Outrageous Usage

[dave21]

Has anyone looked at their usage for this month and seen that they have used an outrageous amount of data? I have a 5G plan and after almost a year of rarely going over by more than 500 MB, this months usage claims I have used 26 G. That is physically impossible on this computer.

[s2marks]

Dave,

Sounds like you may have contracted a Virus or something.  I suggest you contact Verizon wireless, I think your Bill may look horrible.

Please let us know if you are able to work it out with them.  If not I am going to pull the plug on my service.  I don't want or need a 2nd mortgage. 

s2marks

[mic318]

no vius it happen to me too my bill went from 60 a month to 300 a month cliaming i used almost 6 gig a month which is inposible. does anybody know what is going on.

[Deamore]

I just recently registered a complaint with (www.ftc.gov)  federal trade commission consumer protection branch. Here is my complaint.

My complaint is about the horrendous cost of Mobile Broadband Access with so little in return. AT&T, Sprint, Verizon have 5GB of bandwidth caps for around 60 dollars a month. The primary subscriber base of mobile broad band access use is rural people like myself. We don't have access to cable, fiber broadband like city people do. We make up a huge part of the population. We finally can access the internet at high speed thanks to mobile wireless broad band.

The problem is that 5GB of data is nothing in today's modern web experience. Why are we being penalized because of abusive users who make up only a very small percent of internet users. I actually don't have a problem with broadband caps per say as long as they are realistic.

Mobile broadband users are not allowed to experience all the web has to offer. We have to watch our useage like a hawk or go over our cap and be charged ungodly overage fee's. Verizon for example charges 50 dollars per gigabyte of data over the 5GB cap. (.05 cents per megabyte over)

Their business mentality is that mobile internet is for casual mobile use. Who is going to pay 60 bucks a month just to be able to check email? Who is gonna surf the web on a 3 inch phone screen. Most Wifi is free at hotels and hotspots so you can see my point. People can drive up the road and use McDonalds wifi hotspot anytime they want for free. Bottom line is us rural users are being gouged unfairly compared to hard line internet users.

You can't even get an up to date usage report from Verizon, so you really don't know accurately where you stand when it comes to usage ever. It's not like our house where we can actually go out and check the meter if we so desire. How do we know they are not rounding up usage or reporting it to us accurately. We are at their mercy when it comes down to it.

I would like to see unlimited mobile internet access from Verizon for 60 bucks a month but i don't expect it. I do expect a reasonable amount of data maybe 25GB per month for that price. The cell phone companies are really gouging the consumer base in so many ways it's unimaginable.

Hopefully this will get the ball rolling not just with Verizon but with all mobile broadband providers. For me its just me and my wife that use it. I can't imagine if we had a family of 3 as well.. Good luck

[Greg4Wireless]

Writing to the FTC is a waste of time.  They will send you a form letter back stating "its not in their jurisdiction".

Been there, done it (With HughesNet).  They're still screwing their customers over just like Verizon.

Bottom Line.  Keep the service, use it, watch your usage limits.....Cancel if you dont like the terms . . .

[Geostud]

One thing that is really irritating about it is that Verizon has DSL and FIOS service just 10 miles from here but they don't seem to want to run it out that 10 miles to service a community.  Why would they?  They get $60/month for 5GB from us while they only get something like $39/mo for unlimited usage with DSL!  The only other option is satellite internet which also has caps and if you use more than they think you should in a period of time, they slow your service down a lot.

[Greg4Wireless]

some good points in those last 2 posts..

[rackyjo]

We had the same experience this month. Last month was our first month of WiFi and we did not go over our usage and I even downloaded 2 TV shows! Now this month, with no downloading videos or music, we are 1GB over and this in about 10 days into the billing cycle!?!? We are rural users too...

[jhmlbrgr]

While I understand your want to pay less for services, I am sure how you can say that any of the current companies are price gouging.  In our great nation we have a free market economy where businesses will not charge more for a service than the market will bear.  If they do they will go out of business.  Before posting this to you I attempted to find out much data I am using on my home DSL but apprently my DSl provider does not measure through put just time conneted.  That was after speaking with 4 different people in various departments.  I can assure you that my wife and I are very heavy users and I would be shocked if we went over 5gb per month.

I actully am in favor of a more fair billing process where the service provider charges a per MB/GB rate to everyone and no amount is included.  This would mean that everyone pays for what they use.  In my estimation $10-15 per GB would be a fair price to the consumer. 

Oh yeah as far as usage, of you have an up to date modem it  has a usage tracker with the software so you k now exactly where yous stand.  I have never gone over on my PC card and barely even monitor it. 

[Deamorei]

First Verizon is a monopoly far worse then AT&T ever was before the government broke them up. Secondly fair pricing is fair pricing. 12 dollars per gigabyte is not fair pricing. 50 dollars per gigabyte over the the 5GB cap is almost criminal if you ask me. Google around 1GB of data costs pennies not dollars. I could easily blow 200mb a day with me and my wife using our computers doing not much other then surfing. Are these ads we have to see on web pages paying me for the bandwidth I use to view that particular page? NO. I've used 2 mb of bandwidth just sitting here opening Verizon's page and signing into the forums. Verizon page itself is plenty heavy on bandwidth usage.

I'll be right at my limit if not a bit over this month .. I installed Windows 7 and downloaded the drivers etc, etc which used a GB or more to bring my system up to date. I use the MIFI-2200 mobile hotspot designed to be used by 5 people at once. I can't imagine 5 people using a 5BG cap limit it would be gone in a few days without movie downloading. The MIFI wasn't designed for casual surfing and emailing it was designed for productivity of multiple users.

The biggest problem with mobile broadband pricing is first no regulation and secondly no competition. I would venture to day that anything under 25GB per month average among users nationally is considered low. 1GB of data is really nothing in today's age of information, nothing. We are ranked 25th in the world in broadband in which my freaking tax dollars have funded over the years yet they want more. Nobody mentions how much money these companies took from the U.S. Government expanding their infrastructure. The sad part is many countries have 100mbps service for half the cost or less. Most of Verizon's mobile broadband base are rural users that use it as their only high speed connection to the internet not traveling businessmen. That's something that's overlooked as well.

We don't have any kids or I'd probably have to take a second job to pay for overage charges for internet use with not just Verizon but any wireless company that imposed a 5GB cap and they all do. I don't have a problem with metered billing as long as it's a fair price for the bandwidth I use. Like many have said. Penalize the abusers not the users. Verizon can you hear me now?

[Doodle]

Can someone explain to me how you could use 87.29MB in 30 minutes?

[Shimelle]

Yay!!  There are actually people out there I can actually relate to!!  It's really a crime that Verizon has us over a barrel with their extremely limited data allowance.  I signed up for the MIFI2200 in October, then my husband bought his own computer as we were no longer on dialup.  Our data usage was okay until this month, when I checked and we were almost at 5GB.  Yipes!  So, no more videos or iTunes downloads. 

We, too, are rural, and this is our only option, as there is no DSL or cable, and satellite is out of the question.  I don't understand why Verizon has to be so miserly with the monthly allowance.  They say it has to do with the cost of transmitting---well, don't other companies (cable, DSL)  have to pay as well?  Verizon also said they used to provide unlimited usage, but then too many customers started "stealing" access; hence the 5GB cap.  Ridiculous.  I was told that Verizon Broadband should be used as a SECONDARY means of internet access.  How ridiculous that?  That would be just too much per month to pay.

Too bad there's not a petition we can all sign to get Verizon to come to its senses!!

[Deamore]

Actually filing complaints with the FTC does invite inquiries so to say it does nothing is not really accurate. It's people that simply accept and do nothing that get nowhere. Congress already put the hammer on the cost that telcoms were charging per text messages. I'm not exactly sure where the bill on that stands presently. Doing any part is better then sitting around doing nothing. Just have to catch the right ear is all.

Regardless wireless is cheaper then hard wired simply do to reduced maintenance and upkeep, less employee's to maintain etc, etc. I'm totally satisfied with the service i do recieve with Verizon but i can't take advantage of it like i would like. I had centennial wireless unlimited data for under 50 bucks a month but i wanted 3G and all they offered was 250kbps with no sign of upgrading to EVDO.

The whole idea with higher speed internet to include mobile broadband  is to be able to do MORE not less. People don't need 1.5mbps to check email or surf. 256kbps is perfectly fine for that. People desire high speed so they can watch streaming this and that, upload movies, photo's for their familes. Verizon is achieving a position that is going to put in where AT&T was a few years ago. Remember when the U.S. government stepped in and tore that house down?

There is a huge problem when in general the second highest bill above our mortgage is high speed internet. I remember the coming and going of limited dial up when the internet first game out. That didn't last very long when unlimited hit the market.  So if they say that 90-95 percent of mobile broadband users use less then 5GB per month that 5% that uses more isn't going to drag down the network that much now is it? The first company to offer unlimited mobile broadband to others will capture the market. If one jumps the others will follow. I'll dump my current company and gladly pay the ETF when this comes to par if V doesnt follow suit. 

[dave1812]

How would you like it if you owned a business and the goverment told you what you could charge for your services or your goods??  Government is getting way out of hand now--look at TARP, bailouts of GM and Chrysler, and now they want to ram another spending bill on us--the healthcare (really not about 'care') reform.  Enough is enough.

[Tech_Addiction]

$50.00 for 1gb is nothing for overage.  I gave my son my old XV6800 and I did not want a data plan for him.  If you know what an XV6800 looks like there is a button at the top that is mapped to the internet.  I had Google as the homthe phone was in his pocket it kept e page and when pressing the button and bringing up Google.  After the month was done he had only racked up 6mb.. thats right 6 megabytes.  They charge me $85.00 in data charges for 6 friggen megabytes.  They wiped the charges only if I agreed to put a $30.00 data plan on his phone to cover that period of time.  I was only waiting for his renew every two which was only a few days away.  They moved his renew date up for me and I cancelled the data plan putting him on a non PDA phone.  Yeah $50.00 is nothing for 1gb.

[Darnstrat]

Some interesting posts here.

For Dave - Yes, the government does need to regulate the rates the telecoms charge for wireless/wired access.  The airwaves belong to the PEOPLE, and telecoms bid for spectrum allocation, with very stringent requirements on usage, etc.  This is currently a huge deal as the battle for the now vacant TV blocks are up.   The telecoms have mounted an incredibly intense campaign to keep the open bandwidth AWAY from public access initiatives across the country.  There are token efforts to provide limited public access to non-profit organizations, but as has been pointed out, rural areas of the country are still virtually in the dark (literally when it comes to FIOS) while they accept tens of millions of dollars in TARP funds for rural telecom projects.  In several communities, the telecoms have installed FIOS (or its equivalent) in high-dollar subdivisions just outside the city limits while ignoring true rural America.

Two issues need to be addressed by the internet community:

Piracy and spam.  The advent of peer-to-peer file sharing, i.e. full-length movies, music etc, is robbing the entertainment industry and hogging tremendous bandwidth illegally.  This is one of the reasons for the 5G cap for most providers.  At some point, the MPAA will sue them for not regulating end user actions.  

Spammers still account for 75-85% of the traffic on the internet.  For those of you who are seeing marked increases in data throughput, I suspect (strongly) that you have a spambot program on your computer.  Without adequate firewall/virus protection, PC's are EXTREMELY susceptible to malware, trojan horses, and bots.  There's a simple solution for spam, but none of the ISP's are willing to take the steps necessary to stop spam.

All that being said, and in spite of the 5G cap being a pain in the butt, the Verizon MIFI2200 has been the best thing to come along for me since sliced bread.

As a couple of posters have pointed out, market demand will eventually force Verizon, AT&T, etc. to raise that cap.

[gwhnewbie]

I am a new user and after some initial experience and after reading this thread I am scared to death.  I definitely do not want to spend more than $60 dollars per month and need a way to accurately and reliably monitor my usage so I can STOP at the 5GB cap.  Plus, MY overage is rated at $0.25 per MB! 

I am using the USB modem for $59 with the 5GB monthly cap and am still in the first month, so I still have  a short window of opportunity to change to another plan and device if necessary. 

1) I can't reliably and consistently get usage data so as to determine if I am going over and was told there is an internal issue being escalated and worked on and I should call in if I want accurate usage data. ?

2) I am one person, one computer, with one wireless printer and have discovered I can no longer network with anything, including my wireless printer

3) I use a "family line" cell for $10 a month, with 700 mins limit for 3 people, but the other 2 rarely use the phone and I think I can keep itunder the limit on the cell phone part

4) I just checked my bill and it is over $400 for the initial month with the set up for 2 USB modems and 2 cellphones!  What happened here?  The quote was $160.?

This solution was pretty much bought for me with good intentions and I am now trying to ascertain if I have  apoor match or what.  I am not a heavy uploader/downloader but do use the internet (email and forums) on a daily basis and update my computer (OS and software) on a regular basis.  Am I using the right solution or have I missed something obvious and should be using something else like the MIFI or an EVDO optimized router for the wireless printer?   Any help is appreciated. 

I don't want to get into a comparison contest, but I just left cable which allowed unlimited access to highspeed for $60 per month and I could share with the 3 other computer users who were in the house and I could print wirelessly, and my bill was ALWAYS the same - $60 per month.  Yeah, I know I couldn't surf the net if I walked out into the yard.  This is a learning experience for me.  I am open and flexible with regards to finding and using solutions that help me with my requirements. thankis again

[gwhnewbie]

I am using the USB modem for $59 with the 5GB monthly cap and am still in the first month, so I still have  a short window of opportunity to change to another plan and device if necessary. 

1) I can't reliably and consistently get usage data so as to determine if I am going over and was told there is an internal issue being escalated and worked on and I should call in if I want accurate usage data. ?

2) I am one person, one computer, with one wireless printer and have discovered I can no longer network with anything, including my wireless printer

3) I use a "family line" cell for $10 a month, with 700 mins limit for 3 people, but the other 2 rarely use the phone and I think I can keep itunder the limit on the cell phone part

4) I just checked my bill and it is over $400 for the initial month with the set up for 2 USB modems and 2 cellphones!  What happened here?  The quote was $160.?

This solution was pretty much bought for me with good intentions and I am now trying to ascertain if I have  apoor match or what.  I am not a heavy uploader/downloader but do use the internet (email and forums) on a daily basis and update my computer (OS and software) on a regular basis.  Am I using the right solution or have I missed something obvious and should be using something else like the MIFI or an EVDO optimized router for the wireless printer?   Any help is appreciated. 

I don't want to get into a comparison contest, but I just left cable which allowed unlimited access to highspeed for $60 per month and I could share with the 3 other computer users who were in the house and I could print wirelessly, and my bill was ALWAYS the same - $60 per month.  Yeah, I know I couldn't surf the net if I walked out into the yard.  This is a learning experience for me.  I am open and flexible with regards to finding and using solutions that help me with my requirements. thankis again

[#19]

You can download and install a free version of "NetMeter" to monitor your internet usage.  How are you trying to connect to your printer?  Connecting to your printer has nothing to do with your Verizon broadband that I know of.

[gwhnewbie]

Thanks for responding.  I installed the printer software and set it up and turned on the printer.  I opened Network Connections and enabled one of my ethernet LAN connections (and firewalled).  I opened a MS Word document and clicked on "Print" and then chose "Find Printer".  I also checked "Printers and Faxes" on the "Start" menu.  My wireless NIC I used prior to connect to cable is a card insered in the left side of the laptop.  It appeared to be activated, but I could've missed something there.  I thought my laptop would just recognize the printer much like it did the wireless cable router.  Verizon help desk alluded to the fact that I would need to purchase an "EVDO optimized router"(?), or their MiFi connector (for another $150).  I'm not that technical.  Do they mean router or another NIC card (ethernet) - I have 2 of the ethernet NIC cards already.  But again, I got the impression from the Verizon help desk that the EVDO USB connection does not work at the same time the ethernet connection would work, which is the card I assume is needed for Wi-Fi printing.  I am pretty ignorant on networking.  Can anyone advise on this?  The printer came with a USB connector cable, so all is not lost.  At least I can print.

[#21]

I am not an expert on wireless printers, but I don't know how your could connect wirelessly to a printer without a router.  I purchased a CradlePoint MBR1000 router and have my printer plugged into the router.  My Verizon USB760 modem is also plugged into the router.  I then connect my laptop and my wife's laptop to the router wirelessly.  This gives us both access to the internet and the printer.  When I travel, I can plug the USB760 into my laptop or take the router with me.

This is where I bought my router:  http://moremobileinternet.com/

[gwhnewbie]

O.K. This makes sense.  I told you I'm pretty ignorant.  Thank you, thank you, I now understand. - Solved