VZW Broadband Access Plan...............

[wagon52]

I just upgraded from a BB to a Droid through VZW. I now see that tethering/broadband access is apparently not available through VZW on the Droid. However I had the broadband access plan for my BB and when I activated my Droid they even asked me if I wanted to keep the broadband access plan on this phone and I said yes. Well now that I see that its not available my question is..............If I am paying the extra $30 a month through VZW for the 5GB broadband access plan and I use the 3rd party app like the Pdanet, Am I still in violation with VZW for tethering? I have already sent an email to VZW with my concern and have not recieved an answer from them yet. So i figured that i would post here and see what kind of answers I get.

P.S.- I searched first and didn't find the answer...............

 

[New2u]

I just upgraded from a BB to a Droid through VZW. I now see that tethering/broadband access is apparently not available through VZW on the Droid. However I had the broadband access plan for my BB and when I activated my Droid they even asked me if I wanted to keep the broadband access plan on this phone and I said yes. Well now that I see that its not available my question is..............If I am paying the extra $30 a month through VZW for the 5GB broadband access plan and I use the 3rd party app like the Pdanet, Am I still in violation with VZW for tethering? I have already sent an email to VZW with my concern and have not recieved an answer from them yet. So i figured that i would post here and see what kind of answers I get.

P.S.- I searched first and didn't find the answer...............

Yeah i would imagine you wouldn't find an answer to this question here because as far as i know it's never been asked. As far as i can tell, if you are paying for the service, i doubt you would be in violation with VZW. Of course there is no way to really tell how much data you've actually used on the tether though. You did the write thing by emailing VZW on the issue.

 

[Backnblack]

They should not be able to attach the tethering plan to the Droid if it's not in the system as being an option for the device.

I would call and check if it's still there.

 

[New2u]

They should not be able to attach the tethering plan to the Droid if it's not in the system as being an option for the device.

I would call and check if it's still there.

I agree, it shouldn't be an option for them, so he shouldn't be paying for it, BUT if they are charging him, then i don't see how they could say it's against their policy since he's still paying for it.

 

[wagon52]

Cool, I will wait and see what they say. Thanks

 

[jsh1120]

I just upgraded from a BB to a Droid through VZW. I now see that tethering/broadband access is apparently not available through VZW on the Droid. However I had the broadband access plan for my BB and when I activated my Droid they even asked me if I wanted to keep the broadband access plan on this phone and I said yes. Well now that I see that its not available my question is..............If I am paying the extra $30 a month through VZW for the 5GB broadband access plan and I use the 3rd party app like the Pdanet, Am I still in violation with VZW for tethering? I have already sent an email to VZW with my concern and have not recieved an answer from them yet. So i figured that i would post here and see what kind of answers I get.

P.S.- I searched first and didn't find the answer...............

I'm not surprised you haven't gotten an answer and I'll be very surprised if you get a straight answer even if they do respond.

The problem is that VZW has a mess of data plans that apply to broadband devices and various phones. I'm not familiar with the data plans specifically for the BB devices, but I suspect it's equivalent to the $30 "unlimited plan" you're paying for with the Droid. And you certainly don't need both.

Now we come to the "tethering" issue. The problem is that VZW allows "tethering" for some devices (including BB devices) but not for others (e.g. the Droid.) This of course makes no sense from a consumer standpoint but the BlackBerry demands on the network in general are much less than the Droid's. Thus, they apparently felt they could allow tethering (with a 5 gig) limit on the phone without too much impact on network traffic.

What I'm guessing is now going on at VZW (and the reason you won't get a straight answer) is a lot of meetings in which the participants try to sort out the pricing/plan mess they've created with the various phones and broadband devices where the same 5gig plan for a wireless modem is $60 per month.

I'd suggest (and remember the advice is worth what you're paying for it) that you be sure you have ONE not two monthly data plans and that you go on and tether your droid with pdanet when you need to do so. Just be sure you're not watching movies eight hours a day or transferring many gigabytes of files using your "modem."

Or you can do what I do. Pay $149 to Verizon for an HP mini311 netbook and $60 a month for broadband access built into the netbook and tether only if you approach the 5gig limit for the netbook. It's not economical but it's convenient.