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No Data Plan WiFi Phones

Verizon, and for that matter all the cell phone companies, need to start offering smart phones with a WiFi only option that doesn’t require a data plan. I think we have all lost track of how much it’s costing us to use cell phones these days. For and average family of three with smart phones the cost of service is $200 per month. That works out to $2400 per year and of that almost half this cost is the data plan. Since WiFi is almost everywhere, my family would be well served by cell phones with a WiFi only option.

Comments

unknown

You will never get a smartphone with wi-fi only. So you want the carriers to offer smartphones without 3G or 4G radios in them? Does that make sense? Get a tablet if you want a wi-fi only device. Besides Verizon will eventually move everyone to Share Everything and data is part of the plan.

Tazman4u

Yes, Brian68, what I want is for them to offer us choices. Why are we forced to pay for something that we can live without. We don't always need to be checking our Facebook or Twitter accounts at every red light or in the middle of traffic. I do like the functionality of a smartphone when at my office or around my house but I can use my own Wifi network for data. How much are the cell phone companies expecting people to pay for these services? They already charge more than my home phone, cable and internet combined. !!!!

unknown

Tazman4u wrote:
Yes, Brian68, what I want is for them to offer us choices. Why are we forced to pay for something that we can live without. We don't always need to be checking our Facebook or Twitter accounts at every red light or in the middle of traffic. I do like the functionality of a smartphone when at my office or around my house but I can use my own Wifi network for data. How much are the cell phone companies expecting people to pay for these services? They already charge more than my home phone, cable and internet combined. !!!!

Once again you fail to understand your request is not possible. Carriers and phone makers are not going make and offer phones that only have 2G. Even basic phones have 3G radios in them, yet you want a smartphone lacking this? Where is the market in that? What happens when Verizon moves to VoLTE? Or when they refarm their 2G spectrum all together? You're 2G only smartphone will be useless.

mdram4x4

wifi is not almost everywhere

it may be in heavily populated/urban areas

but come out to areas like mine and you will take forever to find a signal

Tazman4u

OK I agree that it is unlikely that the carriers are going to do away with 3G/4G on phone. But like everything else in their world, they can disable the data option and allow those of us who want the functionality of a smartphone without having to pay for all those bullshit data plans they are forcing on us. Again, the point is we need options and better pricing.

Tazman4u

I agree, WiFi is not everywhere. For many areas in the country, if you're like me, you set up a WiFi at your home and use it when there and then at your office or work location. My point is that we need the option of having a choice to use a smartphone with a data plan or not.

sgjgb1

Think about this. My wife doesn't want a smart phone, even with my recently available X2 since I upgraded. So, I gave her my first 8gb Nexus 7 WiFi tablet and she kept her "dumb" phone because al she does is talk and text. Cheap phone, No data plan and a WiFi 7" tablet when she wants to Browse.

I have a 4G Xoom soon to come off of contract and I will shut down that data plan. I will then share my MyGo 4G hotspot across 2 Nexus 7s and the Xoom when out beyond home WiFi range. I can also tether to the Razr Maxx when I need to at no charge because I changed from unlimited on my old X2 to a shared data plan. The #s actually worked out better that way for 6GB data across mostly my devices. I monitor mt data when I travel and if I'm leving too much unused data on the table close to the end of the cycle, I just download a movie from Netflix to burn the excess.

Bottom line is <170/mo for 1 smart phone, 1 Xoom tablet, and one MyGo hot spot, and 1 dumb phone.

It works for me.

unknown

Or if one doesn't want to carry around a 7 inch tablet they can still go to basic phone and just use their old smartphone to do everything but talk and text. The other function still work, the apps still work. You can still download new apps over wi-fi.

montequi

Go to eBay and get yourself an HTC XV6800. It's not quite as thin as modern smartphones, but it's completely customizable, supports Wifi and GPS, and does NOT require a data plan on Verizon. You just have to switch over to it from your current non-smartphone.

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