do you?

Hmmmmm?

 

[bigpetefox]

Soooooo.... that would make you a Verizon employee? Don't suppose you know the magic date, do you?

Hmmmmm?

I'm a device specialist working in a VZW store, contractor..

I was told the week of 2/14, could be that day or someday that week, nothing solid. I think the data for 4G may be tiered for smartphones, don't count on unlimited plans.. Hopefully they change their minds, but I doubt it.

 

[Sokar]

Thanks for the info, Bigpetefox.

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

this is a very nice feature. but the hot spot isnt a killing point. i just wont use it.....or will i. iv never used it. if it doesnt look like its gonna be a feature right away. i guess ill root it. first android phone so its worth a shot. rooting my nook color was so simple so im sure it wont be hard.

 

[leehblanc]

this is a very nice feature. but the hot spot isnt a killing point. i just wont use it.....or will i. iv never used it. if it doesnt look like its gonna be a feature right away. i guess ill root it. first android phone so its worth a shot. rooting my nook color was so simple so im sure it wont be hard.

To be honest, I've always thought that tiered pricing with Hotspot makes sense. Data is data. I've rooted and installed PDANet/Wifi Tether on all of my phones. I think I've used a grand total of about .5 GB over the last 6 months on 2 carriers and across 3 devices. So... 100 MB a month on the average. There is NO WAY I am paying $20 for that privilege. I doubt Sprint or VZW would care much, to be honest. What I'm saying is I would pay $30 for a 5GB plan with a $10 charge if I came in between 5-7GB. That way they win if I tether, and I don't lose out because I checked stock at a store while on the road or did a banking transfer from the car. That's just not worth $20/mo

 

[bobbiac]

so wait.... tell me again why sending DATA (see: voice over ip) is impossible over 3G? Even tradition voice calls placed on a burner are digital these days. They are sent over the network as 1s and 0s. (Correct me if I am wrong.)

 

[mpwt51]

Thats not what this is about, it has to do with the way CDMA stacks data and voice, unlike GSM who allows data and voice to run parallel on a given frequency. SVDO I assume allows CDMA to function more like GSM in the way it allows data and voice to run parallel. Normally voice packets are given priority on a network, these standards just accomplish this in different ways.

 

[experiment 626]

I'm a device specialist working in a VZW store, contractor..

bigpetefox, Since you're more familiar with the technical aspects of this can you explain how Verizon's going to implement LTE on their handsets? How does the LTE "SIM card" come into play? Thanks

 

[bmcclure937]

I'm a device specialist working in a VZW store, contractor..

I was told the week of 2/14, could be that day or someday that week, nothing solid. I think the data for 4G may be tiered for smartphones, don't count on unlimited plans.. Hopefully they change their minds, but I doubt it.

Thanks for the great insider info.

Will I be able to get a "3G Only" unlimited data plan for the Thunderbolt?! I will not have 4G available in my area and I know it will not be coming any time in the next year... since it is definitely not a large market.

Please let me know, this is very important for me because I do not want to be paying for 4G data if I own an LTE phone but cannot take advantage of it!

 

[SpaceHippie]

Wait so what he's saying is that there will no longer be unlimited for 4g phones? Well whats the biggest data cap they will have? If they cap it then i think they should include hotspot in the data price.

update: Hmm well after checking my usage, i found i have only used 261.39MB of data last month lol. I think of myself as a heavy user so if they offer GB caps like 5-7 and its cheaper, then i won't mind. That would be cool since it really won't affect me. I just don't want to be using my twitter app all day and be nervous about going over the cap.

 

[anon(75289)]

Wait so what he's saying is that there will no longer be unlimited for 4g phones? Well whats the biggest data cap they will have? If they cap it then i think they should include hotspot in the data price.

update: Hmm well after checking my usage, i found i have only used 261.39MB of data last month lol. I think of myself as a heavy user so if they offer GB caps like 5-7 and its cheaper, then i won't mind. That would be cool since it really won't affect me. I just don't want to be using my twitter app all day and be nervous about going over the cap.

What kind of phone do you have that is only using 300mb a month? I have a Droid 1 and I've never used less that 1GB in a month. Usually I clock in at around 2GB. My guess is that it will be an extra $10 a month for the data plan ($40 total) and the cap will be 5GB. So based on my current usage I would be fine. But with the added speed, I have no doubt that I would easily double my data usage.

 

[I am Fake Jesus]

yea, i think its the phones that make a big deal on your usage. my iphone 3g the most data i ever pulled in last year was 758mb. i think thats when i was out of state on a trip. but my average is only 250mb. mostly cause if im at home im on wifi. but i dont use phone at work due to verizon air card in company laptop.

we will just have to see how this goes i guess. so verizon. let us see how this goes already

 

[experiment 626]

Well BlackBerries are very efficient when it comes to data usage.RIM's servers are excellent when it comes to compressing data.In almost 3yrs with my 8330 I've never come close to 5GB of monthly data usage,maybe 2GB tops.Androids and iPhones are way different animals though.

 

[anon(75289)]

Yeah, I never connect to my wifi at home on my phone. I actually have a verizon tower within a stones throw of my back door so my phone gets such a good internet connection I never bothered to turn on my wifi. (Also last week my wifi broke on my droid1, it will no longer connect to any wifi)

I make a habbit of downloading new roms and kernels just to try for fun quite often too, and those are usually 120mB or so each.

 

[htowngator]

I'm usually pulling 700-800mb/month on my D1. I don't really do any streaming music either so I'm betting if you do that then you're probably in the 2-3GB range.

 

[anon(75289)]

Yep, I do stream all of my home music to my phone when I'm at work.

 

[anon(75289)]

Which actually I wont have to do anymore with the TB because it comes with a 32GB microSD chip =D I have 20GB of music, which obviously wont fit on my 16GB, let alone leave room for my pictures/videos/nandroid backups. So streaming is my only option. With 32 the GB chip I will be able to fit all my music, and have an extra 10gb for pictures vids and nandroid backups.

Not having to stream my music should cut down on my data usage quite a bit... Damn data caps... Networks are going backwards... I'm actually ok with caps, but make them reasonable.. ~40GB cap would be perfect. Lets be honest, "Unlimited" really isn't practical for businesses. People WILL and DO abuse it (I'm point at the people who are seeding torrents over their 3g tether).

 

[htowngator]

Which actually I wont have to do anymore with the TB because it comes with a 32GB microSD chip =D I have 20GB of music, which obviously wont fit on my 16GB, let alone leave room for my pictures/videos/nandroid backups. So streaming is my only option. With 32 the GB chip I will be able to fit all my music, and have an extra 10gb for pictures vids and nandroid backups.

Not having to stream my music should cut down on my data usage quite a bit... Damn data caps... Networks are going backwards... I'm actually ok with caps, but make them reasonable.. ~40GB cap would be perfect. Lets be honest, "Unlimited" really isn't practical for businesses. People WILL and DO abuse it (I'm point at the people who are seeding torrents over their 3g tether).

The overall amount of data doesn't hurt them. It's the peak usage that they worry about for bogging down the system. In the end it's nothing more than another tool they use to charge you more money, and it's due mostly to those who abuse the amount, not the normal user.

Most normal users probably had 2-3GB usage per month so they figured they could "cap" it at 5GB and get away with it.

 

[anon(75289)]

Yeah, I understand why they did that cap, it's dumb and lame but it makes sense.

I was just trying to state that it makes it feel as though networks are going backwards instead of getting better.

 

[htowngator]

Yeah, I understand why they did that cap, it's dumb and lame but it makes sense.

I was just trying to state that it makes it feel as though networks are going backwards instead of getting better.

I definitely agree. Just saying they will do anything they can to nickel and dime you much like the airlines.