Alright, as I've posted before I have the Verizon Home Phone Connect plan and equipment.
There have been a couple changes. For one, I upgraded my Verizon Family Share Plan to the new Share Everything Plan. If you haven't heard, Verizon is basically replacing its per minute plans (including the Family Plans) with new unlimited plans that have a flat monthly rate per device plus a data plan. For example, a non-premium "feature phone"- a non-smartphone- will start at $30/mo. A Smartphone starts at $40/mo. This includes calling and texting. Then you add your data allowance, which can be shared.
So what does this mean for my Verizon Home Phone Connect, which I use as my home phone? Previously, I had the option of sharing my minutes with my family plan for $9.99/mo as an "add-a-line" on my family plan or paying a little more for unlimited. With the old family plan, you could have up to 5 phone lines on one plan. After paying the base family plan rate for your first 2 phones, each additional phone was $9.99 per month. Now under Share Everything, the Home Phone Connect is a flat $20/mo. In my account, for example, I pay $40 for a smartphone plus $30 for one non-smartphone and $20 for the Home Phone Connect. Then I pay $50 per month for 1GB of data, which is shared between all the phones on my account.
As you may already know, Verizon offers a free cell phone upgrade every 2 years for existing customers. Or more specifically, once your existing phone is 2 years old (or you have gone 2 years without taking advantage of a subsidized phone purchase for that specific line), you can upgrade your phone at a subsidized price- as if you are a new customer. This can be done online very easily these days. Many of the upgrade phones are free, and right now Verizon offers a free iPhone 4, among other options.
I am somewhat tempted to "upgrade" my Verizon Home Phone Connect device to an iPhone, which would also require upgrading the service from home phone to a smartphone subscription, though technically this phone line would still serve as my Home Phone. My home phone was just become an iPhone, and I would retain the same home phone number that I have been using since it was a landline 12 years ago.
Are there any cons? Well, upgrading from Home Phone to Smartphone would cost $20 extra per month plus taxes or close to $300 per year. On the surface this would seem to run counter to the whole idea of saving money on home phone service. The most likely option is to not use the upgrade option at this time and 1. Save it in case the Home Phone Connector device breaks at some point and needs to be replaced or 2. Shift the upgrade credit to another line and use it to upgrade another device.
Yes, Verizon Wireless allows you to use your upgrade credit from one phone and switch it to another phone. For example, one of my phones says it is upgrade eligible on 11/02/2013! I will not be able to get a discount on that phone before that date. However, I can log onto My Verizon account, select "upgrade" and use the eligibility from the Home Phone upgrade on any of my other devices instead.
For right now, I think I will just hold tight. I don't want to pay more for my home phone, and I don't really need a new phone for any other lines.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Friday, May 27, 2011
I Switched My AT&T Home Phone to Verizon Wireless Home Connector
I finally switched my home phone to a wireless phone service. My current home phone number had existed for over 10 years, first with SBC and then with AT&T as a landline residential phone number.
A few years ago I switched to AT&T Uverse for tv, phone, and internet. So I kept my same phone number, and I stayed with AT&T, but it wasn't the old-fashioned "land line" anymore. It was now AT&T Digital phone. I have been happy with my high speed internet and cable tv services provided by uVerse. However, the phone plans weren't that great. The only way it made economic sense to keep my phone service was if I needed and subscribed to their unlimited calling plan. I didn't. That's what cell phones are for. So I was mindlessly paying too much money per month for a very limited calling plan.
I could have just turned off my home phone service, but I didn't. I wanted to keep my 10 year old phone number, and I wanted to keep a separate phone number for the house ( not a private individual cell phone number). Since I already have a Verizon Wireless Family Plan, I just thought I would add another line to it. Adding a line is only an extra $9.99 per month plus a few bucks in taxes/fees. I could just port my existing phone number and use a new cell phone as the house phone.
While looking at new cell phones that I could use for my add-a-line, I became discouraged. For one thing, almost all the attractive cell phones now require a data plan. I don't want a data plan for my home phone. That left what Verizon refers to as "feature" phones, which mostly resemble phones made for kids and seniors.
Finally, I came across the Home Phone Connector device. The Verizon Wireless Home Phone Connector allows you to use your existing home phone equipment ( I already had a pretty nice cordless phone). There is no need to get a cell phone. You just order the home phone connector equipment instead. Financially, it works like a wireless phone. I signed a 2 year contract and got the home phone connector for free. They offer a $19.99 unlimited plan, but I just got the $9.99 family plan add-on and will share the minutes with all my family plan lines.
So far things are working really well. I was worried AT&T would take a long time porting my number over, but my old number was working the next day. I would definitely recommend the Verizon home phone connector option as a good replacement for a landline, especially if you have a family plan and good reception in your house.
A few years ago I switched to AT&T Uverse for tv, phone, and internet. So I kept my same phone number, and I stayed with AT&T, but it wasn't the old-fashioned "land line" anymore. It was now AT&T Digital phone. I have been happy with my high speed internet and cable tv services provided by uVerse. However, the phone plans weren't that great. The only way it made economic sense to keep my phone service was if I needed and subscribed to their unlimited calling plan. I didn't. That's what cell phones are for. So I was mindlessly paying too much money per month for a very limited calling plan.
I could have just turned off my home phone service, but I didn't. I wanted to keep my 10 year old phone number, and I wanted to keep a separate phone number for the house ( not a private individual cell phone number). Since I already have a Verizon Wireless Family Plan, I just thought I would add another line to it. Adding a line is only an extra $9.99 per month plus a few bucks in taxes/fees. I could just port my existing phone number and use a new cell phone as the house phone.
While looking at new cell phones that I could use for my add-a-line, I became discouraged. For one thing, almost all the attractive cell phones now require a data plan. I don't want a data plan for my home phone. That left what Verizon refers to as "feature" phones, which mostly resemble phones made for kids and seniors.
Finally, I came across the Home Phone Connector device. The Verizon Wireless Home Phone Connector allows you to use your existing home phone equipment ( I already had a pretty nice cordless phone). There is no need to get a cell phone. You just order the home phone connector equipment instead. Financially, it works like a wireless phone. I signed a 2 year contract and got the home phone connector for free. They offer a $19.99 unlimited plan, but I just got the $9.99 family plan add-on and will share the minutes with all my family plan lines.
So far things are working really well. I was worried AT&T would take a long time porting my number over, but my old number was working the next day. I would definitely recommend the Verizon home phone connector option as a good replacement for a landline, especially if you have a family plan and good reception in your house.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Using a Wireless Phone as Your Home Phone
I recently ported my home phone number to a wireless service offered by Verizon Wireless. I had a landline home phone with AT&T. This number was in service for around 10 years, and we wanted to keep the phone number.
Since I already had a Verizon Family Plan, my first thought was to get a new cell phone and port my landline number to the new cell phone. Since I have a family plan, each additional line is only $9.99 plus taxes. AT&T was charging a minimum of $25 a month for a very limited calling plan. I had no need for the unlimited service, but even then Verizon now offers an unlimited plan for $19.99 with the Home Phone Connector.
So I ended up going with the Verizon Wireless Home Phone Connector. This device was free with a 2 year agreement. While I had the option of getting unlimited calls, I just used this for my add a line at 9.99. This device works by letting you plug your existing home phone into the jack on the back of the phone connector, then it connects wireless through the Verizon Wireless network. We already had a pretty good cordless home phone, and I really had no need for another wireless phone to worry about. The main goal was just keeping the phone number and having a dedicated phone for certain calls.
I know a lot of people have ditched their landlines completely and go all wireless. Some don't even care for having or keeping their home phone number. However, many people need a separate number. For example, I want to keep a separate home number for dealing with doctors, schools, kid's activities, etc. I really don't want general family calls or calls meant for other people coming to my personal cell phone. Sometimes you also get attached to having the same number for so long.
Because of number portability laws, you can keep your existing landline home phone or wireless number and transfer it to a new service provider. I recently made this switch and decided to start a blog about my experiences with wireless home phone options. I plan on relating my own experience and taking a look at other options.
Since I already had a Verizon Family Plan, my first thought was to get a new cell phone and port my landline number to the new cell phone. Since I have a family plan, each additional line is only $9.99 plus taxes. AT&T was charging a minimum of $25 a month for a very limited calling plan. I had no need for the unlimited service, but even then Verizon now offers an unlimited plan for $19.99 with the Home Phone Connector.
So I ended up going with the Verizon Wireless Home Phone Connector. This device was free with a 2 year agreement. While I had the option of getting unlimited calls, I just used this for my add a line at 9.99. This device works by letting you plug your existing home phone into the jack on the back of the phone connector, then it connects wireless through the Verizon Wireless network. We already had a pretty good cordless home phone, and I really had no need for another wireless phone to worry about. The main goal was just keeping the phone number and having a dedicated phone for certain calls.
I know a lot of people have ditched their landlines completely and go all wireless. Some don't even care for having or keeping their home phone number. However, many people need a separate number. For example, I want to keep a separate home number for dealing with doctors, schools, kid's activities, etc. I really don't want general family calls or calls meant for other people coming to my personal cell phone. Sometimes you also get attached to having the same number for so long.
Because of number portability laws, you can keep your existing landline home phone or wireless number and transfer it to a new service provider. I recently made this switch and decided to start a blog about my experiences with wireless home phone options. I plan on relating my own experience and taking a look at other options.
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