Potential owner with some noob questions.

[Mr Transient]

I just have a few (probably stupid) questions about the Droid X and the Verizon service. I've been stuck on dial-up for many years where I live, so it seems like a smartphone is my only chance of having any sort of broadband connectivity for my area. I'm not looking to tether my PC(s) to the phone, but just having some sort of faster access to the internet is my goal right now.


1. Is the Verizon unlimited data plan really unlimited? I mean, can you stream movies and download things 24/7 and have absolutely no data caps or issues?

2. Would I be able to download things (like computer apps) from sites like cnet, and transfer them over to my PC?


Sorry for the noob questions, and thanks for any replies!

 

[pmurray633]

are you planning on rooting and using wireless tether, or are you going to be using the 3g hotspot from vzw?

you can download things using your wireless tether to your computer

 

[Mont]

Over the pass couple years I read that yes its unlimited but you can get caught like if you use ridiculous amount of data. I never recall getting an actual figure of how much is "too much" to raise a flag. But if I was too guess..

At&T have a 5gig and 25gig plan and some say its hard to get that high as 5g so mabye if you do over 25gig that may cause a flag or something ridiculous like 10gig in one day.

I tethered all night for about 8 hours left it on over night to download torrents and went from 2g to 2.5g

I know a few people at work who switched from Verizon because the price so high and recently a close lunch friend went from Verizon to Metro PCS because of the price and some that will never go because of the price. Has nothing to do with it but in my eyes all the money I pay for this thing(1,500 annually) they shouldn't even stress me tethering sometimes its almost like im paying for it anyway.

I wouldn't worry about it it looks like you won't be coming close to what they would consider too much. If I wanted to watch movies on my phone all night im allowed too I payed for it. I believe there is a really big gap before you even have to worry about it. If you used it for your job to access internet on your lap top everyday or played games through it everyday then I would worry.

 

[Technoman]

I just have a few (probably stupid) questions about the Droid X and the Verizon service. I've been stuck on dial-up for many years where I live, so it seems like a smartphone is my only chance of having any sort of broadband connectivity for my area. I'm not looking to tether my PC(s) to the phone, but just having some sort of faster access to the internet is my goal right now.


1. Is the Verizon unlimited data plan really unlimited? I mean, can you stream movies and download things 24/7 and have absolutely no data caps or issues?

2. Would I be able to download things (like computer apps) from sites like cnet, and transfer them over to my PC?


Sorry for the noob questions, and thanks for any replies!

Answers to your questions:
1. Yes it is unlimited - but they may question if you are using it to tether if you go extremely high in data usage.

2. This is a tough one. I don't believe that you can do this directly from the web sites, but there are APP's that work with the torrent clients and such.

It may be possible to download files from websites with different browsers, but I use the standard browser.

 

[Mr Transient]

Thanks to everyone for all of your replies and helpfulness.

 

[kevinkar]

There are lots of articles you can read on the definition of "unlimited' and what it actually means in real life - not really unlimited. Unless you go nuts and watch TV ONLY on the phone, or watch two movies a day, listen to Pandora continually, or download a bazillion podcasts you'll never actually listen to, you'll likely not go over 5GB/month but it's entirely possible.

As for tethering and downloading torrents and other stuff via the phone, I'd have to say I'd never do that on 3G unless it's absolutely necessary because it's ultimately too slow to be effective. Sure, if you want to set it at 10PM and let it work in the background all night long and you have no other choice. But when I'm home I just use the internet connection I already have and a wireless router which does NOT count against your data plan and is much faster. However, I also have a PC connected to it and would use that for that kind of stuff anyway. Just like watching a movie on my widescreen TV in HD instead of killing my eyes on the phone!

Sounds like you have dial up (56k modem?) so 3G will probably be a bit faster but not significantly. You can test it using the SpeedTest app but you'll probably be disappointed.

Lastly, some downloads are tricky as the phone and browser know the file type selected is not supported on the phone and may not download without some finagling. You'll need to test all browsers to find the one that works right.

Where in the boondocks are you located such that you can't get a DSL line or cable?