Verizon offers a total of 7 tablet and hotspot data plans to choose from. Four of the plans are postpaid plans (two postpaid tablet-only plans and two postpaid hotspot-only plans) and three of the plans are prepaid plans that can be used in either tablets or hotspot devices.
Let’s start with Verizon’s postpaid tablet plans.
They offer two options to choose from:
Both of these plans offer unlimited data for your tablet on Verizon, whether it be a cellular iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, or another tablet device, but there are some key differences.
Verizon’s Tablet Unlimited plan is $20 per month with an active voice line on your account or $75 per month without an active voice line.
It includes unlimited data on Verizon’s Nationwide 5G network. You also get 15GB of priority data.
Having priority data means that any time the Verizon network is busy, such as at a sports game, concert, airport, or in a city during rush hour, your data speeds will be slightly faster than customers who do not have priority data.
After you use the 15GB of priority data, you will still have unlimited data on the Verizon network, but you may notice slower speeds when the network is busy.
If you would like to use your tablet as a hotspot to share your cellular data with your laptop, smartphone, or other devices, you can do that with this plan. You get 15GB of high-speed hotspot data and then unlimited hotspot data at reduced speeds of 600Kbps.
This plan lets you stream video content at up to 720p video resolution.
It’s possible to stream higher-definition video, such as 1080p or 4K video, but because the video streaming speeds are limited to 4Mbps the higher-definition video content may take longer to load and pause to buffer during playback.
Verizon’s Tablet Unlimited Plus plan offers a few features and benefits over their regular tablet plan for a higher price.
The Unlimited Plus plan is $30 per month with an active voice line on your account and $85 per month without an active voice line.
There are three key differences between the plans.
First, Unlimited Plus doubles your amount of priority data from 15GB to 30GB.
Again, priority data gives you slightly faster speeds than other Verizon customers when the network is busy, such at crowded stadiums, concerts, airports, or during rush hour in a city. After you use up all of your priority data, then you may notice slower speeds when the network is congested.
If you felt you were noticing slower speeds on the regular $20 Tablet Unlimited plan, then the $30 Tablet Unlimited Plus plan may be a good option for you to give you more priority data.
The second difference is you get double the hotspot data. You get 30GB of high-speed hotspot data on Unlimited Plus that you can share with your smartphone, computer, another tablet, or any of your other devices.
You get unlimited hotspot data at reduced speeds of 600Kbps after you use the included high-speed data.
The third major difference with the Unlimited Plus plan is that you get access to Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network.
Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network is their super-fast network that uses mmWave technology to deliver speeds up to 2Gbps.
When you’re connected to Ultra Wideband, you will get unlimited hotspot data and the ability to stream video at full 4K resolution with no slowdowns and no buffering.
Those are some seriously awesome benefits.
Most of the time, however, you’ll be connected to Verizon’s Nationwide 5G network or their regular LTE network. In this case, you will get the 30GB of high-speed hotspot data mentioned above, and video streaming quality will be limited to 720p.
Yes, it is technically possible to stream video at 1080p on Verizon’s Nationwide 5G or LTE networks, but video streaming speeds are limited to 4Mbps. This means higher-resolution video may take longer to load, or pause to buffer during playback.
Here is a full comparison between the plans with the differences in bold outlined below:
Verizon offers two postpaid hotspot plans to choose from:
Verizon’s Hotspot Unlimited plan is $20 per month with an active voice line or $75 per month without an active voice line.
It includes 15GB of high-speed data. After 15GB, you will get unlimited data, but your speeds will be reduced to 600Kbps.
Video typically streams at 720p resolution on connected devices with this plan.
It is possible to stream video at higher qualities, such as 1080p or 4K, but because video streaming speeds are limited to 4Mbps it may take longer for higher-quality video to load, and it may also pause to buffer during playback.
This plan uses Verizon’s Nationwide 5G and 4G LTE networks for coverage. You do not get access to Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network.
Verizon’s Hotspot Unlimited Plus plan is $30 per month with an active voice line on your account. Without a voice line it costs $85 per month.
This plan includes 30GB of high-speed data. You get unlimited data after 30GB, but your speeds are reduced to 600Kbps.
The Unlimited Plus plan also includes access to Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network. When you are connected to Ultra Wideband 5G, you get 50GB of high-speed data before unlimited data at reduced speeds of 3Mbps.
You can also stream 4K video on Ultra Wideband 5G with no slowdowns and no buffering.
However, Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network is only available in very limited locations. Most of the time you will be connected to Verizon’s Nationwide 5G or LTE networks.
When you are connected to Nationwide 5G or LTE, you will get the 30GB of high-speed data outlined above, as well as 720p video streaming.
It is possible to stream higher quality video, but the video streaming speeds are limited to 4Mbps. Attempting to stream video at 4Mbps may cause 1080p or 4K content to take longer to load and to pause and buffer during playback.
The full features of each of the plans are outlined below, with the differences in bold:
Verizon offers three prepaid connected device plans that can be used in either tablets or hotspot devices.
Here are the plans:
These plans are available with Verizon’s current promotion where they will double your included amount of included high-speed data.
All new customers are eligible for the double-data promotion. Verizon will even let you keep your bonus data if you switch plans.
However, this promotion may end at any time, which would make these plans 3GB, 8GB, and 15GB plans respectively. Check Verizon’s website for their current connected device plan offerings.
Regardless of which plan you choose, you will get the set amount of high-speed data you select. After you consume your high-speed allotment, you will get unlimited data at reduced speeds of 600Kbps.
It’s worth noting that the high-speed data is deprioritized. Having deprioritized data means that any time the Verizon network is busy, such as at a sports game, a concert, an airport, or even in a city during rush hour, your speeds may be slightly slower than Verizon customers who have plans with priority data.
The prepaid Connected Device plans support up to 1080p streaming when they are used in tablets.
You will get up to 720p video streaming when you use the plan in a hotspot device. It is possible to stream video at higher quality when used in a hotspot, but the higher quality video content may take longer to load and may pause to buffer during playback.
These plans do not support access to Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network. This means you won’t get perks such as 4K video streaming and unlimited hotspot data, which are available with Verizon’s postpaid tablet and hotspot plans.
Finally, the Prepaid Connected Device plans offer a discount on all additional lines that you add to your plan. You get $10 off additional lines on the 6GB plan, $15 off additional lines on the 16GB plan, and $20 off additional lines on the 30GB plan.
Here’s how the discount pricing would break down:
The multi-line discounts help make these plans more appealing for multi-line users, such as families with multiple tablets or multiple hotspot devices, but the real question is: are these prepaid plans worth it?
The best tablet plans from Verizon are definitely the ones available to postpaid subscribers. The $20 Tablet Unlimited plan or even the $30 Tablet Unlimited Plus plan are both great options.
Unfortunately, the tablet plans become quite expensive when you use them without a voice line. The price jumps to $75 and $85 respectively.
If you’re looking for a standalone tablet plan, I suggest you consider a plan from US Mobile. You can get 5GB for $15, 30GB for $30, or you can even get an unlimited data plan for $45.
When it comes to hotspot device plans, honestly the options from Verizon are rather poor. Even on their most premium Hotspot Unlimited Plus, you are only getting 30GB of high-speed data before reduced speeds at 600Kbps.
Don’t get me wrong, you can still do work on 600Kbps speeds, but the speeds are slow. Content will take much longer to load, and the reduced speeds will severely hinder video calling applications and video streaming. You’ll get 480p video at best.
And what is also terrible is Verizon only gives you 50GB of high-speed data on Ultra Wideband before throttling your speeds to 3Mbps. That is absolutely ridiculous. You’d be better off getting the $30 Tablet Unlimited Plus plan, which offers unlimited high-speed hotspot data on Ultra Wideband, and sharing THAT with all of your devices.
Unfortunately, there aren’t really other alternative plans out there.
Even if you were to go with one of Verizon’s prepaid tablet plans, the most data you could get is 30GB at high-speeds, which is the same as the postpaid offering but more expensive. The only option with more data is Verizon’s Connected Home Plan, which is a whopping $150 for just 40GB of data.
So, if you want Verizon, I think it’s best just to stick to their tablet plans. If you want a hotspot plan, I think you are better off looking at AT&T’s hotspot plans or T-Mobile’s hotspot plans, which both offer way more data for way lower prices.
Or, maybe you could use your tablet as your hotspot device?
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