Verizon-I'm Fed Up

[slabman]

I've had an "Unlimited KB" broadband account with Verizon since 2006 and have regularly used some 7+GB /mo. for years. Over the past few months they keep throttling my speeds and can't seem to provide a consistent response to my question as to what "Unlimited" means ( Kinda like that infamous "What IS is"). I just don't know what their policy is anymore....nor do I understand why mine was changed, since I have never altered my original hardware or contract since new.

I think for my own sanity I need to change broadband carriers, but the question is which one might provide the second best coverage with our travels ALL OVER this Country. I figure that when I get the new HTC Android phone on Verizon next month I will still have access to their broadband coverage through the phone, so I probably could benefit from using ANOTHER carrier's broadband for my router in the RV.

Sooooo....in light of this, who is offering the best alternative product for my situation these days?

[Bill Adams]

As you appear to know already, Verizon has the best coverage so anything you choose will be second best. To answer that, Sprint has the second best coverage with AT&T a very distant 3rd (5th in a 3 man race, IMHO). East of the Mississippi I doubt there is much difference between the 3 carriers but if you travel out West Verizon outperforms them all with Sprint doing it's best to catch up.

[jackrobinryan]

Slabman,

I've also had the verizon unlimited for 3+ years and upgraded to the mifi 6 months ago. Have about a 5GB usage per month. For my own understanding, I was wondering....

Do you regularly perform speed tests that indicate you they Verizon are "throttling" your performance somehow more recently?

Does it change according to time of day or your location?

Did they tell you that they were rate-limiting you somehow?

In my understanding, Unlimited means the quantity of bytes allowed per month. I expect nothing about a service level guarantee on the rate or speed of the connection.

But I'd be interested to know if Verizon is somehow penalizing the loyal, long term customers who have grandfathered "unlimited" monthly contracts by rate limiting our connections in favor of the newer contracted folks they can get more revenue from.

(networks are like living breathing organisms, there are alot of variables that influence performance and they change over time due to increased number of users, applications, time of day, Tiger Woods' activities, weather,etc,etc,etc. old data network engineer)

safe travels
jack

[RonK]

Slabman:

I too HAD verizon and soon became fed-up with their change in plans the longer we had the service. Our problem had to do with "bridging" for connectivity, to more than 1 computer, which you could do initially. Then they changed the game plan and you could no longer have more than 1 computer per connection. Then it got to the point that I could not use my bluetooth mouse as they looked at that as another connection of another device. Soooo, long story short, I went far enough up the food chain and dropped the service without penalty charges and went with Sprint. For ~60 per month and unlimited usage, and connections, 2 Imacs, 2 laptops, Iphone, I have not had problem 1. As far as traveling we go from Ohio to Fl to Tx and have always had connectivity. YMMV but we are very happy with the service, and support, and would never go back. As far as AT&T goes I would have gone with them, retired from AT&T with 35 years, but did not have the opportunity at the time. I may change at a later date but not now. I have friends with AT&T and they also have not had any problems with connectivity and get very good DL speeds as we get with Sprint.

Good Luck

Ron K.

PS

Sorry, I should have stated this is with the Sierra Wireless Compass aircard

[JoeT]

Hmmm. Second best? I think you will find AT&T has the largest coverage area. Verizon has the largest 3G coverage area, or did. AT&T has added a lot of 3G towers lately. The might have caught up with Verizon on 3G.

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeT Hmmm. Second best? I think you will find AT&T has the largest coverage area. Verizon has the largest 3G coverage area, or did. AT&T has added a lot of 3G towers lately. The might have caught up with Verizon on 3G.

Yes, second best. AT&T has the most voice coverage and possibly voice and 1X service. If you compare AT&T 3G service to the other 2 carriers it's not even close as you move West. Their own coverage maps verify this.

[slabman]

Bill, I know you'd know the answer to this question. I just got back from the Sprint store and the mgr. told me they have the same coverage as Verizon, since they use the same towers. (CDMA and CDMA). I was NOT under that impression, but maybe I've missed something here. Soooo....can I expect the same broad coverage under Sprint as I get with Verizon? If not identical, maybe at least a dial-up speed where Verizon might be 3G? Or will I be disappointed when I travel out West?

[wa8yxm]

You said you don't know what the problem is.........

Well, the problem is they false advertise.. They sold you "UNLIMITED" but down in the very fine print it says "Unlimited to the first 5Gigs" or words to that effect

My definition of Unlimited means "As much as you can download"

Verizons is: You can go anywhere on the internet.. A rival's web site, A porn site, A video site (please go to video sites so we can up your bill) SKYPE, Vonage,, anywhere you want to go, NO limits on where you go.

But don't go over 5 Gigs a month

And that is the problem.. It is in very fine print.. And yes, I believe there is at least one legal case pending but being as I'm not a Verizon cuss-some-more "I believe" is about the best I can do on it... (I have no direct knowledge or details)

I should add.. All the other cellular ISP's I think there is one that still has what I call "unlimited".. sadly they don't have but very very very limited Broadband. (Basically one city in the US is high speed) the rest ... Well Dial up may well be faster.

[PNWGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Adams As you appear to know already, Verizon has the best coverage so anything you choose will be second best. To answer that, Sprint has the second best coverage with AT&T a very distant 3rd (5th in a 3 man race, IMHO). East of the Mississippi I doubt there is much difference between the 3 carriers but if you travel out West Verizon outperforms them all with Sprint doing it's best to catch up.

Bill, I do not share your opinion. I live in the PNW- on the I-5 corridor- and a friend of mine has Verizon and I have Sprint. I have never, not once, had a signal drop and he does--- constantly.

Verizon keeps saying "it's the phone" and so he buys a new one and then another new one. Still has the dropped signal. I keep telling him it's time to drop Verizon, they simply are not as good-- at least in the PNW-- as Sprint.

I started with AT&T in 1998, then went to Verizon and then Sprint, in 2001. Neither of the other two can touch the reliability that I have had with Sprint-- which includes my traveling into Southern California.

Sheila

[Bill Adams]

First, we are not talking about voice but rather data. That's an important difference.
Second, no provider has coverage everywhere so you can pick any particular point on the map and one provider will likely NOT have good coverage there and that one provider could be any of the big three.
My discussions are about overall data coverage and is based upon our travels. We have a MotoSAT Datastorm satellite internet antenna that provides coverage EVERYWHERE and we have on board an AT&T, Sprint and Verizon air card. The only thing that works everywhere we have traveled is the satellite internet system but I can vouch for the fact that the best 3G DATA coverage is provided by Verizon followed closely by Sprint and AT&T 3G DATA coverage trailing a distant 3rd.
If you head for El Centro, CA you will find that nobody has 3G. If you travel to Las Vegas you will find that everyone has 3G and Sprint has 4G. YMMV.

[PNWGirl]

I am aware of what was being discussed.
Sheila

[Bill Adams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PNWGirl I am aware of what was being discussed. Sheila

Voice and data are not the same so when you say his phone dropped the connection that does not apply to data. Also, as I mentioned, your particular location may allow for better service with one provider over the other but if you are traveling you will get the best coverage with the providers in the order that I have them listed.
I don't sell any of these services so I have no vested interest of any kind in making these claims. These claims are based upon our actual experience combined with the 3G coverage maps supplied by the service providers themselves.

[PNWGirl]

I, clearly said, that I am fully aware of what was being discussed. Reiterating, yet again, your opinion will not change mine. If anything it's just the opposite.

Your "opinion" is that Verizon is best.
My "opinion" is that it is not.

Nice thing about a free speach country, that we live in. We can each have our own opinion on any given subject

Sheila

[Bill Adams]

Free speech is indeed the best! I never said that your opinion was wrong, only that I have found different results in my travels. I suspect that where you are located you are absolutely correct.