Verizon Wireless Broadband access

[Lisa0825]

I just saw this advertised at the Verizon store. It is about $10 a month more than cable internet would be in my area, but I would be able to use it almost anywhere in most metropolitan areas, rather than looking for wifi hot spots. The thing I don't like is that the deal requires a 2 year contract. I already have Verizon phone service, but the idea of tying myself into another 2 year contract makes me uneasy. Does anyone have experience with this service? Is it worth it? Is it wise to get trapped into anything to do with computers for a 2 year term?

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobileoptions/broadband/serviceoverview.jsp

[RoyGBiv]

1. Contracts ...

There is one fundamental reason companies require contracts for services like this. Market testing has shown them that a high level of churn (essentially "customer turnover") can be expected with their service that will result in the service not being profitable over certain period of time. A lot of reasons for that can exist, some of which aren't all bad from the customer's point of view, but it's something to consider. An example of "not bad from the customer's point of view" could be that they are offering the service at near a break-even point and need a high volume of customers over a long period of time to achieve profit margin targets and recover costs involved in setting up the infrastructure for the service initially. On the other hand, their research could show that customers simply don't like the service or get angry at technical support with the company and disconnect their services at a high rate.

More and more of these companies are falling into requiring contracts as a shortcut to providing a high standard of customer service. It basically shows that a lot of companies are offering the same or a similar kind of service (or will be soon), and rather than compete in the market based on the quality of product and service, the company cuts corners and competes with contracts. SBC, Dish, and DirecTV are bad about this, as are many cell phone companies. Verizon, according to some independent surveys, has some of the lowest customer service marks in the industry.

As for the service itself, I've not had personal experience with it, but my first concern would be speed and hidden charges akin to "roaming" charges for cell phones. You may find you're able to use it pretty much anywhere, but not a speed that's much higher than your typical dial-up, yet at three or four times the cost. I don't know. It's just something to look into, and DO NOT trust an advertisement. You need the detailed information salespeople don't like to give.

In short, I'd ask a lot of questions before committing to that, and if they do not offer at least something like a 30 day opt out, forget it. If the hedge on any answer to your question, walk away. A two year commitment in this industry is about 1.5 years too long. Two years from now, dozens of companies will offer this service, probably cheaper, and probably better in quality.

[Lisa0825]

2. Great points!

Thanks a bunch!

I stopped by the Verizon store today, and as it turns out, my laptop is not compatible with their antenna, but there is a way to attach a different model of phone to the computer so that the phone antenna picks up the signal. The drawback is that it will cost me $149 for the phone and $49 for the "office kit" to get it set up. That is $120 more than I would have to pay to get set up with cable internet. So, aside from the poiints you brought up, I also need to decide if the freedom of wireless is worth that extra money to me.

Thanks for the input. When I go back by, I will definitely ask about the opt-out.

[RoyGBiv]

3. Speed ...

I got curious and dug a little. As I suspected, speed with this service leaves something to be desired. If you're planning on using this for both at-home and away use, you may be quite disappointed.

A bit about speed: Download windows in web browsers and FTP clients typically show download speed in terms of KB/s or kilobytes per second. This can be quite confusing because service providers tend to advertise their service in terms of kilobits or megabits per second, Kb/s or Mb/s respectively. There are 8 bits in a byte, so you have to do some calculating to determine what KB/s translates to in terms of kilobits or megabits per second.

Verizon advertises this service as capable of speeds up to 1 Mb/s, which is the equivalent of 128 KB/s. (If I recall correctly, this is the speed of the now outdated ISDN-B connection.) By comparison, the maximum speed on a typical dial-up is 56KB/s, so what you're talking about here is double the speed of dial-up for at least triple the cost. (The advertisement I found said 59.99/mo with qualifying calling plan, so depending on what dial-up service you're talking about and what services you already have, its more like 4 times the cost.) But this is what it is capable of, not what it typically gets. During standard use, you tend to get somewhere between 400 and 700 Kb/s with occasional bursts "up to" 1 Mb/s. This translates to 51.2 - 89.6 KB/s, which is right at or slightly above the speed of a dialup.

BTW, service providers are notorious for not capitalizing the abbreviations KB, Kb, MB, Mb correctly.

If you're on the road a lot visiting major metro areas or spend a lot of time in major airports, this might be a good deal, assuming you also want and need the "qualifying calling plan" and assuming the technology, and thus speed, do not improve in the next two years. If you're wanting this for home use as well, I believe I can safely say this is a bad deal when compared to cable or DSL service.

Oh, and the early termination fee is $175, so I will reiterate not to try this unless you are given a grace period during which you can try the service and see if it will work for you.

[welshTerrier2]

5. good research ...

if ACCESS is everything and speed is not important, then maybe this is worth considering ... but viewing this plan as a home/mobile plan is a very bad idea ...

it's way too slow for most people's home requirements ... the only way Wireless broadband makes sense is as an add-on to a separate home plan ...

[welshTerrier2]

4. the speed really stinks ...

i looked into this service a few months ago ... i was very tempted to subscribe because it would be great to be able to access the net from anywhere ...

but, there is something you should definitely be aware of ... the good news is that the access is great; the bad news is that the speed is NOT ... before you subscribe, you should definitely get them to disclose what kind of upload and download speeds you'll get with their wireless broadband service ... it's REALLLLLLLY slow ...

i like Verizon's DSL service ... my plan costs me $29.95 a month and i get better than 3 MB download speed ... they offer (in some areas) a $14.95 a month plan that buys you a 768KB line ... that's not great but you can upgrade to the plan i have if you need more speed ... DSL isn't quite as fast as a cable modem but it's pretty close and it's usually much cheaper ...