Verizon BYOD

[The_Vermonster]

The wife is currently on verizon and I am looking at joining her on a new plan. She would like to keep her iPhone and I'll be purchasing a new phone. I'd like to get a used Icon or maybe 928. Looking online there doesn't seem to be a discount being applied on monthly service for BYOD or buying at full price. 2gb shared comes to $130 / month compared to AT&T at $90 / month.

 

[Nerdy Woman]

Verizon uses hard-coded CDMA (no SIM) while AT&T uses GSM. The only BYOD that Verizon allows are devices that were manufactured for Verizon's network. In other words, phones that were previously using Verizon's network and would like to do so again. Consequently, the availability of used devices will be limited to former Verizon phones. There is no such thing as unlocked in their little universe.

 

[The_Vermonster]

I am aware that verizon uses CDMA and I there isn't an unlocked phone. But unless that means I can't buy a used phone, I don't see how that helps.

I'm just wondering if there is an advantage to BYOD on Verizon.

 

[slavrenz]

As far as I know, the only U.S. carrier where BYOD means cost savings (other than on the initial device purchase) is T-Mobile, as they have decoupled the monthly rate plans from the monthly cell phone payment plans. AT&T does the same with the Next program, but I'm not sure if you save any money in that case.

 

[The_Vermonster]

AT&T is offering $15 off per month per line if you BYOD.

 

[Nerdy Woman]

I am aware that verizon uses CDMA and I there isn't an unlocked phone. But unless that means I can't buy a used phone, I don't see how that helps.

I'm just wondering if there is an advantage to BYOD on Verizon.

My apologies for telling you something you already knew. It's so hard to gauge how much OPs know or don't know. I should probably get in the habit of glancing at the user's number of posts for a clue to that.

I haven't checked into Verizon's rate plans because Sprint made me crazy when I wanted to take my phone somewhere else and learned why I couldn't. There are websites that sell used locked cell phones for all the major carriers, but unless you find one that is already off contract, you probably won't be saving too much. At best, you might be able to pick up one that only has a few months to go (which would probably not be a newer model), but when that contract ends, you're either getting a new contract or paying full freight for a new phone...

Meanwhile, I read yesterday that congress is debating device portability. Of course, don't ask them to understand CDMA vs. GSM and why that may or may not be feasible.

 

[The_Vermonster]

I thought I would share my results on the off chance that anyone else is asking a similar question. As of 7/12/14 Verizon will not give any discount for BYOD. It tool a very long time to explain to the rep what I was trying to ask. He just didn't understand why I would want to spend $500 on a $50 phone. AT&T knocks $15 off per phone per month. That can be a lot over 2 years, but only makes sense if you already have a phone or buy a used phone. Maybe after my 2 years are up an off contract phone will be more reasonable.

 

[Nerdy Woman]

I thought I would share my results on the off chance that anyone else is asking a similar question. As of 7/12/14 Verizon will not give any discount for BYOD. It tool a very long time to explain to the rep what I was trying to ask. He just didn't understand why I would want to spend $500 on a $50 phone. AT&T knocks $15 off per phone per month. That can be a lot over 2 years, but only makes sense if you already have a phone or buy a used phone. Maybe after my 2 years are up an off contract phone will be more reasonable.

I can appreciate his confusion, especially if Verizon doesn't discount their plans. On the other hand, I can't see paying $500 for a phone I can't take to another carrier. Although it kind of boils down to 2 GSM and 2 CDMA carriers here in the US, 2nd-tier carriers like Cricket, SmartTalk, Tracfone, etc. give GSM users some options. The CDMA carriers don't give you any option at all but to bury your phone and buy a new one when you leave.

So, in a sense, you're paying to "rent" that phone for 2 years.

 

[The_Vermonster]

On the other hand, I can't see paying $500 for a phone I can't take to another carrier.

Yeah that was my original thought. The 2 year contract really only makes financial sense if you upgrade to the latest greatest asap. My wife and I on the other hand prefer to use a phone until it is completely useless. This normally means 3-4 years. Even then I'm going to be using my old Lumia 900 around the house, and I'll steal her old iPhone to use with a goTenna for camping.

I think the USA is starting to change away from the contract, but I'm not going to hold my breath for Verizon.

 

[Nerdy Woman]

Yeah that was my original thought. The 2 year contract really only makes financial sense if you upgrade to the latest greatest asap. My wife and I on the other hand prefer to use a phone until it is completely useless. This normally means 3-4 years. Even then I'm going to be using my old Lumia 900 around the house, and I'll steal her old iPhone to use with a goTenna for camping.

I think the USA is starting to change away from the contract, but I'm not going to hold my breath for Verizon.

Like you, I prefer to use it until it can't be used any more. I bought my 920 last spring, added another for my daughter in January, and another for my husband about 2 weeks ago. Although they are no longer marketed, they are getting the latest firmware/OS updates, they have 1 GB RAM and 32 GB memory, and best of all, they're free on contract whereas they were $200 when they were introduced.

Well, AT&T can be every bit as bad, but with the SIM chip, I can threaten to move to T-Mo (although, in reality, reception sucks for a 3-block radius around my house in metropolitan Orange County Calif.). But when I left Sprint and couldn't take my phone with me, I swore I'd never go CDMA again. And at least with AT&T, you can buy unlocked and BYOD.

 

[Nibs]

I thought BOYD also got the $25 off standard $40 access (making it $15)? I had a chat with a rep on vzw.com the other day and specifically asked if I buy a phone at full retail or if I bring my own device is it still the $25 discount.....and he said yes to both. The reason I asked was because they didn't have it clearly outlined on the website; whereas AT&T specifically states that they both get the $25 discount. Maybe that's just for the 10GB+ plans? I'm not sure and I'm kinda confused. We're looking at upgrading from our old nationwide plan to a 10GB share on either VZ or AT&T....just trying to figure out which is cheaper.

I also am confused as to why VZ only lets you add 1 EDGE device to your cart? Why do I need to do multiple EDGE lines in-store?

 

[Nerdy Woman]

I thought BOYD also got the $25 off standard $40 access (making it $15)? I had a chat with a rep on vzw.com the other day and specifically asked if I buy a phone at full retail or if I bring my own device is it still the $25 discount.....and he said yes to both. The reason I asked was because they didn't have it clearly outlined on the website; whereas AT&T specifically states that they both get the $25 discount. Maybe that's just for the 10GB+ plans? I'm not sure and I'm kinda confused. We're looking at upgrading from our old nationwide plan to a 10GB share on either VZ or AT&T....just trying to figure out which is cheaper.

I also am confused as to why VZ only lets you add 1 EDGE device to your cart? Why do I need to do multiple EDGE lines in-store?

I'm not familiar with the EDGE device, but if you are considering doing BYOD with VZW, read the fine print about what a BYOD is in their little world. It's a device that was formerly active on VZW and you would like to activate it again (you either purchased it from another VZW user or ???). They do not use SIM chips to authorize your phone on their network. They flash the ROM on new devices, identifying and locking devices to their network. Sprint works the same way...

 

[quantum tao]

my Icon has a sim card

 

[NOLATechy]

That SIM card is only for the LTE Data connection. LTE is the data connection that allows you to surf the internet on the 4GLTE and XLTE network on Verizon, but the actual voice calling is done through CDMA which does not use a SIM card. Verizon is currently in the process of getting rid of CDMA in favor of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), but that is still a few years away. A lot of the difficulty Verizon has in distributing firmware updates for their devices is because of the CDMA chip that requires firmware testing go through Qualcomm who owns the patent on that technology. Qualcomm can sometimes take a very long time to approve a firmware update and thereby Verizon gets the blame for the delay. To avoid this, Verizon is slowly getting away from CDMA for VOIP so they won't require sending firmware updates through Qualcomm anymore and can update our devices much quicker. Until this happens though, those of us waiting for updates (Lumia Icon Cyan and Denim firmware updates) are still stuck without our updates while GSM carriers like AT&T already have the Cyan update. This is one of the reasons I'm really considering dumping Verizon and going back to AT&T.