Personal hot spot

[doc]

This week we were in a park with no wifi. I used my iPhone with a 'personal hot spot' app. This worked fine for a while then just stopped. It was suggested I might have run out of data. Would I have received any sort of notice or warning if this was the case, or would it have just stopped w/o notice? I am pretty sure I don't have unlimited data (according to my daughter)
I have tried to contact Verizon but cannot recall my password - haven't used it in years. You think the phone is broken? Is this a lack of data issue? Will I have to make a trip to the Verizon store to get this fixed? I have not idea how to find a live person to talk with on the phone. I really don't want to spend a huge pile of $$$ on a new phone.

[AllanK]

I suspect your phone is fine and that you just ran out of data. It is extremely hard and very frustrating to get a "live" Verizon person on the phone. Check your billing date and see if you have data at that point.

By the way, a new Verizon service call Visible is prepaid, unlimited voice, unlimited text and unlimited data. The plan is $40/month.

[twinboat]

My unlimited plan from Verizon caps hot spot use to 10 gig.

I don't recall if it shuts it down or drops speed very low, but there is no warning.

The work around is to use your phone and cast the show to the TV. Not all models will support casting but some do.

[rk911]

Originally Posted by AllanK

I suspect your phone is fine and that you just ran out of data. It is extremely hard and very frustrating to get a "live" Verizon person on the phone. Check your billing date and see if you have data at that point.

By the way, a new Verizon service call Visible is prepaid, unlimited voice, unlimited text and unlimited data. The plan is $40/month.

hmmm. I don't call VZW often but when I do I get an agent fairly easily. try dialing 611 on your cell phone next time.

to the OP...IF you have an unlimited plan you may have run up against a limitation of 4G data. I want to say that's 22gb but not certain. at that limit the data flow can be severely restricted. if you're on a "regular" data plan you should experience no slow down when you exceed your plan limits but you'll get a fairly hefty bill for the overage.

[jackdn0610]

I have a VZW Unlimited data plan and after 20 GB, hotspot speeds are reduced up to 600 kbps.

[Airboss68]

Download the "my Verizon" app to your phone. You can use this to check data usage among other things.

Using the personal hotspot uses no more data than casting. Data usage is determined by what you are downloading or streaming.

You might have dropped off due to your television rather than you phone.

It seems Verizon has more than 1 "unlimited" plan that alters your streaming rate at different usage points and in different ways.

I have never needed more than 10 minutes to talk to a real person at Verizon.

I have an unlimited plan that after 20 gigs of usage per month may, but will not always, limit me to 600mbps when the tower I am using is busy.
In any event between my phone and the DW we have 40 gigs before we might be limited in speed.

[Rocky Larson]

My ancient android phone gives me a warning when I am bumping up against a defined by me data amount. It will also stop data if I so select that option. Prior to having unlimited plan I would get a "Would "You Like To Buy More Data" text from Verizon.

The options are under SETTINGS/DATA usage.
The three ON/OFF sliders are Mobile Data, Limit mobile data usage, and Alert me about data usage (the last two values determined by the user)

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Airboss68

Download the "my Verizon" app to your phone. You can use this to check data usage among other things.

Using the personal hotspot uses no more data than casting. Data usage is determined by what you are downloading or streaming.

You might have dropped off due to your television rather than you phone.

It seems Verizon has more than 1 "unlimited" plan that alters your streaming rate at different usage points and in different ways.

I have never needed more than 10 minutes to talk to a real person at Verizon.

I have an unlimited plan that after 20 gigs of usage per month may, but will not always, limit me to 600mbps when the tower I am using is busy.
In any event between my phone and the DW we have 40 gigs before we might be limited in speed.

This is Verizon's Unlimited plan.

Unlimited HD video on the phone screen and 15 GB thru the Hotspot.

Casting is thu the phone and not limited to 15 GB.

[davidki]

I am a bit confused, the original post says he is using his Iphone "As A Hot Spot" so that tells me he just activates the Tethering - Hotsppot feature of the phone... Not a separate device... is that correct?


My wife and I have the Verizon Sr. Plan, it is $80.00 per month for 2 phones, it has unlimited Phone, Message, talk and data. it includes both USA and Canada (Canada data is capped pn a per day basis when in Canada)... but, on this plan when we Tether our tablets or laptops it limits the connection to those device to a max of 600kbs I believe... very slow but if all Im doing is surfing I can live with it...



Verizon has so many plans it really gets confusing and you can bet they will not contact you to let you know a better plan is available. It does get a bit frustrating....



and if I need Customer service, I just diall 611 on my cell...

[docj]

Originally Posted by davidki

My wife and I have the Verizon Sr. Plan, it is $80.00 per month for 2 phones, it has unlimited Phone, Message, talk and data. it includes both USA and Canada (Canada data is capped pn a per day basis when in Canada)... but, on this plan when we Tether our tablets or laptops it limits the connection to those device to a max of 600kbs I believe... very slow but if all Im doing is surfing I can live with it...

Your Verizon plan is one that doesn't allow for any 4G/LTE hotspot use. Many of us have other plans that permit LTE hotspot data until some limit which varies from 15GB or more depending on the plan. After you reach the limit the hotspot speed drops to <600kbps which is marginally acceptable for casual web surfing, but inadequate for video streaming.

[NXR]

Verizon sends me a text when I hit the data cap limit.

Ray

[davidki]

DOCJ, According to Verizon I do have 4gLTE data, but "Tethering" I do have a question which I will call Verizon Here is a little info on the 55 + plan we have.



https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhone...d-Plan-55-Plus


At this point, I"ve not even used a Tethering session ... I don't do streaming .. But thanks for the heads up.

[davidki]

Ok, here is another observation. I just ran speed test on my smart phone .. .I turned off my wifi and running on only the Verizon Data... I got a download speed of 45mb/s in my house with 2 bars... not bad. So, if one has a smart TV how about Casting to that tV while streaming on my cell?



Again, I do not stream videos.... I just find this as an interesting topic aside from my tethering speed.... my data speed seems pretty good... Keep in mind, I started with a 300 baud modem in an acoustic coupler when I started working with computers :-) We have come a long way from my first IBM pc in 1981...

[docj]

Originally Posted by davidki

DOCJ, According to Verizon I do have 4gLTE data, but "Tethering" I do have a question which I will call Verizon Here is a little info on the 55 + plan we have.



https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhone...d-Plan-55-Plus


At this point, I"ve not even used a Tethering session ... I don't do streaming .. But thanks for the heads up.

Yes, you have 4G/LTE data but NOT for hotspot use or tethering. Here's what your link above says about hotspot use:

Get unlimited mobile hotspot to use your capable smartphones and tablets as Wi-Fi hotspots at no additional cost. Maximum tethering speeds at up to 600 kbps.