150 MG per month for $15 is a SCAM!
reese2
Newbie

I just got my LG Ally this week as my first smart phone. Tonight, I checked my usage tonight. It registered 38MG so far. All I've done is try to access a few web sites. Have not even set up e-mail yet. I have left it on during the day and it must have been on at night when I was charging it.  How else could it transmit 2.0 MB of data at 3:00AM. (I don't sleep walk.)  When I complained about this to the Verizon rep, she explained that an Android phone transmit data every 7 seconds. She indicated that she points this out to persons interested in an Android phone and suggest that the 150MG per month plan would not be appropriate. For someone with a budget concern, she would recommend a Blackberry, assuming they didn't plan to use the Internet much. I decided against a Blackberry as I wanted a full screen although I may not use it that much for web surfing.  Where I live, 35 miles west (straight line) of the Capital in western Loudoun County, VA, I cannot get a 3G signal consistently!  (Landline Verizon doesn't offer even DSL here either, but sticks with the 18,000 foot limit which can be exceeded using remote terminals. Just ask Shentel in the VA mountains because they do it up to 6 miles there!)

 

I used the usage estimator on the Verizon Wireless web page to compute my likely usage.  Based on the number of e-mails I receive daily and web pages I visit, I was safely within the 150MB plan. I also used a software package, CleanUp, that tells me how much residue (temp files, etc.) it cleaned up after each days surfing on my home pc. That calculation to put me within the 150MB plan. 

 

I believe Verizon Wireless has engaged in deceptive marketing practices because they did not explain that only a Blackberry devise with little Internet usage might stay within the 150 MB plan.  I may contact the appropriate regulators to see what they have to say about this chicanery.

 

 

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Re: 150 MG per month for $15 is a SCAM!
Android10
Contributor - Level 3



The $15 package with 150 MB is perfect for checking email and web browsing. If you  go over your allowance,  you are charged $15 for another 150 MB. If  you  are unsure about how much data you will  use,  you can move to unlimited usage on the $29.99 package to eliminate concerns. 



When using the usage estimator,  those are only estimates of  average size web pages and other data.  It does not account for data that is synced like contacts, calendar, pictures, and etc.  Facebook data, Gmail emails, and application updates all use data on the device, because of this an unlimited plan is usually recommended.  


We do offer a Data Usage Widget.


 

 

 

1

 Select the Android Marketplace icon from the device. 


2  

Locate free My Verizon application. 


3

Select My Verizon download and follow prompts.


  • Once the download is complete, revisit the phone desktop.  
4

Select the My Verizon icon created when the application was installed. 


5

View/Manage the account.



How To Launch Data Usage Widget


  1. Select Data Usage Widget from device.


  2. My Verizon Mobile's Usage Overview displays.


  3. Select Usage Details.


  4. Select Data Usage line item to display details.

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Re: 150 MG per month for $15 is a SCAM!
demmo86rt
Champion - Level 3
Why don't you just turn off mobile data when you're not using it? Then you know it's not being used in the background.
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Re: 150 MG per month for $15 is a SCAM!
reallyniceguy
Contributor - Level 3
I think the 15 dllr plan is great for people that do not use it much. Im confused tho, people were complaining here that 30 dllrs is to much and when I look at the att forums, people there complain that there is no more unlimited? If you use more than 150mb (which most droid users will) just get the 30 dllr plan.
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Re: 150 MG per month for $15 is a SCAM!
Morkai
Enthusiast - Level 3

"Tonight, I checked my usage tonight. It registered 38MG so far. All I've done is try to access a few web sites. Have not even set up e-mail yet."

 

This is the key to this whole thread. And it is worrisome that the "wireless employee" could not take the ten seconds to actually comprehend the problem here.

 

Reese2 38 megabytes of data when all you have done is to serf a "few" pages is way to high. The person who helped you did you a disservice in not troubleshooting the problem further. You downloaded something, be it an email, a flash file, a link, whatever. Point is, if you are not streaming media, downloading large file attachments, or spending huge amounts of time on the web, 150mb should do you fine. Make sure you have your email settings set to not download large messages, set your browser to only download flash content when you prompt it to etc and you should find your usage going way down, without any need for "turning off data when your not using it".

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Re: 150 MG per month for $15 is a SCAM!
PJNC284
Master - Level 2

Unless you have access to Wifi the majority of the time, I wouldn't get the 150MB plan.  The phones are constantly syncing data in the brackground that you may or may not be aware of and it doesn't take much to hit the limit.  I'm 28 out of 30 days into the billing cycle and have used almost 200MB.  Probably 95% of that has been on wifi but I have weather, gmail, corporate email, and a few other miscellanous apps syncing in the background.  As for Blackberries, data is compressed when it's sent between the rim servers and your device so similar usage will always be less.

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