Author Topic: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!  (Read 5864 times)

ZiziPB

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Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« on: November 19, 2014, 12:35:40 PM »
I am finally ready to divorce Verizon and move to a lower cost provider.  We have two lines, one is a year into a contract, one is month to month.  Galaxy sIII and iPhone 4s.  One line is my daughter's who is away at university abroad so she only needs service for a month or so in the winter and 2-3 months in the summer when she is back home (I typically suspend her service when she is away but that means that her 2 year contract is extended - that's why we still have 12 months left on it).  I need service all year round but am a very low usage person overall and use wifi at home and at work.  I would prefer to keep the existing phones. 

What would you recommend?

BarkyardBQ

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2014, 01:04:00 PM »
We just recently switched from Verizon to PagePlus, awesome service, no contract. PagePlus uses the Verizon network. Search the forums for Communications threads or keywords like Republic Wireless, Page Plus, and Ting.

Wife and I just got our phones in June and August, switching cost us $630 in cancellation fees, but we got to keep our new iPhones (4 & 5). The savings is $60/month. We can make up the cancellation fee in less than a year and invest the difference right now.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2014, 01:05:55 PM by zdravé »

RunHappy

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2014, 02:17:21 PM »
can you get rid of your phone and line, use your daughters, then get your daughter a prepaid phone for those 3 months a year she is home?

ZiziPB

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2014, 02:18:43 PM »
Thanks, zdrave!  What are the logistics?  Do you cancel your contract with Verizon first and then mover over to Page Plus?  Or the reverse?

ZiziPB

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2014, 02:23:49 PM »
can you get rid of your phone and line, use your daughters, then get your daughter a prepaid phone for those 3 months a year she is home?

Hmm, I have to look into that.  Not sure if that would work. She has the Galaxy phone which she uses when she is abroad (with a local SIM card).  I have the iPhone out of contract now.  I'm thinking that maybe I can just cancel the Verizon contract, get myself on the lowest Page Plus service plan and have her on Page Plus on pay-as-you-go arrangement?

Shade00

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2014, 03:11:02 PM »
The Galaxy SIII will not work on Page Plus's Pay-as-you-go without being flashed, which can be done, but will cost extra from a flashing service.

The iPhone 4s could be activated on any number of low cost plans with Page Plus or Selectel Wireless. It will activate just fine over-the-air. Page Plus has a $12 plan with 250 minutes/250 texts/10mb of data for $12. Selectel Wireless, another Verizon MVNO has a plan that will give you 2000 minutes/2000 texts good for a whole year for only $75. Page Plus has a similar $80 plan but that only gives you 2000 minutes and no texts - not sure if that matters.

The Galaxy SIII could work on a GSM provider like AT&T or T-Mobile or their MVNOs, but data speeds will be limited. If your daughter only uses the phone for talk and/or text, that shouldn't be an issue. I think H20 Wireless has some sort of pay-as-you-go that lets you keep the phone active with $10 every 90 days or something.

EDITED TO ADD: Flashing the Galaxy SIII to work on Page Plus will likely also prevent her from using it abroad without breaking the flash.

BarkyardBQ

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2014, 03:34:22 PM »
Thanks, zdrave!  What are the logistics?  Do you cancel your contract with Verizon first and then mover over to Page Plus?  Or the reverse?

Shade00's info is good.

You have call PagePlus and setup the plan/account and give them the device number, they will port the phone and then it will take 1-3 hours to complete at which point you will no longer be able to use your number as a Verizon customer/login to the 611 or website by the number. My iPhone 4 worked seamlessly and was complete in a morning.

Wife's iPhone 5 required buying a PagePlus LTE Sim Card.

Once you port the numbers for any phones you want to keep, then call Verizon and cancel.

ZiziPB

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Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2014, 04:37:16 PM »
Shade00, thank you for the very helpful info. Would her phone work with the $12 plan on page plus?
She texts her friends when she's home so the Selectel plan may be good. I will check it out.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2014, 04:41:00 PM by ZiziPB »

ZiziPB

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #8 on: November 19, 2014, 04:38:25 PM »
Zdrave, thank you for the additional info!

Philo Beddoe

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2014, 07:31:33 PM »
I was in your shoes about a year ago. I had been a long time Verizon user and my discounted rate was $91 per month with my iPhone. Thanks to Mr. M, I discovered Ting and decided to take the plunge once my contract was up.

First let me say that nobody beats Verizon's coverage...at least for me in Northern California. That being said, I too am a low user...I text a lot and I use internet and calling much less.

Ting is an MVNO (mobile virtual network provider) that leases from Sprint. I had tried Sprint in the past and wasn't too pleased. But, I wanted to save money. After a year of usage, I can say Sprint's coverage is not quite as good in my area....but I love having a phone bill in the $15 to $30 range for an iPhone.

Some things you should be aware of: Ting charges you based on your usage. There are no nights and weekends, no friends and family who you can call for free, none of that. Instead you will pay for usage based on tiers. For example, if you use 100 or fewer minutes on the phone, you pay $3....if you use between 101 and 500 minutes you pay $9 per month....and it resets every month. It's pretty cool.

Like I said, I text a lot. Everyone I know uses iPhones....one cool feature of iPhones is iMessage. These "texts" are actually sent via data (very tiny bits of data.) I can make 1000 iMessages per month for very little data usage. BUT....if you are coming from Verizon and let's say you text a lot too but you and your contacts don't use an iPhone....you will be charged based on the number of texts you send and receive. Example: if you send/receive 100 or fewer texts you pay $3 per month. If you send/receive 1000 texts or fewer you pay $5. And again it resets every month. The important thing to remember is that coming from a plan where you get unlimited texting, Ting is a bit different.

To save on minutes, whenever I am at home on wifi I use the Google Hangouts app to make VOIP calls. It works brilliantly.

Ting is not for everyone. I don't think huge data users would benefit. Also, I feel data speeds were a bit higher with Verizon, but that could just be my area.

One final note....the best thing about Ting (and this is so ODD!) is when you call customer service a human answers. Every time! And not after inputting a few prompts...a human answers within the first few rings. They are very helpful and have always been able to sort out any questions I had.

No I don't work for Ting. I just wanted to share my two cents. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Check them out here:

https://zds93l1p424.ting.com/


Shade00

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2014, 09:18:20 PM »
Shade00, thank you for the very helpful info. Would her phone work with the $12 plan on page plus?
She texts her friends when she's home so the Selectel plan may be good. I will check it out.

It will if it is "flashed" to work on Page Plus 3G. Page Plus has limited the use of 4G phones like the Galaxy SIII to monthly plans at $29.95 or higher. There are several flashers around the web - Viper32 is active on Howardforums and is well-respected. Note that flashing it to Page Plus 3G *may* render the phone unusable on a GSM provider without breaking the flash, which could be problematic. I don't think you can use flashed phones on Selectel anymore, unfortunately.

You could consider buying a Net10 Motorola Moto E phone for $79.99 at Best Buy. It is a terrific little phone and would activate fine on the Page Plus or Selectel annual or $12 plans.

ZiziPB

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Re: Finally ready to drop Verizon Wireless - Help!
« Reply #11 on: November 20, 2014, 07:49:29 AM »
Thank you all for the additional info.  Lots to digest.  I think for me the $12 Page Plus plan will be a no brainer.  I just need to figure out the best arrangement for my daughter.