Staying connected while on the road

We, like so many today, have multiple electronic gadgets.  In our case, we travel with two laptops, two ipods, a tablet, a nook and a kindle.   I had dropped our Verizon unlimited data plan when I crunched the numbers and realized that I was paying $800+ annually  for a smartphone in order to have internet access for two or three months travel.  That didn't make a lot of sense.   I had read on another blog about a new phone/data company, Ting, and liked the idea of paying for what you use.  As a result, I now have a smartphone that costs as little as $13 per month when we are home, and usually $39 when we travel and use the phone as a hotspot for all our devices.  Sounds good, except the data connection is provided by Sprint, and quite often, we don't have a connection, because of Sprints limited coverage.  I needed to find a way to get my data from Verizon, but at a reasonable rate, paying when we needed it, and not paying when we are at home.


My solution was to get a mifi device, or as Verizon calls them, a Jetpack.  At first, I thought to get a prepaid device which can go from month to month.  It was a bit pricey, $100 for the device, and  $60 for 3gig, but I thought with careful use we could get by with this.  Off we went to the Verizon store.  I ended up with a different deal.  I signed up for a two year plan.  I bought the same device as offered with the prepaid plan, but paid only $20 for the device, and my service is suspended, meaning I pay nothing until I activate the device and use it.  When I activate the device I begin paying at a monthly rate of $50 for 5gig.  When we get home and no longer need the device, I will deactivate it, and my billing will be prorated for the time I actually used the device.  Pretty sweet, I think.  That all depends on it working as Verizon peeps have told me.  I will have to use it, and see actual bills to know if it all works this way.  Hope so, as I'm excited to have the 4G lte connection, where to date, we've only experienced 3g.

Get a Human

I'm posting this as we all get frustrated calling a business and being stymied by the infamous robotic "tree".

I just learned how to "get a human" for Verizon, and it has worked like a charm twice now.

Dial 800-922-0204.  As soon as the robot begins it's spiel, dial five zeros. 00000.  Almost immediately  you will be connected to a real helpful and cheerful person.  Works between 6am and 11pm 7 days per week.