I don't get the logic of Verizon's unlimited tethering plan

[Satires]

The end of net neutrality is not a theory. Verizon has been quite clear with their FCC dealings on this, and it occupied the press for months.

This is not about privacy.

This is about they want to charge you for which sites you visit and to not even let you visit competitors sites.

It was that part of news you didn't pay attention to last year.

Wake up. Not a conspiracy theory - it's a new model on how to charge and control your internet access.

And Comcast already tried it, got caught, and whacked for it.

All of the big providers want the net carved up so that instead of being free after your access charges, it will operate as a private toll system.

And while many would like to argue with me about that, I would suggest you argue with your lawmakers and right now. They are putting together the votes to make this nightmare a reality.

Oh, and guess what Verizon is using as an excuse to charge you for which sites you visit?

Bandwidth hogging, their very words.

The two things are entirely and completely unrelated, but their PR has been so effective that people who have read nothing more than Verizon lies on this are now posting that they buy in to this crap.

And so is congress.

Seriously, wake up.

I could care less, I just won't use the internet anymore! lol

I'm more awake than you know

I did call my senators, I think it's redundant, but maybe my vote will count, so yes, I do help out.

 

[OfTheDamned]

^ I think unlimited data plans will soon be non-existent.... something that kinda bums me out. No proof or anything, just a feeling.

As long as I keep getting grandfathered in its all good

There are rumors (as in not founded or spoken as a solid fact) that Verizon will do away with unlimited and even the option of grandfathering unlimited plans somewhere in the not too distant future. The rumor (did I mention that this is a rumor) is that at some point in time it will cease to exist in any new contract and signing a new contract (upgrading a phone for example) will end the grandfathered unlimited plan and place said person into one of the lovely teared data plans (I am aware that the word is normally "tiered", but I figure most of us will be crying at our loss by this point so I named it properly). As I may have mentioned this is a rumor and has no basis in fact just yet. I'd also like to bring up the rumor that Verizon is about to name their new CEO as Big Foot, but I have too much faith in that actually happening to call it a rumor just yet.

 

[Satires]

There are rumors (as in not founded or spoken as a solid fact) that Verizon will do away with unlimited and even the option of grandfathering unlimited plans somewhere in the not too distant future. The rumor (did I mention that this is a rumor) is that at some point in time it will cease to exist in any new contract and signing a new contract (upgrading a phone for example) will end the grandfathered unlimited plan and place said person into one of the lovely teared data plans (I am aware that the word is normally "tiered", but I figure most of us will be crying at our loss by this point so I named it properly). As I may have mentioned this is a rumor and has no basis in fact just yet. I'd also like to bring up the rumor that Verizon is about to name their new CEO as Big Foot, but I have too much faith in that actually happening to call it a rumor just yet.

Like I was saying above, I just won't use the internet anymore. I refuse to let this world get to me and getting worried over people places and things that are out of my control. I do my part as maybe I can make a difference, but it wouldn't surprise me if things happen against our voices to begin with. It's just logic in my opinion.

Without an all out revolution and a lot of blood shed, the machine will infact move forward, whether we like it or not.

I'm not advocating war, just expressing my thoughts.

 

[kool kat2]

There are rumors (as in not founded or spoken as a solid fact) that Verizon will do away with unlimited and even the option of grandfathering unlimited plans somewhere in the not too distant future. The rumor (did I mention that this is a rumor) is that at some point in time it will cease to exist in any new contract and signing a new contract (upgrading a phone for example) will end the grandfathered unlimited plan and place said person into one of the lovely teared data plans (I am aware that the word is normally "tiered", but I figure most of us will be crying at our loss by this point so I named it properly). As I may have mentioned this is a rumor and has no basis in fact just yet. I'd also like to bring up the rumor that Verizon is about to name their new CEO as Big Foot, but I have too much faith in that actually happening to call it a rumor just yet.

What a buzzkill

O man how that would suck, it would pretty much defeat the purpose of a smartphone for me (and others im assuming). I have also heard of there being grandfathered plans from years and years ago (i forgot exactly where i saw or read that) so that gives me a little faith....????.... We'll just have to wait and see what Big Foot decides to do in the future i guess

 

[OfTheDamned]

Like I was saying above, I just won't use the internet anymore. I refuse to let this world get to me and getting worried over people places and things that are out of my control. I do my part as maybe I can make a difference, but it wouldn't surprise me if things happen against our voices to begin with. It's just logic in my opinion.

Without an all out revolution and a lot of blood shed, the machine will infact move forward, whether we like it or not.

I'm not advocating war, just expressing my thoughts.

Well, we do live in a capitalist society so one of the positives is that everyone has a vote with their wallet. If you don't like the way someone does things then you can stop doing business with them. It may or may not make a difference, but it is always an option.

As far as just deciding to stop using the internet I'm afraid that most of us don't have that luxury.

What a buzzkill

O man how that would suck, it would pretty much defeat the purpose of a smartphone for me (and others im assuming). I have also heard of there being grandfathered plans from years and years ago (i forgot exactly where i saw or read that) so that gives me a little faith....????.... We'll just have to wait and see what Big Foot decides to do in the future i guess

Did I forget to mention that that was a rumor?

It wouldn't surprise me if they did it and it wouldn't surprise me if they didn't. I guess I'm saying that almost nothing they do surprises me anymore. Like you though, I hope Big Foot can be reasoned with once he takes over.

 

[Satires]

As far as just deciding to stop using the internet I'm afraid that most of us don't have that luxury.

Don't ever believe that! You are an individual and can choose any course in life that YOU choose!

Don't be a prisoner like the masses and BELIEVE you're stuck with anything...

I'm quitting my job, losing a lot, all to improve my moral, even if I lose my beloved smartphone. My job sucks, I will find a new one EVEN if it's for less pay!

See what I mean? I don't any longer want money and material possessions making my decisions for me!

It's a personal spiritual freedom I speak off (Warm smiles).

Life is what we make it friend

 

[Unforgiven]

I'd love to see Verizon come up with the types of plans that the non-contract companies have. $50 or $60 for unlimited everything is the way to go. Odd thing is I think you can still get an unlimited data plan with Verizon's Pay as you go service.

I'm interested to see what they are going to do in the next year when they plan to have a full 4G network and switch to "VOIP" calling 100%. Do you think we will still see calling + sms + data plans from Big Red or do you think that they will switch over to a full data plan system so that you are paying for a per GB rate? Do you think they will kill off the unlimited plans then?

If Verizon doesn't do it, someone will. You already have the MetroPCS and others like it with flat rate all everything plans, with new players popping up here and there.

I see mobile evolving much like ISPs did in the early 90's. Then you had all kinds of tiers (and tears ) beginning at something like 20MB / month for $30 and then some charge per MB after that. Funny how that $30 pricepoint seems to stick around. ISPs were scrambling to add bandwidth and then the Dot Com bubble burst. There was so much dark fiber lying around the country that we have bandwidth to spare, so the only commercially viable way to sell internet was flat rate unlimited (although I'll concede that there are different size pipes you can buy, e.g. 2mbps, 4mbps). Now hopefully there isn't another bubble pop (unless it is VZWs) but the market will force wireless to where wired is now.

Now as to EarlyMon's comment about net neutrality, that is about ISP's trying to put the unlimited internet access horse back in the barn by claiming copyright infringement or torrents. Charging different rates based on what kind of data you use. They are simply chasing new revenue streams by redefining what they sell and that is BS. And claiming that it is under the guise of stopping piracy is infuriating.

We all recognize that piracy happens, and that is one of the reasons I like AF is the zero tolerance policy towards it. I like being able to find genuine questions without having to wade through 20 threads about "Dude [awesome new game] just came out, where and I get an apk."

Throttling heavy users because they may be pirating is not the answer. I am not smart enough to discuss what the answers are but I know they do not exist in eliminating net neutrality. Probably some combination of the following with a healthy consideration of privacy:

• Media companies altering business models to fit the internet world
• effective policing of piracy sites (nothing like SOPA / PIPA)
• some form of punishment for consumers of pirated material (not the person that unwittingly watches a tv episode, I'm talking the big time piraters

I don't mean for this to be all inclusive, but it is a start.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Don't ever believe that! You are an individual and can choose any course in life that YOU choose!

Don't be a prisoner like the masses and BELIEVE you're stuck with anything...

I'm quitting my job, losing a lot, all to improve my moral, even if I lose my beloved smartphone. My job sucks, I will find a new one EVEN if it's for less pay!

See what I mean? I don't any longer want money and material possessions making my decisions for me!

It's a personal spiritual freedom I speak off (Warm smiles).

Life is what we make it friend

I appreciate the sentiment, but I have already done much of that. The problem that I have now is that while I can go someplace to work it is far easier for me to work online now. This not only gives me a chance to work when I choose, but also provides the option to earn much more than I would in a normal environment.

 

[Unforgiven]

And I missed entirely where we differ on our approach to pirates. Sorry if I came across as too heavy but I just don't tolerate it.

I was just rereading the thread and realized I hadn't responded to this point you raised and I wanted to clear the air . I never thought you and I had a difference of opinion on piracy. Piracy bad, supporting developers and content creators is good.

I also wanted to more articulately say how your post influenced my thinking. When I was speaking of data hogs I was generalizing and lumping legitimate users in with pirates, which was wrong on my part. You correctly pointed out that the growth of cloud services is creating a larger group of legitimate high bandwidth users, and I hadn't considered that before.

Now for screenshots where someone is bragging about using 100GB of data just to say they did, maybe I just see that as immature. Now, in the context of a conversation on usage, or unlimited plans it is perfectly logical. If that bandwidth was consumed doing what you would do normally, that's OK. Accumulating that bandwidth for some kind of bragging rights to me makes one a data hog.

AS far as my support for data plans, for some people their phone is their internet access, while for others it is one way they connect to the internet. It is impractical for me to use my phone as my only source of internet as others in my house would have no internet when I am not home. So I pay $30 on my phone and $30 for broadband at home (both unlimited). I don't want carriers to force a $60 unlimited wireless plan on customers that don't need it, especially customers that may need to shell out and additional $30 for a home broadband internet connection.

I think that is where we aren't exactly on the same page. I'm OK with having a $30 plan for 10-15 GB as this amount would satisfy probably most users that are using wireless as one of their connections (Verizon probably knows the GB line where say 80% of there users would fall under, but I doubt they would ever reveal it) to the internet and a $60 plan for unlimited for those that need unlimited.

And no, you did not come down hard on me. Being passionate about something and speaking passionately about it are great things in my book. I enjoy discussing things with you. I've learned a lot from you throughout the forums and enjoy reading your posts.

 

[Adauth]

If Verizon takes my grandfathered unlimited data away after being a Verizon customer for damn near ten years, I will burn every Verizon store to the ground. j/k..maybe....

 

[kool kat2]

If Verizon takes my grandfathered unlimited data away after being a Verizon customer for damn near ten years, I will burn every Verizon store to the ground. j/k..maybe....

Talk about BLAZING 4g speeds

 

[Adauth]

Talk about BLAZING 4g speeds

Exactly!

 

[ohio818]

For those of you that don't know, there's less than seldom advertised unlimited tethering plan available for people that are grandfathered in on an unlimited data plan and who upgrade to a 4G phone. It's an extra $30 a month, which I have no issue paying, since that is the very minimum I would pay home cable internet. For everyone else there's way more expensive plans, unless you use very little data. $20 for 2 gigs plan. $50 for a 5 gig mobile hotspot. Etc.

On my phone there's really only so much data I can easily use in a month. With lots of internet browsing and video watching, I can do 5-6 gigs a month. Where as with my desktop I can do that kind of traffic in a few days (one day if I'm doing a lot). I agree with and understand Verizon's belief in tiered data. I'm not saying everyone should give up their unlimited plans (as they're very great), but it seems logical to make people pay for the burden they put on the network. Just like most of us are metered for our electrical use, it never seemed fair to me that my mom paid the same amount for her 200 megs a month of data as I did for 5 or even 50. So yea, tiered data, not a bad idea, though it could stand to be cheaper for more data.

Anyway, my point is, given Verizon's logic here and their desire to charge people a bit too heavily for their data usage, why would they create and still have this unlimited tethering plan? I'm assuming that if they had their way, all of us would be moved to tiered plans; less data usage from us and more money for them. To me, this tethering plan is their way of saying "those of you who still have the better data plan, here's something infinitely better and more network crippling than what anyone else can get." If they want to cut down on rampant data usage on their network, why give this cheap way for me to use way more data (pc vs phone) than I could before? It seems very counter intuitive to me.

I mean, this is a company that sells 4G hotspots/modems that cost $80 a month for 10 gigs. With this you get unlimited for 60. Confusion.

Does this seem strange to anyone else? And no comments about "I just use pdanet." This isn't a discussion about free tethering.

To answer your question, the reason Verizon does this unlimited tethering plan for grandfathered unlimited smartphone data customers is that they do not yet have a mechanism for distinguishing between smartphone data and tethered data on the smartphones they sell that have LTE. For the same reason, if you have a non-unlimited plan, they sell you limited tethering data and simply add it to your total pool of usable gigabytes of data (smartphone and tethering) and enable tethering ability.