Feedback on Visible cell phone service

[theoldwizard]

Visible is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that rides on top of Verizon. Their claim to fame is $40/month, no additional charges for taxes, etc. "unlimited everything". Well, as we all know "unlimited" is LIMITED ! From their web site.

*In times of traffic, your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic.
**Mobile hotspot speeds capped at 5 Mbps and limited to one tethered device at a time.

Three questions.

Is 5 Mbps "adequate" to run type streaming services like Prime Video ?

Has anyone tried a Visible SIM card in a dedicated "hot spot" device simialr to a Winegard ConnecT 2.0 ?

If one person is watch TV (on say an Fire TV stick) can another person watch YouTube on a PC ?

[Finance]

600 kbps is adequate for streaming, I’ve done it plenty of times with Prime and Netflix.

You must use a phone with the Visible app.

Use a router tethered to the phone to distribute the WiFi to as many devices as you wish.

There’s an excellent “how to” thread on this forum that covers everything in detail, although I haven’t looked in on it in a while and it’s possibly gotten painfully long.

[pasdad1]

Read this thread


$40/month unlimited internet....interested?

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f53/25-month-unlimited-internet-interested-442091.html

[mfredm]

the answer to all your questions is Yes. the solution is the aforementioned thread about $40 internet. I stream video to 2 tv's, run a tablet and surf the net on my laptop at the same time with few slowdowns. It all depends not on the service but where you are.

[moisheh]

I have never veen able to stream Prime at less than 2 to 3. Netflix will tell you that 5 is required. Netflix allows youto change resolution Prime does not. It also depends what you are watching

[boyland]

I just want everyone to know that visible is not exactly the same as verizon. If 4g is available it will work if you travel into areas with 1x or 3g services only which i do it will tell you no service.

For me my lake house is in this situation and visible would not work for me.

[cwk]

Join a group, or party, of 3 others and reduce the $40 to $25 per month. Easily done by joining Reddit and finding the section there on Visible parties. Then, wait for someone to "invite" you to join their party, or start your own. You do not need to know, or ever communicate again, with others in the party.

BTW, reddit is just one place to find other folks for the "Party Pay" offering from Visible. I am sure there are other ways to find "friends" to join a party. They do NOT need to be family members, as some of the major carriers may insist.

That is $25 per month complete. No taxes or fees added on top of the $25.

BTW, my service is not limited to 5Mbps. I often can get 10-15 download, and sometimes even higher on uploads. From what I understand, true Verizon customers may get a higher priority, so they may get faster speeds when the network is busy.

All in all, I am happy that I found out about this on iRV2 and was able to take advantage of it.

[Tom_M]

Originally Posted by Finance

You must use a phone with the Visible app.

The app is only needed to activate the phone.

Originally Posted by theoldwizard

Has anyone tried a Visible SIM card in a dedicated "hot spot" device simialr to a Winegard ConnecT 2.0 ?

After the SIM was activated in my phone, I plugged it into my 6620L MiFi. Then I changed the APN to VZWINTERNET and it worked fine. I don't know if the same is true for other devices.

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by Tom_M

After the SIM was activated in my phone, I plugged it into my 6620L MiFi. Then I changed the APN to VZWINTERNET and it worked fine. I don't know if the same is true for other devices.

Are you still limited to 1 connection?

[Tom_M]

Originally Posted by TechWriter

Are you still limited to 1 connection?

You can set the 6620L for up to 15 connections. I don't recall what the default settings is.

[John Hilley]

Originally Posted by TechWriter

Are you still limited to 1 connection?

How long have you been using it since you moved the SIM to the Hotspot?

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by John Hilley

How long have you been using it since you moved the SIM to the Hotspot?

I haven't moved it yet.

[Isaac-1]

You can stream at 600Kbps, but don't expect to stream in HD, 600Kbps will support youtube videos in low res settings like 240P or maybe 360P, but not 760P or 1080P, it will also support netflix if the low resolution manual settings are set in the netflix account page. Which may work fine for watching blurry 30 year old sitcoms, but not so much if you want to newer content. The problem as I see it is more and more content is requiring HD resolutions to be watchable, even youtube videos where the on screen text becomes blocky and unreadable at below 720P.


5 Mbps, will support low end HD streaming, but don't expect all those spectacular nature documentaries to look great without 10-20 Mbps

[docj]

Originally Posted by Tom_M

The app is only needed to activate the phone.

After the SIM was activated in my phone, I plugged it into my 6620L MiFi. Then I changed the APN to VZWINTERNET and it worked fine. I don't know if the same is true for other devices.

It's my understanding that the correct APN is VSBLINTERNET