<p>It is hard to keep track of data being used on a family plan that is metered, unless you don’t mind adding up .021mb here and .0163mb there constantly.</p>
<p>Granted I imagine some people do overuse their unlimited, but I know I don’t. I don’t download movies on my phone.</p>
<p>So annoying.
They are lucky the alternatives are even more annoying, but they shouldn’t take advantage.
[Verizon</a> will kill ‘grandfathered’ unlimited data plans, push users to data share - FierceWireless](<a href=“http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-will-kill-grandfathered-unlimited-data-plans-push-users-data-share/2012-05-16]Verizon”>http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/verizon-will-kill-grandfathered-unlimited-data-plans-push-users-data-share/2012-05-16)</p>
<p>We are in free country (yet!), everybody can start their own company and charge whatever they wish or nothing. In addition, everybody is free NOT to use any of existing companies’ services. It might not be true in near future, government monopoly is around the corner, so use your freedom while it lasts…</p>
<p>I saw this and shuddered. I see the writing on the wall that AT&T will follow soon after. I have one of the few remaining golden grandfathered unlimited data plans from an original iPhone. It’s really the only reason we’ve stuck with AT&T. We now have four smartphones on that account.</p>
<p>Thanks for the news flash Miami. I obviously didn’t think of that.
:rolleyes:</p>
<p>Seriously screw Verizon. We have been with them for 10 years and because of my great experience with unlimited 4g I have brought 3 people to Verizon from other carriers, all paying for tiered data plans. But that doesn’t matter to them of course. As$holes.</p>
<p>Sent from my ThunderBolt using CC</p>
<p>*We are in free country (yet!), everybody can start their own company and charge whatever they wish or nothing. In addition, everybody is free NOT to use any of existing companies’ services. It might not be true in near future, government monopoly is around the corner, so use your freedom while it lasts… *</p>
<p>Thanks for the news flash Miami. I obviously didn’t think of that.</p>
<p>HA! No kidding! WAKE UP PEOPLE! <em>insert eye rolly dude</em></p>
<p>Back to the OP - I read that this morning and was peeved. I wonder if there is enough of a backlash that they might reconsider. How does one start a backlash?</p>
<p>Well people did send a lot of hate mail to Netflix last year. I dropped my plan for a while and so did a kagillion other people.
But if you did that with Verizon, they probably would add new line charges if you started up again.</p>
<p>I knew this was coming. I do a lot of online market research surveys and one of the surveys I got was about different data share plan scenarios. They involved some where you could share across your own devices (phone, tablet) as well as phones/devices on a family plan. </p>
<p>I got the $30 unlimited last summer, right before they discontinued it. I don’t use even 1 GB of data, although I make extensive use of my phone for email, websites, and the like. However, I’ve been told that as soon as I go to 4G (or LTE, whatever that is), my data usage even for doing EXACTLY THE SAME THINGS will increase. It has to do with the websites sending you the version your phone can handle–the 4G phones get higher-def videos and whatnot and it just eats up the data. Plus, if my phone were fast enough to actually stream video and music, perhaps I would want to stream video and music. Right now, I don’t.</p>
<p>We have a family plan with Verizon, and there isn’t a less expensive way to have a phone you actually want to use. I pay $10/month for each of the kids’ lines and we have unlimited texting for everyone for something like $10/month. That’s a nice feature because one of us texts constantly but the rest of us don’t. But we all have all the access we need. I see the up-side of a data share plan. It does mean everyone can get online from their phones when they need to without committing to a regular monthly extra charge for each line. Right now, my husband and I have data access but the kids don’t. I’d also love a plan where we could connect our tablets (Nook, Kindle) while on the road. Right now they charge $20/month (I think) to “unlock” the mobile hotspot feature on my phone, and it’s not unlimited. </p>
<p>So, while I appreciate the unlimited plan, it is possible that some of the plans they are going to offer might give me more of the flexibility I want without costing me MUCH more.</p>
<p>Alternatively, this is the time to finally break free of Verizon…</p>
<p>That is a really good point desk potato.
I have the new improved iPad and I have to say I love it.
But I had also heard that since the capabilities were higher data use was higher, so I have a wireless version only. No4g.
D & I also just have iphone4- not 4s.
We won’t be upgrading for a while at least.</p>
<p>So does that mean, that if I upgrade prior to “mid summer”, before the grandfathering is discontinued, that I will extend my unlimited data plan for another 2 years?</p>
<p>I have a MiFi with a 5 GB plan for $50/month (includes device) which I use with an iPod Touch. Right now I’m at under 1/2 GB with 2 days to go in the cycle. Can’t the average person live on 1 or 2 GB/month?</p>
<p>BTW, I only watch videos that are on the device if not on WiFi.</p>
<p>There are other carriers with unlimited plans but their coverage isn’t that good in our area.</p>
<p>The 4G performance is great!</p>
<p>I think a family data plan is a great idea. I wish they had this when I got DD an iPhone (we now have two smart phones in the family).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, since this is Verizon, it will probably cost 2-3X what a single-user data plan costs, which means it won’t save me any money. One reason I haven’t gotten a smart phone is that I am unwilling to dish out another $360/year for the data.</p>
<p>BCeagle, I think the point was with the newer equipment, more data is being transmitted which ups the usage for the same activities.</p>
<p>Websites recognize what you are using and transmit accordingly. There should be a way to view in low def.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>How does the server recognize higher bandwidth? I understand the protocols for determining things like screen resolution and size.</p>
<p>Do people really watch videos on iPhones outside of WiFi that it would make a difference?</p>
<p>^ The site can most likely tell from the browser type and OS information that gets sent from the browser on your device.</p>
<p>Well for example an article stated if you watched YouTube videos every morning on the bus going to work for ten minutes, that would be about 1gB a month.</p>
<p>Normally this stuff is determined with Javascript calls - web developers probably want a portable solution and looking at the browser type wouldn’t be useful. Operating system wouldn’t be useful either. There are differing resolutions for screens and operating systems.</p>
<p>I had a look around the web and there doesn’t seem to be a standard Javascript call to determine network latency but there are code snippets to do so - they usually download a small (~10KB) file with a timer. Pretty crude but I guess it’s better than nothing.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>If I wanted to watch a lot of YouTube videos on the bus, I’d batch download them onto my Mac and then download them to my iPod or iPad.</p>
<p>I am glad to open your eyes!</p>
<p>Why aren’t these guys making money? I see dozens of people, students, white-collar types, hot dog vendors, newsstand proprietors…everyone has a smartphone these days and seems to be using one constantly. How are carriers like Verizon not making money?</p>