Check your Verizon bill!

avoidthelloyd

Active Member
My wife was getting all of our information gathered for taxes the other day and notice a significant increase in my Verizon business account payment. I have a separate business account for my Javad sim cards. If you just added a line to your personal, this may not apply.

When I set my account up back in 2021, I just got 3 $20/mo lines with shared data. I paid $500 for the static IP. Bill was like ±$80/mo. Well, I started checking my bills and back in May, Verizon increased my bill to $115 and then a couple of months ago up to $122. So, I went to my email and could not find any notification of this. No heads up or reason.

I called them 1-800-922-0204 and they could see the increase but could not tell me why but one line had increased from $20 to $75. They attempted to make it $20/mo again and could not. They talked with the supervisor and I was told that Verizon will not allow plans without a $75 line and unlimited data. One line has to be this. No small data only plans.

Like you, I don't watch all of this closely because I'm busy and would expect an email alert from them with changes. I got an email about a small economic adjustment they were making, but nothing about a $55/mo increase? If you have an account that only has sim cards on it, you may wanna check it out. Honestly, I would not notice $55/mo, but it's the principle of it.

Shawn told me about https://www.dataactivationcenter.com/ and they do only sim cards for Verizon and AT&T and no $500 for the static IP setup and half the cost of my other plan.

Now you know...
 

Jim Frame

Well-Known Member
Verizon either pressured or forced (don't remember which) me to update my plan from a fixed data amount to unlimited. Under the old plan I had 3 phones and a Jetpack all sharing the same data pool (12GB or 18GB, don't recall which). When I updated to an unlimited plan, they inexplicably moved the Jetpack into its own account and started billing me an additional $90 or so per month (I think it was somewhere around $90). It was several months before I noticed the jump in cost, but after a lot of frustrating customer service contacts I finally got to a rep who was able to move the Jetpack back into the same shared-data plan. Now the Jetpack accounts for about $12 per month instead of $90.
 

James Suttles

Active Member
They did not want to do that last time I tried, something about I have 15 devices and they said they have to all be individuals lines.

You never know, it maybe possible, just depends on who you get at the Verizon store, and they are like everyone else, understaffed.
 

Shawn Billings

Shawn Billings
5PLS
I have two SIM cards from DAC both attached to a 1GB shared data plan. One of the cards is a static IP (for my T3 base) and the other is dynamic (for the LS). I pay a total yearly fee of $450 ($270 for the static IP and $180 for the dynamic). They are familiar with Javad equipment, so they knew how to handle IMEI information (they didn't ask me for an IMEI number). Even with dynamic cards directly from Verizon, this can be tricky because Verizon wants to know what device their card is going into and will balk when they can't find the LS or T3 on their approved list of devices.

The whole experience with DAC was trouble free, and the cost of the two cards ended up being just a little more than the single dynamic data plan I had for my LS through Verizon. The single dynamic data account I had was unlimited data, but I don't need unlimited data for base/rover communication.
 

Jim Frame

Well-Known Member
Not knocking the DAC solution, but for comparison sake I use my phone as a WiFi hotspot for my LS, and a static IP Jetpack at the base, both sharing a data plan. Not counting the cost of the phone account (because I'd have the phone anyway), I paid Verizon a one-time fee of $500 for the static IP address, and the monthly is about 12 bucks. Amortizing the static fee over 5 years (I've already been using it for more than that) means about $250 annually (now $150 or so annually after paying off the IP fee). Undoubtedly more hassle setting it all up with Verizon, but significantly less expensive over time.
 

Duane Frymire

Active Member
It is possible to save some on monthly fees going direct with carrier, but that doesn't include cost of your time. As can be seen in this thread, there are so many stories depending on who you happen to talk to. I too figured out a way, but no one I passed it onto could replicate it. Not worth the time and hassle. Switched back to DAC and happy to pay even a few hundred more a year, drop in the bucket compared to other costs associated with directly from carrier. No DAC doesn't pay me anything, but I'll still promote them as they are saving me and others money the way I look at it.
 

Adam Plumley

Active Member
JAVAD GNSS
Tell us more about DAC? looks very interesting, I have 6 MiFi's on Verizon and all have their own separate account, so curious of benefits and pitfalls.
Doug, you will get to meet Chandy with DAC in person at the NC show in a couple weeks. Chandy will be at our booth.
 

avoidthelloyd

Active Member
The cheapest my Verizon (big store) lines were $20/line. I never saw $12 @Jim Frame thats good. In my case, my personal cell is on my family account. I may have other arrangements if I needed a unlimited data line on my business account, but I don't. I had the DAC cards installed and corrections in 10 minutes. Painless.
 

Jim Campi

Active Member
Verizon either pressured or forced (don't remember which) me to update my plan from a fixed data amount to unlimited. Under the old plan I had 3 phones and a Jetpack all sharing the same data pool (12GB or 18GB, don't recall which). When I updated to an unlimited plan, they inexplicably moved the Jetpack into its own account and started billing me an additional $90 or so per month (I think it was somewhere around $90). It was several months before I noticed the jump in cost, but after a lot of frustrating customer service contacts I finally got to a rep who was able to move the Jetpack back into the same shared-data plan. Now the Jetpack accounts for about $12 per month instead of $90.
I just signed up for service for my LS and T1+ via DAC. They provide the sim cards and ZERO fee for the static ip. I am starting out on the 25 MB/mo plan $8.99 each device. I can stop or change plans at any time. No requirement for a phone line etc etc. I thought the big deal was no cost for the static ip (at the base)! Full Disclosure There is a $20 account set up fee.

They made is very simple and knew what they were doing. I filled out a form online and they called me. No dealing with the annoying automated answering's system at ATT/VER. She called this am and already has the 2 activated simm cards in the mail.

I was impressed and that is saying something.
 
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Jim Campi

Active Member
They are apparently not a carrier but have access to the existing infrastructure. They set me up with a static ip on my base that has a verizon modem and my rover with att. $20 account set up fee. No adt'l cost for the static ip and their plans start at $8.99 for 25 MB/mo. They will send you an alert when you hit 90%....this gives you an opportunity to upgrade if necessary.

By the way, this is a month to month contract. Amazing. Thank you Matt Johnson for pointing me in their direction!

If you go through verizon directly they won't understand the type of equipment you are using but they will apparently charge $500 for a static ip. I have been a verizon client for at least 25 years and this does not surprise me.

DAC is far and away the best choice for data.
 

Jim Campi

Active Member
One more quick point on my DAC service. Prior to DAC I had an att prepaid data plan for the LS. As a network rover it would constantly have connection problems. I would spend at least 25% of my survey time trying to get the system back on line.

When I received the att sim for the LS, I installed, configured and It CONNECTED in my office with only one bar. It seemed to stay connected as well. One bar signal strength on the att prepaid plan I had and I would consider bagging it for the da. It would have just been overly annoying attempting to connect every other point.
 

Jim Frame

Well-Known Member
but they will apparently charge $500 for a static ip.

Not that it matters for us small-timers, but -- at least when I signed up -- you get 5 static IP addresses for the $500 charge. For firms running more than one rover that reduces the one-time charge per rover.
 
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