Verizon Wireless Review
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- The Good
- Best coverage area
- Unlimited data plans
- Largest selection of phones
- The Bad
- Higher pricing
- No free service in Mexico or Canada
Verizon, in many respects, is the top mobile phone carrier in the US. It has the largest coverage area with some of the best plans and options. The only thing it can’t claim is the lowest price.
- Unlimited
- $80/month
- Family Plan
- $70/month per line
All Verizon plans included unlimited talk and text, and its most popular plan includes unlimited data as well. An individual unlimited plan is $80/month, while the unlimited family plan ranges from $30 a line (for 10 lines) to $70 a line (for 2 lines) per month, depending on the number of lines added.
- Coverage Area
- #1 in coverage area
Verizon always claims it has the best coverage area, and independent testing has backed them up. RootMetrics is an independent research company that tested coverage of the four main mobile network providers in six different areas: Reliability, Speed, Data, Call, Text and Overall. Verizon was #1 in all six categories, giving it a resounding victory when it comes to coverage. (Here’s RootMetrics coverage map to compare for yourself.)
- Features
- High-speed network
- Change data plan at any time
- Largest selection of phones
- Shared WiFi app, to get WiFi almost anywhere
- Mobile hotspot add-ons (free with unlimited plans)
- 24/7 customer support
- Rollover data for non-unlimited plans
- Safety Mode
One of the greatest features of Verizon is its high-speed network, which will help people who do a lot on their phones. You can also change your data plan at any time without resetting your upgrade timeline, so if you have one month until you are eligible for an upgrade before the switch, you will still have one month after. If you don’t have an unlimited plan, you can also take advantage of Verizon’s rollover data, as well as its Safety Mode, which keeps you from paying overage charges if you go over your data limit. When you reach your data limit, Verizon will lower your data speed instead of charging you. The feature is only available on new plans.
- Extra Fees
- Early Termination
- $175, or $350 if you have an Advanced Device
- Restocking Fee
- $35
- Activation Fee
- $35
- Upgrade Fee
- $30
- Data Overage
- $15/GB
Generally, Verizon has lower extra fees than many of its competitors. It has a lower activation and upgrade fee than most other competitors and only charges $175 for early termination. It does, however, charge $350 for early termination if you have an Advanced Device, which tends to be more expensive than other services. It also charges data overage fees, which providers like AT&T do not.
- International Plans
- Canada and Mexico
- $15 or $25 for 30 days
- International Travel
- $25 or $40 for 30 days
- TravelPass
- $10 per day
Verizon gives you choices when it comes to adding an international plan. If you are traveling to Canada or Mexico, you can either pay $5 a day for TravelPass or choose one of the International Travel Pricing plans for either $15 or $25, depending on how talk, text and data you need. If you are traveling outside North America, you can choose between a $25 plan or a $40 plan.
Verizon Wireless: User Reviews
Verizon Wireless: Comments
It’s no secret that Verizon reigns king in the mobile phone provider world, most because it has the largest and fastest coverage area of any of the current providers. Verizon, however, can tend to be more expensive than some of the other providers, depending on your needs.
How Does Verizon Mobile Work
It’s pretty easy to get set up on Verizon. If you have an existing phone that you would like to use, and it works with Verizon, you can either activate your phone online or bring it in to a Verizon store to have them activate it. If you need a new phone, you can order one from the Verizon site, from another site (make sure it is Verizon compatible), or go to a Verizon store to find a phone. You can also activate new phones from Verizon’s site or in person.
If you have an unlimited plan, you can pretty much use your phone as much as you want without worry since everything is covered. If you have a limited data plan (all Verizon plans have unlimited talk and text), you will need to keep an eye on your data usage, which you can do from your phone or via the Verizon website. If you don’t use all of your data, the extra data amount will rollover to the next month. If you do go over your data and have a new Verizon plan, Safety Mode will slow down the speed of your data so you aren’t charged an overage fee.
One thing to keep in mind: Verizon’s processing speeds are not guaranteed, especially if you live in a rural area. Unlimited plans are unlimited, but if you go over 22GB of data in a month, you may see your speed slow down.
What Makes Verizon Stand Out?
The main thing that makes Verizon stand out from all the other mobile carriers is its impressive coverage area. It claims the best coverage in the most areas and ranks highest for calls, texts, data, speed and reliability, which is an impressive feat. Verizon’s speed is generally quicker than all of its competitors as well, which is a good feature to have.
Some of the other features that help it stand out are large selection of phones that are compatible with Verizon, including the iPhone and top Android devices. If you are on its unlimited plan, you can also turn your device into a 10GB hotspot, which is nice if you are traveling and can’t access Wifi. You can also change your data plan at any time and not reset the clock on your upgrade eligibility or have to sign a new contract, which is nice.
Common Verizon Reviews
There is no doubt that Verizon does well on professional product review sites, considering it boasts the largest, fastest network with the largest selection of phones. Almost without fail, it is ranked in the top spot on review sites because of its dominant features.
User reviews, on the other hand, can be mixed. Most of the positive reviews love the reliability and coverage from Verizon, which is no surprise. Negative reviews range from customers who live in rural areas and were expecting better coverage or faster speeds, or users who had specific issues with customer service.
Is Verizon Right For You?
Verizon is pretty much right for everyone, if you are willing to pay for quality. It has the best phones, the best coverage area and the fastest network, making it a triple threat in the mobile phone provider world. That being said, there are a couple of scenarios in which case Verizon might not be the best choice.
Are you looking for a cheap plan? Verizon, while not wildly more expensive than competitors like AT&T and T-Mobile, it can add up against smaller pre-paid providers or even Sprint. If you don’t need unlimited data and think you can get by with a cheaper plan, look elsewhere.
Do you live in a major city? If you live a major urban area, coverage is not a major concern, since all of the four networks generally cover major urban areas. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles of Verizon, you can probably get away with picking any provider and being ok, especially if price is an issue for you.
Do you just need a phone to call, text and check your email? Many people don’t find themselves watching videos or playing complex video games on their phones, so they don’t need blazing fast speeds or unlimited data. If that’s the case, you might be able to pick a cheaper provider and still have your phone meet your needs. The only caveat to this is if you live in a rural area, in which case you might want to pick Verizon since they have the best coverage.
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