VZW unlimited data contract about to expire, want a new phone, not sure what to do

[v0id]

Hi everyone. I currently have an HTC One M8 on Verizon Wireless, with an unlimited data plan grandfathered in from my purchase of HTC Thunderbolt way back when and a few sneaky tricks along the way. My contract expires in early May, at which time VZW is going to increase the cost of the plan by $20/month as many of you have probably heard. I don't look forward to this as I already pay $100/month for one line, which seems like too much. Also, I'm thinking of getting a new phone anyway, as my One M8 is a bit beat up and has developed some weird issues lately - I can only make or receive calls using a headset, the phone seems to butt-dial quite a bit, the camera has always kind of sucked, etc.

I'm thinking of leaving VZW and finding a cheaper carrier when I get a new phone. I live in San Francisco so coverage is probably not an issue with any of them. A friend of mine has a Nexus 5x on the Project Fi plan and seems to like it quite a bit. I like the idea of getting a Nexus phone, without all the carrier bloatware, but both the 5x and the 6p have been out for a little while and my understanding is Google won't release new phones until the fall. The other issue is that I use a fair amount of data (6-8GB/month) and I'm not sure that a Project Fi plan will be appreciably cheaper in the end. As far as my other usage concerns, I don't use very many minutes a month. The size of the One M8 seems about right but I wouldn't mind going a bit bigger (I have pretty big hands). I do like to take photos sometimes, especially at shows/concerts, but the One M8's camera has been disappointing and doesn't seem to do well in low light. A better camera would be nice. Otherwise, I don't do anything particularly interesting with my phone - just the standard web use, streaming music, social media, etc. I don't care about rooting, playing with ROMs, etc.

TL; DR:

1) Unlimited data contract with VZW is expiring in a month, and will increase from $100 to $120 a month. This seems like too much. I use 6-8GB data monthly. Help me find another carrier or tell me why I should stay with VZW.

2) My HTC One M8 is getting long in the tooth and I need a new phone. Thinking about a Nexus phone, but willing to look at anything 5"+, fast, ideally without too much crapware, with a decent camera. Don't care about rooting. Ideas?

Thanks!

 

[Anubis]

why cant you keep your unlimited and buy a phone off contract?

 

[RockinZ28]

You need to read the OP in this thread and ask questions there ASAP. Do not wait, if your contract expires and you get hit with the $20 increase, it cannot be reversed. If you get back on contract, you will not have to pay the $20 extra.

http://slickdeals.net/f/7743625-ver...a-2-year-data-plan-on-a-nationwide-basic-line

Simplest method is you use your upgrade to get a Verizon phone through Best Buy. Remove the sim card it shipped with without ever turning it on. Never insert your sim in the new phone. Sell the phone. Buy Nexus 6P with the proceeds.

Keep unlimited data, avoid the $20 increase, get the phone you want, laugh at Verizon.

Winning.

 

[rh71]

How much data do you actually use a month? The Verizon One plan that I'm switching to right now is a lot better value than the plans they had (while we were grandfathered) especially after considering data. I went from unlimited to Verizon Max 6GB for $30/mo data-only and now to Verizon One 6GB, which means from $81 (Verizon Max 6GB) to $86 after the change (before taxes) and the difference is we will now both get unlimited talk & text. The Verizon One plan is a much better value than their old plans (non-unlimited).

 

[v0id]

why cant you keep your unlimited and buy a phone off contract?

I could. However, my unlimited data plan would increase from $30/mo to $50/mo, resulting in my total bill increasing from $100 to $120 a month. This is more than I'd like to pay, and I wouldn't put it past VZW to eliminate the unlimited plan for non-contract users at some point in the future. If I'm going to stay with VZW, I'd like to try and renew the unlimited contract at the current rate if at all possible. Also, I'm not really in a place right now to pay full price for a new phone, and would probably want to get a subsidized upgrade or pay a monthly device fee.

You need to read the OP in this thread and ask questions there ASAP. Do not wait, if your contract expires and you get hit with the $20 increase, it cannot be reversed. If you get back on contract, you will not have to pay the $20 extra.

...

Simplest method is you use your upgrade to get a Verizon phone through Best Buy. Remove the sim card it shipped with without ever turning it on. Never insert your sim in the new phone. Sell the phone. Buy Nexus 6P with the proceeds.

I will have to look into this, very soon. I used the Best Buy trick two years ago to upgrade from my previous phone to the One M8 and keep my unlimited contract. It seems like this process has become much more complicated. If I stay with VZW and get an upgrade through them or a reseller, I will probably just go for the Samsung S7/Edge and deal with the skins and bloatware, or disable them somehow. From a brief look at that thread, it seems it is no longer possible to simply order from Best Buy at the subsidized rate, choose home delivery, replace the SIM before powering on, and have the contract automatically renew for 2 years. Is this accurate?

How much data do you actually use a month? The Verizon One plan that I'm switching to right now is a lot better value than the plans they had (while we were grandfathered) especially after considering data. I went from unlimited to Verizon Max 6GB for $30/mo data-only and now to Verizon One 6GB, which means from $81 (Verizon Max 6GB) to $86 after the change (before taxes) and the difference is we will now both get unlimited talk & text. The Verizon One plan is a much better value than their old plans (non-unlimited).

I just looked and apparently I use even more data than I thought (yikes). For the past 6 months, starting in October, it looks like this: 6.1, 6.2, 7.1, 8, 9.9, and 11.7GB/mo. I didn't have access to my PC for February and the first half of March, which partially explains the big jump, but it's still a lot. Looking at VZW's plan info, I'd probably have to go with their 12GB/month plan, which is $80/month. Add the device fee of $20/month, and I'm looking at about the same price I pay now for unlimited data (putting aside the cost of the new phone, of course). If nothing else, switching to this plan would make upgrading a lot easier.

 

[Crono]

Switch to T-Mobile or Sprint unlimited (whichever works better in your area) direct or through an MVNO and get a Moto X Pure, Nexus 6P, or LG G5.

Technically neither does truly unlimited as you'll get switched down to 2G after using up LTE data on T-Mobile or throttled if you use an ungodly amount of data on Sprint, but both options are cheaper than trying to use 5GB of data or more on Big Red or the Death Star. T-Mobile has that n̶e̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶u̶t̶r̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶v̶i̶o̶l̶a̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ wonderful Binge On feature, too, so that certain media providers don't count against your LTE data cap.

I like Google Fi's simplicity and pricing (used them for 2 months, they even make it easy to cancel and port out), but it's not cheaper if you use a lot of data.

 

[RockinZ28]

I will have to look into this, very soon. I used the Best Buy trick two years ago to upgrade from my previous phone to the One M8 and keep my unlimited contract. It seems like this process has become much more complicated. If I stay with VZW and get an upgrade through them or a reseller, I will probably just go for the Samsung S7/Edge and deal with the skins and bloatware, or disable them somehow. From a brief look at that thread, it seems it is no longer possible to simply order from Best Buy at the subsidized rate, choose home delivery, replace the SIM before powering on, and have the contract automatically renew for 2 years. Is this accurate?

Yes you are correct. They changed it up on November 15th when they started the price hike, so now it associates the phone to your account instead of just the sim. Inserting your old sim will move you off unlimited instantly. Course there are tricks to bypass this crap as you can see, but yea they made it a lot harder.

I was out of contract for a long time, but wanted to renew to avoid the price hike. Did the BBM before knowing on like November 17th and lost my unlimited data. Luckily was able to cancel the contract and return the phone, and Verizon restored my unlimited. Then I did the BBM again without ever activating the phone, just sold it. But it still renewed my contract and avoided the price hike. So then bought a 6P. Dealt with Samsung's locked down crap on the Note 4, never again.

Use 200gb+/mo, so can't be without unlimited.

 

[Oyeve]

Dude, you're in SF, for 100 bucks you can get 4 lines on tmo.

 

[rh71]

If I stay with VZW and get an upgrade through them or a reseller, I will probably just go for the Samsung S7/Edge and deal

Just mentioned in another thread VZW has $100 off an upgrade to the S7 right now.

 

[v0id]

Just mentioned in another thread VZW has $100 off an upgrade to the S7 right now.

Interesting. I see at BB the Galaxy S7 (non-edge) is $99 with a new 2 year contract. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-galaxy-s7-32gb-black-onyx-verizon-wireless/4893100.p

I may be missing something - I don't really keep up with this stuff anymore - but I thought VZW no longer offered subsidized phones for new contracts or upgrades. Am I mistaken? If you go to the VZW website, you can only buy a new phone outright or on a monthly device payment.

If I can upgrade to a Galaxy S7 for $100 and get a 12GB (+2GB promo)/month plan for about the same price as I'm paying now, I might just do that. Mostly because I'm lazy and don't want to be bothered to jump through a million hoops to keep my unlimited. I don't need unlimited, per se, but it looks like I wouldn't be paying much less at other major carriers for the amount of data I use.

 

[openwheel]

Don't give in keep the unlimited plan.

 

[RockinZ28]

Interesting. I see at BB the Galaxy S7 (non-edge) is $99 with a new 2 year contract. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-galaxy-s7-32gb-black-onyx-verizon-wireless/4893100.p

I may be missing something - I don't really keep up with this stuff anymore - but I thought VZW no longer offered subsidized phones for new contracts or upgrades. Am I mistaken? If you go to the VZW website, you can only buy a new phone outright or on a monthly device payment.

If I can upgrade to a Galaxy S7 for $100 and get a 12GB (+2GB promo)/month plan for about the same price as I'm paying now, I might just do that. Mostly because I'm lazy and don't want to be bothered to jump through a million hoops to keep my unlimited. I don't need unlimited, per se, but it looks like I wouldn't be paying much less at other major carriers for the amount of data I use.

Believe you have to be logged in to your account. Then when you go to the device you want, there should be a 2 year contract price option.

 

[v0id]

Believe you have to be logged in to your account. Then when you go to the device you want, there should be a 2 year contract price option.

Gotcha. After googling for 15 seconds I see that VZW is continuing to offer the subsidized phone prices for existing customers that renew their contracts for two years.

Hmm. Decisions, decisions. I wonder if I can renew my unlimited plan at the higher price and still get a subsidized phone. Probably not.

 

[rh71]

Gotcha. After googling for 15 seconds I see that VZW is continuing to offer the subsidized phone prices for existing customers that renew their contracts for two years.

I thought that too - $200 2-yr contract for S7. But what the site doesn't show right away is the $40 line access instead of $20/mo. So you're basically paying +$20 for 24 months = $480 which comes out to the same $680.

 

[brianmanahan]

Don't give in keep the unlimited plan.

i have an unlimited data plan for 90$ a month and am torn

on the one hand, i only use 1-2GB a month so am probably paying 40-50$ a month extra for unlimited data that i don't use. that's 500$ a year.

on the other hand, i worry that i will someday WANT unlimited data and won't be able to get it back

 

[spdfreak]

The unlimited is really nice when you need it... when I was at my brothers house, I just connected my laptop to my phone for internet- didn't even bother asking him for the wifi code. Same at Starbucks, etc. Probably more secure, too. But, I do use 30-40 gigs/mo since it is also my internet connection at home.

 

[v0id]

So, after much hemming and hawing, I've decided I'm going to leave VZW when my current contract expires on May 8. I *definitely* don't want to pay more than I am now ($~100), and would like to pay less. I also would like a new phone. I think both of my options with VZW - buying a new phone outright and staying on the increased cost unlimited plan on a month-to-month basis, or renewing my contract and using my subsidized upgrade under a new VZW plan - would result in me paying at least $120/month.

This may sound a little counter-intuitive considering my data use but I think I'm going to try out Project Fi, at least for a little while. A friend of mine uses it and is a big fan, and Google is running a promotion right now where you can purchase a Nexus 5X for $200 (16GB) or $250 (32GB) with activation on Project Fi. You only have to stay on the plan for one month to obtain the promotional price. I played with my friend's 5X recently and it seemed pretty nice, and I see that it is generally considered one of the best mid-range Android phones out there right now and an absolute steal at that price. The phone can also be financed over 24 months with no interest, even if you purchase it outright, which is attractive to me.

I just have one newb-ish question about terminating my service with VZW and porting my number to Project Fi, as I haven't switched carriers in many, many years. As I mentioned earlier, my current contract expires on May 8. I would like to keep my current number, which I've had for 10+ years. I understand I can easily port my existing number to the Project Fi plan when activating a new phone, but VZW states that this will immediately terminate my existing contract. Ideally, I would not like to pay an early termination fee, nor would I like to be stuck on the hook for another month of VZW service (probably $120). As I understand it, given my current device and the age of my contract, the ETF in the last month of my contract is probably $60. Is there a way to finesse this or am I screwed either way? I'm sure I could call VZW and tell them I want to let my contract expire and not go to month-to-month, but then my number would disappear and I don't think I could port it to Project Fi. Any advice here?

 

[openwheel]

if you are basing your decision on saving money, then of course you are better off leaving Verizon Unlimited.

Premium service has a premium price tag. Scarce and highly sought after product especially.