Verizon Data Service on Month to Month Basis

[geodrake]

Give him a break guys.  Gary is getting old.

 

[Ned]

George, it's not Gary's math that I'm worried about

 

[geodrake]

Do I dare ask what it is about Gary that worries you, Ned?

 

[Ned]

I don't worry about Gary at all.  Some of the others around here, welllll

 

[Just Lou]

Give him a break guys.  Gary is getting old.

George, it was Don's math that Ned took the shot at.

I don't understand why he would even question a $.50 error in a number as large as $3.84. ($3.34) ??? : ;D ;D

 

[Ned]

Actually, it was Jeff's math.  Let's get it right guys, there's enough misinformation around here

Back on topic, $1.67/day is quite reasonable compared to many other internet access plans.  It's almost enough to make me get a EVDO Rev.A phone

 

[Just Lou]

Actually, it was Jeff's math.  Let's get it right guys, there's enough misinformation around here

Back on topic, $1.67/day is quite reasonable compared to many other internet access plans.  It's almost enough to make me get a EVDO Rev.A phone

My bad! it was Jeff's math

Fifty lashes with a usb tethering cable are in order.......

 

[Ned]

Fifty lashes with a usb tethering cable are in order

How about a component A/V cable, or the cat o' five tails

USB tethering is so last year, Bluetooth is the new USB.

 

[Just Lou]

How about a component A/V cable, or the cat o' five tails

USB tethering is so last year, Bluetooth is the new USB.

geeeze!  I was willing to accept some token admonishment, but you are talkin' corporal punishment here.  Isn't that against forum rules or something ??? ;D ;D

 

[geodrake]

Sorry Gary.  I guess we need to send Jeff to summer school for arithmetic and me for reading.

Ned, I'm not sure that lashes from the Bluetooth would get the point across.

 

[DonTom]

Must be more of that new math

My question really had nothing to do with the math, I just wanted to make sure how it works. But I am getting old too! 60 by this time next month!    

But I am glad I asked, because it leads to anther dumb question. ;D

I rarely find any use for my cell phone on voice mode. Mine has not been used for several months. I am on a V/W pay-as-you go-plan because of that. Since the "tethering" uses a regular phone number, does that mean I will be charged for each call in addition to the tethering? Or is it even possible to do the tethering trick with a pay-as-you-go plan? Would I (or should I) have to get a "real" voice plan first? Or would I be better off just to use the data card and pay it by the month? It makes more sense to me to pay for data via the month than for voice. I have no doubt that if I had the data service (of either type) , it would be used a lot more than for voice from my cell.

And is the Samsung SCH-U650 compatible with the  tethering trick? And I assume I will need some type of data cable from V/W.

-Don- Reno, NV​

 

[Jeff]

Must be more of that new math

What happens when I start calculating after midnight! ??? ???

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Most pay-as-you-go (PAYG) plans do not allow tethering, but rules change from time to time and I haven't researched the current Verizon PAYG lately. Some don't have any data services at all.  As I recall on the Verizon PAYG, you pay a fixed amount for any day in which you use the phone, so yes you would pay something in addition to the data service.

Nancy has a Tracfone PAYG and that has no internet access capability, but on that one you pay by the minute of airtime anyway (no daily fee). Works fine for her 10 minutes or so a month of voice calls, but would get expensive if data access were supported and used.

 

[Just Lou]

The current wording in Verizon literature is "qualifing voice plan required".  I guess they want to be able to tie the billing to an active phone number and an agreement with your signature attached.

 

[Bob Buchanan]

Must be more of that new math

Actually, that's not "Math" -- more  like 3rd grade arithmetic. 

 

[DonTom]

Most pay-as-you-go (PAYG) plans do not allow tethering, but rules change from time to time and I haven't researched the current Verizon PAYG lately. Some don't have any data services at all.

The V/W PAYG is put a hundred bucks in a V/W  account. They charge by the minute PLUS another buck for each day the phone is used. So if three calls are made in the same day, it's one buck plus the air time. If the same three calls but in three separate days, two more bucks. I started my PAYG plan many months ago, and I still have $98.50 of my hundred bucks left. I guess I made one cell call during that time.

Before that,  Tom & I were paying $30.00 per month each, total of sixty bucks per month. Then we thought about how little either of us use the cell phone and we both changed to the PAYG. We expect to get more use out of portable internet as we are both on the internet usually several times per day & night and we spend a fair amount of time on the road. As I mentioned, we will often use it just to view that live map to decide which bridge is best (GG or Bay Bridge) to get back to SSF for the times we leave Reno at a more human type time than usual. However, after midnight, we don't worry about it and it's usually well after midnight when we get back to the Bay Area. So I have mixed feelings about all of this stuff.

But I have a question about that number you have to call for activation and deactivation of the tethering. Is it an automated system or do you have to talk to a real person or how does that work?

And am I safe to assume if I activate my air card that it is totally independent from my PAYG phone plan and no other plan is required?

If I understand all this stuff correctly, perhaps in my case, keeping the air card activated on a plan might not be such a bad idea as I have no need for other than a PAYG plan for voice.

-Don- Reno, NV​

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You have to talk to a Customer Service rep to activate or deactivate the tethered data feature on a voice plan. It cannot be done online.

You data card is totally separate from the voice plan. You don't even need to have a voice plan to have a data card. If you don't mind the $60/month fee for service, leaving the data card activated all the time is the easiest. If you had regular cell phone service, it would be cheaper still to leave the tethered data feature on all the time ($50 vs $60), but with your PAYG phone that would not be possible.

 

[DonTom]

You have to talk to a Customer Service rep to activate or deactivate the tethered data feature on a voice plan. It cannot be done online.

Since it requires a real person,  can it be done 24/7?

You data card is totally separate from the voice plan. You don't even need to have a voice plan to have a data card. If you don't mind the $60/month fee for service, leaving the data card activated all the time is the easiest. If you had regular cell phone service, it would be cheaper still to leave the tethered data feature on all the time ($50 vs $60), but with your PAYG phone that would not be possible.

There are two plans for the air card. $40 plan for 50 MB and the $60 plan for 5 gigabytes. But with the 50 mb plan, THIS can happen!

I don't mind the $60.00 per month. $60.00 per month is peanuts these days.

Having the air card activated all the time seems like less hassle and won't be much more expensive in my case. I will most likely do it within the next couple of weeks. Thanks for all the info.

-Don- Reno, NV​

 

[DonTom]

It looks like my UM150VW air card still might not get activated.

I just got on-line and ordered the HP mini 1151 NR (activated) at the V/W website. And I purchased the $60.00 per month plan.

I had no idea I was going to purchase a mini 1151NR until I got on line at the V/W website. In fact, I never even heard of the 1151 before.  I already own a bunch of laptop computers, including an EEE PC.  I am not sure why I decided to buy another mini-notebook, but I think it was totally by compulsion. :-[

They ship it out overnight, which will be on this Thursday (7-30), since I ordered it too late today (Tuesday night).

In a couple of days, I will post a message here with it from who knows where, using the V/Z network,  to see how it works. But it will be from somewhere that has no A/C, and no data cable, no 811 wireless, and on the V/W network.

-Don- SF, CA​

 

[Ned]

I can see 2 disadvantages to the 1151.  If you're in a marginal service area you can't orient the antenna as you can with a USB air card and you can't share the connection with other computers, at least not easily.  I'll look forward to your actual usage reports.