Unlimited data plans from mobile carriers pretty much always come with some sort of fine print or set of caveats that users should consider before buying in, and Verizon’s recently unveiled plan is certainly no exception. The catches with this plan aren’t exactly “gotcha” moments or anything that turns the plan into an outright rip-off, but are mostly the same type of policies you would find at other carriers that currently have an unlimited plan. Deprioritization of heavy users, limitations on hotspot Wi-Fi tethering, and some reading between the lines to decipher your bill are all here, and while they don’t significantly dampen the experience for most users, they are certainly worth knowing about if you’re a Verizon customer or considering becoming one.
For starters, full-speed hotspot functionality is limited to only 10 gigabytes. While that data allotment lasts, users can enjoy the full measure of Verizon’s LTE speeds in their area on other phones, tablets, laptops, or whatever other devices they may decide to share internet with. While tethering after this point is still unlimited, it falls back to Verizon’s 3G network, which tends to average speeds of about 850 kbps. Users who manage to blow through 22GB in any fashion, tethering or otherwise, will still have access to high-speed LTE data, but will see their connection deprioritized in times of congestion. That means that users could see their speeds reduced just a tad or taken down to abysmally slow levels depending on factors such as the number of higher-priority users around, and network conditions. Video streaming and other activities that may end up throttled to certain speeds run full-speed for Verizon customers.
One of the hangups that can be a bit difficult to navigate is the pricing. While Verizon usually has taxes and fees separate from advertised plan costs, along with a $20 access charge, the unlimited plans have most of these costs folded right in. This actually means that a single-line unlimited plan is a better deal than the $70 8GB plan, which comes to $90 versus the unlimited plan’s flat $80 pricing for a single line. Much the same logic applies to family plans, but with the cost of each successive line changing a bit to achieve the advertised $45 per line on a four-person unlimited plan.