Interpreting Verizon's contract buzzwords

I recently upgraded my phone to a new iPhone 6+. It's great, but that's not the point of this article. In reading through the contract information, both before and after signing, I became aware of the fact that my contract has a lot of buzzwords that are not clearly defined.

In Googling for the definitions, I found that it is very hard to find definitions for most of these. As a service to my readers, here are all the line items from my contract, and the best explanation I've found so far for them. Some come from Verizon or from user-forum discussions I ran across. Some are based on my own intuition and understanding of wireless technology.

Corrections are welcome and will help to make the list more complete. I don't promise that it's all correct, but I hope people with specific knowledge will be able to help me improve it and make it correct.

Updated on June 4, 2015, based on reader comments. Thanks much!

Updated on April 1, 2019, based on the receipt we got when we upgraded one of our phones last July.

AppleInsider: AT&T, Verizon to bump monthly mobile data allotments in ongoing price battle

AT&T, Verizon to bump monthly mobile data allotments in ongoing price battle

America's top two wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon on Friday announced value added changes to their respective mobile data plans, though Verizon is only offering extra data as a limited time promotion.

Here's Verizon's page describing their pricing. Until the promo expires (no date is mentioned at this time), the $80 data plan is increasing from 6GB to 10GB and the $100 data plan is increasing from 10GB to 15GB. This is not just for new customers - current "MORE Everything" customers can also take advantage by simply changing their data plan.

I just did it for my account. I was paying $90/mo for 8GB. With this new pricing, I switched our contract to $80 for 10GB. It isn't every day that you get to pay less and get more data. $80/mo (plus the $120/mo line-access charges) is still a lot to pay, but it's better than paying $10 more for less data. Here's to hoping that the rivalry between Verizon and AT&T continues to drive prices lower.

OK, we're officially addicted to broadband

Yesterday morning, I woke up to discover the FiOS was out. No dial-tone on the phones, no TV and no internet. I phoned up customer service (fortunately, we had cell phones!) and reported the problem. A tech came out to fix it today.

We went a day and a half without any connectivity and let me tell you, it sucked big-time. Some of the things we were unable to do without this:

• Jen was not able to do her college coursework (it's all on-line these days.)
• It was very difficult to manage household finances. (I needed to use a smartphone to check balances and could not pay any bills.)
• People calling us were all shunted to voice-mail, which I had to check via the mobile phone
• No TV whatsoever. Our DVR (leased from Verizon) won't boot up without network connectivity, so no recorded programs. Netflix obviously doesn't work without the internet either. We could play DVDs, but nothing else.
• Although I was on vacation that day, I planned on periodically checking my work e-mail. I had to do this using my phone. Let me say that sending a significant-size e-mail reply using a phone is a real pain in the neck
• No computer games. I have a few games loaded onto my hard drive, but they're all pretty old. Every game I play today is hosted on a web page somewhere.

Fortunately, it was an easy repair. The power supply for the ONT (the optical network terminal on the side of the house that terminates the fiber connection) had died. The tech replaced it in about 30 minutes and all was well, but I was unpleasantly surprised to discover how much our lives depend on high-speed internet these days.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot that can be done about it. Jen's college work and my financial activity simply can't be done without internet access. And her school work requires a high-speed connection because it involves multimedia and VoIP conference calls. And needless to say, telecommuting is out of the question without high-speed access (VPNs are painful and our corporate VoIP phone system is impossible on a slow connection.)

I suppose we could ditch the VZ-supplied DVR and go with a TiVo, which would boot up without internet access and allow us to play stored content, and we could use it (with an antenna) to get over-the-air broadcasts of local channels. I may have to think about this some more. And I think I need to get some good games loaded onto my Mac's hard drive!

On the other hand, it gave me plenty of time to catch up on my reading.

RootMetrics: Cell phone coverage survey

RootMetrics has completed their survey of cell phone coverage by network. They have created an interactive map that you can use to zoom/scroll around the country and see various coverage statistics (call performance, fastest speed, best technology) for all the major carriers at a fairly detailed resolution.

The results are not too surprising. Verizon has the best coverage, with AT&T not far behind. T-Mobile and Sprint cover most of the populated areas, but with what could be annoying gaps if you travel the countryside. For example, Oswego New York is has coverage by all four networks, but the surrounding towns (Wolcott, Fulton, etc.) have no T-Mobile or Sprint coverage, and some of the towns (like Sterling, where the Renaissance Festival is held) are only covered by Verizon.

The old "we're from windows" scam

Three times this past week, I've gotten phone calls with the "Windows tech support" scam.

For those unfamiliar, you get a phone call from someone (often with a Russian accent) claiming to be an employee of "Windows". No, not Microsoft, they are very clear to point that out. They claim your computer is full of viruses and that you need to install their software to let them clean it up.

If you're dumb enough to do this, their software locks your computer. You then have to pay these people several hundred dollars every months in order to use your computer. When you stop paying, their software bricks your computer.

So far, I've been threatening to report these people to the FBI, but unfortunately, they are using spoofed caller ID numbers (the most recent one is from 474-475-1328 - which is a non-existent area code. As a result, the national do-not-call list is useless, as is Verizon's service for tracking down criminal abuse of the phone system.

Does anyone have a clue what else I can do to find the bastards and nail their balls to the floor? If you know someone in the FBI or other appropriate government agency and can forward this to them, please do so. I'll testify in court. Heck, I'll flip the switch if they can be given the death penalty.