Millenicum October 27, 2014, 09:12:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149211All this discussion of the passing of Millenicom sure makes me happy to have my trusty, truly unlimited VZW data plan. Yeah, it's only 3G, but unlimited data for 60 bucks is well worth it.WxToad Verizon is offering former Millenicom customers essentially the same deal we had with Millenicom: $89.99/month for 20 gig.One hitch: to get this price, you must sign a one-year contract. If you don't, then it's $99.99/month. And in any case, after a year on contract, the price increases to $99.99/month. -- Sent from WxToad's Galaxy S5 via K9
Re: Millenicum Reply #1 – October 27, 2014, 09:26:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149212But can you use it with your computer? We have an unlimited plan, too, but it is available only on the iPhone itself.Virtual hugs,Judie http://dorrieanne.wordpress.com
Re: Millenicum Reply #2 – October 27, 2014, 11:34:08 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149213It may not be possible with an iPhone, but I can with our old Motorola Droid X. This phone is still on a grandfathered unlimited data plan. The phone provides a Personal Area Network interface via bluetooth. I can access this from my laptop using bluetooth and get Internet access. Bluetooth is not terribly fast and this phone is only 3G, but it works for email and limited browsing. Also, only one computer can access the PAN interface at a time. I believe that there are apps for jailbroken iPhones that will turn them into wifi hotspots that can use the unlimited data (but I'm not really up on these things).Art
Re: Millenicum Reply #3 – October 28, 2014, 10:51:43 am Yahoo Message Number: 149216Julie, If you have an Android phone, you can download an app to tether or create a WiFi hotspot using your mobile and laptop. iPhones do not have this capability since it avoids using the tether plan, and is not offered in their app store. This is the reason why I haven't signed a new contract with Verizon (and purchase my phones outright) since I'm grandfathered into the unlimited data plan.There are varying rules of thought on using an app to tether your phone to your laptop instead of purchasing an additional plan. My thought is I'm already paying for data, and just want to use it on a larger screen.Cheryl
Re: Millenicum Reply #4 – October 29, 2014, 11:25:02 am Yahoo Message Number: 149223"If you have an Android phone, you can download an app to tether or create a WiFi hotspot using your mobile and laptop. iPhones do not have this capability since it avoids using the tether plan, and is not offered in their app store."CherylOur iPhones and cell-enable iPad all are usable as hotspots, without installing any apps or extra software. It's how we have connected to the net for last couple of years, while traveling. You do need a data plan to activate them.Larry
Re: Millenicum Reply #5 – October 29, 2014, 11:56:13 am Yahoo Message Number: 149224The problem with talking about cell phones is the version of the OS and the service providers.Since version 3.0 of Android you have been able to tether or create a WiFi hotspot. Most all Android users are for the most part are at 4.0 The issue has been the service providers. Over the years only T Mobile has been the only provider to allow this legally. There has always been 'work arounds' for the other providers.On off topic some more ..... T Mobile planned on bidding on some of the new open bands FCC has taken from the TV spectrum. This will allow them to be more equal to Verizon and ATT. My guess by this time next year all four majors will be on parity bandwidth and frequency wise.Glen
Re: Millenicum Reply #6 – October 29, 2014, 12:27:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149225This is true, according to Verizon reps that I have talked to. But ONLY if you have a data plan that has limits. My unlimited data plan on the phone (not a stand-alone hotspot) does not qualify. Boo-hoo!The iPad is the same way. If I activate my iPad month-to-month, there is no using it as a hot spot. This will work ONLY if I have an ongoing, pay-them-every-month data plan, which I don't.For about the same amount of monthly dollars that Verizon wants, I can get a month-to-month plan with an official Verizon hotspot device - but with only half the amount of gigs. A new 6 Plus iPhone is in my future, and that can transfer onto my unlimited account quite nicely. I can see where I will be able to use that device to take up the slack of the missing ten GB's lost from Millenicom's former plan, leaving the Verizon ten GB's for our computer use. We never used the whole 20 GB's anyway.We've used my iPhone 4 (tiny, tiny screen) to watch a movie or two when we have been traveling, so the much larger screen on the 6 Plus should be quite doable. It's only 3G, but my brain is basically only 2G, so . . .Virtual hugs,Judie http://dorrieanne.wordpress.com
Millenicom Reply #7 – October 29, 2014, 06:03:15 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149232"My guess by this time next year all four majors will be on parity bandwidth and frequency wise."Perhaps so. But what matters to me as an RVer is the number of towers out in the boonies, and there, Verizon is unequalled. Buying spectrum is easy--all you need is money. Building out infrastructure (adding an upgrading cell towers) is hard, expensive and time-consuming. At the rate things are moving, I don't see any of Verizon's competitors catching up in the foreseeable future. And it doesn't matter to me how fast a connection Sprint or T-Mobile offers, if there's no tower within a hundred miles of me. :-)Andy BairdTravels with Andy
Re: Millenicom Reply #8 – October 29, 2014, 06:42:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149233I agree with you Andy! From time to time I look at both Sprint and T-Mobile because of their promotions. However, according to their coverage maps, they have poor to nonexistent coverage in the areas where we travel. For now at least, I'll stick with Verizon.Linda Hylton
Re: Millenicum Reply #9 – October 29, 2014, 11:47:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149235I can use Verizon's month-to-month plan on my iPad AND use it as a hot spot. I just use the iPad to "view account", select the GB I want (usually the 1GB/$20 or 2GB/$30), they charge my card, and I'm off and hotspotting! Oddly, buying data for the iPad is quite a bit cheaper than buying for my Verizon Jetpack.Eric Greenwell Judie Ashford [lifewithalazydazerv] wrote, On 10/29/2014 9:27 AM:
Re: Millenicum Reply #10 – October 30, 2014, 02:13:05 am Yahoo Message Number: 149236Intriguing! Two problems exist so I can't experiment with this. I have an iPad 2 which cannot be used as a hotspot, no matter what "plan" it is/is not on, and I was told by a Verizon rep that I couldn't use the hotspot on an iPad that *does* have that capability unless it was on a plan.Clearly further investigation is needed. Verizon is advertising that they have the iPad Air 2 available now, so maybe I'll take a ride over to the store tomorrow to see if they can shed any light on this subject if I am there in person. I'm still not able to get in contact with Verizon to try to change over the Millenicom account. :-(Virtual hugs,Judie http://dorrieanne.wordpress.com
Re: Millenicum Reply #11 – October 30, 2014, 09:46:30 am Yahoo Message Number: 149238Just in case it makes a difference, I'm using an iPad Mini. Doesn't seem like that would be the reason, however. The hotspot capability is a nice feature. For trips of few days, my wife and I will just take the iPad minis, and mine provides the internet for both of us; trips of a week or so, I'll also take my laptop (a marvel at only 3 pounds with 3200 x 1800 screen) and it uses the hotspot, too. For day trips, we hotspot off her iPad mini with it's free T-Mobile data plan (only 200 MB/month, but surprisingly useful).Eric Greenwell Judie Ashford [lifewithalazydazerv] wrote, On 10/29/2014 11:13 PM:
Re: Millenicom Reply #12 – October 30, 2014, 11:37:01 am Yahoo Message Number: 149239For what it's worth, I just got off the phone with Millenicom. I called at about 10:00 eastern time (the rep I spoke with was in Maine) and got through immediately. Here's how it worked out.My situation before: Millenicom 20 GB plan - $89.99Verizon "Share Everything" plan (unlimited talk, text and 10 GB shared among iPhone, and two iPads) - $174.23Total: 30 GB for $264.22My situation after: Verizon "More Everything" plan (unlimited talk, text and 40 GB shared among iPhone, and two iPads) - $250.00 plus taxesIn other words, I get ten more GB for about the same price. :-)I could have saved money by going for the same 30 GB I had before, but figured that I could always use an extra 10 GB safety margin, as long as it wasn't costing me any more than before.Important: If you already have a Verizon voice plan, reports from other Millenicom customers indicate that Verizon will insist on consolidating your Millenicom router with your phone in a "More Everything" plan, as I did. If so, be aware that the "double data" promotions end at midnight (probably eastern time) on October 31st. After that, you won't be able to get the kind of deal that I got.I urged the rep I spoke with to recommend extending the "double data" deals for Millenicom customers, simply because (as she acknowledged), so many have been unable to get through to Verizon on the phone. She wasn't able to promise anything, but said she'd pass the suggestion to her bosses. You'd better assume, though, that those "double data" deals will end tomorrow night.So call now, and keep calling until you get through. I recommend calling as early as possible. Verizon's Millenicom hotline is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. eastern time:800-233-8974Andy BairdTravels with Andy
Re: Millenicom Reply #13 – October 30, 2014, 11:59:32 am Yahoo Message Number: 149240I read someplace yesterday, that Verizon was extending this promotion until something like November 7 or 8. Don't remember where I read it, though.Linda HyltonImportant: If you already have a Verizon voice plan, reports from other Millenicom customers indicate that Verizon will insist on consolidating your Millenicom router with your phone in a "More Everything" plan, as I did. If so, be aware that the "double data" promotions end at midnight (probably eastern time) on October 31st. After that, you won't be able to get the kind of deal that I got.
Re: Millenicom Reply #14 – October 30, 2014, 03:08:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149244"I read someplace yesterday, that Verizon was extending this promotion until something like November 7 or 8."There are two separate deadlines here. Former Millenicom customers must contact Verizon by November 8th if they want any kind of special consideration at all. If you have no Verizon voice service (no Verizon phone), this is your deadline for getting the $89.99 20 GB data deal--essentially the same as you had with Millenicom, but with a 1-year contract. (Or you can have 20 GB contract-free for $99.99.) After the 8th, you will be just another Joe or Jane Schmoe to them.But if you already have a Verizon phone, what I've heard is that they will insist you merge your Millenicom Jetpack with your existing Verizon voice plan. This is where the October 31st deadline comes in. Verizon is currently offering twice the previous amount of internet data for the same prices they normally charge... but that deal expires at the end of October.If you're going to combine your Millenicom router with your Verizon phone on one account, as I did this morning, this 10/31 deadline affects you! Wait until November 1st, and you'll be paying twice as much for the same amount of monthly data use. And as I said, the word is that Verizon will force you to combine accounts if you already have Verizon voice service, as most of us do.That's why I recommend calling now.Andy BairdTravels with Andy
Re: Millenicum Reply #15 – November 01, 2014, 07:14:31 am Yahoo Message Number: 149259Andy, are you using one of your iPhones or iPad as a hotspot? Or what is your current method of getting data to your computer?Fern
Re: Millenicum Reply #16 – November 01, 2014, 12:22:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149261"Andy, are you using one of your iPhones or iPad as a hotspot? Or what is your current method of getting data to your computer?"I normally use my Pantech MHS291L cellular router (better known as a Verizon Jetpack), which I acquired from Millenicom earlier this year to replace the notoriously flaky Novatel MiFi 4620L Jetpack that I had before. As you know, any of these cellular routers acts as a bridge between Verizon's cellular network and my various Wi-Fi-connected devices.However, I do occasionally use my iPhone or one of my iPads as a hotspot. As I described in message #149239, as of yesterday all four devices share the same 40 GB bucket of monthly data, under Verizon's "More Everything" plan.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: Verizon data plan update Reply #17 – November 01, 2014, 12:45:14 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149262Yesterday both AT&T and Verizon announced that they were extending their increased data plans beyond the former October 31st deadline. These may not be "double data" plans, but they are a lot better than what the carriers were offering up until a month ago. So if you missed the October 31st deadline, you still have a chance to get a better deal.However, if you don't have Verizon voice service and just want to keep your Millenicom Jetpack going, remember that November 8th is still the last day to get the 20 GB/89.99 data plan for former Millenicom customers.You may also want to look into the "Assumption Of Liability" method that Fern described. It involves jumping through a number of hoops and (in most cases) buying a throwaway Verizon LTE phone (cheap Android phones are widely available) that you'll activate, and then transfer the SIM card to your Jetpack.I chose not to do this because I didn't feel like dealing with the complications needed to get into the plan, but it's worth considering for the benefits it brings: unlimited data for about seventy bucks a month. If you go this route, take Fern's advice and get the Technomads' detailed article on how to do it. It'll save you a lot of grief.Andy BairdTravels with Andy
Re: Verizon data plan update Reply #18 – November 01, 2014, 01:53:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 149263Today Verizon lowered the 15GB plan from $110. to $100.. I just called and reduced my bill by $10.Karen
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