It's an annual plan meaning you have to pay it all up front for 12 months of service. I do this for my wife and daughter. It goes on sale every other month too. https://www.redpocket.com/plans/ebay
What's happened to Verizon Wireless?
- Thread starter grampi
- Start date
I'm also a pre-paid customer. 5gb of data, I pay $25/month.
Thanks for the link. I picked up their 8gb plan (VZW) for a year for my wife. She insists Verizon has better service where she goes, and T-Mobile is the only option with Mint that we're currently using.
Our current Mint plan ends the 24th, I'm on the fence as to whether I want to switch over too. Might stick with Mint since it's the same price and I don't have any trouble with service.
Does Red Pocket allow you to buy extra data if you go over? During the summer when we go on vacation we'll hit the cap one month out of the year. Would be nice to have the option to add data if needed.
Looking back at prioritization and stuff.. I left verizon after being a postpaid customer for a long time, basically lost my signal after a tower change, the signal had been weak before (LTE -116 - -120 or so, now basically nothing. (no LTE signal most of the time, -124 when I can get one, -106 or so 3g).
Switched to t-mobile connect prepaid. Don't care if my data is slower or anything like that. However... What really caught me off guard was trying to call a car dealership parts department when I was sitting outside the dealership. (They don't have a parts person manning the counter, it's a service guy that has to get a parts guy, was trying to save them some time of coming out to see me, going back inside, etc.)
Anyway.. Full service, as many bars as I could get. Couldn't even make a call it was so staticy and choppy, the call dropped after 20 seconds. Called back a few times, same thing.. It was 4pm, and maybe there was a lot of traffic on the network, but still.. Perfect signal basically. Went back 3.5 hours later to do another test call, and it worked fine multiple times.. Doubt it was the dealers phone system. I'd like to do more testing in the future. I can live with slower data speeds or whatever. Inability to make calls with good service? Dealbreaker.
Switched to t-mobile connect prepaid. Don't care if my data is slower or anything like that. However... What really caught me off guard was trying to call a car dealership parts department when I was sitting outside the dealership. (They don't have a parts person manning the counter, it's a service guy that has to get a parts guy, was trying to save them some time of coming out to see me, going back inside, etc.)
Anyway.. Full service, as many bars as I could get. Couldn't even make a call it was so staticy and choppy, the call dropped after 20 seconds. Called back a few times, same thing.. It was 4pm, and maybe there was a lot of traffic on the network, but still.. Perfect signal basically. Went back 3.5 hours later to do another test call, and it worked fine multiple times.. Doubt it was the dealers phone system. I'd like to do more testing in the future. I can live with slower data speeds or whatever. Inability to make calls with good service? Dealbreaker.
Activated the Red Pocket (Verizon) service today on the wife's phone. Thoroughly disappointed. Haven't been able to activate it-- phoned support and they state I need an LTE connection to complete the activation. Problem is, there's no LTE/4G service anywhere near where I live, phone only picks up 3G. I drove out to I-65 in Elizabethtown which is a pretty good size town, surely I'll get a 4G signal there. Nope.
So the fact is, Verizon through Red Pocket ≠ regular Verizon. Regular post-paid Verizon worked fantastic for us in this area. The best I can figure is that Verizon partners with regional carriers that aren't available using Red Pocket. We eventually did reach an LTE signal by driving further north toward Louisville, but it was gone before the phone could activate once we turned west off the interstate to go home.
I talked with the folks at Red Pocket and they are going to send out an AT&T SIM for us to try. If that doesn't work I'll switch her back to Mint which has been flawless for me so far. I like the idea of the wife & I being on separate networks-- we travel a lot during the summer to rural areas in northern New England that have spotty coverage. Having two networks should increase the chances of at least one of us having service. Once I try the AT&T network, I'll report back.
So the fact is, Verizon through Red Pocket ≠ regular Verizon. Regular post-paid Verizon worked fantastic for us in this area. The best I can figure is that Verizon partners with regional carriers that aren't available using Red Pocket. We eventually did reach an LTE signal by driving further north toward Louisville, but it was gone before the phone could activate once we turned west off the interstate to go home.
I talked with the folks at Red Pocket and they are going to send out an AT&T SIM for us to try. If that doesn't work I'll switch her back to Mint which has been flawless for me so far. I like the idea of the wife & I being on separate networks-- we travel a lot during the summer to rural areas in northern New England that have spotty coverage. Having two networks should increase the chances of at least one of us having service. Once I try the AT&T network, I'll report back.
I have ATT with Redpocket. Good service, must be around 4 to 6 years now. I am biased though. ATT has always been my favorite service.
My work phone, paid for by my company for roughly 8 years was Verizion, I always preferred my personal ATT phone service.
All depends where you travel and what tower is nearby nothing more then that.
Mint is TMobile service, as far as expansion, TMobile is blowing the doors off Verizon and ATT. If you liked Mint so much, then just sign up for TMobile Redpocket, why experiment with ATT? Though you will be thrilled with ATT.
As far as LTE service, well, I didnt know there were anyplace left int he country without it *LOL* But it will get around to you ..
My work phone, paid for by my company for roughly 8 years was Verizion, I always preferred my personal ATT phone service.
All depends where you travel and what tower is nearby nothing more then that.
Mint is TMobile service, as far as expansion, TMobile is blowing the doors off Verizon and ATT. If you liked Mint so much, then just sign up for TMobile Redpocket, why experiment with ATT? Though you will be thrilled with ATT.
As far as LTE service, well, I didnt know there were anyplace left int he country without it *LOL* But it will get around to you ..
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AT&T is good since it's GSM and it's way easier to find a GSM unlocked phone than a CDMA one. I try to buy phones that are unlocked for all Carriers like the Pixel. I have a Verizon plan at work and have a Pixel 5, My wife has the Pixel 4a on Redpocket (Verizon) and my daughter has my old Pixel 3 on Redpocket (AT&T). Everything is solid and stable. Verizon gets better coverage when we are up in the mountains so I opted for my wife to have that service vs AT&T. I slightly prefer AT&T as well but just because of the GSM easier to find phones thing.
I think that's not quite how Fi works.Fi is a good service and has good support but it's actually quite expensive for someone like my wife who doesn't use a lot of data. $35-38/mo bill is double what I am paying for her now with Unlimited talk/text and 8GB data on Verizon towers.
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The talk and text part is $20 a month (prorated by days if you cancel half way), then data is $10 a gig and you are charged only what you use. So if you are at home all the time on wifi, and use only 10MB, that month your data is 10c plus $20 = $20.10.
The main benefit on Fi is international coverage for the same price. This really helps on trips and vacations. I get a new line every trip and then cancel it afterward. Ends up with less than $20 for a couple weeks roaming the world.
Ever since 4G LTE everyone has sim card and unlocked phones. You DO NOT have to buy a Verizon phone to use it on Verizon, many phones have coverage on Verizon band despite from ATT, Sprint, TMo, etc. Just look for the bands, assuming you are buying a legit big name phone and not some "free" low end phone that company gave out.
Those are mostly family plan. Usually $30 for single plan and as low as $15 per family plan on most MVNO.
I had my wife on google Fi for 2 years, I'm very familiar with the pricing. She now has Redpocket for $17-18 a month with unlimited talk and text and 8GB of Data. Google Fi is more expensive before you even use a drop of data.
Your second point is wrong as well. Verizon and AT&T phones utilize different channels for 4G communication and phones don't always have the Verizon bands built in. I use this chart when in doubt and cross reference it on gsmarena with the exact phone model. Verizon's bread and butter band is 13 where AT&T's is 12 & 17. Phones often time will not have both.
No, it's their annual plan, available right now for $20 a month for unlimited talk and text and 8GB of data.
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Where did you get this info? SIM locks are very common, usually used when phones are financed so that the end user cannot take the phone to another carrier without paying it off. Why makes you believe everyone has an unlocked phone?
Well I wasn't implying there was no 4G/LTE coverage at all where I live. I live in a decently populated area, being 10 mins from Fort Knox and 35 minutes from Louisville. It's not like I'm out in complete BFE. As I mentioned before, the Verizon service direct through VZW had good LTE where I live, and the surrounding areas. When you sign up for Verizon through Red Pocket, these LTE towers are no longer accessible, and I have to drive about 25 miles away to get LTE. That tells me that Verizon is partnering with some regional network where I live, and that regional network is not available through RP. In essence, Verizon through RP is useless here.
I do happen to like Mint (T-Mobile) here, IMO it's no better or worse than the Verizon service we had (at work and home), but my wife gripes about it. She says it drops calls while she's driving. I don't talk on the phone when I'm driving, so that might explain why I like Mint and she doesn't. That's why I started this process in the first place-- she liked our old Verizon service better, so naturally I thought Red Pocket Verizon would be a good fit. I will try AT&T next and see if it's an improvement for her over T-mobile/Mint. I suspect it will be.
Update after I received the AT&T sim card from Red Pocket. Activation was frustrating. On the bright side, RP customer support has zero wait time, I immediately got a human on the line that speaks decent English (albeit with an accent) the handful of times I called.
I couldn't simply activate it online because I'd used my activation code on the VZW sim, which has my 12 months service attached to it, and it wouldn't allow me to use it again. First call I explained the situation to the lady, received Verizon SIM, couldn't activate because no LTE/4G where I live, and that I'm in possession of the AT&T sim they sent me which I'd like to transfer my 12 months paid service to. She does her thing which took about 10 minutes on the phone and tells me that it's in the process of activating and that I need to call back in 2-3 hours to transfer the credits over.
After about an hour, I see that the phone is registering with AT&T service, but I can't make calls because it says I need to add money to my account. So I call back and get a man on the phone and explain to him I need my 12 months service I paid for transferred to the new SIM.
He tells me their policy is that any balance/credits are forfeited when changing networks / SIM cards. WTH? I firmly remind him of their 30 day return policy and of the fact that I never even activated the first SIM because the service was non-existent. It takes him about 20 minutes to escalate this (at my insistence) to a few different supervisors before he finally relents and credits my account for the 12 months I paid for.
So far AT&T service has passed all the crucial tests. Good service at home and my wife took a drive to some local places she frequents and didn't have anything bad to say about it. RP has a 30 day guarantee that is good up to 30 minutes talk / 30 texts / 100mb data-- once you go beyond that you're stuck with it.
I couldn't simply activate it online because I'd used my activation code on the VZW sim, which has my 12 months service attached to it, and it wouldn't allow me to use it again. First call I explained the situation to the lady, received Verizon SIM, couldn't activate because no LTE/4G where I live, and that I'm in possession of the AT&T sim they sent me which I'd like to transfer my 12 months paid service to. She does her thing which took about 10 minutes on the phone and tells me that it's in the process of activating and that I need to call back in 2-3 hours to transfer the credits over.
After about an hour, I see that the phone is registering with AT&T service, but I can't make calls because it says I need to add money to my account. So I call back and get a man on the phone and explain to him I need my 12 months service I paid for transferred to the new SIM.
He tells me their policy is that any balance/credits are forfeited when changing networks / SIM cards. WTH? I firmly remind him of their 30 day return policy and of the fact that I never even activated the first SIM because the service was non-existent. It takes him about 20 minutes to escalate this (at my insistence) to a few different supervisors before he finally relents and credits my account for the 12 months I paid for.
So far AT&T service has passed all the crucial tests. Good service at home and my wife took a drive to some local places she frequents and didn't have anything bad to say about it. RP has a 30 day guarantee that is good up to 30 minutes talk / 30 texts / 100mb data-- once you go beyond that you're stuck with it.
Yes, I always got almost instant support from their phone folks and always good clean English speaking as well. You had a fairly unique situation, glad the service is working out. I have my wife on Verizon and my Daughter on AT&T redpocket. Super happy with both.
All I know is this - Cricket (ATT) lost me as a seven-year customer. They are also losing my family and friends since they decided my phone (OnePlus) does not qualify for their network (HD Voice). What IS funny is that when I switched to Mint (So far, love it) my phone reports I'm on VoLTE (Which IS HD Voice)... Works wonderfully.
ATT can bite me! Plus... they just got sued - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...gy-to-synchronize-smart-devices-idUSKBN29W01L
I refuse to give any more of my dollars and business to a corporation that treats it's long-term customers like this. IF ENOUGH people voted with their wallets, it WOULD make a difference. Lastly - Just purchase a screen protector from Amazon etc. Put it on yourself! It's not that difficult!!
ATT can bite me! Plus... they just got sued - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...gy-to-synchronize-smart-devices-idUSKBN29W01L
I refuse to give any more of my dollars and business to a corporation that treats it's long-term customers like this. IF ENOUGH people voted with their wallets, it WOULD make a difference. Lastly - Just purchase a screen protector from Amazon etc. Put it on yourself! It's not that difficult!!
What one plus phone? If it doesn't have Bands 2-4-12-17 it's not AT&T's fault. VOLTE works using the 4G data bands as voice instead of the usual 1G or whatever the used to use.
OnePlus 5
LTE 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 17 / 20 / 25 / Yes, in fact... I'm getting VoLTE NOW with T-Mobile. It IS ATT's fault as the phone phone worked fine (And still would today) on their network. They just want people to purchase new phones. Horse ^$%&.!!
From this link - https://www.androidcentral.com/volte
"Earlier in 2020, some AT&T customers were told that they needed to upgrade their phones in order to continue using the service. The issue is that eventually, AT&T plans to discontinue its older network in order to completely transition to 4G LTE and 5G. The confusing part is that if you didn't buy your phone directly from AT&T, you might have gotten the notice even if your phone technically supports VoLTE.
It's one thing to "upgrade". It's another thing to tell customers erroneous information.
I don't think there was any malicious intent behind this. All carriers have plans to drop support for their antiquated legacy networks so they can free up spectrum for new technologies. This is a fast evolving competitive industry, there's no financial incentive in slowing progress to maintain support for a small minority of holdouts who don't want to upgrade.
Lots of people griped about losing analog TV, but that's behind us now, as this will be in due time.
Most folks who got the discontinuation notice in error that actually have VoLTE compatible devices shouldn't be affected. Oneplus is unique in that AT&T doesn't support many of their devices for some reason, and I'd agree with you, in that there's a legitimate reason to be pi**ed about it.
FWIW lots of people on Reddit report a workaround for the OP5 which is provision the sim using another (presumably AT&T approved) device's IMEI, then swap it over to the device you want to use. Shouldn't be this difficult though.
Thank you. I understand the need for upgrading Legacy networks. What I don't understand is telling me my phone isn't supported when I have family that are using older phones (on ATT currently) without any problem. Seems they (ATT) don't like OnePlus. Also, the told me my phone does not have the specifications to run on their network. So??? Why do older phones not have this issue? Interesting.
They also told me "if" I had never removed my SIM card... I'd still be fully functioning on their network. (VoLTE-HD or whatever... I NEVER had a problem.) To me, it's a tactic they used for whatever reason. (Fill in the blank). Like I mentioned previously - I switched to T-Mobile and have full "HD- VoLTE" access now. Go figure. No tweaking necessary.
I appreciate your understanding with what I dealt with. If my device was even remotely antiquated and pushing the connection envelope, I would understand. But this?? It's like being prohibited from accesing your local highway because you drive a German car (for example). You just drove home the other day and now they say your German car cannot use the road. Crude analogy but you can understand.
