Turbo on Page Plus?

[Phoenix212]

Has anyone tried out Page Plus MVNO? They are the only MVNO that use Verizon cell towers, as far as I know. I am seriously considering moving to Page Plus and their $55 plan now that VZW has jacked up the grandfathered unlimited data rates. For $55 it is unlimited calling, unlimited text, and 5 gb of 4g data (with unlimited 2g data after that).

Has anyone tried Page Plus? I have two concerns:
1) Is Page Plus as good as Verizon in terms of coverage? It should, in theory, since it uses the same towers but some random internet sites have questioned whether Page Plus has access to all of VZW's towers or just some. I haven't been able to find a straight answer on that.
2) I believe that I will cease getting system updates to my Droid Turbo once I leave Verizon. Is there any way to sideload the Marshmallow update once it comes out? Is Marshmallow worth it? I currently run Nova Launcher and am more than content with it.

Thanks in advance for the thoughts!!

 

[matt.eskes]

There's a few other MVNOs who bounce off Verizon towers. You should be fine.

 

[doogald]

Has anyone tried out Page Plus MVNO?

I have not, so this is based on what I have read.

For $55 it is unlimited calling, unlimited text, and 5 gb of 4g data (with unlimited 2g data after that).

Be absolutely sure that you need only 5 GB of data because 2g data sucks. Not only is it slow, but you'll have a bunch of apps and services (Google Play Services among them) all trying to access data in the background while you are trying to use data in a foreground app.

1) Is Page Plus as good as Verizon in terms of coverage? It should, in theory, since it uses the same towers but some random internet sites have questioned whether Page Plus has access to all of VZW's towers or just some. I haven't been able to find a straight answer on that.

One thing that I have read is that Verizon postpaid plans have roaming agreements with other carriers that you will have to pay (I believe $0.20/minute) on Page Plus if you are roaming. (For example, I travel often to a place that has few Verizon towers - US Cellular is the dominant carrier in that small area - and my phone roams there with no issue. I checked PP and part of that area is a roaming area.) So check the PP coverage maps to be absolutely sure that you will not have any roaming issues.

Also I've read that not all Verizon phones can be activated on Page Plus. I'm not sure if the Turbo is one of those phones, though. (Actually, it will work; see https://www.pageplusdirect.com/compatible_phones.html )

2) I believe that I will cease getting system updates to my Droid Turbo once I leave Verizon

Untrue. Updates are provided by Motorola (after Verizon approved them) so you will get the updates. You'll probably want to download them on WiFi, though, to avoid using data.

 

[Phoenix212]

There's a few other MVNOs who bounce off Verizon towers. You should be fine.

What other MVNOs use Verizon towers? I thought it was only Page Plus, no?

 

[matt.eskes]

There's a couple. Unfortunately, I can't remember the providers off hand. They use both ATT and Verizon sticks. The one in particular I can't remember,I know what can buy them at Walmart...

 

[Phoenix212]

Untrue. Updates are provided by Motorola (after Verizon approved them) so you will get the updates. You'll probably want to download them on WiFi, though, to avoid using data.

So Marshmallow will be available to my Turbo even if I'm not on Verizon anymore? Fantastic!!

 

[matt.eskes]

So Marshmallow will be available to my Turbo even if I'm not on Verizon anymore? Fantastic!!

Yep. You'll be absolutely fine.