Hey guys,
So right now I have an iPhone 4S on the unlimited data plan and won't be able to upgrade my phone until July of next year. I do have a Samsung Galaxy SIII from a friend on the same network, but would I be able to upgrade the device from an iPhone 4S to a Samsung Galaxy SIII online from My Verizon and still be able to keep my unlimited data?
One of my friends from Sprint is thinking about getting the new iPhone 5 when it comes out, and considering she didn't want something so big, she was thinking about switching phones so that I could keep the iPhone 5 and she could take my 4S, is there any possibility of upgrading my device online and still keeping my unlimited data? Also, considering the iPhone is on another network, would I have to wait for her to unlock the phone on Sprint, or could I just add a Verizon SIM card into it and use it like that?
Thanks guys and I really hope this works! I want to keep my unlimited data and when my upgrade is up, I will probably just pay full price for the phone and keep my grandfathered data on the 4G LTE network once I need a new phone if I do get my friend's iPhone 5.
Last question, is there a throttle limit to Verizon's 4G LTE unlimited data plan? I know that they throttled costumers if they did go over 2GB in a month on the 3G service, but would they throttle on the 4G service? I do use a lot of data as I stream music and like to watch videos over 3G, so if I still do get throttled on the 4G network, I might as well just join the new tiered plan.
Thanks and really hope you can help!
Tom
You can bring any phone you want and keep unlimited data. If you upgrade you will lose it if you get a discounted phone.
Some of your word choices can be hazey, hope I cleared this up.
A sprint iPhone will not work.you can interchange phones whenever you want as long as you don't upgrade in future. To get an iPhone you can't use a sprint phone it has to be branded Verizon. So you can add a line to get a new iPhone if you don't want to lose your plan.
She can't use your Verizon one either. If that was allowed what's the point of haveing different companies haveing there own. The sim is for foreign trips not for local networks. There are criteria for Verizon customers like you have to be active for so many months etc.
Unlocking a phone will only allow the phone's basic call signal to work, but not the data because each carrier is allocated a particular frequency band for their data signal.
You can keep your Unlimited Data Plan only if you locate another Verizon phone someone else isn't using which is 4G capable, or you can purchase a phone at full retail.
WARNING: If you purchase a 4G phone at full retail at the store, make sure to have the retail rep print out proof that they didn't change you to a different plan while activating your new phone. I read on another forum, that someone at the VZ store made a mistake and he lost his Unlimited Data Plan and they refused to give it back to him.
You can activate your own phone using Verizon's site. Just locate 'activate phone' and the instructions are very easy. I tested it myself and switched my own 4G phones yesterday and today. Yesterday, I activated my old Thunderbolt which I replaced the screen on myself, then I reactivated my Droid Incredible 4G and it was an immediate activation both ways. Kinda cool you can do this yourself so all you have to do is find a phone that's 4G capable AND has its own SIM card. Not all SIM cards are the same size. My 2 phones I just mentioned are 2 different sizes so you can't just plug one into the other and expect it to work. Two Thunderbolt phone SIM cards can be interchanged, but other models might not have the same sized SIM cards so you just type the number into the VZ web site activation instructions and voila! It works!
There are many much smarter than I to answer about the unlocking of phones and switching carriers and whatnot....as for going through all these hoops to keep an unlimited data plan, I would look at past usage and find out if its really worth it. Especially when you're planning on paying Apple's overbloated idea of full retail price...you may find that you really wont be saving much, if any by holding on to it. 2G is quite a bit, unless you are streaming movies and just absolutely have to do it over 4G and cant wait to do it under wifi...
Hi there Swimmer341 & Community!
Thank you so all who posted some helpful tips!
The only thing I didn't see answered was the part about "throttling". I wanted to clarify that we don't throttle our customers data speeds in a sense of "you hit the cap, now you're slower".
We practice Network Optimization which means we ensure our network is performing at it's best to share with all of our customers.
The only time someone may experience temporarily slower speeds is if they are in a high volume area and are utilizing the majority of that volume. Once they leave the area or the volume drops, the speeds would be restored. You won't be affected if you are using a 4G phone in a 4G area or if you're on a tiered plan.
Everything else was already answered and I hope this clears things up!
Thanks,
MelissaM_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @vzwsupport
Start a new topic or ask questions in the open forum.
