Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with verizon

What phone should I buy?

Snarl Furillo — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 13:54:15 -0800

Is a several-years old (2009-2010 era) smartphone worth $30 on eBay? My trusty Verizon dumbphone has given up the ghost after several years of honorable service. I'm thinking about making the smartphone jump and figured I would buy a cheap used dumbphone on eBay to last a few months until the new iPhone comes out in the fall, and then I could make a more permanent decision about a phone.

But then I saw that you can get older smartphones on eBay for about what I was going to spend, and thought maybe it would be nice. But also maybe it would be terrible since they are old and slow and their firmware isn't supported anymore...?

I basically want to make calls, text, and maybe take pictures and text them to my mom. It would be nice to play games, I guess?

Okay, tell me if one of these old guys would make me happy or if I should just get a clamshell. I will do what you tell me.

random weird smartphone texting conundrum of random weirdness

thereemix — Fri, 17 May 2013 08:40:57 -0800

My friend keeps getting a text from my number, but I actually haven't sent said text. What is going on? My friend just let me know that he keeps getting a text from my number telling him "not to bring [his] gun today." He says that it only pops up as an alert - as in he sees his phone vibrate and in the alert/preview bar at the top of his screen it says "text from thereemix: don't bring your gun today" - but then when he opens the text messaging app on his phone and looks at the texts from me, it doesn't actually show there. (I hope that makes sense.) He says it's happened about 4 times over the past few days.

He figured at first that it was an old text that just got caught in space (or however it works, I'm woefully ignorant about phone/texting functionality), but then realized that even this is odd, because I have never sent him such a text. Ever. In fact, I don't think I've ever texted anyone about guns. Ever. Guns just aren't something I text or even talk about, really.

(I mean, certainly, I don't think it's a good idea to bring a gun to the office, but I don't generally remind people of such things via text that seem so patently obvious. Also, he doesn't even own a gun.)

So this is just all kinds of weird. I figure I should contact Verizon since I don't want him or any of my other phone contacts to be getting alarming texts that I don't send... but why is this happening?

If it matters, his phone is an HTC something or other (not sure exactly which model but it's about three years old) and mine is a brand new Samsung Galaxy Nexus. We both use Verizon as our carrier.

What's the deal? Anyone have any ideas?

T-Mobile: Stay or Go?/iPhone or No?

Xalf — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 08:33:13 -0800

I have had a reasonably happy relationship with my T-Mobile G2 (aka HTC Desire Z) these past two years, but my contract is up, and I have long coveted the iPhone, mostly based on its picture taking and video chatting capabilities. Should I just get one and take advantage of T-Mobile's new pricing? Or should I jump to a new carrier? An attempt to make this less open-ended is inside. I have been a T-Mo customer nearly as long as I've had a cell phone, and I really do like their service and pricing, especially the new scheme. I rarely make calls, but quality is normally fine. My impression is that my data service is slower than other carriers, but I don't really know how to judge what difference a new carrier and a new phone would make. I spend most of my time in Washington, DC and always have pretty good reception. So here is the main question:

How can I tell how much faster things would be if I switched to AT&T or Verizon?

Bonus overthinking about whether iPhone is right for me: I am happy with Android, but I don't consider it a member of my family. Also, I'm pissed at Google over killing Reader (which I do consider to be a family member). I mostly use the phone for web browsing, email, Facebook, NYT, and podcasts (using doggcatcher). It is rarely convenient for me to sync the phone with a desktop - would that impact my iPhone experience? I am willing to consider hot new Android phones, but I am not crazy about how enormous they are. And I like the idea of being able to use FaceTime with friends and family who also have iPhones.

Goodbye, NYC!

Chocolate Pickle — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 18:41:47 -0800

I have an HTC Droid DNA (aka HTC Butterfly, running Android 4.1) and it came with a lot of useful apps. In particular the World Clock and the Accuweather apps are very useful. I have figured out how to add cities to the drop-down menu for those apps, but I can't figure out how to delete them. They both came initially set to NYC, and sorry but I don't care about the weather in Gotham and I want it off both of the menus. I thought that press-and-hold would give me a popup-menu, but it doesn't. I thought maybe I could drag it to somewhere and delete it, but it won't drag. I've found places where I can rearrange the order of the items in the menu, but there isn't anything that suggests a way of deleting one of them. How do you do it?

Can I upgrade without activating on Verizon?

jozxyqk — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:32:03 -0800

I have not been able to find a definitive answer on this question. If I am eligible for an upgrade on my Verizon mobile phone, can I buy a new phone at upgrade price without activating it? If not, what is the minimum amount of time it needs to be activated? My wife and I share a mobile phone plan on Verizon.
Both of our upgrade dates are coming up within the next couple of months, but she is not interested in upgrading her phone (for reasons outside the scope of this question).

What I'm hoping to be able to do is use the "first" upgrade to get a phone at upgrade price, keep it in a sealed box, and sell it or give it as a gift.
Then use the "second" upgrade to get my actual new phone.
I could wait until both of the upgrades are available and do it all-at-once, or I could wait a few months between the steps.

My current phone is a Galaxy Nexus, so as far as I know, the "activate" step is just swapping the SIM card into the new phone (I could also be wrong about this).

So can I do it? Online and/or in the store?

If I can't, and I have to do a token activation of the new phone, what is the minimum amount of time that the phone has to be activated before I can swap my SIM back?

SIM Card needed while traveling from US to Belize - suggestions please

Jackie_Treehorn — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 06:06:32 -0800

I'll be traveling to Belize this summer and would like to use my Verizon iPhone 4s, which I will have unlocked from Verizon by that time, for local voice and data calls. I'll I plan on using Talkatone for making wifi only calls back to the US as well as using the data part from the SIM Card to text back to the US while I'm there. It would be nice to be able to purchase a SIM Card here in the States before traveling, but I'm not against purchasing a SIM Card at or near BZE Airport when we arrive. Thank you for your time. I do appreciate it.

Why is my Verizon DSL so slow?

mnemonic — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:46:20 -0800

My Verizon DSL is peaking at about 1 mbit/s. Our plan should be providing 1.1-15. Why is my internet so much slower than expected? Given that youtube.com/my_speed shows many people on my ISP are getting much higher speeds. I'm wondering if it's due to my setup: Linksys WRT54G running the latest Tomato firmware, while I'm on a MacBook Air using wifi. The (WPA protected) wifi is shared with my roommate, and I administrate the router/AP and can view any clients connected to the network and the bandwidth usage. It's just me on there usually, and it's always this slow. Sooo what could it be?

I would like an iPhone for Christmas, please.

kingfishers catch fire — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:22:34 -0800

I would like to get an iPhone and have some questions about the cheapest way to do so. Questions about Verizon within. I am currently on my parents' old Verizon family plan. All of us have texting, but no data, on the free phones Verizon seems to give us every two years. I assume this means we're grandfathered into one of Verizon's old family plans, because the Share Everything plan doesn't seem to work quite the same. My parents last renewed our two year contract in August.

I can finally afford the monthly bill for an iPhone, and I would like to get one. What is the best way I can do that without knocking my parents out of their Verizon plan? I've been looking at the Verizon website to see whether I could just upgrade my phone without affecting theirs, but it doesn't seem like I can. Upgrading in the middle of their two year contract also seems exorbitantly expensive.

Would it be cheaper for me just to get my own phone plan with two year contract? I really want to keep my phone number.

Any help would be appreciated!

Which network should I pick for the iPhone 5

enn — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:30:29 -0800

I am thinking of getting an iPhone 5, and I'd like help deciding between AT&T and Verizon, in Chicago. From what I understand, with the iPhone 4, Verizon was universally acknowledged to have better service here.

However, with the 5, AT&T will fall back to HSPA+ when 4G is not available, vs Verizon which will fall back to the much slower 3G. I also hear things about how Verizon's 4G service is rapidly getting worse as the network grows more saturated.

My question is, how big a deal are these things in practice?

I have had really annoying service issues with my AT&T iPhone 4—lots of places around the city (particularly around Uptown/Ravenswood) where I can't load any web pages at all, even though I might have a bar or two. I frequently fall back to EDGE. Because of this, my first inclination is to try switching to Verizon. However, the above-mentioned factors have given me pause.

I'd especially like to hear from anyone who has personal experience with the iPhone 5 on both networks.

How to manage the logistics of a cellphone provider switch? Added Difficulty: Christmas Gift

Rock Steady — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 05:54:21 -0800

We are switching from AT&T cell phone to service to Verizon, and I'd like to perform the switch smoothly while also using one of the new phones as a Christmas gift. Your advice on the proper procedure would be welcome. We are going to be adding my family's three lines of service onto my parents' two lines of service (so we can split the data cost more efficiently) and porting our existing numbers in the process. As part of that switchover, we will be upgrading my daughter to an iPhone, and we'd like that phone to be one of the gifts she unwraps on Christmas morning.

How can we allow her to continue using her AT&T dumbphone right up until Christmas (or at least within a day or two of the holiday) and the switch over seamlessly to the new iPhone once it is unwrapped?

I'm willing to lose a few bucks on the transfer, so if it means temporarily porting her number to a "burner" cellphone that could work, if that is feasible when going to Verizon.

Any ideas?

In which I reveal my ignorance about the cell phone landscape...

ersatzkat — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:10:02 -0800

My husband has a phone I'd like to replace as a gift for him, and I want to be sure I understand what I'm getting into. My husband has a fairly new (4 months old?) Samsung Galaxy III. Something horrid happened to it and I'd like to replace it for him. He bought it through Amazon Mobile and we added it to our Verizon account. Replacement is not covered, so I'd like to just order this for him. Is there any difference at all between the "bought it for a specific carrier" phone and the "international unlocked phone" besides price and unlocked-ness?

Buying a Phone on eBay?

jamesdtj — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 12:18:20 -0800

How to go about buying a phone on eBay, and installing your current sims card yourself? I'm looking into buying a phone on eBay (a smart phone, an iphone, etc) and transferring the sims card from my current one to the new one. Would that work? Would my contacts and what not transfer over? Would I have any problems with the cell phone company (Verizon, in this case)?
Basically, I want to keep going my current contract but get a new phone. So if I buy a new one on eBay instead of buying one from Verizon directly, and install the sims card from my current phone myself, would I be good to go, or would problems arise?
Also, is buying a phone on eBay even a good idea in the first place?
Any info would be very much appreciated.

How bitterly should I cling to my unlimited data plan?

escabeche — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 08:04:33 -0800

How strongly should I feel about hanging on to my grandfathered AT&T unlimited data plan? It's time for a new phone contract. I currently have the $30/mo. unlimited AT&T plan on my iPhone 3g, and my wife has a non-smartphone. With the renewal, I'll upgrade both phones on the line to smartphones (probably an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S.)

There are various ways I can do this. I can keep my current unlmiited plan and add a 300MB/mo data plan for my wife's phone; this will total $110/month.

On the other hand, if I junk my current plan and go with one of the new shared tiered plans, I could get 1GB/month shared between both phones for $130 on either Verizon or AT&T, or 4GB/month for $150.

Why would I even be considering paying more money for capped data usage? 1) Verizon has LTE here in Madison, and AT&T doesn't -- presumably they will someday but it's not clear how near-term that is. Switching to Verizon means giving up the unlmiited plan. 2) The unlimited plan doesn't allow tethering, which sounds like it would be useful, since my laptop is the device I actually like using and I'm often in places with no wi-fi signal; and 3) looking back at my usage pattern, I have never used more than 330MB of data in a month, and am almost always below 200 MB. I use my phone mostly for receiving e-mail, web surfing, and podcast listening, but seldom or never stream movies or music. (Listening to baseball games on MLB AtBat is probably my heaviest data usage.) So it's not clear to me that "unlimited" and "1GB" are meaningfully different for us.

Relevant questions, then, are:

a) If you switched from an older, slower phone like an iPhone 3G to a newer, faster one, how much did your data usage increase? Is 1GB/month actually a low limit with a 2012 phone? What about 4GB/month? (It sounds like my "unlimited" data plan would throttle to painful slowness after 5GB anyway, so it's not clear how unlimited it actually is.) What are people who use 5GB per month doing -- is the primary load coming from streaming video, or are there other data-intensive practices that I haven't thought of and that I'll want to use once I have a phone that can handle them?

b) How much am I going to notice the difference between HSPA+ (which is what AT&T now offers in Madison) and LTE? (I assume both will be notably faster than the 3G I'm using now?)

c) How much should I care whether I can tether? It is certainly not uncommon for me to find that I wish I had a wi-fi signal so I could e.g. send someone a file that's on my laptop, or get all my current e-mail into my OS/X mail app so that I can answer it with a real keyboard instead of a touchscreen. (In other words, it's not my practice to use my phone as my primary work device and I don't think it's likely I'll adopt this practice, even with an updated phone.)

d) Am I right that this entire question is completely independent of the question of whether to stay with iPhone or switch to Android? (e.g. I am sort of vaguely aware that there's an entirely different approach which I don't really understand involving Android phone + Straight Talk + Google Voice.)

My cell phone is a very expensive paperweight.

silverstatue — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:57:34 -0800

Should I get a new phone? And if yes... which one? I'm at wits end with my stupid cellphone.

I have a Droid 4 and it used to be great. THEN, the operating system updated on all droids, and suddenly my phone is virtually useless. The battery life went down to maybe a tenth of what it was. I disabled almost everything, I had a factory reset done, I went to every verizon store I could find and called customer service at least a dozen times, and no one could help me. Finally, Verizon sent me a whole new Droid 4 and..... it's just as bad. I charge my phone to 100%, make maybe 30 minutes of phone calls, send 2 or 3 txts, and it's at 0%. I'm afraid to touch the thing. It literally drops 10% every time I touch it, even if it's just to check the time on the screen.

I finally got a higher up in customer service and they said if I'm truly fed up with the Droid 4, they can MAYBE replace it with a whole different model of phone. OR they could try to put in an "extended battery" or keep tinkering with what I have. But I'm afraid that the extended battery still won't be good enough and I can't imagine anything else they could possibly try on this thing, so I'm leaning towards getting a whole new something.

SO..... what cell phone out there (for verizon) gets the absolute best battery? Supposedly the Droid Razr gets 22 hours talk time which sounds great. But then, they claim the Droid 4 gets 12 hours talk time, which is... very not true. So I can't believe any of Verizon's press. Anyone have personal anecdotes?

Or should I just keep fighting to fix what I have? I really do love the slide out keyboard on the Droid 4. But I would sacrifice that to have a phone I can actually USE. Help!

ET, phone...someone else?

troika — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 08:53:45 -0800

My phone wasn't working this morning because someone had activated another phone using the same number. Is this a scam? How do I protect myself? This morning my phone, an iphone 4s, wouldn't connect to anything other than wifi. I called Verizon to see what's up and the technician, who was very helpful, asked me if I had filed a claim on a lost phone with the insurance company. I hadn't. It appears as though someone had filed a claim for a replacement phone and it was somehow activated using my phone number. The tech said this was probably due to a typing error someone along the line, someone (whether the user, the insurance company, or Verizon) had accidentally entered my number instead of the correct number.

Is that something that could reasonably happen, or am I on the receiving end of a scam?

at&t vs. verizon for iphone in bay area?

roxie110 — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:34:23 -0800

Should I choose ATT or Verizon for iPhone in San Francisco/Bay Area? my flipphone is finally on its last legs and i've never had a smartphone. i'm probably going to get the new iphone (5). i've been with att forever but don't have any contract obligations.

i keep hearing mixed things about verizon vs. att and would love any current information/input/advice on service in the bay area, and about any features that might make one company a better choice than the other. i live in 94117 (north of the panhandle). thank you!

I'll pay you to NOT have a phone number.

InsanePenguin — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:07:19 -0800

El Sabor just posted an iPhone pre-order question, but I've got snowflakes. Please help! My wife and I want to switch from T-Mobile to Verizon and pre-order the iPhone 5 tomorrow. However, until the end of October, our ETFs are $200/line. After that they drop to $100/line, which I'm willing to pay. My current phone is broken, so I'm without a phone until we get our iPhones, which makes this difficult.

My plan is to:

1) Pre-order the iPhone 5 tomorrow
2) Port our old numbers over to Verizon
3) Drop our T-mobile service to the lowest tier that we can ($60)
4) Use the new phones on Verizon while continuing to pay the T-Mobile bill for a month, then cancel at the reduced ETF in November.

Anyone know if this will work? I feel like it can't, because T-Mobile will require two numbers on the account to let me keep paying them for a month. If this won't work....what's the best solution, in your mind? Keep in mind that I don't have a phone until I can get the iPhone.

Want iphone carrier suggestions

udon — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:35:03 -0800

I got an IPhone so that I can play games while at dialysis to pass the time with. I chose AT&T because GSM network friendly phone can be unlocked and used on ANY GSM network carriers. I got mine unlocked and currently using a Simple Mobile plan which gives unlimited voice/text/data for only $40. A Verizon unlocked Iphone can only be used with international GSM networks (see this link explaining that: GSM Iphone vs CDMA. So that was the reasoning on choosing ATT. My unexpected dilemma is GSM (ATT, TMobile, Simple) does not work at my dialysis center. And I get spotty signal at work depending what part of the building I am in. So I just don't get calls when at dialysis or work. I have to forward the calls to my work phone. My question is if I switched to a Verizon Iphone. Can anyone suggest a plan that is around that $40 amount. I really don't use the phone that much for calls (between 100-200 mins a month). I don't really need text, because I use google voice for that. Having DATA is the important thing. I need the data to play games and access google voice.
Forwarding the calls to my work Blackberry has been a work around, but I don't know how much long I will have it. Thinking about finding another job.
Can you think of another solution? Would a cell tower booster be a good option so that I can just stay on my current plan?

The number you have reached.....

miss-lapin — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:20:54 -0800

I blocked a phone number thinking it would you know prevent someone from calling me. I've since seen on various forums (like ask yahoo) that the call will go through but will show up on my phone as "blocked number." Is that true? So I blocked my ex's number last week on my phone thinking it would stop him from being able to call. I have an iPhone through Verizon and I blocked his number for 90 days. Since then both friends and online forums have said the call will go through but come up as blocked number or a private caller. Of course, there are others who say "no, no it won't." Verizon was predictably useless. I'm pretty ok with either thing happening, but I would like to know what to expect.

I need a phone to hold me over until my upgrade on Verizon

msbrauer — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:07:13 -0800

I need a Verizon phone to carry me over until the new iphone release. What's a decent cheap phone to get without doing the contract renewal or using up my upgrade? My 2-year-old smart phone's screen has died. It's an LG Ally. I want to wait to get a new phone (using my upgrade credit and contract renewal) until the new iphone comes out next month. How can I get a phone (smart phone or other phone) to work on Verizon to hold me over for the month. What can I do? Is it possible to buy a used phone or a cheap phone and get it activated on my existing contract until the new iphone comes out?

I am not interested in other recommendations for phones to use with my upgrade/renewal. I just need a phone to hold me over until the new iphone comes out, and I realize it might be longer than a month before I can actually get the iphone.

Verizon versus Time Warner, go!

Mooseli — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:20:42 -0800

Do any of you New York-area mefites have an opinion on Verizon versus Time Warner for internet? We don't care about cable since we're granola-loving TV-haters, but I work from home so a reliable connection is 100% necessary. Also, if anyone knows and loves a different company in the area (we're in Brooklyn), then that is welcome information, as well.

Thanks!

I could use smoke signals. Those are wireless.

Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:16:18 -0800

My Internet connection is terrible. All efforts at tech support have failed. Could switching companies fix the problem? Details inside. My home connection uses Verizon's FiOS fiber-optic service. It's great when it's working, but whenever I do anything that requires a constant stream of data – downloading large files, playing a game online, uploading my music to Google - the connection is likely to drop out, and nothing other than rebooting or power-cycling the model (which is also my wireless router) will get it back. The weird thing is that neither the modem nor my computer “knows” the connection is gone – the PC reports that it has Internet access, and the “Internet” light on the modem remains green.

Verizon has sent me two new modems, one of which was a completely different model. They've sent a tech out to examine the lines and on-site hardware; he replaced the box that connects the house to the network. Nothing makes a difference. At this point, the company is blaming the fact that I and my upstairs neighbor (I live downstairs in a split-level home) each have a separate Internet connection and wireless network; they think the two are interfering with each other somehow. Both of us connect through FiOS; the house has two separate lines going into it. But that doesn't make sense to me: If this setup, where people living on different floors of the same structure each have their own Internet connections and modems, disrupted service so dramatically, then it would be impossible to get a personal Interweb connection in an apartment building. And yet that is possible. Maybe it's something specific to FiOS?

(And it's not just the wireless; my desktop is connected to the modem by Ethernet cable, and it's equally affected)

At this point I've pretty much given up on Verizon fixing the problem and would like to switch carriers. It doesn't help that they charge me sixty bucks a month to not be able to play Diablo or upload my music anymore. My question is: if there really is some disruption coming from my neighbor's connection, is switching to cable Internet likely to avoid that disruption? I'd gladly go back to DSL if I could, but that's not an option in my area.

Repeated calls from foreign telemarketer to cell. No way to stop them!

grammalvsu — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:08:29 -0800

I've been receiving calls every few days for the past few months from a company trying to sell me prescription drugs from India. I've tried telling them to please stop calling, putting them on donotcall.gov, filing a complaint with the FCC, and even complaining to Washington state which seems to be where the calls are routed from domestically. None of these have worked so far...though that isn't too surprising. What does surprise me is that I'm unable to even put a block on the number because it has a 3 digit int'l prefix and Verizon's system for blocking can only handle 10 digit numbers! The number reads on 001-206-337-3269 on my phone. Pretty frustrating. Any other ideas? thanks!

Are there any good Verizon android phones that are similar in size to the iphone?

Kolath — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 21:02:25 -0800

Are there any good Verizon android phones that are similar in size to the iphone? I have loved my palm pre plus for the past 2 years, but with 3 days to go to get a subsidized upgrade from Verizon while keeping my unlimited data plan, it's time for a new phone. I need to stick with Verizon because my family has several other lines going. I want an android because I don't like being locked into the Apple universe and I would like LTE. That said, coming from a Palm Pre, all the latest Android phones seem HUGE in comparison.

I am a guy with medium-sized hands and I want to fit my phone in the pocket of my jeans with ease. Are there any decent android phones that are less than 4.5" inches tall? According to this site the pickings seem slim.

I liked the size of the LG Lucid when I held it in the store, but it is only an old version of the OS. Can it be upgraded to OS 4? Finally, are there any manufacturer-specific quirks of the Android OS that I should look out for?

What's the fastest, best home internet I can get in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY?

chasing — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 08:15:50 -0800

What's the fastest, best home internet I can get in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY? Specifically in central Williamsburg. I've currently got Verizon. And it sucks. It's always been mediocre in a just-good-enough-not-to-bother-switching sort of way, but lately it's been terrible. And I'm ready to be done with them.

What are my options? I've been poking around, but maybe some Williamsburger MeFites have some good experiences. The faster the better. And reliable. And I'm willing to go expensive -- I live on the internet and I want something very good.

Thanks!