Almost Free No Data Caps Internet T.V. And Movies

[Jim D]

Starbucks, Arby's and Taco Bell all have decent speeds, according to CNET. For those new to free wi-fi (me) I read to be sure to use a VPN .

A few of the youtubers I follow upload big files at libraries and universities.

https://www.cnet.com/pictures/chains-with-the-best-free-wifi-ranked/15/

I've been reading about VPN's also and they sound great if the carrier is intentionally throttling you or the web site you like but if the carrier throttles because of heavy traffic your VPN won't work at all. The carriers like to throttle steaming sites that they blackmail for faster streaming speeds and a VPN will take care of that.

 

[Jim D]

Thanks for the additional info.

I don't like most TV and mostly binge educational videos,, so I go to youtube. Hulu and such don't interest me, but it's cool you're providing info that might fit right into the niche many other people like.

I like educational shows also. I like, "The Food Network", "Motor Trend Channel", "History Channel", "News Channels", "The Magnolia Network when they have Delicious Destinations" on, "The Travel Channel" sometimes and "Animal Channels" too.

I like other non educational shows also and movies but I watch more of my educational channels more when I've seen all the reruns and movies the channels have on.

 

[Jim D]

Homefi gives you 450 GB a month for $100. They give you 850 GB a month for $134.

This is a wireless setup so tower congestion will come into play. This setup was designed for rural areas.

This is another option to look at if you can afford it. It's for both home and camping.

https://homefi.info/products/wirless-high-speed-home-internet-device

 

[CC58]

I have had Visible for three years and it has worked great. Visible has changed their plans. They now have two plans. One is $30/month and the other is $45/month. They no longer have the $25/month Party Pay. The Party Pay plan will continue for people that currently have the plan.

I believe when Visible's Party Pay ends on Jan 1st, 2023 that the $25 plan will convert to the $30 plan.

 

[CC58]

Finding the same here.

Husband has had Visible for a couple years and the speeds were decent at first no matter where we were traveling. But, in the past year, data has been pretty much unusable unless we are in a very remote region with no competing needs by regular Verizon folk.

I've had Visible for 3 years. It was great in my last location all the time, but just moved and coverage is great during the day but during morning/evening rush hours it is almost uselesssly slow. I think Visible speed depends on your location.

 

[Happy Camper]

So does every carrier. I have spots in a 10 mile radius from me where I get 0.04mbps and others where I get 120. Location is everything. You can even be by a tower and if it's focused and in another direction, it's not helping your at all. I lived by one of those and it sucked lol.
That's life in the cellular fast lane. Or slow lane. Location location location.

 

[Tom_M]

I believe when Visible's Party Pay ends on Jan 1st, 2023 that the $25 plan will convert to the $30 plan.

It's a bit of a gray area. Here's a quote posted on "The Verge":

"The company says that the locked-in Party Pay discounts for the Visible Unlimited plan will last “for as long as we support the plan and the cloud network structure.” While that phrasing basically lets the company pull the plug whenever it wants, it doesn’t seem like people who want to stick with the older plan have to make any snap decisions."

https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/18/23310640/verizon-visible-party-pay-plan-changes

I guess we have to wait and see what happens. At $30/month it's still a bargain.

 

[RearViewMirror]

The easiest way that I have found if you want to stream your programs for free is as follows:

We have AT&T unlimited data on all of our phones. I have an extra number that is not being used at the moment so I "could" put a hotspot on it if I wanted. The issue with using a hotspot is "generally" you are capped at a certain data cap and once you go over that cap each month, you are throttled so much that it becomes useless.

There is a very easy solution around this if you own an iPhone (Android might work also but I don't like Android phones). Since you can watch anything on your phone with zero data caps per month, buy an HDMI adapter that plugs into the lightning port on your iPhone. We use a small laser projector with an HDMI port in back. Pick out what you want to watch on your phone by using whatever app you want to watch (be it Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, etc...) It will use the HDMI connector to the laser projector and you can watch as much as you want without ever worrying about being throttled. It isn't exclusive to AT&T. It will work with whatever carrier you have as long as they offer an unlimited data plan for your phone.

That is the simplest solution I've found for streaming shows while on the road. If you have a good signal, unlimited data, you have unlimited streaming without paying for anything else.

Anything else such as hotspots, preloaded hotspots, or tethering from your phone will eventually throttle you. Since you are not tethering from your phone you are not using your a data cap since you have a physical connection to your phone.

*EDIT* This is the only money you will need to spend for free streaming without throttling

 

[CC58]

I believe when Visible's Party Pay ends on Jan 1st, 2023 that the $25 plan will convert to the $30 plan.

UPDATE: Visible continued my $25 plan for 2023. Just paid my January $25 bill. Hopefully, it will stay that way for those who with the old plan.

 

[user 22017]

(Android might work also ...)

*EDIT* This is the only money you will need to spend for free streaming without throttling

They have them for Android, too. Much cheaper, if anyone is interested. Do a search for "android hdmi adapter"

 

[magentawave]

I believe when Visible's Party Pay ends on Jan 1st, 2023 that the $25 plan will convert to the $30 plan.

My Visible plan stayed at only $25 per month. A friend that I referred before they ended the party plan (who never referred anyone) is only paying $25 per month too.

 

[magentawave]

By the way; for free unlimited movies and TV shows, I‘ve been using www.MovieBoxPro.app for a couple years now. Ive been ok with the free plan, but if you want better resolution then you can upgrade for about $25 per year. The only emails I ever get from them are when they add new episodes to a TV show that I’ve been watching. I have no financial interest in recommending them. Just passing this on.

 

[Cagey]

I (who've remained on the legacy unlimited Visible plan) just stumbled across a development this AM on reddit's r/visible ("Legacy Plan Upgrade to New Network for Same Rate"), so I checked my Visible account:

"See new plans" links to:

I have not pulled the trigger on making this transition; I'll keep sitting on the sidelines to see how this develops, and waiting to hear statements from Visible on how long this "Valued Member Discount" will last, but it seems likely that this is how they'll get legacy plan users to voluntarily leave for the new plans. Also my 2 sons who switched from the legacy plan to the $30 plan a few months ago report they've started receiving the same $5 discount/credit on their bill.

 

[Happy Camper]

Verizon has a $25/mo plan now. So it's hard for them to charge more with their budget service.

The ultra wide band is fast, but it doesn't have range. So for those not in major cities with uwb coverage, there's no reason to spend the extra money on the $45 plan

 

[Tom_M]

It appears that the $25 plan is if you set up four phones and port over the phone numbers. If this is not the case please furnish a link.

 

[Happy Camper]

I just saw the TV ad, so I didn't go further than that as I'm not in the market.

 

[Gr8ful]

Both have a new customer plan for $15 a month for a year. Visable includes taxes & fees so now it's a flat $25. I bet Verison add tax & fees but that's only a guess on my part. I've been very happy with Visable but my free ZTE smart phone will need replacing soon.

 

[Cagey]

Both have a new customer plan for $15 a month for a year. Visable includes taxes & fees so now it's a flat $25.

As of 2/1/23 the Visible 15OFF12 ($15 a month for a year) deal is no longer available.

The $25/month Visible pricing (per my 2/2 posting above) is only available for the $30/month "Visible" (low-tier) plan after $5/month "Valued Member Discount" given to those formerly on the Visible Unlimited (aka legacy) plan; the $5/month "Valued Member Discount" is not available to new Visible customers.

Aside: there is apparently a Paypal-payment-required gyration which can also provide a $5/month discount to the $30/month Visible plan, but I have no experience with it.

P.S. In past posts I have mentioned getting 10Mbps hotspot speed for many months on my Visible Unlimited (legacy) plan (w/o any tricks like using a router to modify TTL). This above-official-limit hotspot speed ended 3-4 months ago; since that time I've not gotten > 5Mbps hotspot. Reportedly, on the new ($30 and $45) Visible plans, this same speed limit is also universally enforced.

P.P.S. I have ordered the Visible plan; when the new physical SIM card arrives tomorrow, I will (hopefully) be switching from legacy to new ($25/month for me) plan.

 

[RVTravel]

I don't get why cagey bought another plan to get $25 per month. If legacy people don't, will the price go up to $30 now? My next payment is due around 2/15 so I will see if they charge me $30 instead of $25 for legacy and not on new plan with valued member discount.

I logged in to visible and see that my charge due this month is still $25, so I am not sure if an upgrade is any better. They say the upgrade gives faster more reliable network.

 

[Happy Camper]

The only thing they could do is change your prioritization level. The network is the network. There is no better Verizon network. It's just the Verizon network.

Ultra wide band isn't really needed, and it has very limited range. Which makes it limited in coverage area.

I will say this though. You're more likely to feel limitations with their free bottom end phone. If you were to pick up something used that was high or middle high tier they had 5g capability you'd be much happier. Just make sure that it is a Verizon based phone and you're golden.

You don't need the latest and greatest by any means to be happy with your phone. Even bottom end phone can do almost everything. But a good quality phone that really makes a difference in the user experience.