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Unlimited LTE War Strategies

Bearly

Android Expert
Apr 12, 2010
1,011
78
So how should I do this?

I'm on a family plan
I can upgrade 5/2012, so about 1 yr from now
I'd like to get on 4G unlimited right now and be grandfathered in
I can use a family member's upgrade right now
That family member doesn't care for 4G

What are my options?

a) buy used Bolt and activate 4G data to my line, using family member's upgrade (sales rep said I wouldn't be put on a new contract just to switch me to LTE plan, because I already have a 3G data plan and the two plans are the same price

b) use family member's upgrade to get an LTE phone that THEY would want to use, use it for now, wait to use my own upgrade for something like the Galaxy S2 or Bionic or whatever sweet LTE phone comes out in the near future

Pro (a&b): Cheaper than buying phone off contract at full retail

Con (a&b): by the time I use my line's upgrade, I'll have to switch to tiered LTE data plans

Scenario A tells me that I can have even a 3G phone (given that I'm on unlimited 3G now) and simply activate a 4G phone even AFTER tiered pricing comes (without renewing contract) and that I could still have unlimited 4G, since my current plan is unlimited.

Any thoughts? For some reason I am getting confused on what to do. It seems like it'll boil down to whether I want to pay more for a phone (off contract) or whether I want to burn any upgrade and lock in LTE.

Sound right? Would love some input from everyone!
 
So how should I do this?

I'm on a family plan
I can upgrade 5/2012, so about 1 yr from now
I'd like to get on 4G unlimited right now and be grandfathered in
I can use a family member's upgrade right now
That family member doesn't care for 4G

What are my options?

a) buy used Bolt and activate 4G data to my line, using family member's upgrade (sales rep said I wouldn't be put on a new contract just to switch me to LTE plan, because I already have a 3G data plan and the two plans are the same price

b) use family member's upgrade to get an LTE phone that THEY would want to use, use it for now, wait to use my own upgrade for something like the Galaxy S2 or Bionic or whatever sweet LTE phone comes out in the near future

Pro (a&b): Cheaper than buying phone off contract at full retail

Con (a&b): by the time I use my line's upgrade, I'll have to switch to tiered LTE data plans

Scenario A tells me that I can have even a 3G phone (given that I'm on unlimited 3G now) and simply activate a 4G phone even AFTER tiered pricing comes (without renewing contract) and that I could still have unlimited 4G, since my current plan is unlimited.

Any thoughts? For some reason I am getting confused on what to do. It seems like it'll boil down to whether I want to pay more for a phone (off contract) or whether I want to burn any upgrade and lock in LTE.

Sound right? Would love some input from everyone!

You could always add another line to your family plan. Switch your current line to a dumb phone plan and pay the $10.00 per month until the contract is up on your line. So, that would be $120.00 for the balance of your current contract. At that point, I would purchase a 4G phone from Costco (because they have 90 day return policy) and hope SGSII, Bionic or any other 2 gen LTE phone comes out. You would have to pick up a non-smart phone because I don't believe verizon will allow you to have a line with out equipment.
 
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You could always add another line to your family plan. Switch your current line to a dumb phone plan and pay the $10.00 per month until the contract is up on your line. So, that would be $120.00 for the balance of your current contract. At that point, I would purchase a 4G phone from Costco (because they have 90 day return policy) and hope SGSII, Bionic or any other 2 gen LTE phone comes out. You would have to pick up a non-smart phone because I don't believe verizon will allow you to have a line with out equipment.

So you're suggesting I:

1) add new line to get discount for "new contract"
2) pay $10/mo until upgrade on MY line comes up (end of contract, 5/2012)
3) Swap my number to the new line and let current contract end

Right?

Question:

If I add a new line, do I HAVE to use the discount immediately, or can I activate an old VZW dumb phone and "save" the discount/upgrade for later?

Should I use the discount to add a new line, get the TB free (from Amazon Wireless, rumored Memorial Day special), use my own upgrade in May 2012 to get a new dual core LTE phone (what I want), then swap the lines and maintain my current unlimited 4G data plan?

Sound good?

Jedii,

Thanks a ton! I may PM you one more time :)
 
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If you add the line, yes you can use whatever device you choose and then upgrade later on. But would that do you any good right now? Since you already have an eligible line?

So I should use my family member's upgrade to get the unlimited 4G data right now (say, the TB from Amazon), then use my own upgrade in May 2012 to get a 4G phone that I want, handing down the phone I'd be getting right now with the other person's upgrade?

Is that what you mean?

I want unlimited 4G and either the Bionic or SGS2 or something dual core and LTE, which will likely come out after the tiered plans arrive. Basically, if

$120 (cost of new line for 12 months @ $10/mo) plus cost of new-contract-discounted phone
>
Cost of phone using sister's upgrade...

Well, I'd take the option that costs less, right?

And I think adding a new line would be cheaper than using my sister's upgrade, because discount is greater for a new contract vs. upgrade.
 
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Thats what I would do *upgrade the line*. I totally get the fact that you are wanting the best of both worlds (dual core and LTE) which will happen....but like you said, probably after tiered plans.

So, my advice....lock in now why you for sure can get unlimited LTE data plan. Always better to be safe than sorry. That being said, it may be worth it just to upgrade now, get the unlimited plan, then if the Bionic comes out you could always sell your TB and purchase the Bionic out right.

I know thats a lot of hassle, but you will for SURE have unlimited.
 
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What I'm thinking of doing is the following- ask VZ for the unlimited 4G LTE when it's time to upgrade.

Sound laughable? I've been with them for about a decade now. And I'm not a data whore. I don't think it's something entirely out of the question to ask for it. It's not a sure thing, but I"m not going to buy a new phone just for LTE or a second account for it. Prices will drop eventually.
 
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What I'm thinking of doing is the following- ask VZ for the unlimited 4G LTE when it's time to upgrade.

Sound laughable? I've been with them for about a decade now. And I'm not a data whore. I don't think it's something entirely out of the question to ask for it. It's not a sure thing, but I"m not going to buy a new phone just for LTE or a second account for it. Prices will drop eventually.

Probably will not work. If they have done away with the feature code, then it will not be available to add no matter how nicely you ask. Sorry.
 
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Probably will not work. If they have done away with the feature code, then it will not be available to add no matter how nicely you ask. Sorry.

You are exactly right. Its the same way with AT&T and their old unlimited plan. Now, I'm no longer employed at Verizon, but when I worked there (even as a store manager), if a feature code was removed....there was absolutely no way to get it back.
 
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I called Verizon and confirmed something that I wasn't aware of:

Unlimited data is unlimited data; the feature code makes NO distinction between 3G and 4G.

I could keep my unlimited 3G right now and buy a 4G device off contract at a MUCH later date...and still be grandfathered into to unlimited 4G when I activate the 4G device (because I have unlimited 3G data now).

I wasn't aware of this; I thought 3G was different than 4G, in terms of how the system sees the data plan.

Just a heads up. And yes, I made the CSR put "notes" on my file that she looked this up for me and confirmed it.
 
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I called Verizon and confirmed something that I wasn't aware of:

Unlimited data is unlimited data; the feature code makes NO distinction between 3G and 4G.

I could keep my unlimited 3G right now and buy a 4G device off contract at a MUCH later date...and still be grandfathered into to unlimited 4G when I activate the 4G device (because I have unlimited 3G data now).

I wasn't aware of this; I thought 3G was different than 4G, in terms of how the system sees the data plan.

Just a heads up. And yes, I made the CSR put "notes" on my file that she looked this up for me and confirmed it.
I hope you are right. This wouldn't be the first time Verizon said something was one way and later changes it.
 
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I hope you are right. This wouldn't be the first time Verizon said something was one way and later changes it.

I hope I'm right, too!

I called and had her add a note to my account, confirming our conversation. I will call again and see if another CSR will be able to read back that note to me.

An in-store rep had said the same thing, but they're usually unreliable when it comes to this stuff.

I may just hold off on the Bolt if this is true. Looks like we'll get the Bionic before tiered data is introduced.
 
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I hope I'm right, too!

I called and had her add a note to my account, confirming our conversation. I will call again and see if another CSR will be able to read back that note to me.

An in-store rep had said the same thing, but they're usually unreliable when it comes to this stuff.

I may just hold off on the Bolt if this is true. Looks like we'll get the Bionic before tiered data is introduced.

That's awesome news actually. If it's true, you could get an Incredible or something for really cheap, and then buy the Bionic off contract later on.
 
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Sounds like you are covered.

But I wanted to post in regard to the idea of adding a line to the family plan that was suggested. That idea will certainly work, but the problem is that you will not be able to retain your original phone number if you want to let the contract run out in a year. Let me summarize, you already have a phone with phone #A, you add another line and get phone #B. You continue to use phone #A on physical phone B, (by having Verizon switch the phones around), but want to drop Phone A when the contact is up and keep Phone B because it is still under contract.

Verizon will not let you port a phone number to a phone that already has service. So there is no way to retain Phone #A unless you keep the service. If you drop the service, you cannot drop phone #B and replace it with phone #A.

Now you can always use Google Voice or a similar service and give people that unique phone number and it won't matter what the Verizon phone number is. But if you are one of the many people that want to use the physical phone number for texting and talking rather than using a Google phone number, then there is no way for that idea to work.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it important to spell everything out so you are not caught off guard in 12 months trying to switch phone numbers.
 
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