Verizon upgrade questions/suggestions for those who would know

[phillthedrill]

I was going to upgrade my Note 10+ to the new S22 ultra, still on grandfathered unlimited....should I just keep grandfathered unlimited or upgrade to the 5G unlimited? Is upgrading to 5G from grandfathered unlimited automatically making me get a 3 year commitment or contract? I'm not worried about LTE vs 5G speed, just saving money or paying the same as I do now. I'm paying around $77/month with some work discounts on there for my 1 line. Also, if I want to upgrade to a new phone without signing a new Verizon contract (3 years now it looks like) and I go through Best Buy or Samsung, is that still doable? And is there a way to avoid the upgrade fee (used to be $40)? Would using the old sim card avoid that fee? Just wondered if anyone knows the answers to these questions? Thank you.

 

[anon(40376)]

Have you checked to see if your current plan with Verizon might include 5G at no greater cost? In other words just transfer SIM card? It appears from my reading most of the providers are giving standard 5G (not new C-band or the mmWave versions) at no extra cost. It is actually beneficial to the provider to get you to use 5G vs. LTE. The 5G is out there if more people use it, less on LTE, less overload of LTE.

Also, in most locations not a large increase in speed from 4G to 5G.

I would suggest calling your provider.

 

[FACTagent]

When I purchased the Note 20 Ultra through Verizon in August 2020, the order process required I select a 5G plan (presumably since the phone is 5G).

 

[Mooncatt]

The only time limited contracts I've sign are payment contracts, not for the service itself.

I would make sure you double check your numbers, if not triple check them, because your current work discount may not be available on current plans. I'd also ask if you're eligible for a Go Unlimited Loyalty plan. It's not an advertised plan, but they offered it to me to get me on to an unlimited plan after holding out for years. It wasn't eligible for employee discounts, but the plan was cheap enough that it didn't matter and I haven't had any throttling issues. I can stream 480p with no problem (Good enough for me on a phone), and sometimes 720p.

Fyi, my plan includes their nationwide "5G in name only" service that's functionally no different than 4G LTE, and does not include ultrawide ban service.