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Is there a data plan better than $80/10gig?

I recently relocated to rural AR to take care of my mother following surgery. She is using Verizon wireless as her ISP and has the $80/10gig plan. Based on our now combined internet usage that cap is far, far too low. Is there a higher tier or unlimited plan available? If not I will look into other providers when her contract ends next month. The option to throttle back speed rather than pay for overages would also be acceptable but the plan cost and low data cap with charges for going over is simply not going to work for the eight month recovery period when I will be here.

Comments

tigerthetony

She can always increase her data package, but it would be an additional 10 dollars per 2 GB's to increase it. At that point, if possible, it may be a better Idea to look for an unlimited ISP instead of a wireless one with a data cap. I'd personally just weigh the costs with whats available, some areas are rural, and don't have access to very many ISPs.

kb85

Didn't see that as an option in her account when we looked. I assume we would have to get a rep on the line for that? While I do understand that wireless is a different type of service it feels quite ridiculous to go from paying $70 a month for 15MB down with a soft cap at 200gig throttling me 7.5 down (which I never hit) to paying $80 a month to have a data cap so low I can't even download a game purchased on Steam without going over. Much less watch shows or movies on Netflix. It's simply not adequate for even casual usage. It's excellent as far as speed and the quality of the connection but neither of that does me any good when I'm too worried about data to utilize the service.

tigerthetony

Yeah, when you live in a rural area it's tough, I'm lucky enough to live near a city so there are several options. Usually you'll have the best luck by calling or chatting with customer service. They may be able to see some plan options that you can't see online. Everytime I call in I ask if there is a better plan than the one I'm on just in case. :smileyhappy: Hope your able to find an alternative solution for your needs, streaming video would run a data package up pretty quick!

kb85

I guess I'll give that a try unless CS responds here first. We tried the other day but gave up on getting an actual rep on the line after about an hour. Thanks for the info!

unknown

tigerthetony wrote:

She can always increase her data package, but it would be an additional 10 dollars per 2 GB's to increase it. At that point, if possible, it may be a better Idea to look for an unlimited ISP instead of a wireless one with a data cap. I'd personally just weigh the costs with whats available, some areas are rural, and don't have access to very many ISPs.

Where do you get that figure? The 15 GB plan is $100. 5 GB for an extra $20 is $8 per 2 GB not $10.

unknown

kb85 wrote:

Didn't see that as an option in her account when we looked. I assume we would have to get a rep on the line for that? While I do understand that wireless is a different type of service it feels quite ridiculous to go from paying $70 a month for 15MB down with a soft cap at 200gig throttling me 7.5 down (which I never hit) to paying $80 a month to have a data cap so low I can't even download a game purchased on Steam without going over. Much less watch shows or movies on Netflix. It's simply not adequate for even casual usage. It's excellent as far as speed and the quality of the connection but neither of that does me any good when I'm too worried about data to utilize the service.

Mobile data is not a replacement for cable internet or DSL so things like Steam or watching Netflix are out of the question. Mobile data is good for basic browsing. rural living has it;s disadvantages. it's not Verizon's responsibility to be a replacement for bale or DSL just because neither wants to come to a rural area.

In October and early Nov they had a promo where 30 GB was $130 and 40 GB was $150. Still a pretty low amount for what you want to do but it's better than what they charge now for those amounts.

kb85

Actually yes it is. It's certainly a second tier option you only choose when a hard line connection isn't available but it's the only internet solution for some rural areas and even areas that aren't truly rural just in a dead zone between two infrastructures.

Considering the limited applications where it makes sense to utilize this type of service in the manner we require not having higher tier packages even at an unreasonable price (which I already consider current capped plans to be) makes no sense. The number of people who would want, much less need the service is small and could not possibly come close to placing a strain of the network. Expecting wired speeds and unlimited data for a cost comparative to a wired connection is unreasonable. Desiring reasonable speeds (which to me would be as low as 1MB/s) with a datacap high enough to allow reasonable ability to utilize that speed in 2014 is not that out there. The ability to provide reasonably high data caps at a fair price to an extreme minority is both possible and profitable. When there is doubt about which is cheaper between renting a cheap apartment and paying for utilities and a wired connection v a 100GB data cap ($500-600 on the plans I could find) for rural internet alone something is wrong. But my personal views on telcom pricing and exploitation of consumers aside my question was if there were other, unadvertised solutions available.

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