Visible vs. Verizon Wireless: Plans, Pricing, Data and More

[Happy Camper]

After spending a few minutes doing research I will say this definitively.

If you want to be on the Verizon network, there is absolutely no reason to be on straight talk or TracFone. The plans are more expensive for less service, and are on the same network as the Visible plan at $25/mo for unlimited everything.

 

[Carla618]

After spending a few minutes doing research I will say this definitively.

If you want to be on the Verizon network, there is absolutely no reason to be on straight talk or TracFone. The plans are more expensive for less service, and are on the same network as the Visible plan at $25/mo for unlimited everything.

But only 5mbps, right?

I wonder what speed Trac phone and straight talk are. I'll try to check mine.

Edit: I got 5 down and 50 up, then 20 down and 20 up, then 24 down and 53 up

 

[dhuff]

But only 5mbps, right?

I wonder what speed Trac phone and straight talk are. I'll try to check mine.

Edit: I got 5 down and 50 up, then 20 down and 20 up, then 24 down and 53 up

I'm on Visible and they removed the 5 mbps throttle a long while ago. I think it's only in place if you use your phone as a hotspot - but that's unlimited as well for one connected device. On Visible Basic you get full LTE speed on your phone as long as you have good connectivity (lots of bars) and the cell tower you're connected to isn't over-subscribed with other Verizon users. If the tower is busy, they apply Quality of Service (QoS) rules and slow you down in favor of more expensive Verizon plans users.

Visible+ for $45/mo removes the QoS rules, so you're up there with the "premium" Verizon customers. It also adds 5G support, if your phone and the tower support it.

 

[Happy Camper]

Visible basic has 5g as well. The premium plan gives access to the 5g UW ultra wide spectrum. UW is very fast, but also very range limited. So it's generally only in larger populated areas.

5g UW was used as a marketing gimmick at one point because T-Mobile was so far ahead building out their 5g with much better speeds than Verizon and att. So they propped up UW in a couple areas and used those speeds for marketing. At the time, UW had issues even getting into buildings. But they had that 5g speed for marketing purposes. It has matured, and is more robust these days.

But the frequency that allows those high speeds also severely limits it's range. Unless you are urban camping in a major area that has appropriate coverage, 5g UW is insignificant for most nomads.

Regular mid and lower band 5g are what you'll connect to everywhere else. So regular visible is a much better deal. And the premium is a niche offering that most won't even see the difference when using.

The 5 mbps is for hotspot speed. And as mentioned above, it's really not throttled with the exception of an overload of Verizon data users.

Regarding hotspot, they technically allow 1 connected device. That is a phone based limitation. But most phones do not have that restriction. If you use a phone bought from visible, they will likely have that restriction.
Otherwise you can connect as many as your phone will allow.

 

[Gr8ful]

Visible's 2 plans https://www.visible.com/plans

 

[Carla618]

Visible's 2 plans https://www.visible.com/plans

Thanks Gr8ful.

Do any of you using visible do gaming? I would mostly want the hotspot but I think it might be too slow for gaming.

One night in the forest I finally got a decent hotspot connection from Verizon and I was able to play RuneScape. It's the only game I tried.

 

[Markw]

Thanks Gr8ful.

Do any of you using visible do gaming? I would mostly want the hotspot but I think it might be too slow for gaming.

One night in the forest I finally got a decent hotspot connection from Verizon and I was able to play RuneScape. It's the only game I tried.

I'm on Visible and play World of Warcraft daily while on Discord and watching videos on YouTube. I have even gone on many many raids in WoW while on a Visible hotspot ( I use the WiFi hotspot).

Of course you have to have a decent connection from the tower (forget online gaming in Quartzsite between about mid-November and toward the end of March in the evenings from about 4pmish until about 11pmish...the towers are getting hammered way too hard. Then again pretty much anything online is going to be extremely frustratingly slow during those times).

There are only I think 4 towers in Quartzsite, two are I think T-Mobile, one is AT&T and the other is Verizon. If I remember correctly the one up near Plamosa road is the Verizon one. I stay in La Posa South, which means I'm not all that close to the tower and I can still play WoW with no issues as long as the tower isn't getting hammered.

 

[Happy Camper]

Carla. For reference, world of Warcraft is much more speed and ping dependant than RuneScape. Including boss fights.

 

[Carla618]

I'm on Visible and play World of Warcraft daily while on Discord and watching videos on YouTube. I have even gone on many many raids in WoW while on a Visible hotspot ( I use the WiFi hotspot).

Of course you have to have a decent connection from the tower (forget online gaming in Quartzsite between about mid-November and toward the end of March in the evenings from about 4pmish until about 11pmish...the towers are getting hammered way too hard. Then again pretty much anything online is going to be extremely frustratingly slow during those times).

There are only I think 4 towers in Quartzsite, two are I think T-Mobile, one is AT&T and the other is Verizon. If I remember correctly the one up near Plamosa road is the Verizon one. I stay in La Posa South, which means I'm not all that close to the tower and I can still play WoW with no issues as long as the tower isn't getting hammered.

Thanks Mark. Really good info!

 

[Carla618]

Carla. For reference, world of Warcraft is much more speed and ping dependant than RuneScape. Including boss fights.

Thanks HC

 

[Gr8ful]

Visible Announces New Annual Plans: Save up to $145/Year​

https://clark.com/cell-phones/visible-new-annual-plans/

 

[maki2]

I'm on Visible and play World of Warcraft daily while on Discord and watching videos on YouTube. I have even gone on many many raids in WoW while on a Visible hotspot ( I use the WiFi hotspot).

Of course you have to have a decent connection from the tower (forget online gaming in Quartzsite between about mid-November and toward the end of March in the evenings from about 4pmish until about 11pmish...the towers are getting hammered way too hard. Then again pretty much anything online is going to be extremely frustratingly slow during those times).

There are only I think 4 towers in Quartzsite, two are I think T-Mobile, one is AT&T and the other is Verizon. If I remember correctly the one up near Plamosa road is the Verizon one. I stay in La Posa South, which means I'm not all that close to the tower and I can still play WoW with no issues as long as the tower isn't getting hammered.

There is a Verizon tower next to the Carl Jrs in Quartzsite, I can get very good speeds from it sitting in my car in that area when I am getting get no useable speed at La Posa South. So if I really need to do downloads or uploads during the day I just head there. The Verizon signal strength is also much stronger over by the hills at Tyson Wash and at La Posa West. If you really need Verizon change to camping over in that area of the LTVA.