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AdmiralViscen
Nov 2, 2011

Thanks for the info, duckman!

Edit - whoops, there are others in need at bottom of last page

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Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Jazz Marimba posted:

my partner has been thinking of switching to verizon cuz with wireless + fios it’d be cheaper (just the cost of plans). she has an lg stylo 6 on t-mobile, would that get the fancy upgrade discount for the iphone 14, or is it just iphones?

also while i’m here, would a nine month old iphone 13 already on verizon would get the basically free iphone 14?

Is your iPhone 13 on payment plan or paid off ? Depends on that and what plan you are on.

Stylo 6 won’t get a $800 trade in. Maybe? $400, I can check tomorrow.


Are you wanting to merge plans ? You would save monthly , but also a lifestyle preference.

Feel free to PM as well, I can always offer to call and help you order any phones too. That’s what I do.

Jazz Marimba
Jan 4, 2012

Duckman2008 posted:

Is your iPhone 13 on payment plan or paid off ? Depends on that and what plan you are on.

Stylo 6 won’t get a $800 trade in. Maybe? $400, I can check tomorrow.


Are you wanting to merge plans ? You would save monthly , but also a lifestyle preference.

Feel free to PM as well, I can always offer to call and help you order any phones too. That’s what I do.

pmed!

Dr. Despair
Nov 4, 2009


39 perfect posts with each roll.

null_pointer posted:

SMS still uses cellular networks, and I still need at least one bar in order to use wifi calling. Zero bars meant no calls whatsoever, and one bar meant "good luck sending anything but text in your text messages!"

For what its worth I regularly call and text with no cell access (literally underground in a mine) and its worked seemlessly for years with both verizon and tmobile.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


Question about how the trade-in credits work. Last year, I traded in an XS and got a 13 Pro during preordering. However, because I went through a Costco wireless kiosk and they screwed up the order, I didn’t actually get my phone until a week after launch day, plus however long it took for my credits to kick in (maybe 1 billing cycle?)

If I wanted to upgrade next year (I’m on 24 month plan), do I need to pay off my last installment early so it’s free and clear to trade-in for pre-ordering? And will that rob me of my last trade-in credit?

GhostOfTomNook
Aug 17, 2003

El gallo Pinto no pinta,
el que pinta es el pintor.


(Duckman,) I’m adding a line to my wife’s existing family plan. I’m happy to keep my iPhone 13 Pro + $500 or trade in my wife’s 12 Pro for a 14 Pro +$1000 in credits and give her my 13. How long after I take the $500 promo can I get a device upgrade? Any other catches with either promo?

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Josh Lyman posted:

Question about how the trade-in credits work. Last year, I traded in an XS and got a 13 Pro during preordering. However, because I went through a Costco wireless kiosk and they screwed up the order, I didn’t actually get my phone until a week after launch day, plus however long it took for my credits to kick in (maybe 1 billing cycle?)

If I wanted to upgrade next year (I’m on 24 month plan), do I need to pay off my last installment early so it’s free and clear to trade-in for pre-ordering? And will that rob me of my last trade-in credit?

It goes down every month as you pay your bill. So it depends on your bill cycle and when they phone hit. Possibly yes.


GhostOfTomNook posted:

(Duckman,) I’m adding a line to my wife’s existing family plan. I’m happy to keep my iPhone 13 Pro + $500 or trade in my wife’s 12 Pro for a 14 Pro +$1000 in credits and give her my 13. How long after I take the $500 promo can I get a device upgrade? Any other catches with either promo?

Well, basically you can’t do both the $500 BYOD and a trade in promo. It’s one or the other.

If you are porting you can get a $200 gift card when you buy a phone, but has to be a port.

Best bet is probably the $1000 trade in either way.

null_pointer
Nov 9, 2004

Center in, pull back. Stop. Track 45 right. Stop. Center and stop.

Dr. Despair posted:

For what its worth I regularly call and text with no cell access (literally underground in a mine) and its worked seemlessly for years with both verizon and tmobile.

Yup, I have no idea what's going on. All I know is that, before I got the LTE Network Extender, it would take up to 10 minutes to send a picture over SMS, and if I didn't have even a single bar of network signal, I couldn't establish wifi calling.

Now that I have the extender, pictures go through super-fast and I don't even need wifi calling, at all.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
What's the current recommendation for plans?

We've been on the "The new Verizon Plan Medium 4 GB" plan for several years. Had a consistent bill of $88/mo for 2 lines (after discounts/taxes), but apparently the base plan cost has gone up $12 now? So we're at $103/mo for 2 lines right now. Looking in detail, it's:

quote:

Monthly charges and credits $53.00
The new Verizon Plan Medium 4 GB (Sep 13 - Oct 12)
4 GB Shared Data, Carryover Data, Unlimited Talk and Text $50.00
15% Access Discount -$7.50
03% Bonus Access Discount -$1.50
Plan Rate Adjustment Multi (Sep 13 - Oct 12) $12.00

That's base, and the per line is $20. So technically we were paying $45 per line base, but now $51/line with the extra plan rate adjustment. That's pre-discount pricing, so with discounts were back down to $53 + $20 + $20 (+ taxes) so $46.50 per line for 4GB/mo 5g data.

I assume the "plan rate adjustment" is "hey gently caress you for clinging to this old plan we're going to charge you extra because we're dicks and want you to move to a new plan." I automatically assume I'm losing something they don't want me to have anymore...

The thing is we... basically never use data. At home all the time, but we're on wifi... typically our data usage is around 2GB between us each month, so we often roll over the extra so we usually have 6GB available any given month. The only time we really use data is when traveling to see family for holidays (in-laws turned off their wi-fi for... no reason whatsoever). So it'd be nice not to have to worry, but I don't want to move to one of the new unlimited plans and get slammed with unexpected stuff.

We both have Pixel 6 phones (mine is a Pro, hers isn't, both bought unlocked from Google store), so 5g capable, and I can theoretically get UWB. But 5g is spotty in my area... I mean, we're near a big city, and the map shows 5G all over the place, but that's laughable in real life. Theoretically we have 5g at our house, and UWB in some places, but in practice we mostly get LTE. I get it at my office, usually, and sometimes while out and about, but it's not reliable, and the house is 100% LTE all the time.

So I guess the questions are:

Does "throttling" still exist? Is it a problem? Is there anything on the higher tier plans (i.e. Get More) that would allow them to revoke the "true unlimited" in the future?

Is LTE under the "unlimited" umbrella, or would we be hosed for using LTE data?

Is there literally no reason for us to be clinging to this ancient plan?

Looks like tethering is restricted on new plans? I sometimes use this for work, but it's infrequent and usually on the order of a few megs per session, not GBs, but I'm loathe to give it up.

So on the surface, it looks like we'd only be paying a few bucks more per month to get unlimited (?) 5G on the Get More plan. That SOUNDS good.... but I'm wary.

The main thing is I want to make sure I'm not giving up some legacy feature that they've stripped out of new plans. The 5G Get More is only a hair more expensive, but over the years it seems like they want you on new plans because they're stripping away good things from the old benefits (tethering, no throttling, etc.). Or am I a being a crotchety old man about this? Way way back I used to cling to a REALLY old "unlimited" plan because it was pre-throttling and in the times before phones used a ton of data, but I eventually gave it up for some reason.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Sep 15, 2022

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

DaveSauce posted:

What's the current recommendation for plans?

We've been on the "The new Verizon Plan Medium 4 GB" plan for several years. Had a consistent bill of $88/mo for 2 lines (after discounts/taxes), but apparently the base plan cost has gone up $12 now? So we're at $103/mo for 2 lines right now. Looking in detail, it's:

That's base, and the per line is $20. So technically we were paying $45 per line base, but now $51/line with the extra plan rate adjustment. That's pre-discount pricing, so with discounts were back down to $53 + $20 + $20 (+ taxes) so $46.50 per line for 4GB/mo 5g data.

I assume the "plan rate adjustment" is "hey gently caress you for clinging to this old plan we're going to charge you extra because we're dicks and want you to move to a new plan." I automatically assume I'm losing something they don't want me to have anymore...

The thing is we... basically never use data. At home all the time, but we're on wifi... typically our data usage is around 2GB between us each month, so we often roll over the extra so we usually have 6GB available any given month. The only time we really use data is when traveling to see family for holidays (in-laws turned off their wi-fi for... no reason whatsoever). So it'd be nice not to have to worry, but I don't want to move to one of the new unlimited plans and get slammed with unexpected stuff.

We both have Pixel 6 phones (mine is a Pro, hers isn't, both bought unlocked from Google store), so 5g capable, and I can theoretically get UWB. But 5g is spotty in my area... I mean, we're near a big city, and the map shows 5G all over the place, but that's laughable in real life. Theoretically we have 5g at our house, and UWB in some places, but in practice we mostly get LTE. I get it at my office, usually, and sometimes while out and about, but it's not reliable, and the house is 100% LTE all the time.

So I guess the questions are:

Does "throttling" still exist? Is it a problem? Is there anything on the higher tier plans (i.e. Get More) that would allow them to revoke the "true unlimited" in the future?

Is LTE under the "unlimited" umbrella, or would we be hosed for using LTE data?

Is there literally no reason for us to be clinging to this ancient plan?

Looks like tethering is restricted on new plans? I sometimes use this for work, but it's infrequent and usually on the order of a few megs per session, not GBs, but I'm loathe to give it up.

So on the surface, it looks like we'd only be paying a few bucks more per month to get unlimited 5G on the Get More plan. That SOUNDS good.... but I'm wary.

The main thing is I want to make sure I'm not giving up some legacy feature that they've stripped out of new plans. The 5G Get More is only a hair more expensive, but over the years it seems like they want you on new plans because they're stripping away good things from the old benefits (tethering, no throttling, etc.). Or am I a being a crotchety old man about this? Way way back I used to cling to a REALLY old "unlimited" plan because it was pre-throttling and in the times before phones used a ton of data, but I eventually gave it up for some reason.

The Verizon website will show what the plans are with 4 lines of service by default. Get More is not close to what you are paying , although let’s do the math on others (you don’t need get more anyway).

First off, the $12 rate increase is technically due to inflation (you are correct as to what it actually is).


Your plan is $53 + $20 + $20 = $93


The unlimited plans have a discount if you do autopay with a debit card. Not credit card. I’m going to quote assuming you would do autopay , it’s $20 a month more if you don’t do autopay.


Start unlimited is $60 + $60 = $120. Unlimited call text and data , if you are on a congested tower , you can see slower speeds. The plan used to not include hotspot, but it now has 5GB mobile hotspot per line so you’re good on hotspot.

If you want unlimited with no throttling, it’s $140 a month for 2 people (50GB no throttling which is more than enough). This plan does include free Disney bundle if you happen to be paying $15 a month for Disney.


So basically , even the lowest unlimited plan is technically $25ish more.

Here’s the curveball: a lot of customers (not all!) on old plans have a retention offer to move to unlimited data. If the retention offer is there, it’s $25 off any unlimited plans (with 2 lines which you have).

Personally , your usage is lower where even with network throttling , I think start unlimited would be fine usage wise. Your current plan does not have throttling , because you have a data cap instead. That said, if you’re not using much, I just don’t see a big difference between low usage , and usage but occasional throttling (but that is honestly my opinion and it’s totally fine if your opinion is different).


Long story short: if the loyalty offer is there, which care can check if you call them at (800) 392-0717 , then I would recommend start unlimited. If it isn’t there, just stay on your current plan.

And for the record, I can check on plans, but iPhone launch is this weekend so it would have to wait till after this weekend. But if you want me to check , PM me, I don’t mind doing it on a normal day.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Duckman2008 posted:

The Verizon website will show what the plans are with 4 lines of service by default.

well... gently caress, of course it does. Didn't notice that, that appears to change the math significantly. I knew it sounded too good to be true.

Duckman2008 posted:

Here’s the curveball: a lot of customers (not all!) on old plans have a retention offer to move to unlimited data. If the retention offer is there, it’s $25 off any unlimited plans (with 2 lines which you have).

That's good to know! Had this number through Verizon since like 2006 I think, and the account has been in my name since 2013 maybe? I dunno, it's been a long time. Not sure if that necessarily means anything, though.

Here's a question: do the "work" discounts still apply? So we get 15% + 3% because of who either I or my wife works for (can't remember which). Is this still a thing, or have they discontinued that on new plans? If they still do it, how do they apply it? Currently it's on the "base" plan only, not per line, but the new plans don't have a base cost, so I don't know how to translate this to new plans. (edit: I think the 3% is for autopay maybe? Can't remember).

Duckman2008 posted:

Personally , your usage is lower where even with network throttling , I think start unlimited would be fine usage wise. Your current plan does not have throttling , because you have a data cap instead. That said, if you’re not using much, I just don’t see a big difference between low usage , and usage but occasional throttling (but that is honestly my opinion and it’s totally fine if your opinion is different).

Yeah I'd happily pay $10 more per line a month to get the Get More plan, but of course that's not an option. I'd love to be able to watch videos and stuff on the go, but we've pretty well trained ourselves over the years to not use data on the go outside of basic web browsing or low-data apps. Might have to rethink that attitude, though, since we have 2 small kids, and now that the pandemic is "over" we're going out with them more frequently.

That said, I'm not sure I could use 50gb if I tried, so the Do More plan might be worth it to get at least some amount of unthrottled data. We're in a fast growing area so I don't trust that the towers aren't clogged all to hell, and I don't really trust that "when the tower is busy" doesn't translate to "well we feel like it, so what are you going to do about it?"

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

DaveSauce posted:

well... gently caress, of course it does. Didn't notice that, that appears to change the math significantly. I knew it sounded too good to be true.

That's good to know! Had this number through Verizon since like 2006 I think, and the account has been in my name since 2013 maybe? I dunno, it's been a long time. Not sure if that necessarily means anything, though.

Here's a question: do the "work" discounts still apply? So we get 15% + 3% because of who either I or my wife works for (can't remember which). Is this still a thing, or have they discontinued that on new plans? If they still do it, how do they apply it? Currently it's on the "base" plan only, not per line, but the new plans don't have a base cost, so I don't know how to translate this to new plans. (edit: I think the 3% is for autopay maybe? Can't remember).

Yeah I'd happily pay $10 more per line a month to get the Get More plan, but of course that's not an option. I'd love to be able to watch videos and stuff on the go, but we've pretty well trained ourselves over the years to not use data on the go outside of basic web browsing or low-data apps. Might have to rethink that attitude, though, since we have 2 small kids, and now that the pandemic is "over" we're going out with them more frequently.

That said, I'm not sure I could use 50gb if I tried, so the Do More plan might be worth it to get at least some amount of unthrottled data. We're in a fast growing area so I don't trust that the towers aren't clogged all to hell, and I don't really trust that "when the tower is busy" doesn't translate to "well we feel like it, so what are you going to do about it?"

-employer discounts are dead and do not apply in anyway to any unlimited plan. I didn’t mention that, but that’s why I didn’t include it on the unlimited plan. The only other discounts are if you happen to be military, teacher, nurse, student or first responder (if you are you then get that $25 discount).

-def fair point on network congestion. It’s hard to say because , full transparency, I have a plan that has priority data and I never hit the point where I could be slowed down, so I’ve never had it personally.

It’s two different things. I think the policy on a broad level is bullshit, I’m very pro net neutrality , but that’s not the reality we live in. Anecdotally , the network congestion throttling has been around for like, 4-5 years now, and I rarely have customers complain to me about it. I don’t work in tech support, so I guess they don’t always get directed to me, but my opinion is I think a lot of customers don’t notice. That said, if you’re posting on something awful, you probably are more inclined to notice.


I personally would pay the $10 a month difference for priority data. Just trying to give you both sides.


Honestly, it really depends on if you qualify for the $25 a month discount for unlimited data.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
I figured employer discounts were dead... I know several years back they did a massive clean-up and made everyone re-verify their eligibility, so I'm not surprised they've been eliminated entirely.

Is there any way to tell how often a given area gets busy? Reading more about the throttling, it's less active speed limits and more "you get whatever scraps are available," which gets pretty miserable when towers get overloaded during power outages/etc. from storms (edit: of course this is unavoidable during that situation, I'm just trying to figure out if this is the norm for unprioritized connections or not). Never been under a plan that does this, so I'm not terribly interested in finding out the hard way since there's no going back, only paying more.

Also, regarding that $25 retention discount... how long is that good for? Is this a "for as long as you are on that plan" thing, or is it a "we'll take it away in 12 months and you can't do gently caress-all about it" thing?

edit:

also, what the hell does this mean:

quote:

You’ll also get high-definition 720p video streaming on 5G Nationwide / 4G LTE when you activate it in your plan settings.

can... can they override apps and force a max video quality? I mean, not that I intend on streaming 4k videos over data, but just curious as to whether they're enforcing this or just giving it as an example.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Sep 15, 2022

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

DaveSauce posted:

I figured employer discounts were dead... I know several years back they did a massive clean-up and made everyone re-verify their eligibility, so I'm not surprised they've been eliminated entirely.

Is there any way to tell how often a given area gets busy? Reading more about the throttling, it's less active speed limits and more "you get whatever scraps are available," which gets pretty miserable when towers get overloaded during power outages/etc. from storms (edit: of course this is unavoidable during that situation, I'm just trying to figure out if this is the norm for unprioritized connections or not). Never been under a plan that does this, so I'm not terribly interested in finding out the hard way since there's no going back, only paying more.

Also, regarding that $25 retention discount... how long is that good for? Is this a "for as long as you are on that plan" thing, or is it a "we'll take it away in 12 months and you can't do gently caress-all about it" thing?

edit:

also, what the hell does this mean:

can... can they override apps and force a max video quality? I mean, not that I intend on streaming 4k videos over data, but just curious as to whether they're enforcing this or just giving it as an example.

They can absolutely enforce a max video quality. It’s 480 on start unlimited, 720 on play more and above.

No way to know in terms of how prevalent network management is in your area or any area. Wish I had a better answer but it’s basically just YMMV.

I can’t guarantee the loyalty offer, but if it’s there (i would give it 50/50 chance) it doesn’t expire once attached. So it isn’t a one year thing.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Duckman2008 posted:

They can absolutely enforce a max video quality. It’s 480 on start unlimited, 720 on play more and above.

Oh... welp, didn't know that. Not that it's a huge deal on a relatively tiny phone screen, but an insight as to their technical capabilities. I mean, I never doubted that they COULD if they wanted to, just never knew that they actually did it.

Duckman2008 posted:

No way to know in terms of how prevalent network management is in your area or any area. Wish I had a better answer but it’s basically just YMMV.

OK, I wasn't sure if there was some website that a person could use to check this or if it's something you won't know until you experience it.

Duckman2008 posted:

I can’t guarantee the loyalty offer, but if it’s there (i would give it 50/50 chance) it doesn’t expire once attached. So it isn’t a one year thing.

Yup, I get that. Just trying to figure out if it's sold as a definite "this expires in <time>" or if it's just open ended. I mean, even a year of $25/mo is not nothing, but the math certainly changes depending on how long it lasts.

I can at least give Verizon credit for their consistent pricing... Until recently, we've been paying the same for our plan for ages, and same for the plan we had prior to that. Once you're in, you're in... which of course gives them incentive to try to push you out. And it's all great until the day you find out you could get a better plan for less money, of course...

But in any case, this new fee is honestly the first time I remember them doing anything to force a price increase, rather than trying to nudge you in to another plan.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 17:54 on Sep 15, 2022

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

DaveSauce posted:

Oh... welp, didn't know that. Not that it's a huge deal on a relatively tiny phone screen, but an insight as to their technical capabilities. I mean, I never doubted that they COULD if they wanted to, just never knew that they actually did it.

OK, I wasn't sure if there was some website that a person could use to check this or if it's something you won't know until you experience it.

Yup, I get that. Just trying to figure out if it's sold as a definite "this expires in <time>" or if it's just open ended. I mean, even a year of $25/mo is not nothing, but the math certainly changes depending on how long it lasts.

I can at least give Verizon credit for their consistent pricing... Until recently, we've been paying the same for our plan for ages, and same for the plan we had prior to that. Once you're in, you're in... which of course gives them incentive to try to push you out. And it's all great until the day you find out you could get a better plan for less money, of course...

But in any case, this new fee is honestly the first time I remember them doing anything to force a price increase, rather than trying to nudge you in to another plan.

The loyalty offer is similar, if you get if, once you’re in you’re in, it doesn’t go away.

And yeah, this is the first time I’ve seen Verizon raise prices on existing plans since the OG unlimited plan in 2017. Plans go away, yes, but people who have said plans already almost always keep them.

phongn
Oct 21, 2006

Do you know how long the $800 trade-in offer will last for? I'm on the EPP until October 31 (converts to a more normal employee discount after) and subject to the blackout window.

Also, my wife has an XS and I have an 11PM, it looks like both get the $800 offer?

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

phongn posted:

Do you know how long the $800 trade-in offer will last for? I'm on the EPP until October 31 (converts to a more normal employee discount after) and subject to the blackout window.

Also, my wife has an XS and I have an 11PM, it looks like both get the $800 offer?

Promo goes until September 30th.

Context: EPP is the employee discount. Also, Verizon has a policy where they do not allow employees to buy the new iPhone until there is readily available stock for customers. As an example, last year I had to wait until mid to late November before I could be the 13 Pro. Inventory in that case was actually still terrible, but I think they wanted to avoid the optics of employees not being able to get a goddamn phone before Christmas.

Fun fact: even if you bought the phone outright from Apple, if you activate a blackout window phone before it’s allowed, it’ll remove your entire employee discount. Hardcore.


To answer the question: What they normally do for employees, is once they give us the huge privilege of being able to buy the phone that we rightfully should be able to buy as customers , is they bring back the promo for like, 1-2 weeks for accounts with the EPP. Not guaranteed , but I haven’t seen them not do it in years because employees would loving revolt.

Yup, both phones qualify as long as you are on play more, do more or get more for those lines. If you are on the old unlimited plan like me you only get $400.

phongn
Oct 21, 2006

Duckman2008 posted:

To answer the question: What they normally do for employees, is once they give us the huge privilege of being able to buy the phone that we rightfully should be able to buy as customers , is they bring back the promo for like, 1-2 weeks for accounts with the EPP. Not guaranteed , but I haven’t seen them not do it in years because employees would loving revolt.

Guess I'd better hope that the EPP blackout ends before the end of October (I think it ended surprisingly early in some years) and the promo re-appears. We don't get any comms on the blackout ending (even when VZM was fully part of VZ) so I'll just try to remember to keep checking if I can put in an order.

Thank you very much!

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

phongn posted:

Guess I'd better hope that the EPP blackout ends before the end of October (I think it ended surprisingly early in some years) and the promo re-appears. We don't get any comms on the blackout ending (even when VZM was fully part of VZ) so I'll just try to remember to keep checking if I can put in an order.

Thank you very much!

Yeah for sure.

If it helps, sales haven’t been awful, but it’s not gang busters like last. The Pro and Pro Max are obviously the big sellers, but I think end of October is a good chance this year.

Shifty Pony
Dec 28, 2004

Up ta somethin'


What's the best way to go about reporting a bad cell site?

Basically the sector serving my neighborhood varies from "slow but decently usable" to "completely hosed", and the problem is always on the upload side. I thought it was just them transitioning away from LTE, but my new iPhone has the same problem.

All of these are while walking down the street, so there's no possibility of house construction messing with the connection:









This causes messages to fail to send, and iMessage in particular gets really grumpy about such an unbalanced connection. Forcing disconnection and reassociation by toggling airplane mode will occasionally (~15% of the time) bring download speeds to about where they are in the rest of the city for a while, but upload speeds are still relatively slow (but usable):

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Shifty Pony posted:

What's the best way to go about reporting a bad cell site?

Basically the sector serving my neighborhood varies from "slow but decently usable" to "completely hosed", and the problem is always on the upload side. I thought it was just them transitioning away from LTE, but my new iPhone has the same problem.

All of these are while walking down the street, so there's no possibility of house construction messing with the connection:









This causes messages to fail to send, and iMessage in particular gets really grumpy about such an unbalanced connection. Forcing disconnection and reassociation by toggling airplane mode will occasionally (~15% of the time) bring download speeds to about where they are in the rest of the city for a while, but upload speeds are still relatively slow (but usable):



So you can call care at (800) 392-0717 and ask to be transferred to tech support , but I got probable bad news , I’ve never heard of them adjusting towers based off of a customer calling in. It’s also not my department I guess , but probably not much in real time they can do.

The last house i lived at was in the city and the whole area just had bad coverage. Sometimes it’s literally the local government being picky about tower placement , as in they don’t want it to look ugly and as a result, coverage kind of sucks because you don’t have enough towers up. There was an area like that in Philly, literally all cell reception on all networks like, worked but wasn’t great.

Shifty Pony
Dec 28, 2004

Up ta somethin'


I have actually managed to pester them into fixing it before, it just took being very persistent about it and escalating it up the chain. Once it got escalated they were actually really interested in fixing it, had me wander around the neighborhood a few times to see if it was fixed. It was good for a while before going to crap again, so I suspect there's something about the equipment location that's killing it. Texas heat is evil poo poo to electronics.

Eh, I had hoped for a more direct solution but I'm moving in less than a year I might just deal. Thanks for the help and the commiseration.

Trampus
Sep 28, 2001

It's too damn hot for a penguin to be just walkin' around here.
Hey Duckman, the app offered me $700 off an upgrade to the Pixel 7 Pro with eligible trade in and Unlimited plan. My phone, Pixel 5, qualifies but I'm not sure about my current plan. I'm on the 5G Play More plan, do you know if that plan qualifies or would I need to upgrade my plan?

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

Trampus posted:

Hey Duckman, the app offered me $700 off an upgrade to the Pixel 7 Pro with eligible trade in and Unlimited plan. My phone, Pixel 5, qualifies but I'm not sure about my current plan. I'm on the 5G Play More plan, do you know if that plan qualifies or would I need to upgrade my plan?

Nope you qualify. PM me If you want me to order it for you, I work tomorrow.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer
It’s been a busy day, but fyi anyone on a Verizon unlimited plan gets a $700 trade in towards the pixel 7, new or upgrade. Almost any phone. An OG pixel 1 gets the trade in.

BIG HEADLINE
Jun 13, 2006

"Stand back, Ottawan ruffian, or face my lumens!"
Whoa, holy poo poo. $700 off for *existing customers*?

I don't think my P5 is fully paid off yet but it's only ~2-3 months more until it is.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

BIG HEADLINE posted:

Whoa, holy poo poo. $700 off for *existing customers*?

I don't think my P5 is fully paid off yet but it's only ~2-3 months more until it is.

You can pay it off early if you want to.

As always, def good to mention the credit is over 3 years. Good credit, but yeah.

BIG HEADLINE
Jun 13, 2006

"Stand back, Ottawan ruffian, or face my lumens!"

Duckman2008 posted:

You can pay it off early if you want to.

As always, def good to mention the credit is over 3 years. Good credit, but yeah.

I'm just trying to decide if I should wait until next year since my P5 still has updates guaranteed until 10/2023. The P7 really just has a really nice camera, nicer screen, and 4GB of extra RAM...all things I don't make excessive use of on my *current* phone.

Also, I'm assuming it's $700 off the P7 Pro since $700 off the P7 would make it so Verizon owes you money at MSRP.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer
Fyi the pixel trade in promo goes until end of October. It can always change early , but as of now month long.

zzyzx
Mar 2, 2004

Duckman2008 posted:

It’s been a busy day, but fyi anyone on a Verizon unlimited plan gets a $700 trade in towards the pixel 7, new or upgrade. Almost any phone. An OG pixel 1 gets the trade in.

I was browsing in the app yesterday and it estimated a $10 trade-in value for my pixel 2 XL (which isn't unreasonable, it's very old), but after reading this I did a pixel 7 pre-order today and got the full $700 value. Thanks!

I'm interested in the $100 discount for the pixel buds pro, but each color was backordered and it wouldn't let me add the special to my order. Can I make a separate order for those later and still get the discount?

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


In the My Verizon app, it doesn't show the Pixel 1 as an option. I have an old Pixel XL knocking about here somewhere which would be nice for getting my wife upgraded for $8/mo.

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

AlexDeGruven posted:

In the My Verizon app, it doesn't show the Pixel 1 as an option. I have an old Pixel XL knocking about here somewhere which would be nice for getting my wife upgraded for $8/mo.

I work Sunday morning and mon to Fri , text and I can get you set.


I’m pretty sure the OG pixel is there, although I’ll double check. Just need the IMEI.

BIG HEADLINE
Jun 13, 2006

"Stand back, Ottawan ruffian, or face my lumens!"
Is it just the P7 in this promo or the P7 Pro as well?

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

BIG HEADLINE posted:

Is it just the P7 in this promo or the P7 Pro as well?

Both. Flat $700 trade in, you just pay the difference for the Pro up front or over 3 years.

AlexDeGruven
Jun 29, 2007

Watch me pull my dongle out of this tiny box


Duckman2008 posted:

I work Sunday morning and mon to Fri , text and I can get you set.


I’m pretty sure the OG pixel is there, although I’ll double check. Just need the IMEI.

Shes still waffling between the P7P and a 14 Pro Max. Plenty of time 😂

BIG HEADLINE
Jun 13, 2006

"Stand back, Ottawan ruffian, or face my lumens!"

Duckman2008 posted:

Both. Flat $700 trade in, you just pay the difference for the Pro up front or over 3 years.

Okay, what's Verizon charging, because it looks like the P7 is $599/$699 for the 128/256GB and $899/$999/$1099 for 128/256/512GB.

Does that make the 256GB P7 "free" before fees and taxes?

Duckman2008
Jan 6, 2010

TFW you see Flyers goaltending.
Grimey Drawer

BIG HEADLINE posted:

Okay, what's Verizon charging, because it looks like the P7 is $599/$699 for the 128/256GB and $899/$999/$1099 for 128/256/512GB.

Does that make the 256GB P7 "free" before fees and taxes?

Verizon charges the pixel starting at $700 for the 7 128GB, the Pro $900, add $100 for the 256 for either.

So the 128GB is free other than tax and fee, and over 3 years.

SamDabbers
May 26, 2003



In case you think you may want to install a 3rd party OS, root the device, or even flash Android builds from Google itself, be aware that the Verizon-sold Pixels do not allow for unlocking the bootloader at all and will only accept OTA updates.

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BIG HEADLINE
Jun 13, 2006

"Stand back, Ottawan ruffian, or face my lumens!"

SamDabbers posted:

In case you think you may want to install a 3rd party OS, root the device, or even flash Android builds from Google itself, be aware that the Verizon-sold Pixels do not allow for unlocking the bootloader at all and will only accept OTA updates.

Yeah, I might try to get my mother to bite on this for a P7 but I think I'm going to wait another year and just buy an unlocked phone. Google will only give me $400 for my P5, the bastards.

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