Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Pro Business Discussion => Topic started by: kevs on January 15, 2019, 01:39:19 pm
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I pay about $70 / mo.. 2GB (which is ok for now) and basic international with Verizon Wireless.
Always trying to trim expenses, a friend, and local biz nearby mention PagePlus- which is 1/2 price and supposedly. they use Verizon carriers. My friend loves them.
But they don't have real English speakers, and it's pre pay etc.. hence, I worry about customer service and this is a business for me, not hobby phone. Any opinions on this?
Not like I need customer serive that much but.. never know... Play it safe and stay with VErizon..?
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I switched from Verizon to Consumer Cellular a while back. They are "3rd party," in that they do not have their own towers and network. They get top ratings for customer service. My bill was cut in half. Worth a look, I think.
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Peter use with client/ all your business?
I actually like the fact page plus, supposedly uses Verizon towers, but service is all bad english etc. That is concern: service in a crises.
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I switched from Verizon to Xfinity which has a $12 per gig (unlimited data for $45) per month, and uses the same Verizon network. Plus there are thousands of Xfinity hot spots that are free. So far, I'm saving a lot of money and haven't noticed any issues with the network. But you do have to be a current Xfinity internet/cable subscriber.
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THANKS Andrew. Oh I cut the cable 4 years ago, so that wont work then. Being it's tied to a major cable company you might get better phone support that the 3rd party pre-paid places like PagePlus.
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Once my iPhone was off contract about four years ago, I switched to AT&T prepaid. The bill was cut in half, I continue to rollover unused data and I use the same network. I believe that Verizon has a similar prepaid plan, I looked at it for a family member.
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In general with MVNOs, you lose domestic data roaming, and international roaming is expensive/non existent. Whether that is important to you or not, only you can answer.
Ting is a MVNO that prouds itself on having US-based support with no waiting (not offshore), and a business model that doesn't try to screw over their customers (crazy, right). I can attest to both of that.
Ting uses T-mobile's OR Sprint's networks. But only one at a time, you need to chose for each number. Unlike other MVNOs they don't throttle you nor they limit you in any way in regards to tethering or whatever you want to do.
They are not a cheap MVNO, there are others far cheaper if you use a lot of data. But I still prefer them. However, they will still be cheaper than Verizon.
Go to their website, there's a calculator that tells you how much you'll pay. You can have any number of devices (phones, tablets) on the same account, the minutes, data, etc pool together and you'll only pay once. You pay exactly what you use, there are no "plans", etc, but it's postpaid, not prepaid (huge plus to me).
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Thanks TC, is customer support same? Prepaid more hassle? Currently I don't lift a finger, just autocharges my credit card every month.
Checked Tiny: their rates are not too much lower than Verizon itself...
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If you're a Comcast customer, they have some deal that links usage through Verizon at much lower prices. Check into it.
Also, Verizon gives you a 15% discount on the data portion of the bill if you served in the US armed forces.
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Any discounts if you cut the cord and just use You Tube?
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I’ve seen absolutely no difference between regular AT&T and prepaid. I receive a couple texts about the upcoming charge on my credit card and then when it posts, they offer a $5 discount for auto payment.
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I switched from Verizon to Ting and cut my cost more than a half. I have 4 cells and use 2-3 g of data per month. My bill is $65-75. Their customer support is the best I've encountered, bar none. Their reps spent several three-way phone conversations over a one month period with me trying to get Verizon to release my landline number to a SIM so I could keep my landline number when I moved. They never complained and always answered their support line with a human who frequently spoke my name before they gave me theirs.
In general with MVNOs, you lose domestic data roaming, and international roaming is expensive/non existent. Whether that is important to you or not, only you can answer.
Ting is a MVNO that prouds itself on having US-based support with no waiting (not offshore), and a business model that doesn't try to screw over their customers (crazy, right). I can attest to both of that.
Ting uses T-mobile's OR Sprint's networks. But only one at a time, you need to chose for each number. Unlike other MVNOs they don't throttle you nor they limit you in any way in regards to tethering or whatever you want to do.
They are not a cheap MVNO, there are others far cheaper if you use a lot of data. But I still prefer them. However, they will still be cheaper than Verizon.
Go to their website, there's a calculator that tells you how much you'll pay. You can have any number of devices (phones, tablets) on the same account, the minutes, data, etc pool together and you'll only pay once. You pay exactly what you use, there are no "plans", etc, but it's postpaid, not prepaid (huge plus to me).
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D I went on Tings site and their prices were not much different from Verizon, did I miss something?
One cell phone Ting..? for 2, or 3 gig
What servers using? Are you in major city, use phone for business?
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Walked into Verizon wireless today. They have their own prepaid plan which I never knew about, (and they don't tell you about), so I've been overpaying $270/ yr for 2 years... not unlimited like pageplus pro, but I do this first...
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PS Final recommendation: I'm going to need an independent international card prepaid. I've used Pennytalk, the customer help is super mediocre. Any better?
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...
I use Google Fi ( https://fi.google.com/about/ ) - which is a "MVNO" using both Sprint & T-Mobile networks... no bloatware except the google search bar (which can be removed too though by installing something like Nova launcher)
highly recommended
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The $65 -75 bills were total charges for 4 cell phones. The charges for text, minutes and data are shared among the 4 phones.
Two phones use T-mobile and two Sprint. I can't see much difference from where we use them the most. Granted, Verizon gives us better coverage than either T-Mobile or Sprint. I live just outside DC in Maryland.
D I went on Tings site and their prices were not much different from Verizon, did I miss something?
One cell phone Ting..? for 2, or 3 gig
What servers using? Are you in major city, use phone for business?
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Thanks guys, good into. Like I said, I'll probably keep it with Verizon now that they have their own cheaper prepaid, but again, for all on this thread:
Final recommendation: I'm going to need an independent international card prepaid. I've used Pennytalk, the customer help is super mediocre. Any better?
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Final recommendation: I'm going to need an independent international card prepaid. I've used Pennytalk, the customer help is super mediocre. Any better?
I am using www.comfi.com , I can't give an objective comparison, but I had no issues with their customer service... granted I had few problems to start with...
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THANKS DP, will notate.
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I need international telephony services, so I did a lot of research and tried out various options, and they all are pretty bad. The best I found (if you need data, which I do) was Truphone (https://www.truphone.com) (link to prepaid site (https://www.truphone.com/us/consumer/sim/), though I don't recomment the prepaid option). They don't support all countries though, but if I go in a supported country, that's what I will be using. Attention, for the prepaid SIM data is still pretty expensive, and some countries are orders of magnitude more expensive than others, so do your research before travelling!
If you are a business Truphone is excellent because they have business plans (it's very easy to quality as a business, anything goes, really, even one-man operations).
TBH I just use Truphone for data and eat the cost of roaming with my regular home phone number for calls/SMS. I rarely need to speak on the phone (as opposed to some other kind of voice chat) while traveling, usually only for some kind of emergency, and when that happens the roaming cost is not that bad. Data roaming costs with home plans are generally crazy though, or come with too many caveats (increased latency, 2G only) so that's why I use Truphone.
If you use a new iPad/iPhone, you can use the eSIM functionality, and they have special plans for that. You don't need a physical SIM card. This is significantly cheaper than the prepaid plans, and this is what I use. So I very much suggest that.
I have a giant list of resources/services about international telephony: https://xw.is/wiki/Global_telephony. However, it's unsorted and mostly catered to the more technical side of things (running your own SIP server, etc). However, it might be useful to someone.
To summarize, with Truphone look at the eSIM/business options, the prepaid option is generally pretty expensive.
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Thanks Aram will bookmark, leaning toward Verizon prepaid (as I'm with them so long), and staying with pennytalk for international, but penny is mediocre service so if anyone can beat that for better service..
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Question all: On your prepaid programs is your name coming up on people's caller IDs?
Suddenly going from postpaid to prepaid, this is not longer possible I've discovered, after the fact of signing up for Verizon prepaid.
The prepaid sales rep and Verizon sales guy in store did not mention it. Though I'm upset, I'm not surprised at the sadistic and boundless greed of Verizon to it's clients.