Verizon Unlimited Data Plan for Jetpacks

[GlennWest]

Phil, does it get as good a signal as your phone? If so, I don't see how it could get any better. But no contract and a free mifi. What store? I need to go there

Edited November 21, 2018 by GlennWest

[jbh]

  Thanks very much guys. I'm on the fringe of a fringe area (Wahoo Swamp) and the Pepwave with a BoatANT was just barely making it; I'm thinking I'll probably have to connect my antenae to the much-anticipated jetpack to make it talk. Unfortunately FedEx passed me by today.

  I'll report back.

[Technomadia]

3 hours ago, Big5er said:

Cherie or Chris, when I signed up they gave me a free hotspot...an Ellipsis basic, no frills, jetpack. Would it be worth the money to buy an 8800L? I retire soon and will start traveling fulltime.  While traveling  I can't guarantee the great reception I'm getting now on the freebie jetpack. I really don't want to do the external antenna (7730) thing if I can avoid it but I will if that's the best way to pull in a better signal.

We just picked up the Ellipsis for head to head comparisons - but on paper, the specs are like comparing a basic low car to a high end luxury vehicle.   Will a basic car get you there? Sure.  Is a luxury vehicle worth the extra expense for you? Only you can answer that. 

For anyone who relies on mobile internet, I'd say it's absolutely worth it. 

[docj]

There's been some discussion in this and other threads as to whether the Verizon unlimited prepaid plan is actually limited to 720p streaming resolution as the small print in the online terms and conditions state (actually, as shown in the attached screenshot the t's & c's actually state "up to 780p" whatever that is!)

Last night we streamed a show on Acorn that was recorded in 2017 which appears to have been shot in an HDTV format.  The Verizon stream was good and my WiFiRanger showed consistent peaks in excess of 10Mbps during the streaming. The data usage was almost exactly the 1.2GB/hr that would be calculated for 720p video.   (See this article for more detail on that topic: Bit rate vs resolution )

This doesn't by any means prove that my streaming was limited to 720p but it is strong supporting evidence.  I'm not complaining; the video had a very acceptable quality IMHO.

FWIW it's also worth noting that the online Verizon account for this prepaid no long says "No Data Usage".  It now states "you have unlimited data remaining!"

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by docj

[Big5er]

19 hours ago, Technomadia said:

We just picked up the Ellipsis for head to head comparisons - but on paper, the specs are like comparing a basic low car to a high end luxury vehicle.   Will a basic car get you there? Sure.  Is a luxury vehicle worth the extra expense for you? Only you can answer that. 

For anyone who relies on mobile internet, I'd say it's absolutely worth it. 

I'll be interested in this comparison. You mentioned the internal antenna on the 8800L so I wonder if it will make a difference. If so, I'll buy one. 

[docj]

FWIW, after binging on some shows last night we have now passed the 15GB threshold by quite a bit, according to our WiFiRanger, and this morning Fast.com reports we have a download speed of 9.0Mbps.  So I guess this plan really isn't throttled at 15GB like most other Verizon plans.  

[bobged]

On 11/17/2018 at 4:12 PM, Technomadia said:

There actually is a MAJOR difference between the pre-November unlimited prepaid plan and the new prepaid plan for smartphones.  On the old plan you got unlimited hotspot at 600 kbps. On the new plan, you get none.   

Unless I'm missing something, when I go to the new https://www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid/ page and look at the smartphone plans it shows they still get hotspot/tethering speeds up to 600 kbps.

[docj]

1 hour ago, bobged said:

when I go to the new https://www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid/ page and look at the smartphone plans it shows they still get hotspot/tethering speeds up to 600 kbps.

And your screenshot clearly shows the statement "Excludes the $70 Unlimited Plan"  which is what most people here have been talking about.

[bobged]

56 minutes ago, docj said:

And your screenshot clearly shows the statement "Excludes the $70 Unlimited Plan"  which is what most people here have been talking about.

I understand what most people are talking, however what I was responding to, and quoted, was Technomadia's post specifically addressing the smartphone data plan.

[docj]

2 minutes ago, bobged said:

I understand what most people are talking, however what I was responding to, and quoted, was Technomadia's post specifically addressing the smartphone data plan.

Sorry, didn't realize that you were discussing the smartphone plans.  I've never seriously considered them because of the 600kbps hotspot limitation.

Edited November 22, 2018 by docj

[jbh]

  A Verizon CSR told me yesterday that smartphones and a jetpack can't be on the same prepaid plan/account, so I'll have two accounts. No matter as long as it's working.

  The latest as of yesterday is that the jetpack didn't show up so I called; the gist of it is that while they'd managed to charge me for the data account apparently each of the three CSRs involved thought the other had completed the transaction. The next CSR learned that the postpaid account had been terminated, there was a free-floating payment in my name and there was no new prepaid data account. He had to go confirm with his supervisor and perhaps fixed things up. At least he gave me various confirmation numbers etc and the jetpack is supposed to show up Monday or Tuesday. He was thrilled to learn of the new unlimited account he could sell. ;-)

  BTW, I'm on CG wifi fed by a Viasat account. While it would be ok for an individual, I can tell when my neighbors are at home or away and on weekends it's pretty much unusable.

[Second Chance]

15 minutes ago, jbh said:

  A Verizon CSR told me yesterday that smartphones and a jetpack can't be on the same prepaid plan/account, so I'll have two accounts.

That's odd... our two phones and jetpack are all on the same prepaid account...

Rob

[Sehc]

What? A verizon CSR did not know their job? I have experienced that as the norm.

[Al F]

I have 3 smart phones and a jetpack on my prepaid account.  I just switched from postpaid to prepaid on 11/14/18 to get the true unlimited on the jetpack.

[jbh]

  The problem could be that they couldn't activate my three-year-old Pepwave on the account, and I have to get a new device. It's not a Verizon jetpack.

[Big5er]

18 hours ago, Al F said:

I have 3 smart phones and a jetpack on my prepaid account.  I just switched from postpaid to prepaid on 11/14/18 to get the true unlimited on the jetpack.

After discussing prices and discounts, the cheapest way (for me) was to leave the phone and the tablet on the post paid account and add a second, pre paid account, just for the hot spot.

[hdrider]

We made the switch yesterday. Chatted on line first but that person finally asked me to call the sales team. Once I did the fellow on the other end knew exactly what I was asking about and with very little effort was able to get our account switched to the Prepaid and even gave us a $20 discount on our 1st bill because he thought he had us on hold to long. I personally didn't think we were on hold any longer that we normally expect to be during something like this but hey, I'm good with saving $20.

 We just have our Jetpack and 1 smartphone. He did make mention that 5G would be available soon and that our devices would automatically taking advantage of the 5G when it becomes available in our area, which will be a moving target.

[docj]

1 hour ago, hdrider said:

He did make mention that 5G would be available soon and that our devices would automatically taking advantage of the 5G when it becomes available in our area, which will be a moving target.

Verizon's initial 5G offering is for fixed home installations.  Yes, the 5G router will create a local wifi network in your home that your phone and Jetpack can connect to, but to call that "automatically taking advantage of" is a bit of a stretch IMO. As noted in this article Verizon's fixed 5G is using a 28GHz signal that no existing devices can receive.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/5g/verizon-gives-some-hints-about-how-5g-home-selling-and-performing

Edited November 24, 2018 by docj

[chirakawa]

58 minutes ago, hdrider said:

 We just have our Jetpack and 1 smartphone. He did make mention that 5G would be available soon and that our devices would automatically taking advantage of the 5G when it becomes available in our area, which will be a moving target.

Really?  What Jetpack and smartphone do you have which is 5G capable?

[edatlanta]

I have 1 smartphone and 2 7730L jetpacks.  My smartphone has a unlimited data, but 15gb limit as a hotspot.  My 2 jetpacks have the 15gb limit also, but I pay $20.00 each/month for them. 

I am interested in the prepaid jetpack program, but for two concerns:

1.  Both of my Jetpacks have static IP's which I need and wonder if prepaid will allow this and if the static IP's will migrate to the new plan.  I have already paid for the static IP's on these two devices and don't want to have to do it again.  If you walk into a Verizon store and even utter the words "static IP's" they look at you like you have 2 heads.

 

2.  The cost.  I don't see from the info at Verizon.com anyway other than each prepaid plan will cost me an additional $45.00/month - $65.00-$20.00.  Would it be worth it to me to have a jetpack with unlimited data when I have unlimited data on my smartphone that I connect to my TV (Samsung Smart View) and can and do stream a lot?

Edited November 24, 2018 by edatlanta

[docj]

26 minutes ago, edatlanta said:

The cost.  I don't see from the info at Verizon.com anyway other than each prepaid plan will cost me an additional $45.00/month - $65.00-$20.00.  Would it be worth it to me to have a jetpack with unlimited data when I have unlimited data on my smartphone that I connect to my TV (Samsung Smart View) and can and do stream a lot?

If you move one Jetpack to the new plan and cancel the other, you would decrease your costs by $40 which would offset much of the $65 cost of the new plan ($5 discount for automatic payment).  

As for using the smartphone to connect to the TV, I don't know how you do it, but my experience with Miracasting (Samsung Smart View) was never all that satisfactory with my particular phone (S7) and our Samsung TV.  Neither of our phones has an HDMI output port so that approach doesn't work for us; maybe you have a port which would be a very different situation.

So far, our use of the new plan continues to provide excellent results.  We've used ~28GB in two weeks on it.  I'm pretty convinced that the streaming is limited to 720p so the data usage is less than I might have anticipated.  

Joel

[edatlanta]

5 hours ago, docj said:

If you move one Jetpack to the new plan and cancel the other, you would decrease your costs by $40 which would offset much of the $65 cost of the new plan ($5 discount for automatic payment).  

As for using the smartphone to connect to the TV, I don't know how you do it, but my experience with Miracasting (Samsung Smart View) was never all that satisfactory with my particular phone (S7) and our Samsung TV.  Neither of our phones has an HDMI output port so that approach doesn't work for us; maybe you have a port which would be a very different situation.

So far, our use of the new plan continues to provide excellent results.  We've used ~28GB in two weeks on it.  I'm pretty convinced that the streaming is limited to 720p so the data usage is less than I might have anticipated.  

Joel

My phone is a Note 8 and the Smart View works great and is wireless to the new TV.  I replaced my 8 year old non-smart TV a couple of months ago and used a bit over 32gb on the smart phone last month and I didn't notice any issues either, but I am in a rural area.

I still don't know about the static IP which I absolutely have to have for one particular hardware/software package.  If the static IP can go along with the new prepaid plan I may try one of the jetpacks and see how it all goes.  Fortunately both jetpacks are off contract.

[hdrider]

12 hours ago, chirakawa said:

Really?  What Jetpack and smartphone do you have which is 5G capable?

Hmm, well maybe I don't. Just going with what the dude at Verizon said.

[oldbutspry]

On 11/8/2018 at 9:07 AM, Second Chance said:

OK... after about two hours on the phone with Verizon last evening (and discussions with my wife in between phone conversations, etc.), here's what we did:

Not being on a "grandfathered" unlimited plan (we were on a New Verizon 24GB plan), my wife REALLY wanted me to move the MiFi (6620L) over to the prepaid unlimited plan. It took two calls to get it done, but the second prepaid support person I got hold of had just been trained on the new plans and it took him less than 5 minutes to do it - $65/month unlimited/unthrottled for the MiFi. During the conversation with him, I was talking about lowering the data on our post-paid plan for the phones. The tech asked why we didn't just move the phones to a prepaid plan quoted a number that was significantly lower than it was going to be on the post-paid plan and with three times the data for each phone. It seemed like a no-brainer. We now have everything on a prepaid plan for about $90 less than or total post-paid plan was and with unlimited data on the MiFi.

During the process I expressed to my wife the concerns I share with some of you above - namely, what if Verizon decides to change the prepaid plan since there is no contract? She instructed me to say this on the forum: "I would not have agreed to sell the house and hit the road full-time if I had dwelled on what-ifs and worried about what might have happened. Just switch the plan and let me enjoy the unlimited data!" Now you know who's really in charge in our family...

Rob

PS - the knowledgeable person who finally got this done quickly and flawlessly gave me his business cell number: If anyone is interested, PM me.

I'm confused on what you are getting and how much it costs.  Are you getting two cell phones and unlimited MiFi for about $94 (184 - 90) per month?

[Second Chance]

10 hours ago, oldbutspry said:

I'm confused on what you are getting and how much it costs.  Are you getting two cell phones and unlimited MiFi for about $94 (184 - 90) per month?

I just logged on to my on-line account and I was off by $11, so I stand corrected - sorry about that. It's $105 for the two smartphones (3GB/month each) and the MiFi (unliminted data). All three lines are on the same prepaid plan with auto-pay, multi-line, and military discounts. 

Rob