OT Anyone got Karma? (wifi)

[krw]

On Wed, 02 Dec 2015 23:51:27 -0500, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
<DLU1@DecadentLinuxUser.org> wrote:

On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 13:13:38 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> Gave us:

I live out in the sticks and internet access is only available
by satellite or cell phone. About the same cost,
.(limited data), but the verizon cell phone plan
starts nicking you big time if you go over the limit,
satellite runs at a much reduced speed.. but no extra
charge. (We have satellite for $80/ mo)

My son found this,
https://yourkarma.com/how-it-works
I've ordered one, but it hasn't shipped yet.
I'm just wondering
if anyone else has one, and how well it works.

George H.

Try Exede

http://directexede.com/

I looked into Excede before we convinced AT&T to run fiber from the
street to our house. Their customer service is apparently worse than
AT&Ts and Comcast put together - perhaps even on the illegal side. I
decided I'd put up with DSL, longer, than even try them.

 

[George Herold]

On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 4:24:52 PM UTC-5, whit3rd wrote:

On Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 4:22:49 PM UTC-8, George Herold wrote:
On Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 4:44:36 PM UTC-5, mixed nuts wrote:
On 12/2/2015 4:13 PM, George Herold wrote:
I live out in the sticks and internet access is only available by
satellite or cell phone.

[about WiFi hotspots for subscription]
Put in your location to see if you're near one:

http://hotspots.wifi.xfinity.com/

Huh, interesting.. Smokey's Bar and Grill has one...
But I think it's about 800' from my house to the
road, and a few miles to Smokey's...

Might work, but when I've done it (5GHz in the 802.11a days) it took
directional antennae at BOTH ends of the link. So, you need
a transceiver near Smokey's, with a nondirectional antenna,
and a second transceiver on a dedicated high-gain antenna aimed
at your distant location (which also will need a high-gain antenna).
A single router, if it has diversity antennae and a 'relay' function,
can suffice.

If you can't verify line-of-sight due to trees or foliage, get a good
topographic map of the region, and plot the ground height
along your line-of-sight. With that plot, find the antenna mast
height you need.

No, way too many hills. ~100' towers.
It's OK there is something to be said for hughesnet and limited
download, my kids get bored and then have to do something else.
(Not enough boredom, our downfall :^)

George H.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:27:24 -0500, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

It is clear you didn't actually read about the plan. This is a third
party who sells their service with terms and condition they create, not
the cell vendors. They have a plan which says there are *no* data
restrictions and they say there is *no* contract. Yes, I know, there
has to be terms and conditions of some sort... but the web page doesn't
supply that.

So the only restriction may be the 5 Mbps max rate.

Given unlimited data for $50 a month, the rest of your comments are not
valid. This is a game changer for many I think.

You're right, I didn't read the plan. Sorry(tm). I was more
interested in the equipment and the cellular provider used by the
Karma MVNO (multi-vendor network operator). Kinda looks like Sprint,
but I'm not sure. What happened around here (Santa Cruz, CA) is that
Sprint oversold the unlimited plans with an insufficient number of
towers. Their system far from saturated, but the data speeds are
fairly slow. New bands are a big help but only for those users with
the very latest hardware. The major vendors (VZW, Sprint, AT&T, etc)
tend to keep the new stuff for themselves and delay giving the MVNO's
access to the latest stuff.

Ah, foundit. It's Sprint:
<http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/mvno-karma-launches-first-lte-product-sprint-doubles-user-base-100000/2014-09-23>
New buzzword: "Social Bandwidth".

Unlimited data sure sounds like a great deal. We'll see how well it
plays. Verizon currently has only about 1% of its customers on
unlimited data plans and is doing everything it can to get rid of
them.
<http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-wont-throttle-speeds-customers-who-have-hung-unlimited-data-plans/2015-10-21>

I'm late (as usual). Later...


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[rickman]

On 12/3/2015 3:01 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:27:24 -0500, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

It is clear you didn't actually read about the plan. This is a third
party who sells their service with terms and condition they create, not
the cell vendors. They have a plan which says there are *no* data
restrictions and they say there is *no* contract. Yes, I know, there
has to be terms and conditions of some sort... but the web page doesn't
supply that.

So the only restriction may be the 5 Mbps max rate.

Given unlimited data for $50 a month, the rest of your comments are not
valid. This is a game changer for many I think.

You're right, I didn't read the plan. Sorry(tm). I was more
interested in the equipment and the cellular provider used by the
Karma MVNO (multi-vendor network operator). Kinda looks like Sprint,
but I'm not sure.

It may be Sprint. At my poor access location I was told by a local that
Sprint was the best carrier at the south end of the lake. The Karma
coverage looks a bit like that, but I can't tell for sure. The Verizon
coverage map is fantasy and the AT&T map is not much better. None of
them even work well for cell phones at my place until the leaves fall.

What happened around here (Santa Cruz, CA) is that
Sprint oversold the unlimited plans with an insufficient number of
towers. Their system far from saturated, but the data speeds are
fairly slow. New bands are a big help but only for those users with
the very latest hardware. The major vendors (VZW, Sprint, AT&T, etc)
tend to keep the new stuff for themselves and delay giving the MVNO's
access to the latest stuff.

Back in the 90's Sprint *way* oversold their capacity. A friend
couldn't complete a call anywhere during rush hour. Since then they
have expanded, but they are still at the bottom of the list for coverage
and capacity. Still, it only matters if they cover where you are and
your call goes through.

The data rate issues are why they say "up to 5 Mbps". I recall reading
the Verizon contract and technically they didn't guarantee it would even
work... anywhere, anytime. If you sign up with them and it never works
you paid for nothing.

Ah, foundit. It's Sprint:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/mvno-karma-launches-first-lte-product-sprint-doubles-user-base-100000/2014-09-23
New buzzword: "Social Bandwidth".

Unlimited data sure sounds like a great deal. We'll see how well it
plays. Verizon currently has only about 1% of its customers on
unlimited data plans and is doing everything it can to get rid of
them.
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-wont-throttle-speeds-customers-who-have-hung-unlimited-data-plans/2015-10-21

I'm late (as usual). Later...

My roommate has AT&T unlimited at $100 a month. I would never pay that
much for a cell phone. He can't tether so what is the point? It is his
main connection to the Internet, but we do have WISP at the house, so
most of the time he doesn't need it. The WISP is unlimited because it
is a small provider. There is another WISP in the area that has a
contract with the same limitations as the cell companies. I never gave
them serious consideration because of that.

--

Rick

 

[rickman]

On 12/3/2015 12:25 PM, George Herold wrote:

On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 11:05:49 AM UTC-5, rickman wrote:
On 12/2/2015 4:13 PM, George Herold wrote:
I live out in the sticks and internet access is only available by satellite or cell phone. About the same cost, (limited data), but the verizon cell phone plan
starts nicking you big time if you go over the limit, satellite runs at a much reduced speed.. but no extra charge. (We have satellite for $80/ mo)

My son found this,
https://yourkarma.com/how-it-works
I've ordered one, but it hasn't shipped yet.
I'm just wondering
if anyone else has one, and how well it works.

I have experience living without Internet, it sucks big time. We
finally were covered by a WISP provider. That's not too bad, but it
often gives marginal rates. I think this is due to congestion, but the
provider can often fix it he says by resetting something.

This provider seems to have a reasonable plan at $50/month. But the
coverage sucks. Where I am I see a number of very small cells with
fingers of coverage. Unfortunately, right by my place the fingers are
all over the water, lol. I know cell phone coverage is marginal for all
the vendors, so likely this would not work well. How is the coverage
for you?
Area code 14082, when I click on the coverage map where my house sits is listed
as good. But it cuts out right up the road... at the top of a local hill.
So I'm a little worried about the signal strength.

Not having a data cap is *huge*. The question is how fast will it work?
"Up to 5 Mbps" is not 5 Mbps. I had "up to 2 Mbps" with Comcast in my
other house once. I hardly got 1 Mbps. I tried to get them to make it
work better but they claimed it was "Internet congestion". Lol I
dropped my plan back to 256 kbps and got *exactly* that, 256 kbps max
speed. 5 Mbps will let you do pretty much anything you want if it stays
near that. I would be worried you might see high congestion days with
barely 1 Mbps.
Grin, yeah it's the no data cap that perked my sons interest.
Also the Hughesnet satellite service is kinda slow on the upload. With a
big delay. (No surprise it's a long way up to the satellite.) But the delay
will sometimes cause web-sites to complain. (The good thing about the
delay is that my son can't play any of these MMO games.)



The $10/GB plan is *terribly* expensive. I would have paid $3000 last
month.
Oh my, did you add an extra zero in there? We use ~30 GB/month.
(and getting worse as everyone gets more devices.)

My laptop says I used 600 GB over the last 57 days. I watch a lot of
movies online. Netflix and Hulu rock. Some more than half of that is
really not on the WISP. I have a couple, three places where I hang out.
But the zeros are right, just needs a divide by two or three.

--

Rick

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 20:58:49 -0500, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

>The trouble with Verizon is they charge an arm and a leg for the service.

No kidding. I don't do cellular data, but was a Verizon voice only
customer for many years. I bailed when the price for a single handset
went up to about $75/month for about 600 minutes ($0.13/min assuming I
actually use all the minutes). I've been on PagePlus for the last few
years at $0.05/min. I use about 300 mins/month for a total bill of
about $15/month. Quite a savings.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[rickman]

On 12/3/2015 3:40 PM, George Herold wrote:

On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 2:06:12 PM UTC-5, krw wrote:
On Wed, 02 Dec 2015 23:51:27 -0500, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno
DLU1@DecadentLinuxUser.org> wrote:

On Wed, 2 Dec 2015 13:13:38 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> Gave us:

I live out in the sticks and internet access is only available
by satellite or cell phone. About the same cost,
.(limited data), but the verizon cell phone plan
starts nicking you big time if you go over the limit,
satellite runs at a much reduced speed.. but no extra
charge. (We have satellite for $80/ mo)

My son found this,
https://yourkarma.com/how-it-works
I've ordered one, but it hasn't shipped yet.
I'm just wondering
if anyone else has one, and how well it works.

George H.

Try Exede

http://directexede.com/

I looked into Excede before we convinced AT&T to run fiber from the
street to our house. Their customer service is apparently worse than
AT&Ts and Comcast put together - perhaps even on the illegal side. I
decided I'd put up with DSL, longer, than even try them.

I've had zero issues with Hughesnet. Their system was down for a few days a year
or so ago. They sent everyone some extra GB's to make up for it.

I have heard nothing good about them. One friend used them for her
business. It was down for over a week and couldn't get them to do
anything about it. They had to sign up with another company and still
had to pay off the Hughesnet contract too boot.

--

Rick

 

[rickman]

On 12/3/2015 3:37 PM, George Herold wrote:

On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 3:01:46 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:27:24 -0500, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

It is clear you didn't actually read about the plan. This is a third
party who sells their service with terms and condition they create, not
the cell vendors. They have a plan which says there are *no* data
restrictions and they say there is *no* contract. Yes, I know, there
has to be terms and conditions of some sort... but the web page doesn't
supply that.

So the only restriction may be the 5 Mbps max rate.

Given unlimited data for $50 a month, the rest of your comments are not
valid. This is a game changer for many I think.

You're right, I didn't read the plan. Sorry(tm). I was more
interested in the equipment and the cellular provider used by the
Karma MVNO (multi-vendor network operator). Kinda looks like Sprint,
but I'm not sure. What happened around here (Santa Cruz, CA) is that
Sprint oversold the unlimited plans with an insufficient number of
towers. Their system far from saturated, but the data speeds are
fairly slow. New bands are a big help but only for those users with
the very latest hardware. The major vendors (VZW, Sprint, AT&T, etc)
tend to keep the new stuff for themselves and delay giving the MVNO's
access to the latest stuff.

Ah, foundit. It's Sprint:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/mvno-karma-launches-first-lte-product-sprint-doubles-user-base-100000/2014-09-23
New buzzword: "Social Bandwidth".

Wow, nice google-foo! Looking at the sprint coverage map it
over laps the one from Karma. (Well except where I live is
listed as fair.) The Sprint thing is too bad, I'm guessing that
my Karma is going back. Verizon put up a cell tower in the valley
and the Verizon signal is pretty good at my house.

The trouble with Verizon is they charge an arm and a leg for the service.

--

Rick

 

[rickman]

On 12/3/2015 10:30 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 20:58:49 -0500, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

The trouble with Verizon is they charge an arm and a leg for the service.

No kidding. I don't do cellular data, but was a Verizon voice only
customer for many years. I bailed when the price for a single handset
went up to about $75/month for about 600 minutes ($0.13/min assuming I
actually use all the minutes). I've been on PagePlus for the last few
years at $0.05/min. I use about 300 mins/month for a total bill of
about $15/month. Quite a savings.

I was a Net10 user for some time at $0.03 per minute. But they don't
work great at my one house even though they were on the Verizon network.
Seems by piggy backing on Verizon's towers they get a low bit rate
compression which distorts heavily. Something made it really bad quality.

I switched to being a "family" member with a friend for $20 a month.
Unlimited text and calls, don't need data on a dumb phone anyway.

By my comment on the Verizon price, I meant the data services. At
dollars per GB it is too expensive for real work or play.

--

Rick

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 09:25:16 -0800 (PST), George Herold
<gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

>Area code 14082

I went Googling for WISP's and found nothing. That doesn't mean that
there are none, just that they aren't listed in the usual directories.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[George Herold]

On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 11:12:34 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 09:25:16 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Area code 14082

I went Googling for WISP's and found nothing. That doesn't mean that
there are none, just that they aren't listed in the usual directories.

Thanks Jeff, "The boy" (who will likely be bigger than me in a year.) was
on the lead like a dog on the scent of a fox. He came up empty too.
But we'll keep our eyes on it... it looks like an expanding market.

OK this is even more OT... My son is buying me a new phone for Xmas.
But I need it now, so I've got an early present from him.
Here's my first selfie....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4grdy98q8efup4t/mug.jpg?dl=0

Now with a face like that, tell me that man couldn't have
made a living as a clown! :^)

George H.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 12/03/2015 08:58 PM, rickman wrote:

On 12/3/2015 3:37 PM, George Herold wrote:
On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 3:01:46 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 12:27:24 -0500, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

It is clear you didn't actually read about the plan. This is a third
party who sells their service with terms and condition they create, not
the cell vendors. They have a plan which says there are *no* data
restrictions and they say there is *no* contract. Yes, I know, there
has to be terms and conditions of some sort... but the web page doesn't
supply that.

So the only restriction may be the 5 Mbps max rate.

Given unlimited data for $50 a month, the rest of your comments are not
valid. This is a game changer for many I think.

You're right, I didn't read the plan. Sorry(tm). I was more
interested in the equipment and the cellular provider used by the
Karma MVNO (multi-vendor network operator). Kinda looks like Sprint,
but I'm not sure. What happened around here (Santa Cruz, CA) is that
Sprint oversold the unlimited plans with an insufficient number of
towers. Their system far from saturated, but the data speeds are
fairly slow. New bands are a big help but only for those users with
the very latest hardware. The major vendors (VZW, Sprint, AT&T, etc)
tend to keep the new stuff for themselves and delay giving the MVNO's
access to the latest stuff.

Ah, foundit. It's Sprint:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/mvno-karma-launches-first-lte-product-sprint-doubles-user-base-100000/2014-09-23

New buzzword: "Social Bandwidth".

Wow, nice google-foo! Looking at the sprint coverage map it
over laps the one from Karma. (Well except where I live is
listed as fair.) The Sprint thing is too bad, I'm guessing that
my Karma is going back. Verizon put up a cell tower in the valley
and the Verizon signal is pretty good at my house.

The trouble with Verizon is they charge an arm and a leg for the service.

And at least round here, they can't find their derrieres with two hands,
a map, GPS, radar, etc. Switching to Optimum was a huge win.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 4 Dec 2015 07:46:00 -0800 (PST), George Herold
<gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 11:12:34 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 09:25:16 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Area code 14082

I went Googling for WISP's and found nothing. That doesn't mean that
there are none, just that they aren't listed in the usual directories.

Thanks Jeff, "The boy" (who will likely be bigger than me in a year.) was
on the lead like a dog on the scent of a fox. He came up empty too.
But we'll keep our eyes on it... it looks like an expanding market.

If you have the time, you might try driving around the neighborhood
looking at rooftop antennas. What you're looking for is a directional
antenna or radome with an antenna inside, that might be used for WISP
service. Very popular around here are the various Ubiquiti outdoor
products:
<https://www.ubnt.com/products/>
If you find some, try to determine where they are pointed. That
should help identify the WISP. If not, bang on the door and ask.

OK this is even more OT... My son is buying me a new phone for Xmas.
But I need it now, so I've got an early present from him.
Here's my first selfie....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4grdy98q8efup4t/mug.jpg?dl=0

Now with a face like that, tell me that man couldn't have
made a living as a clown! :^)

You might scare the kids. I also like the not so stiff upper lip. I
recommend consulting a cosmetician for a men's makeover.

I think you've just discovered the problem with a selfie. It uses the
low resolution camera above the screen, instead of the high resolution
camera on the back. What you really want is a selfie stick with a
mirror, so you can use the high resolution camera.
<http://icdn4.digitaltrends.com/image/polaroid-cropped-1000x667.jpg>


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[rickman]

On 12/4/2015 10:46 AM, George Herold wrote:

On Thursday, December 3, 2015 at 11:12:34 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 09:25:16 -0800 (PST), George Herold
gherold@teachspin.com> wrote:

Area code 14082

I went Googling for WISP's and found nothing. That doesn't mean that
there are none, just that they aren't listed in the usual directories.

Thanks Jeff, "The boy" (who will likely be bigger than me in a year.) was
on the lead like a dog on the scent of a fox. He came up empty too.
But we'll keep our eyes on it... it looks like an expanding market.

OK this is even more OT... My son is buying me a new phone for Xmas.
But I need it now, so I've got an early present from him.
Here's my first selfie....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4grdy98q8efup4t/mug.jpg?dl=0

Now with a face like that, tell me that man couldn't have
made a living as a clown! :^)

Lol, that's a great one!

My WISP antenna is a Ubiquiti, but it doesn't stand out and in fact, is
mounted low rather than high. The main obstructions here are trees and
you get under the close ones by mounting it low. I'm trying to get them
to move the antenna for me. I found a sweet spot that gets me another 3
dB or so which should boost my bandwidth. It will need a longer cord
and holes drilled through the wall to reach it though.

--

Rick

 

[krw]

On Thu, 03 Dec 2015 19:30:12 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

On Thu, 3 Dec 2015 20:58:49 -0500, rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> wrote:

The trouble with Verizon is they charge an arm and a leg for the service.

No kidding. I don't do cellular data, but was a Verizon voice only
customer for many years. I bailed when the price for a single handset
went up to about $75/month for about 600 minutes ($0.13/min assuming I
actually use all the minutes). I've been on PagePlus for the last few
years at $0.05/min. I use about 300 mins/month for a total bill of
about $15/month. Quite a savings\

We still use Verizon because of the coverage. Almost everyone has
unlimited voice an data, now, and less than $75/line (I pay that for
voice, text, and 5GB).

I know there are resellers that use the Verison network (like
PagePlus) but I use the data too. My contract is up next month so
I've been looking around again. I don't find that much difference
between Verizon and the others for data. If all you use is phone and
text, sure, you can save some money.

 

[krw]

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 17:36:30 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 20:06:17 -0500, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

My contract is up next month so
I've been looking around again. I don't find that much difference
between Verizon and the others for data. If all you use is phone and
text, sure, you can save some money.

Well, let's see:
https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/
Various "unlimited" plans depending on much 4G data you want from $30
to $70/month. After you've exhausted your 4G data, it switches you to
the slower 2G data rates.

....and Verizon is $60 to $100 for 4G ($20 for the second phone). 2G?
That's useless.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/landingpages/verizon-plan/
$30 to $100/month with similar bandwidth tiers. The FAQ mumbles
something about a monthly access charge of $20/month if you own your
own phone, or $40/month if your phone is on a 2 year contract. No
clue if that's included or in addition to the "Verizon Plan" charges.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/the-verizon-plan-faqs/
Here's what happens when you go over your monthly bandwidth quota:

No matter what size data plan you have, all overages are
billed at $15 for each 1 GB, rounded up. For example, if
you use 250 MB over your allowance, you'll be charged $15.

So, instead of dropping to a slower speed, you get hit with a rather
larger overage charge or if you call Verizon, get inspired to sign up
for another two years at a higher bandwidth tier. Another problem is
if your situation changes and you use LESS data than your bandwidth
tier. The remainder is essentially wasted and you're paying for
unused data. Good luck renegotiating for a lower tier.

This discussion really belongs in Howard Forums:
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/51-Verizon-Wireless
http://www.howardforums.com/forum.php

I wrote this in 2011 when I switched from VZW to PagePlus. At the
time, things were not exactly simple. Fortunately, they've improved
somewhat now that PagePlus is part of TracFone.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 22:57:21 -0500, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 17:36:30 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com
wrote:

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 20:06:17 -0500, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

My contract is up next month so
I've been looking around again. I don't find that much difference
between Verizon and the others for data. If all you use is phone and
text, sure, you can save some money.

Well, let's see:
https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/
Various "unlimited" plans depending on much 4G data you want from $30
to $70/month. After you've exhausted your 4G data, it switches you to
the slower 2G data rates.

...and Verizon is $60 to $100 for 4G ($20 for the second phone).

The family plan and data sharing are big advantages. These are
offered by VZW but not by their MVNO's. I thought you were talking
about one phone. If you're going to equip the family with phones on
the same plan, VZW is probably cheapest.

>2G? That's useless.

Sorry. Typo error. 3G, not 2G, and quite usable. I would post a
chart, but the numbers are all over the map and vary by vendor and
service area. Still, slowing down to 3G speeds is better than paying
overage charge or being forced to the next higher tier.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 20:06:17 -0500, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

My contract is up next month so
I've been looking around again. I don't find that much difference
between Verizon and the others for data. If all you use is phone and
text, sure, you can save some money.

Well, let's see:
<https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/>
Various "unlimited" plans depending on much 4G data you want from $30
to $70/month. After you've exhausted your 4G data, it switches you to
the slower 2G data rates.

<http://www.verizonwireless.com/landingpages/verizon-plan/>
$30 to $100/month with similar bandwidth tiers. The FAQ mumbles
something about a monthly access charge of $20/month if you own your
own phone, or $40/month if your phone is on a 2 year contract. No
clue if that's included or in addition to the "Verizon Plan" charges.
<http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/the-verizon-plan-faqs/>
Here's what happens when you go over your monthly bandwidth quota:

No matter what size data plan you have, all overages are
billed at $15 for each 1 GB, rounded up. For example, if
you use 250 MB over your allowance, you'll be charged $15.

So, instead of dropping to a slower speed, you get hit with a rather
larger overage charge or if you call Verizon, get inspired to sign up
for another two years at a higher bandwidth tier. Another problem is
if your situation changes and you use LESS data than your bandwidth
tier. The remainder is essentially wasted and you're paying for
unused data. Good luck renegotiating for a lower tier.

This discussion really belongs in Howard Forums:
<http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/51-Verizon-Wireless>
<http://www.howardforums.com/forum.php>

I wrote this in 2011 when I switched from VZW to PagePlus. At the
time, things were not exactly simple. Fortunately, they've improved
somewhat now that PagePlus is part of TracFone.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[krw]

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 20:51:27 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 22:57:21 -0500, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 17:36:30 -0800, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com
wrote:

On Fri, 04 Dec 2015 20:06:17 -0500, krw <krw@nowhere.com> wrote:

My contract is up next month so
I've been looking around again. I don't find that much difference
between Verizon and the others for data. If all you use is phone and
text, sure, you can save some money.

Well, let's see:
https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/
Various "unlimited" plans depending on much 4G data you want from $30
to $70/month. After you've exhausted your 4G data, it switches you to
the slower 2G data rates.

...and Verizon is $60 to $100 for 4G ($20 for the second phone).

The family plan and data sharing are big advantages. These are
offered by VZW but not by their MVNO's. I thought you were talking
about one phone. If you're going to equip the family with phones on
the same plan, VZW is probably cheapest.

I was talking about comparing for my needs (two people). I'll stay
with VZW because of the coverage and the price isn't so far out of
line anymore.

2G? That's useless.

Sorry. Typo error. 3G, not 2G, and quite usable. I would post a
chart, but the numbers are all over the map and vary by vendor and
service area. Still, slowing down to 3G speeds is better than paying
overage charge or being forced to the next higher tier.

With all the adware crap, now, I'd argue that 3G was useless, as well.
Whenever I see the 3G symbol on my phone, I just put it away.