Verizon Wireless Intros Share Everything Plans | Hacker News Reader

Verizon Wireless Intros Share Everything Plans

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22 points3lit3H4ck3r30 comments

Wow, these are super-expensive. $40/month per additional phone? If anything, that would make me LESS likely to want to add extra lines to our account.

Also, why is there a monthly charge for data-only devices? Doesn't make any sense to me when you also have to pay for a shared pool of data.

All the prepaid carriers that are now supporting iPhones seem like a much better deal. I think one had unlimited data + unlimited text + 300 minutes for $35/month. Another had the same but 500 minutes for $50/month.

My family has been on AT&T for over a decade but if their pricing for shared data is anywhere comparable, I can seriously see moving all of our lines to prepaid carriers.

Edit: Also, I'm sure they've run the numbers and there's a reason they're charging for tablets and laptops, but I have to think there's a big opportunity missed there. I have no reason to buy a 3G-enabled iPad or laptop right now, since I'd have to pay a monthly toll for the privilege. But if they had made it free to add laptops/tablets to your plan, I almost certainly would buy, for example, a 3G iPad. And then, I'm sure, my data usage would increase enough to merit jumping to a higher pricing tier. (Probably even jump multiple tiers if my family also buys 3G-enabled devices.)

It's like the tethering charge. You pay for data and then you pay again to access the data you pay for. Because they can.

Which did make sense when data plans were still unlimited. Of course that stopped when they moved to metered data and now shared data.

...because Apple helps them hide the "Personal Hotspot" preference option via a carrier settings file.

Blame Apple for caving.

Tethering charges apply to all phones, not just the iPhone.

Carrier-bundled crapware applies to all phones too... except iPhone.

It would be $40 to add a phone now ($10 for the line, and $30 for base data plan), but you'd get 2GB of data with that $40. So realistically it is more like $50 to add another smart phone under the Share Everything plans. But if you have to bump up your minutes when you add the line, then it's probably $50 in all to add the smart phone on the current plans. There is also the possibility of more cost with a texting plan under the current plans as well. So $40 is in line with what it costs now I think. It's just distributed differently.

Why is there a $10 difference between "Jetpack/Netbooks/Notebooks/USBs" and tablets? You're paying for the data separately; there shouldn't be another fee, let alone a $10 difference between device types.

And why is a smartphone $10 more than a "basic" phone when the difference, again, is data, which you're paying for separately and at an outrageous rate at that? This is baffling and completely unreasonable.

On a positive note, even they couldn't live with the absurdity of charging a tethering fee for metered data. But they're still eager to tell you that a feature of your phone (not their service) is "included at no additional cost".

I can explain why a smartphone costs more to add-on than a basic phone. If you buy an iPhone, you're paying $200 for a $650 phone. If you buy a random dumbphone, you're likely paying $0-50 for a $100-200 phone. As such, the carrier has a much smaller subsidy to recoup. If Americans bought phones without a subsidy, then data would be data. However, that isn't the case.

In the end, it probably comes out around the same. Over two years, you pay an extra $240 ($10/mo) while getting a $250-$350 additional subsidy up-front.

In terms of the price difference between laptops and tablets, I can't see a reason for that. At least the iPad is sold unsubsidized and so I can't see why they would want to charge more for it. Maybe they're assuming the laptop users will (due to the nature of having a full computing interface) use more data and that they'll make up the low add-on fee with additional usage. That logic seems a bit weak to me, but it might be what they're thinking.

Of course you're right about basic/smartphone difference. I'm not sure how I overlooked that. It'd be nice to see a lower base rate but they've convinced the average consumer to be happy to get a "free" phone every two years.

It's actually $10/mo more for non-tablets, which results in the absurd situation where you're paying $10/mo more for the right to use a device where you'll likely need to pay more, again, for data. Of course, the average consumer won't notice this absurdity, which I believe is the basis for all of their pricing logic.

So for the same price I pay now (about $130 after taxes and fees), I go from unlimited data down to a shared 1GB for everyone on my plan? How is this Verizon finding a common ground?

This is interesting... I'm not as negative as the rest of the group seems to be, but maybe that's because I think cell phone service is a rip off already. This would actually save me money if I switched now, but I would lose the unlimited data plan. Maybe I care, maybe I don't. I have very rarely gone over 2GB, and my wife never has so we could likely share 4GB. But we have 2 kids getting to the age where my wife thinks they need cell phones (and they think they need iphones). Assuming they get dumb phones now, that's an extra $20 a month, plus we bump up to the unlimited family text plan for another $10. And that is a reasonable amount. Especially since we shouldn't have to bump up our minutes because they would mostly be calling us and those minutes don't count. It would cost twice that to add two dumb phones in the share everything plan. But the overall price difference is only $10 more. And as they start to use more minutes, and our third child get's old enough to have a phone, I could ultimately see it being a real savings. Depending on data usage I suppose.

Paying an additional $10 for a tablet or laptop doesn't make sense. Except it is a proprietary network, and they can charge you to access it. Similar to how extra cable/satalite boxes cost money (I realize it is a rental cost usually, not something you own, but I feel the idea is similar). Right now to add a tablet, you are paying an additional $130 premium (in the case of the ipad) + $30/month for a 3G/4G tablet. That doesn't make sense to me either. With the share everything plan, it is $0 extra for my phone to be a wireless hotspot, and now all of our wi-fi iPads, iPods, Kindles and portable gaming devices have access wherever we are. Right now, that would also be an additional data plan.

I don't think these are the only plans they will have, (the old plans aren't going away) and obviously how much sense it makes depends on the individual situation. But I like it as an option.

This would actually make my current bill go up, without adding any additional services (aside from the free smartphone hotspot, which wouldn't get much use), and with less total data than we currently have.

The problem is that we don't use very many minutes or text messages. Those just aren't valuable services for everyone (especially the minutes).

I had high hopes for this when I first heard the rumors. Once again, Verizon proves that they don't "get it".

They get it. They get that no one's using their voice and SMS near as much as they used to, and need a convenient way to sell more of it (that won't even be used, likely).

Big buckets of data my ass. My 2gb cap is pathetic, and I've only got 3g.

I highly recommend that you measure your actual data usage.

I'm on an unlimited plan and these data numbers look ridiculously low...at first.

Using 3G watchdog, my average usage over 5 months is about 505 MB per month.

With that said, this pricing seems a bit steep.

I pay $113 per month with one smart phone (Droid Bionic 4g) with unlimited data and one dumb phone for my wife. That includes the ridiculous fees + taxes.

With the new plan, I'd pay more $40 + $30 + $50 = $120 and still not get a "free" hotspot b/c the device would have to be on the plan ($20 + $10 for my laptop and kindle fire). This is of course before fees and taxes.

So Verizon had cooked up a price increase under the guise of "friendlier" pricing.

I've been contemplating going back to a dumb phone for some time. The problem is, the dumb phone models are all really crappy now. I've been looking for a new one for my wife, but you can't find anything that isn't pure crap. If one were paranoid, one might think the phone companies are doing this on purpose...

I read the plan differently. You could tether your laptop through your smartphone's hotspot feature without paying for the laptop.

You only need to add the device if it is directly connecting to the cell network, like through a laptop's 3G card.

I'd actually really like this if it wasn't for the BS extra charge to add a tablet or notebook. As I'm only using data, there is no reason for there to be an extra charge. I'd switch if it wasn't for that.

This will end up saving me about $110/month. I use a lot of minutes (2000+ minutes for me alone last month), currently have 4 lines of all family members and total data usage for everything is usually about 2GB since everyone is always near wifi.

Previous plans: $50 x 4 for unlimited voice + $30 x 4 for unlimited data + $30 for unlimited SMS = $350 before taxes and BS fees.

Share everything plan: $40 x 4 for unlimited voice & text + $80 for 6GB data (just in case) = $240/month before taxes and BS fees.

As a legacy customer who's been with Verizon for over 10 years, their push to get me off the unlimited data plan has caused me to strongly reconsider jumping ship (after contract) to a pre-paid provider like T-mobile or Virgin. They're just playing a shell game, raising rates and reducing features while distracting with language. Seriously, knock it off.

We bought our family plan from Verizon when we heard rumors that the unlimited data tier was going away and it's worked well for us (there are currently 4 users in our household). We'd be paying quite a bit more with the new plan simply to support our data usage.

To offer a contrasting view, my wife and I switched to Verizon when the 4S debuted last fall so we didn't have a grandfathered plan.

For us, we can get the shared 4GB data plan for the same cost ($150) as we pay now for 2GB/each, except we gain unlimited voice and messages, and we gain mobile hotspots on both devices. Further, since I sit around wifi all day and my wife does not, she can now use "my" 3G data that I never really used before, effectively upgrading her data allowance.

Personally, I think it's a win. Maybe not for everyone in all situations, but we'll be converting our plan on the 28th for sure.

I don't think it's a contrasting view at all ... perhaps we'll see those with the grand-fathered unlimited data plans stay with their current plans and those with metered plans will upgrade.

Either way I think this is a good move by Verizon. I like the idea that my ancient (Bell mind-set) wireless company is trying to compete with the more innovative new-comers.

This looks absolutely terrible, and my contract is coming up in July. Does anyone have a better alternative that is not AT&T?

I've heard good things about Straight Talk. $45/month, no contract, unlimited text, talk, and web.

The network is AT&T and T-Mobile GSM and works with any unlocked phone.

EDIT: Here's an interesting listing of no-contract providers: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1455014

EDIT2: The main disadvantage (for me) of a pre-paid plan is that there is no roaming. Be sure to check the pre-paid coverage map.

T-mobile is good if you can find a plan that suits you. I've been with them for about 6 years now, no complaints.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

Just keep in mind, they have several data plans, but the only one that includes tethering and mobile wifi is their 'Unlimited' one (5GB at 4G speed, anything over that at 2G speed).

Some of their bundle plans include Unlimited, but most don't and if you want tethering/hotspot with those you have to pay $14.99 extra (unless you want to use 3rd party tethering/wifi software that masks the data source, see the Android subreddits for that).

T-Mobile has decent off-contract plans, and in my area they've got good coverage. I think that's the direction I'm going when my Verizon contract is up (2 smartphones + 1 feature phone for the kid).

Check out Red Pocket, they are an AT&T MVNO:

http://goredpocket.com/plans/

No contract but also no visual voicemail (iPhone).

ting.com, a Sprint MVNO

$6 per device per mo, plus automatically adjusted tiered payment for voice, text, and data, shared between devices.

Devices are not subsidized, and must be purchased up front, but it ends up saving money in the long run.

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