Review of Verizon Wireless BroadbandAll reviews of |  about |
|
|
»next review in page
Followup comments:
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
One day I strolled into the local Verizon Store [Nevada City] and spoke with a sales rep. Within 20 minutes I walked out with a USB760, a two year contract, and was connected to the internet 10 minutes after getting home [which takes about half an hour from town]. It couldn't have been easier. I've noticed that the location of the modem is absolutely critical to getting a decent signal [sometimes by inches and rotation of the device] and by using a USB extension cable was able to find a spot that lit up all the bars. However, even with the modem never being moved, the signal strength can vary significantly. (Maybe it has something to do with the extension cable as I move that quite a bit between my PC and Mac]. Originally Verizon's usage tracking was ridiculous and I've had to be credited for going over the 5gig cap once already. There were three ways [via Verizon] to track usage and all three showed different results. In my opinion, this is essentially consumer fraud, but I haven't gone over the cap again, so I'm not going to make a big deal out of it [yet]. Next to Dial-up, I can't complain, but there are some nagging issues. Primarily, the speeds are never consistent and only on rare occasion do I see the advertised speeds. The updated software [v7] seems to have some improvements on speed, but nothing significant enough to enjoy surfing the internet anymore. Far too often internet pages fail to load and I have to F5 [refresh] to see them. It will often take about 30 minutes for a 3 minute embedded YouTube video to load enough to watch. Again, this is light years better than Dial-up, but not much fun and I really miss my cable connection. I haven't had to contact Verizon Tech Support yet so I can't comment on their service. Where I'm located is definitely Verizon country so they are the only game in town and I can't compare them to other WISP's or Satellite companies either. The new EVDO software [for Windows] is another review and a big disappointment at this time. Also, I have a MacBook Pro and see no software from Verizon or Smith Micro that supports EVDO with the USB760 modem in the Mac environment. I could be wrong, but as of last week [October 20 2009] this was the case. Overall, I'm very happy to have something a lot better than Dial-up. P.S. I don't know what 'Days from order to success' means and assume it is how long it took from purchasing the gear to getting on the internet. Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
I first went to (the former) Cingular since I have my cell phone through them. I won't go into details since this isn't their review, but the experience was poor at best. I returned their card and went straight to Verizon. I've had this service for a total of 3 years. For the first two years I used one of their PCMCIA cards that was excellent. It wasn't very obtrusive, and it had amazing reception. I then moved to a laptop with an expresscard slot and was forced to move to a USB solution. The USB card is REV-A compatible which added around 20kbs to my UL & DL speeds. In Metro areas I'm consistantly around 125kbs. The only CON is that they require a 2 year contract for the $60.00 price. If you press hard enough you can get 1 year contracts, but the price of the hardware is higher and your monthly fee is $80.00. However, this is for the UNLIMITED plan. They also offer pay as you go.... My other option was Sprint-Nextel, which I briefly had. While Sprint-Nextel was a little quicker, the coverage and software wasn't nearly as good. As stated as my "bottom line" if you need quick an constant on the road access I believe Verizon is the way to go. Update 10/20/2009: I still have my Verizon service, and it has been nothing less than rock solid. I'm currently using an internal Dell modem, because I got sick of the USB dongle. I'd still recommend this to anyone needing a constant connection while on the road! Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
It's getting so bad these days that I see ping times of over 3500 ms almost daily. I have tried in vain to get VoiP working, but it's hopeless because of the wild ping swings. You can tell this tower is getting overloaded, but Verizon keeps telling me the tower is fine. So I guess Verizon has decided it is not going to spend any more money in the Eastern Plains of Colorado, and you can just plan on the tower getting worst over time. I personally can not recommend Verizon Mobile Broadband in this area any longer. UPDATE (Oct 10, 2009): Verizon Wireless Broadband out here in Peyton is so bad that I'm about to drop it and go back to using a modem. If this $60 service was only $10 a month, it might be worth the hassle, but really, 4000 ms ping times? Give me a break. Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
Speaking of which, my area (luckily) had EVDO Rev A, so speeds were decent (1.5mbps or so). Latency was rough (150-200ms), but much better than satellite. I was able to connect to Xbox Live successfully through my PC's internet connection sharing feature, but the latency made gameplay a little difficult. The 5GB caps are a joke...one ISO or a few heavy YouTube sessions and you're done. Verizon needs to take care of this, especially since many people use these cards as their primary internet connection. Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next review in page (previous review)
I don't play on xbox live anymore because their connection latency is so skiddish. I DO try to use it to download new content to get more out of the game but that doesn't even happen anymore. Everytime I connect to Xbox live this service disconnects me. I dislike this company, they ruined a decent company's network. At least with Alltel after I got my connection fine tuned it would stay connected more. 9/16/09 As the 2nd commenter said about my review, I don't have any other options at this time. As soon as I get another option that will work (satellite not an option, T1 too expensive) I am going to give them a shot and give them a fair chance just as I am doing Verizon. Also on another note: I have talked to a Verizon rep that agreed with Alltel on the part of me being in the "fringe" of service and that is where the majority of my problems come from. Weekends I don't even try to use the net cause it don't work the majority of the time. Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
»next page (previous review)
In 2006 I was due for a cellphone upgrade as part of my 2 year contract renewal with Verizon. I went to a brick-n-mortar Verizon store in a local mall to check out their offerings. Then I saw the Samsung SCH-i730. Based on its price, features and the tantalizing prospect of broadband on the go (which I had never heard of before then), I emptied my discretionary spending fund and went for the unlimited data plan, and the phone itself retailed at $699. Whew! The price sure hurt in those early days -- the service was $44.99 for "unlimited" and there was still the implicit 5GB cut-off if you read the fine print. And the smartphone was a rip-off. Its feature set wasn't worth that price. Before I knew about the potential ToS violation that is tethering, I used to do it all the time with my SCH-i730 -- this helped me stay connected to the net all the way across the country on a vacation trip via Amtrak train, from Maryland to California. Sure, there were substantial periods of having no coverage (this is to be expected out in the plains of absolutely nowhere), but every major city and even some rural areas had either 1xRTT or EvDO. Cool. 3 years ago, having anything faster than dialup on a dual core ThinkPad, riding a train going 70mph in the plains of Illinois, was pretty amazing. Of course, I was completely oblivious to the fact that this whole time I wasn't supposed to be tethering, and I was probably being monitored closely because of the way I was using the service (i.e. more than just checking email). Fast forward to 2009. Verizon clarified their TOS, which had always been that you would get cut off if you used over 5GB/month on the "unlimited" plan. Now they no longer call it "unlimited", which is a real drag; but at least now they aren't outright liars. I got a new (and much cheaper) phone, due to the fact that Windows Mobile has advanced to a new major release and Verizon isn't updating the SCH-i730, and because my i730's battery is just about useless, and because the i730 was slowly becoming frail and beaten up with age. Understandable. It was a rugged and useful little device during its time. My new smartphone is a Verizon SMT5800, a re-branded HTC LIBR100. The capabilities are almost identical to the i730, except that it cuts out some of the features I didn't need of the i730: I hardly ever used the i730's WiFi (802.11b/g), its IrDA (infrared), and the touchscreen didn't make things easier. I like buttons. Other than that, its CPU, RAM and NAND seem comparable to the i730, but this phone only retails at $160. It's also got a standard Mini USB-A hookup, which means that the cable that comes with every MP3 player, camera, or other small miscellaneous digital device will work with my phone just the same. This is huge for the convenience factor. The SMT5800 has similar software issues to the i730 that I blame on Windows Mobile (I'm a Linux guy primarily), but I can work around them. The important features are still there. Anyway, the phones are good, but the service itself is infinitely more valuable. If I could somehow get two EvDO Rev. A connections to a single box, I would buy the modem and pay $100 - $120/month to get 2 x Rev.A speeds, and make that my primary home internet connection. But with the current transfer caps at 5GB, I couldn't very well do that, could I? In its current state, EvDO Rev. A on Verizon's network is an outstanding way to look something up on Google Maps or Skyfire (my mobile browser of choice) while you're driving around looking for somewhere to eat, or a hotel, or whatever. But the bandwidth caps make tethering or any sort of "interesting" uses (even instant messaging apps on the phone) impossible. I give it two thumbs up because it's just so amazingly reliable, and the coverage of the network is actually quite good, speaking from experience on a round trip cross-country train ride. I hope that someday this kind of reliable, wide-area connectivity will replace land lines that take years to finally get hooked up to your house. And if there's a problem with a cell tower, it affects hundreds of users, not just you, so they prioritize fixing it. That means you won't have to beg Verizon to fix your problem. Followup comments:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Verizon Wireless Broadband
(20)
(17)
(15)
Tustin,Orange,CA
Business customer
$60 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"fast, great coverage, easy to use, multpile users"
"no password on router, could always be cheaper, 5 gig limit"
"internet everywhere, if you can afford it"
·
Also use Verizon cellular exclusively for personal and business. Only negative is Verizon is not partnered with anyone in Trinidad & Tobago for roaming so have to have local cell (Digicel) and internet (Flow Trinidad cable) when I am there. 
·
·