[Update] Verizon's New Family Data Plans Begin: It's Called the Share Everything Plan

[Beka27]

And if I can elaborate on/vent about what monkey man was saying, I think it's a great idea to offer people the option to share data. I really do. If people could share their $30 2gb plan, AWESOME. My issue is that the $30 2gb plan somehow magically became $60. People wanted to share a $30 plan, not a $50+ plan.

(I really need to put this baseball bat down. I'm pretty sure this old horse is dead.)

 

[wcravey]

I will keep my unlimited... Do not have home WIFI... Something big will have to change to make me move off of the unlimited.
:icon_eek:

 

[ambrown]

So doing the math on my situation it comes down to my phone and my wife's phone on a plan together. Right now for both our lines it's about $130-ish. But thats with a discount through my wife's employer. Two phones on Verizon's new plan would put us at about $117(thats with the discount, otherwise it would be about $150) but thats sharing 4 GB between the two of us and it might get a little tight as we both use about 2 GB a piece per month (I'm at 2.958 GB right now but thats because I haven't been using Wifi as much since I have unlimited data).

Now I checked sprint and their basic plan is about $129 for a family plan but then you add on $10 per 4G phone on the line. So that comes out to about $150 on Sprint for two smartphones with the basic plan.

Now without the discount we'd end up paying the same either way, but with the discount its obviously cheaper to stick with Verizon for us. But we'll have to give up our unlimited plans and be really careful about switching over to Wifi when at home. Or we could pay more and have unlimited data and deal with it. Or we could bump up the data to 6 GB for $80 and end up pretty close to our current monthly bill at ~ $125. So I guess it just barely works out for me. I thought originally that I'd be paying quite a bit more than I am now.

Still though, I'm feeling uneasy about the extra $30 fee I'll have to pay at upgrade time :S sometimes it feels like I'm just a money bag to Verizon and they want to take me for all I'm worth.

 

[Trapper31]

So doing the math on my situation it comes down to my phone and my wife's phone on a plan together. Right now for both our lines it's about $130-ish. But thats with a discount through my wife's employer. Two phones on Verizon's new plan would put us at about $117(thats with the discount, otherwise it would be about $150) but thats sharing 4 GB between the two of us and it might get a little tight as we both use about 2 GB a piece per month (I'm at 2.958 GB right now but thats because I haven't been using Wifi as much since I have unlimited data).

Now I checked sprint and their basic plan is about $129 for a family plan but then you add on $10 per 4G phone on the line. So that comes out to about $150 on Sprint for two smartphones with the basic plan.

Now without the discount we'd end up paying the same either way, but with the discount its obviously cheaper to stick with Verizon for us. But we'll have to give up our unlimited plans and be really careful about switching over to Wifi when at home. Or we could pay more and have unlimited data and deal with it. Or we could bump up the data to 6 GB for $80 and end up pretty close to our current monthly bill at ~ $125. So I guess it just barely works out for me. I thought originally that I'd be paying quite a bit more than I am now.

Still though, I'm feeling uneasy about the extra $30 fee I'll have to pay at upgrade time :S sometimes it feels like I'm just a money bag to Verizon and they want to take me for all I'm worth.

Keep in mind that with the new plans any corporate discounts are only applied to the shared data plan, it would not apply to your device charge or even your wife's device charge, even though the discount is through her place of employment. This kept my wife and I from being able to just about break even with the new plans, so I extended our unlimited by pre-ordering the S3.

 

[billyk]

so I extended our unlimited by pre-ordering the S3.

I know a bunch of people that did just that - pre-ordering the S3.

I locked in with an HTC Rezound and an LG Spectrum purchase, both for my kids. Anything to keep unlimited and to keep my promotional pricing - both of which will go away with my next subsidized phone purchase. So, I wanted to move that out as far as possble.

-bk

 

[ambrown]

Keep in mind that with the new plans any corporate discounts are only applied to the shared data plan, it would not apply to your device charge or even your wife's device charge, even though the discount is through her place of employment. This kept my wife and I from being able to just about break even with the new plans, so I extended our unlimited by pre-ordering the S3.

If thats the case then it'll be roughly the same price we're paying now for the 4 GB plan. It's either break even or pay slightly more and be close to the limit every month; which sucks I'd be more okay if Verizon wasn't so stingy with their data and gave us more for the price. $30 gives me unlimited now, yet in the future $40 won't even buy me a full GB if data. One article I read put it the best:

"Some people may be okay with getting unlimited access to voice and text messages, but I'm not one of them. I suspect I'm not alone. At a time when people are using data services more, which power alternative text and calling apps, they are looking to lean on voice and text messages less. That's particularly the case as many folks move to the faster 4G LTE network, which consumes data even faster."

The most disappointing thing of all is that when I first read about LTE technology I thought it would lower the price if data since LTE is way more efficient than 3G technology and voice and data are all over the same network instead of being separate like it has been. I don't mind having unlimited texts and calling, but my wife and I combined never exceed even half of our current 750 minute calling plan. But really? Unlimited voice and text access is sustainable but unlimited data is not? (I hope teenagers prove that wrong >) Sometimes I wonder if Verizon just did away with unlimited data because they saw AT&T and thought they could make more money off customers if they followed suit.

Here's the reference to the above mentioned article:
http://m.cnet.com/news/why-verizons-shared-data-plan-is-a-raw-deal/57451500

 

[sonixmon]

Well I almost made the jump to the S3 but decided not to for several reasons.

Though I like the idea of keeping my unlimited for 2 years, I dread the new family plan pricing and may go to T-Mobile $60 unlimited PAYG plan in October when my contract is up. I hope if enough people jump ship, then VZW will realize the cost per GB is way to high on the share plans! I mean if you were even on the tierd plans and had 2GB for $30 then you should get a discount going to 4GB for 2 phones ($50) but because it is shared they charge $50 for one GB or $10 per GB if you buy 10GB.

My mother just broke her phone and insisted she wants a smart phone. So we got her a Samsung Charge on her account. She has two weeks to decide if she is going to keep it. I actually called VZW (611) and had them do some estimating now that the plans are released.

As mentioned before the discount only applies to the Data package! So for my situation to add my wife to my account it would go from $98 currently to $160 or so. Currently she is on T-mobile PAYG and so our total is $148 right now. So $12 more and I would lose unlimited.

I then asked for a cost estimate for also adding my mother to my account. This brought us up to close to $260 (with tax and insurance) we currently pay $238 for all three of our services, so it would be $20 more a month and have to share 8GB.

So unless VZW comes out with a double your data promo for these plans I think I am going to PAYG and see how I like the service in October.

 

[droid2drummer]

If its money your wanting to save and speed isnt the worry go to walmart. They have the family mobile plan. I believe its 35 for unlimited talk and text and a couple of gigs of data but twenty more is unlimited. And its through tmobile. Check it out. I get an employee discount but like my 4g too much. But when tmobile jumos to lte.. walmart family plan will get the jump to the 3.8 g as i call it hspa+ ...pretty sure... anyway it is the cheapest. And best part is use any tmobile phone and no contract but it is billed like one....

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[sonixmon]

If its money your wanting to save and speed isnt the worry go to walmart. They have the family mobile plan. I believe its 35 for unlimited talk and text and a couple of gigs of data but twenty more is unlimited. And its through tmobile. Check it out. I get an employee discount but like my 4g too much. But when tmobile jumos to lte.. walmart family plan will get the jump to the 3.8 g as i call it hspa+ ...pretty sure... anyway it is the cheapest. And best part is use any tmobile phone and no contract but it is billed like one....

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Yeah I actually put my wife on a Walmart Samsung (T-mobile) unlimited plan. It is the best deal going, but the coverage is about 90% and the data speed about 50%. The cost is almost 50% less that my 4G VZW. Depending on how things work out I may switch to the new Google phone in the fall when my contract is up with a similar plan.

On a side note, I was back in the VZW store exchanging the phone for my mother (she couldn't handle the smart phone) and the girl said a lot of customers are saving a lot of money on the share plans! She said a lot come in with 3-5 lines and only avg 500MB a month so they get the 2GB plan and save $. I thought to my self, yeah until there usage spikes and they go over. I dont think it is going to work out like they think it is!

 

[androidlearner]

Yeah I actually put my wife on a Walmart Samsung (T-mobile) unlimited plan. It is the best deal going, but the coverage is about 90% and the data speed about 50%. The cost is almost 50% less that my 4G VZW. Depending on how things work out I may switch to the new Google phone in the fall when my contract is up with a similar plan.

On a side note, I was back in the VZW store exchanging the phone for my mother (she couldn't handle the smart phone) and the girl said a lot of customers are saving a lot of money on the share plans! She said a lot come in with 3-5 lines and only avg 500MB a month so they get the 2GB plan and save $. I thought to my self, yeah until there usage spikes and they go over. I dont think it is going to work out like they think it is!

If you are referring to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as the Google phone you are in for some bad news... Apple finally won a case against Samsung

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2

 

[psrumors]

I want the unlimited talk. Between the wife and I we only use 3gb data a month. Problem is we have unlimited data at $9.99 a month each.

Data prices are just too high

 

[Droid101]

If you are referring to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as the Google phone you are in for some bad news... Apple finally won a case against Samsung

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2

Technically speaking they didn't win yet the case is still on going and the injunction will most likely be overturned. Secondly this only applies to the current galaxy nexus and not to any future galaxy phone.

And lastly I feel as what apple is doing is completely ridiculous and that they should be stopped entirely.

 

[xtor]

I love my data plan, and will pay full pop for new tech phones to keep it

View attachment 52121

point of origin

 

[cybertec69]

If you are referring to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus as the Google phone you are in for some bad news... Apple finally won a case against Samsung

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent ICS Tapatalk 2

They only won an injunction, all this means is just a slight holdup, that's all, Apple is pulling at straws.

Sent from my HTC Rezound with ICS using Droid Forums

 

[Trusstopher]

They only won an injunction, all this means is just a slight holdup, that's all, Apple is pulling at straws.

Sent from my HTC Rezound with ICS using Droid Forums

But tis a slippery slope... it only takes 1 more straw to break the camel's back...