Mobile Hot Spot - Don't add it on unless you are in to self mutilation
ryanfss
Newbie

One month ago I added mobile hot spot to my plan, originally with 15 GB. That was gone in about 10 days, so I changed my plan again to include the max 30 GB. One hour later, I am notified that that 15 GB was gone. So I spent an hour doing online class and used 15 GB?? Problem is...actually there are a plethora of problems. First, trying to connect with someone in customer service seems to be impossible. When there is a response, said rep is not knowledgeable in that area and will connect me with someone else. To be fair, they never specify when that connection will actually happen. But what I can tell you is that it will not be before close of business that day. Tried several times. Second, my phone has a great signal and can download pretty fast (although I haven't done an actual speed test) but there are updates I need on my PC. Not my phone. I was told by a sales rep I would basically be kicked down to 3G after my data limit and shame on me for not verifying that. Instead the plan calls for 600 kbps, which is bad. The reality is I'm looking at roughly 65.6 kbps (not a typo) so I'll essentially die and my next of kin will inherit this never ending update, which will probably be passed on for their children to enjoy around 2056, the year of our Lord. It has actually dipped as low as measuring in bps. I got better results from a phone line in 1993. If ANYONE is watching the store, please advise a solution. I doubt that happens, so be warned. Save that 30 bucks for a steak dinner or a new sweater. Or burn it since it's the same result.

I left AT&T because of their terrible customer service. But at least there was someone present to say "Sorry, but we don't know what the %$#% is going on. terrible to be you."

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Re: Mobile Hot Spot - Don't add it on unless you are in to self mutilation
Tigerstep
Specialist - Level 3

Mobile hotspots are not home internet replacements. If you are having poor service, get a real internet provider.

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Re: Mobile Hot Spot - Don't add it on unless you are in to self mutilation
ryanfss
Newbie

Tigerstep, to be fair I didn't mention the number of available ISP's which would be 0. Also to be fair, before trolling my post maybe you should have asked. The issue is not about ISP's, it's about customer service and addressing the issue that I paid for a service that I am capable of getting from a technological and practical standpoint, but yet am not. I can walk out my door and literally see the cell tower and my phone has an excellent signal. So while 600 kbps is bad, it is completely unacceptable to throttle my download speeds to actual bps. That is insane. Kind of missed the whole point, don't you think?

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Re: Mobile Hot Spot - Don't add it on unless you are in to self mutilation
DMathews1
Contributor - Level 3

Ryanfss-

If your question even leans towards the tech side, which yours does, I always recommend asking the first Verizon person who takes your call (tier 1 support) to connect you with tier-2 tech support.  Tier-1 can only handle the "most basic" inquiries.  I always google everything I have problems with, so I know my questions are beyond the realm of expertise of a tier-1 person.  If they hesitate sending you to tier 2, ask for their supervisor...  They mean well, but can often waste lots of your time and theirs trying to find answers!

I personally try to limit my hotspot time and normally will not do pc app upgrades as that will just soak up some of your data.  You can always do a speed test on your pc to determine how fast the speed is before any throttling... I know speed varies, but I'm somewhat lucky and get between 40 & 75 mbps download, and 5 mbps upload. - - I personally would never use hotspot at 600 kbps as I believe that would be like watching paint dry...not good!  I can't imagine putting up with the speeds that you talked about...kps!!!...lol...

I previously only had 15 gb of hotspot data, but recently upgraded to "Get More".... so I could "get more"  hotspot data... 30 gb of data.    When I was pretty careful on my usage, I could get by with .5 gb/day which would use up the 15 gb in about 30 days.   Now with 30 gb, I can be a little more extravagant with it, but I still have to be careful.   I was checking out hotspot usage doing just web browsing and stuff like that and found that I used between .3 to .5 gb per hour... So, if one was on their PC w/ hotspot for close to 8 hours, it could easily use up 2.5 - 4 gb per day.  Before you know it, you're out of hotspot data!

You mentioned 15 gb lasted you 10 days;  that seems real good! And there's no way 1 hour of a zoom class (or however you took the class) would take 15 gb! Someone at tier-2 should have been able to help you with that! Btw, previously Verizon was behind in telling you how much data you used for hotspot by 24-48 hours.

But actually, I just heard something today that defies logic.  Verizon,will no longer be telling us how much hotspot data we used during the month;  that is, it will not be on MyVerizon. - - They will send a text message when you only have 10% hotspot data left. That seems very strange, but this is what I was told.

I hope the above at least helps you some.  - Good luck!

 

ps:  Based on my experience, Verizon tech support (tier 2) is normally excellent! And so is tier - 1, but the questions they answer need to be much more basic... not real techy!

 

 

 

 

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Re: Mobile Hot Spot - Don't add it on unless you are in to self mutilation
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Hello, we are here to aid in any way we can and want you to be able to access your services with ease. Please send us a Private Note to proceed.

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