Home Fusion-LTE Internet Installed is a hotspot on Unlimited!!

[MRAKRAK6530]

I live in a somewhat rural area and like many others use this as home internet. I have had this for about 5 years and with the exception of being data limited, it works VERY well. I was very excited to find that I could move this onto the Unlimited plan and was told that after 22G the data would be "prioritized"...which I thought we could live with. Unfortunately this in not the case at all. The real issue is that Verizon treats LTE Internet Installed Cantennae as a hotspot...even though it is bolted to the side of my home. This means that after 10Gig on the Unlimited plan we are switched over to 3G. The problem with this is that the cantennae is not backward compatible, and will not work with 3G, therefore after 10G our home internet will not work! (Do you know how quickly home internet will reach 10G with a family of 4 !!!) I've called Verizon dozens of times to find out why they would treat my home internet as a hotspot and render it inoperable after 10G. No one had an answer, and they led me to believe that a change in this "hotspot" designation would not be coming anytime soon. I've been loyal and with Verizon Wireless since 1998 and can't believe that I am being treated this way. It just makes NO SENSE to treat this device as a hotspot and to make it not work after 10G....very disappointing.

[ROBWAT39]

You don't seem to be getting our point. WE ARE NOT GETTING 3G SPEEDS!!!! We should be getting at least 600 kbps. When you are getting speeds as low as 100 kbps or less, web pages time out and will not load. What good is that????

If you are paying for internet service, you expect to be able to connect to the internet reliably. If you cannot get the service you are paying for, then Verizon is just taking our money. I would love to find out what the FCC thinks about this.

I think you need to just stay out of this conversation. You are not helping in any way and in fact you are just adding to our frustration.

[BrianDF123]

They can throttle you to "3G Speeds" while still connected to the 4G LTE network.

[MRAKRAK6530]

Of course they can throttle me to 3G and still be connected to LTE....but my point is that doing this with the cantennae makes it impossible to load even the most basic website....and forget about trying to read an email.

Thanks for the comment, but I'm not sure what your point is....

[tboz]

I'm in the exact same situation too & furious!

[vzw_customer_support]

We greatly value your satisfaction and only want the best for you, tboz. Please tell me more about the speeds you are seeing consistently. How much data do you typically use on the device?

YaleK_VZW

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If my response answered your question please click the "Correct Answer" button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[JEFRAN13]

This is straight up False Advertising NOT once was I informed of the 10GB limit when I switched to "Unlimited" I can barely use email and or internet once it was Severely degraded.  You can sugar coat this and talk down to me about this like the rep did when I called to get to the bottom it.  I feel like I was totally had

[mborozny]

We are going through a similar issue in our rural community. When we enrolled in the Unlimited plan on February, we were led to believe that HomeFusion/4G LTE Installed/Cantenna counted as a Line with the 22GB allotment. Weeks later we found out from another Verizon rep that it is considered a mobile hotspot with 10 GB. Today I talked with a rep at our local Verizon store, and he said it counted as 22 GB. We believe we have been misled, and Verizon reps have not been uniformly trained. Our home speed was .11 Mbps today and yesterday. Technical support said they are investigating a problem with Cantenna clients; he rebooted our router and Cantenna. Will see when I return home if this has done anything. The point is that I feel we were seriously misled about the service.

[JRRinNC]

I was also misinformed when switching.  I had the 60GB plan before and thought it was almost too good to be true that I could not go to unlimited AND save about $100 per month.  The Verizon rep specifically told me that for the Home Fusion LTE with Cantenna, that at 22GB I may data would simply be prioritized which meant that I may have less speed during times of heavy traffic, but not until that point.  10GB was never even mentioned.  The first month I went over that limit, but was not slowed down.  Today I just hit the 10GB mark, though, and yes, I was slowed to 3G.  Previously I was getting 4 to 6MBS and now I'm down to 0.4 to 0.6.  This is absurd.  I definitely would NOT have made the switch to this plan if I was told this! 

MRAKRAK6530, thanks for noting Unlimitedville in an earlier post.  I just ordered one of their units to try.  If it works, I'll be paying about a $50 premium (using a different carrier than Verizon) over what I was before for the Verizon 60GB, but that'll be worth it if it is truly unlimited as they make it sound. 

[JRRinNC]

Edit to my last post.  The 0.4 to 0.6 was overly generous.  Ran a couple more speed tests and it looks like I'm actually averaging around 0.05 to 0.2.  Come on, Verizon, this is not good thing. 

[DDJ712]

Has anyone looked at AT&T's unlimited plan to replace Homefusion/LTE Installed? I think they have an internet device that could be used and from what I can tell, they have deprioritization but no throttling. Navigating their site is a challenge though.

[mborozny]

I have had difficulty navigating AT&T's site as well. I visited T-Mobile today; their home device allows up to 22GB before speed reduction according to the rep.

Finally my speed is up around .6 Mbps; marginal for this Google Drive user and web designer.

I'm frustrated that Verizon only revealed the real deal long after the 14-day cancellation window

[DDJ712]

Everything I can find on the website and various forums seems to indicate you can use AT&T's unlimited plan with the Wireless Home Phone & Internet device and the speed isn't "choked," as my 13yo kid described it. Not counting the device, the monthly fee was $95 for the line and the plan. I need to sit down via chat to clarify and get everything in writing but I'm seriously considering this option. I just saw where they're rolling out a fixed wireless system (sounds like cantenna) in rural markets (started in GA) with a data cap of 160GB and a low cost. I'm in AL so that might be available by the EOY.

[JRRinNC]

I just received and connected my Unlimitedville modem today.  I went with their "Pink" plan for $149.  So, it will be a little more than I was paying before on Verizon's 60GB plan, but wow.... never had speeds like this on Verizon.  Averaging 20MBS to 22MBS down and 10-15 up.  I even tested it with several 4K UHD Youtube streams this evening with absolutely NO delays!  I was NEVER able to download a 4K stream off Verizon, plus the Unlimitedville plans are supposedly completely and absolutely unlimited with no caps or slowdowns.  Keep in mind I've only had it a day, but all indications are that this is definitely my answer to Verizon's screw up on their unlimited (but wish I had done it well BEFORE that due to the fantastic speeds!)  Something to consider for the rest of you with the issue.  I'll keep my Verizon unlimited plans for my wife and my cell phones (at least for now) but looks like the HomeFusion will stay disconnected and I'll take it off my contract as soon as possible. 

[mborozny]

JRRinNC, which of the 2 devices did you choose under Unlimitedville's Pink Plan?

[JRRinNC]

I chose the Mofi Sim4 Router.  They charge a bit more for it up front, but it has a much better antenna system and allows for an external antenna if needed (something I thought I'd probably need, but turns out I'm getting a great signal indoors without it).  It also has a hard wire ethernet port.  The other one is basically a mobile hotspot that hasn't been rated well for signal strength, etc., in various reviews on the web.  I've been using this for a couple days now with continued incredible results. 

[MRAKRAK6530]

I went with the same router from Unlimitedville and had very high hopes. My speeds however are worse than Verizons throttled speeds, so unless there is a way to hook the router to my cantenae, I may be sending it back.

[JRRinNC]

MRAKRAK6530, that's too bad.  Were you trying the pink (tied to T-Mobile) plan or one of the others?   Looks like their "red" plan is Verizon's network -- quite a bit more expensive, but they are guaranteeing unlimited.  The Mofi router seems to pull in a great signal, so it seems if you were to go the red plan route, you should be able to get at least close to the cantenae signal.  You can also connect an external antenna to the Mofi router -- say I wonder if you got the red plan if it would work to connect the cantenna to it?  I read that wouldn't work for the other "color" of plans. 

[mborozny]

Thank you, JRRinNC. I am looking at this plan and one of the better plans in 4GCommunity. I'm not sure our Sprint reception is good in our pocket in the woods, though, which makes me lean more toward Unlimitedville with its T-Mobile connectivity.

[ELISTE3]

I'm in sort of the same situation and ticked off too.  I tested the hotspot for a month to see what the throttled speeds were like and was pleased that it dropped to about 2-3 MB/s which was better than the throttled satellite internet speed from Hughes net.  So I cancelled Hughes and now in the second month, and too late to return/cancel throttled 3g speeds are .1-.3  WORSE than Hughes.  I seriously wonder if the month one throttling was intentionally high to get past the 30 day return/cancellation window.

[mborozny]

ELISTE3, I think Verizon's speeds after 10GB were either intentionally high, or they were testing real use before they enforced throttling. Our lowest speeds were about 2.5 Mbps, too.

[SHAMAT97]

I have been done the same way and I was specifically told it would not be considered a mobile hotspot. I have been on the phone with them for over three hours so far and they are not willing to right their wrong at all. How can this be considered mobile when it's bolted to my house. The first two months I had no problem with about 150gb each month now I have a paper weight because it's only getting .01Mbps instead of the 25-30Mbps it was getting. The first customer service rep I talked to after 45 minutes of talking told me he seen in my account where they change the category of the LTE Installed Device  from what it was for a year now to a mobile hotspot the first day of my billing cycle this month. I have told them if this problem is not corrected by 9am CST Monday mornin I'm going to start contacting all my local news outlets to run a story on it. Let's all see if we can't get the lies Verizon has told us on the national news!!!!