Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
ckizz
Enthusiast - Level 3

Don't get me wrong. I fought tooth and nail to keep my unlimited data plan as well as my wife's and that merely on principal alone. Now however, with her as well as two other people with iPhones on my plan, it makes more fiscal and common sense to switch.

Are you guys really using THAT much data on your plan? I'm a heavy user and I barely top 1-2GB, my wife streams video constantly and only gets around 2GB. Is "keeping unlimited" really worth the extra $449-649 you're paying paying for a full price phone?? For the difference ($18+/month for 24 months), you could essentially upgrade from the standard share 2GB everything plan to a 6GB or 8GB SE plan and, IMHO, if you're hitting 6GB+ on your mobile phone, get a laptop.

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
steelraven
Enthusiast - Level 2

You're going to wish you had unlimited when you see how much data LTE eats up.. That's why it's so fast because it eats up more data than 3g. If you were using up 2gb a month with 3g then you'll probably eat up 4 with LTE. Verizon knew what they were doing when they switch to shared data, that's why it was done before the iphone 5 came out. There are going to be a lot of upset people whenever they get their bills and find out how much more data they're using with the LTE

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
rcschnoor
Legend

steelraven wrote:

You're going to wish you had unlimited when you see how much data LTE eats up.. That's why it's so fast because it eats up more data than 3g. If you were using up 2gb a month with 3g then you'll probably eat up 4 with LTE. Verizon knew what they were doing when they switch to shared data, that's why it was done before the iphone 5 came out. There are going to be a lot of upset people whenever they get their bills and find out how much more data they're using with the LTE

LTE in and of itself WILL NOT use more data. If you change your phone habits, your may increase usage, but if your phone habits remain the same, your usage will not necessarily increase.

I currently have 1 LTE and 1 3G smartphone on my plan. The 3G phone averages more data usage/month than the LTE phone. This difference is due to the usage habits of the users of the different phones.

Of course, if you plan on starting to stream movies/music continuously when you hadn't prior to upgrading, of course your usage will go up.

It all depends on how you utilize your phone.

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
MsAud67
Enthusiast - Level 2

I called customer care while in the process of pre-ordering through VZW when I noticed the change in data plans.  I was instructed to pick a plan, but when I receive the phone, to not activate it on my own.  Instead, I am to call customer service to have them convert it back to my "grandfathered" unlimited plan, then they would activate it for me. 

I hope this is still the case.  You never know if you are going to receive mis-information!

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
ckizz
Enthusiast - Level 3

You can just do all of that online on your account page. It's not that hard.

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
MsAud67
Enthusiast - Level 2

While ordering the phone, there was not an option for my unlimited plan, it said that it was no longer available.  I was then told if I activate the phone with the option that I chose (2 mb for 30/month) she said I could not go back to my unlimited plan.  I'm not taking any chances, even if it isn't "that hard".

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
ikoiko
Enthusiast - Level 2

Exactly. I have the 4s. For a majority of the time I use WiFi hotspots i.e. Starbucks. I rarely use 3G. It may require some to adjust their usage habits so they don't spill over their data limit.

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
Wildwest71
Enthusiast - Level 2

Just so you know on Saturday around 1230 pm the Apple website worked for me but only on one line.  It let me upgrade my main line which was not eligable for discount which is good I paid full price and no upgrade fee and got to keep my unlimited data but on my other lines that I tried it was forcing me to change data plans.  I only purchased the one phone because of this.  I spoke to Apple and they said their system was forcing people to change because thats what Verizon wanted them to do.  I am trying now to by one locally at a retailer and more then half are refusing to sell it at full price because Verizon said they could only sell them on an upgrade with a change in data plans.  Best Buy was the only one that said they would sell me one if they had a Black 32 gig version available after pre-orders are filled so I put my name on a list.  Also I will try a brand new Apple store that is currently having a grand opening this Friday the day of the launch hoping to get one there at full price.  I will never give up my unlimited data plan.

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
Mike_Hill
Enthusiast - Level 1

LTE WILL INCREASE USE, EVEN IF YOU HAD THE EXACT SAME USAGE PATTERS, HERES HOW:

Many streaming services will increase the quality of the stream to match your available bandwidth. For example, if you stream on netflix and have a poor connection, then netflix will automatically throttle you back to a much slower kbps stream. If you have a bigger pipe available, it will increase you to a much higher kbsp and give you more data, hence, more usage. Of course it caps out, but still, most will see a DEFINITE INCREASE

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Re: iPhone 5, but must change data plan from unlimited to limited???
rcschnoor
Legend

Mike_Hill wrote:

LTE WILL INCREASE USE, EVEN IF YOU HAD THE EXACT SAME USAGE PATTERS, HERES HOW:

Many streaming services will increase the quality of the stream to match your available bandwidth. For example, if you stream on netflix and have a poor connection, then netflix will automatically throttle you back to a much slower kbps stream. If you have a bigger pipe available, it will increase you to a much higher kbsp and give you more data, hence, more usage. Of course it caps out, but still, most will see a DEFINITE INCREASE

Your highlighted statement is just not true. You assume usage habits that COULD increase usage, however these usage habits are NOT necessarily being used. Not everyone streams music and video. Explain how keeping these "exact same usage patterns" will increase data use.

Additionally, these apps which utilize streaming sometimes have settings which can limit the bitrate for your data feed. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to use the highest bitrate when viewing a video on a 4" screen. A 50" HDTV monitor is a different story completely, but we are talking about a 4" screen here!

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