Verizon LTE Chews Through Data at "Ludicrous Speed"!

[thanos21183]

Pay for Speed not a bucket!!

I agree that data usage has hit a point whether it is mobile or traditional where bandwidth is finally being recognized as a resource that has finite scarcity. That being said I believe the best way to market this is through the payment of data based on speed. What if I don't mind having a slower connection but still want "unlimited data". What if I don't want 4g speeds to gobble up my data. In the near future(1-2 years) you won't have the option of having a 3g plan as all hardware will be 4g at that point it is no longer a new convenience fee for the faster of the two.... it is all that is available. If a site registers that your running 4g speeds and enriches its content to match maybe I want the option to have slower speeds. I believe that paying based solely on speed is the best way to handle this. You want unlimited data for $30... awesome pay for 1Mbps speed (4g hardware or not) and viola!!! Then they can calculate a maximum for you based on those speeds and know how to manage their network best. You obviously can only download so much at those speeds. But eventually being forced into higher and higher prices for faster speeds and limited total data is not fair to consumers not without the option to throttle your speeds. Hopefully as more and more people use smartphones and increase revenue to these companies through data plans the cheaper it will get with economies of scale. More buy in, more money to reinvest in infrastructure, more bandwidth available, cheaper plans(or at least faster plans for same price) I do agree that paying for multiple broadband connections is overly costly and that sometime in the future their will be a convergence of sorts where wireless broadband has the capacity to be an end all data provider for everything we need (home or otherwise) However, this is what we like to call growing pains people and it's just part of technological progress. I agree with Kodiak though.... get outside people... you can do Ultra-Super-HD talking in 99.1 surround sound with real people down the street and there is no data cap on that

 

[HamDog]

Verizon Home DSL 7.0/768 - $45.00/month
Droid Data Package - $30/month
Droid Tethering Fee - $30/month

Yup, that's $105/month for Internet access. That's not a ripoff?

It instantly begs the question why anyone really needs high-speed mobile data AND home broadband AND tether! It really is gluttonous. Geez, get off the net and trying having an actual human conversation with someone.

It's because the Droid is nice for looking up something quickly, but certainly can't take the place of a laptop for doing work on the road.

Kodiak, I believe you're thinking of technology in a wrong manner. Technology prices have always decreased with time. We get better AND cheaper. Look at computers. Or remember the old Dial-Up rates and AOL/Compuserve charges? Remember the beginning days of DSL? Prices were high. Technology got better and prices came down as speeds improved. Your theory of you're getting something more so you pay more doesn't always hold up here. We've been used to "unlimited" data for a certain price. Doesn't matter if we use it up or not, we just don't like limits. You and I may know our data usage on a monthly basis, but I'm willing to bet over 90% of users have no idea how much data they use.

And as technology moves forward, I can see home broadband becoming extinct in the next decade. Sprint is already allowing my girlfriend to get more and save by using her EVO as her home and away Internet connection. This goes against your getting more and paying more is normal theory. This is just like people dropping their home phone service for just a cell phone. As I said above, it's because technology is improving and therefore allowing us to save money.

Verizon wants to sit on it's high horse and charge ridiculous fees. Sure, they have a larger service area, but many people like me don't care as Sprint works fine for us as well. Sure, doesn't work great for everyone. To me, the savings from switching to Sprint weren't material enough for me to do it in the past. But if Verizon doesn't get off it's high horse, I will be switching to Sprint because now the savings are material due to 4g.

I'm not jumping ship immediately. This is all still too new. I'm waiting to see what happens next year when the 4g capable Androids make it to the market. Maybe Verizon will lower their price and offer unlimited data by then.

 

[magdream]

Geez, get off the net and trying having an actual human conversation with someone.

Wha? That's crazy talk!

 

[Bilgediver]

I didn't say I expected not to pay for it.

But what's so bad with having an unlimited plan? I would pay for an unlimited plan, but verizon doesn't have any.

Droidforums.net appified!

 

[PikaCane]

Pandora can chew through data pretty dang fast if you run it for four or six or eight hours a day!

One of my hobbies is restoring obsolete and vintage computers and making them useful again. Mobile versions of sites are very useful for machines with 256 (or 40) MB of RAM. Sad to think that 4g may be what finally pushes them off the Net for good.

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

 

[gunz.jones]

My average use of youtube, radio, games, and downloading comes to 5 gig easy. Especially with some companies giving free movie downloads because you purchased something else....sandisk, paramount, etc. I have no other net options in my area and having a decent phone connection to get everything done is great. Work and play wise. This is all build up thoug,. Not rushing in for a day of use.

Sent from my DROID2 using DroidForums App

 

[kodiak799]

Pandora can chew through data pretty dang fast if you run it for four or six or eight hours a day!

Very true. And I realize some people can't do that alternatively through a PC. But again what were you doing just a few years ago? Using your Droid as an MP3 player doesn't take any juice.

I agree there should be an unlimited tethering plan. And I agree VZW and the user should share in the savings, but again I pay $30 for the Droid and $50 for home broadband so a fair price for unlimited tethering is something less than $80 but probably more than $50.

Offering "speed" tiers is an interesting idea. Love the idea of LTE's speed but admittedly it's kind of overkill if you don't tether. I'd be happy just to get 1.5mbps consistently, but I average probably 700kbps.

 

[JerseyFirefighter]

ahh yes Ludicrous speed!!

 

[souljerr]

Guess I'll just wait it out and stick with 3G. Others moving to the higher speed network = less congestion and continued good 3G service.

 

[kodiak799]

Guess I'll just wait it out and stick with 3G. Others moving to the higher speed network = less congestion and continued good 3G service.

Good point. Like I said, if I could consistently get 1.5mbps I'd be happy, but I'm not sure how much getting half that has to do with network congestion vs. signal strength and penetration.

My main reason for going LTE are going to be I just want a much more powerful phone because I'm a power user, and because I want a more consistent and superior signal. Like others, I'd probably be happy if I could get a "low tier" LTE at a discounted price. 3mpbs is more than sufficient for 95% of individual users, and I think a lot of website don't honestly seem to d/l much faster than that anyway (making more overkill).

 

[souljerr]

Like others, I'd probably be happy if I could get a "low tier" LTE at a discounted price. 3mpbs is more than sufficient for 95% of individual users, and I think a lot of website don't honestly seem to d/l much faster than that anyway (making more overkill).

Definitely agree with this.

 

[Azmordean]

I feel like I am missing something. My understanding is this pricing for LTE applies only to aircards. This is not necessarily the pricing for handsets. And, as far as I can tell, 3G aircards also cost $50 per month with a 5GB cap. So I see no real change in price here.

 

[Bilgediver]

I feel like I am missing something. My understanding is this pricing for LTE applies only to aircards. This is not necessarily the pricing for handsets. And, as far as I can tell, 3G aircards also cost $50 per month with a 5GB cap. So I see no real change in price here.

The difference is speed. Verizon's commercials advertise watching multiple video streams without any lag! whoo! But wait doesn't that use up a lot of data?

3G is great for a lot of things, but there are some things people just don't do.
When you had dialup modems did you ever stream video? I doubt it, but when you upgraded to broadband, either DSL or cable at home didn't you start using services such as video feeds/streaming, or downloading of mp3's or such that started using up your bandwidth?

The more bandwidth you have, the more you're going to use. Now there are some that don't necessarily use it anyway, they won't even need the 4G regardless.

You up the badwidth but don't up the total data cap (ooh 8 gigs, whoopdeedoo), people will be overcharged a lot. I regularly get close to 5 gigs as it is, and if I had 4G I would EASILY go above that.

As I have said before, I would gladly pay for an unlimited data package. Right now I won't want to get a 4G card mainly because I'm not in an area with 4G at all, but if I did live in a big city, I would gladly want to PAY for an unlimited plan.

 

[New2u]

I feel like I am missing something. My understanding is this pricing for LTE applies only to aircards. This is not necessarily the pricing for handsets. And, as far as I can tell, 3G aircards also cost $50 per month with a 5GB cap. So I see no real change in price here.

The difference is speed. Verizon's commercials advertise watching multiple video streams without any lag! whoo! But wait doesn't that use up a lot of data?

3G is great for a lot of things, but there are some things people just don't do.
When you had dialup modems did you ever stream video? I doubt it, but when you upgraded to broadband, either DSL or cable at home didn't you start using services such as video feeds/streaming, or downloading of mp3's or such that started using up your bandwidth?

The more bandwidth you have, the more you're going to use. Now there are some that don't necessarily use it anyway, they won't even need the 4G regardless.

You up the badwidth but don't up the total data cap (ooh 8 gigs, whoopdeedoo), people will be overcharged a lot. I regularly get close to 5 gigs as it is, and if I had 4G I would EASILY go above that.

As I have said before, I would gladly pay for an unlimited data package. Right now I won't want to get a 4G card mainly because I'm not in an area with 4G at all, but if I did live in a big city, I would gladly want to PAY for an unlimited plan.

What he was trying to get at, and what most people seem to fail to realize is that this was a pricing model for Aircards only, it wasn't meant for a standard across the board rates, the same rates are applied to the data cards they have now, 50$ for 5GB, there is no change in fees, only a change in speed, in actuality, the users in this instance are getting a better deal. While they still only retain a 5GB cap for the data cards, they are however able to surf the internet alot better then with 3G speeds. While i do agree that with speed, comes the prospect of wanting to do alot more with it, that is up to the user.

I have seen 0 evidence that this is what the rates are for phones, and doubt 100% that this is what they will be. Everyone is getting all worked up over nothing. Yes you know maybe it would be nice for verizon to offer unlimited data on the data cards, but they don't for the time being, 4G might allow for that, but for now they don't.

While verizon does charge more for their service (because its the best coverage/quality) I highly doubt they are dumb enough to think that users would go from paying 30$ a month unlimited on their phones to 50$ for 5GB, in essence paying 20$ more per data line. Just about everyone I know would jump to sprint at that point being as that is the next best speeds and they are unlimited with tethering.

 

[Bilgediver]

I'm talking about aircard. I currently have the um175 usb aircard (3g) and have the max data plan. I regularly reach 5 gigs Because it is my primary internet connection (I live and work onboard a ship), so I have to pay attention to this.

Do you honestly think I'm an idiot?

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