If I hadn't been working on Michael Shames' new Range Extender (blog to come) I would not have known that one of the PDA phones on my Verizon Family share plan was being charged $15/mo too much for Internet access.

First let me say that I'm not picking on Verizon. If money was no object I'd have phones on T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Cricket as well, so I could compare quality and customer service. But I don't, so Verizon is all I know. I've been on their network (under at least 3 former names) since the late 1990's and I like CDMA and I like the coverage overall. In my experience, their customer service is no worse than other larger companies and better than some.

So, there I was, on the phone with a Verizon data rep, trying to configure Michael's femtocell when he pointed out that there are 2 plans that let a SmartPhone like my Omnia, my friend's Treo, the Sage, the Touch Pro, etc. connect to the Internet and get web pages, get email, download files, do remote access of Windows computers, and other things like you'd do from your home Internet connection. Same for BlackBerry phones but they call it something different. The $30 plan (I'm rounding here) does everything I'd need and allows unlimited usage (5GB if connected as a modem ("tethered" - see blog posting, 4th paragraph) to a laptop or other device). But my plan and my friend's plan have had data for a couple years now. Turns out in January 2009 they came up with this second plan and, at least in my experience, didn't go out of their way to let users know about this. As I understand it the difference between the plan is pretty much whether you're going to use Verizon's network to sync your phone to your PC remotely - same as connecting your phone to your PC via ethernet and synchronizing your files and email but instead you're doing this wireLESSly via the Internet. This isn't something I nor my friend do so we could use the $30 vs the $45 plans.

Tethering Equalizes Things
For reasons not plain to me, if you elect to tether your Smartphone to your laptop so the phone can provide Internet connectivity, the plans wind up costing the same:

Unlimited Data Usage plan:               $45 + $15 to tether = $60
Email and Web for Smartphone Plan:  $30 + $30 to tether = $60

So in my case it didn't make any difference - it's $60 either way. But my friend does not tether so he's been charged $15 more per month than he should have been since January. I will take this up with Verizon and let you know how they handled it.

Plan to Look at Your Plan
This is a good time to suggest that, whatever your carrier, you log in to your web site, or call them, and confirm that you really understand what plan and options you've got. Once you're SURE you're clear (and don't be timid if you're not - they really seem to make this whole process counterintuitive for the consumer) you should write it down in your own words, with the name of the rep if you spoke to someone, for future reference.

In trying to find out what the 2 data plans are on Verizon's web site, to prepare this post, I went all over Hell's Half Acre and could find nothing. I finally got a Verizon rep on the phone and we determined that these data plan names aren't listed along with the voice plans. This is because, believe it or not, if you buy a Smartphone, you MUST buy a data plan. You might say "Big Whoop" since most people buying Smartphones WANT data. But one could conceivably buy a SmartPhone just for Word Mobile and  only wish to sync mail and contacts via USB cable. They'd still have to buy a data plan.

To see what these plans are, you'd need to go to http://www.verizonwireless.com then picka phone (Phones > PDAs&Smartphones), then Add To Cart then Pick A Plan (the default will suffice for research) then, finally, you can see the data plans. For reference, here's what they say:

Unlimited Data Usage:
Synchronize your mobile PDA or Smartphone to your PC with PDA/Smartphone from Verizon Wireless, providing over-the-air synchronization of e-mail, contacts, calendar, and tasks. Service available within the NationalAccess or, with certain devices, the Mobile Broadband service area.

Email and Web for Smartphone:
Use your PDA/Smartphone for personal email and Web surfing.
* Access up to ten POP3 and IMAP email accounts, including Yahoo!® Mail, AOL® Mail, Windows Live® Hotmail®, and Verizon.net.
* Easy email account setup.
* Unlimited Web Browsing
* Voice Usage: Per your voice calling plan.

The difference isn't real plain to ME. Bottom line - if you have a Verizon Smartphone and you don't tether and you're not doing sync or using this in a business environment, be sure you have the $30 plan and consider asking for a refund retroactive to your January 2009 bill if you never needed the $45 plan.