slow data after switching to unlimited

[Buzzkil88]

Same story here except I have Beyond Unlimited. After my data is used up, my speeds are non existent until after midnight till about 5am. Call it congestion all you want, it is utter bs. I live in a rural community. How congested can it be? If it truly is congested, maybe spend some of our money and uncongest things.... A 30mb file fails to download 9/10 times on Google drive. 30 measily mb takes half an hour to download at these speeds. It's about to make me gouge my eyes out. Decade+ customer, 3 lines, bill is nearly $300 a month and it doesn't work 75% of the time. As soon as the phone on my sister's plan is paid for I'm cancelling the whole thing and going elsewhere. Take your "up to" jargon and shove it. Since going unlimited I have never seen more than 30% of the claimed "up to 600mbps" after my data is up. I have filed a complaint with the FTC, everyone else should do the same via email here - antitrust@ftc.gov

[vzw_customer_support]

We would never want to lose you as a customer. I understand the importance of having consistent speeds. The Go Unlimited Plan is based on Network Congestion in an area. Once the network is less congested needs, normal speeds will resume. I understand fully that this may not be the answer you are looking for.

Have you had a chance to view out Beyond Unlimited Plan? This will provide 22GB of LTE data before being deprioritized. Take a look at this plan here: http://spr.ly/6589D0IyJ

Alberto_VZW
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[Buzzkil88]

You people don't even read our replies .you just copy paste some bs reply over and over. We're not here because we need better plans. We're here because after we are deprioritized our speeds are useless. Not just slow, absolutely unusable. I can't even open your speed test page because it takes so long. Over 5 minutes. That is why we are complaining. If we actually got the 600Kb, we probably wouldnt be here. But instead I get 180Kb at 2520 latency. It's far from useable. We understand that we have X amount of data and then get slowed down. We get it. What we don't get is why do we pay for a service that is utterly unusable after the data is up. Unlimited data is worthless if it doesn't even work. Get a clue!!!

[Slucas8]

Zip code is 37043. Speeds are that slow most of the time, all day long. They seem to be a little better late at night. There are times I cant even use the maps app on my phone as a GPS since it wont load a location. This happens on both my phone and my wife's phone. Very disappointing.

[vzw_customer_support]

Buzzkil88,

I'm here to make sure that you have the plan that best fits your needs. I'm sorry that you are struggling so much with your connection. We understand that being able to have a solid internet connection is important. I have sent you a Private Message so that I can provide you with the personalized assistance that is needed. Please reply back to me in the Private Message to continue. Thank you!

Alicia_VZW
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[vzw_customer_support]

Thank you for confirming, Slucas8. No outages or alerts have been reported in the area. We certainly understand your need for speed. Please run a speed test from speedtest.net and confirm what you are getting. Also, what make and model phone do you have?

Tionna_VZW
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[TIM1982]

Verizon Customer Support, please stop asking everyone canned questions like ’What’s your zip code?,’ or ‘What model phone do you have?’ It’s obvious that this is a Verizon issue, not a specific zip code or phone model. How about giving us an honest reply?

[SLOBIZMAN]

I read all five pages of posts in this topic.  I have the same issue of being constantly throttled with my new Unlimited Go plan I was pitched by a customer service rep.

It's throttled I'd say 95% of the time, and not always in the same city.  I just drove 90 miles and back today and it did it everywhere: San Luis Obispo, Buellton, Santa Barbara, CA.  And my speed is WAY worse than what others have reported:  .05 Mbps download!!! What's that, the old modem speed?  Needless to say no web pages would come up on my phone. Nothing.

I guess I'll get my canned customer service reply now.  Here's the info you'll request:

What's your zip code? 93401. 

What's your plan? Unlimited Go

What phone? iphone X, latest OS.

This only started happening after I upgraded to Unlimited Go from an 8GB plan.  Sucks.

Been with Verizon probably 25 years.  I think it's time to check out the competition.

[vzw_customer_support]

SLOBIZMAN, it would be disheartening to see you leave the VZW family after all these years. I believe we can find the right plan for you, which will get you the data speeds you need.

I understand where you're coming from with your thoughts about the data. The LTE network is a resource shared by all VZW customers, and each of our plans has different ways of managing the data. The Go Unlimited plan is designed for those who want the security of unlimited but mostly use Wi-Fi. You can experience reduced speeds when you're in an area with a lot of other VZW users. As you move out of that area connecting to a different tower or the number of users decreases, your speeds return to normal.

Based on what you've shared you're using your data more often than a typical Go Unlimited user. A better fit for you would be either our Beyond or Above Unlimited plans. On these plans, data is managed differently. With the Beyond Unlimited plan, you can use 22 GB of data on your line, before possibly encountering reduced speeds. On the Above Unlimited plan, you can use 75 GB before hitting that point.

You also don't need to pick one unlimited plan for everyone on your account. With Mix & Match unlimited plans, someone who is comfortable with Go Unlimited can use it, while your line using Beyond Unlimited (or Above). I'm going to share the FAQ pages for both the Beyond and Above Unlimited plans so that you can learn more about each one. If you have additional questions about them, please don't hesitate to ask.

Beyond Unlimited FAQ: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/beyond-unlimited-faqs/

Above Unlimited FAQ: https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/above-unlimited-faqs/

John_VZW
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If my response answered your question please click the _Correct Answer_ button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

[SLOBIZMAN]

"The Go Unlimited plan is designed for those who want the security of unlimited but mostly use Wi-Fi. You can experience reduced speeds when you're in an area with a lot of other VZW users. As you move out of that area connecting to a different tower or the number of users decreases, your speeds return to normal."

"Security" of Unlimited?  It's the opposite.  It makes a user VERY much NOT secure.  Since one never really gets "reduced speed" but instead gets completely unresponsive internet connections, I can imagine needing an Uber late at night and not being able to get a ride, or be driving in an unfamiliar part of town and not being able to get Maps up and end up in a dangerous place.  I would be afraid to let my wife go on a trip or go out at night without me for this reason.

Look, I understand why there should be throttling at times.  However, this is not throttling, it is the complete stoppage of the internet.  And when it's out, it could be out for a while (longest I've waiting before giving up is about ten minutes).  Verizon is FALSELY MARKETING this plan, in both its upfront marketing and also its FAQs.

So, in attempting to resolve this today I had my first horrible experience with Verizon Customer Service, which I've always in the past thought of highly.  The whole thing took me about 90 minutes (only 10 minutes of that was initial wait time for my first rep).  I'll tell the story...

I need to occasionally use internet while not in Wifi, so I had to get off of this Unlimited Go plan right away. I first used Verizon's chat.  The rep was not very intelligent for one, but he also lied to me.  He told me, no, none of our Unlimited plans throttle data.  I then sent him the FAQ and a couple articles that show they do. He said, that's right, we reduce the speed at times.  I told him that's what throttling is. What B.S.  Anyway, eventually after going back and forth for some time (it took several minutes between his replies), he said it must be a technical issue on my end and wanted to send me over to tech support.  I got off the chat at that point, as we all know this is not an issue for tech support.

Then I called on the phone to get a rep I could talk to.  Got someone who, while nice enough, was particularly difficult to understand. But I stuck with it.  I told her I wanted to go back to my 8 GB plan (which does not throttle), and she said she could do that and the change would take effect on Oct 22, 16 days away.  I said that was unacceptable as my wife and I could be mostly without the internet when away from wifi until then.  She said there was no way to do it earlier--apparently, you can upgrade immediately, not downgrade.  It's obvious why Verizon has this distinction: downgrading causes Verizon to make less money, so they make you wait for the change; but if you want to upgrade and pay them more money, sure, they can do it in an instant.

She said I could buy a block of 5 GB of data to help me get through until the 22nd.  Something like $35.  I told here that as an appx 25 year customer that I should get than free, since I was talked into this plan by a Verizon rep who didn't tell me about the throttling issues, and also because I am unable to cancel this bait-and-switch plan for 16 days.  After quite a long hold, she said she could not do that.

I asked for a supervisor. After another very long hold, she said there were none available.  I said I'd hold however long it took. 

Another long hold.  Then she came back with a solution.  She would upgrade me to Beyond Unlimited, set my account to go back to 8 GB plan on the 22nd, and issue me a credit for the extra I would pay for this this month.  That was acceptable to me, given my options, and given I'd now already spent 90 minutes of my Saturday on this.

I'll be on a plane tp Portugal precisely when this plan changes on the 22nd -- there better not be any kind of weird surprise that I'll find when I land in Portugal.  I don't like the idea of a plan change while flying on a plane internationally  (If an administrator here has any pull, it would be greatly appreciated if they can assign someone to make this plan change NOW for me--might save me as a Verizon customer.)

You know, the reason I've been hesitant to switch providers is that I had naively thought my 25ish years of loyalty (what's that, about $50,000 we've paid to Verizon over that time?) would come in handy at times like this when I really needed something done for me.  But no, it turns out I was treated exactly as I would if I were a brand new customer.

I'm sorely disappointed and am actively looking in to other providers. At least I now know that loyalty does not matter.