hanknjoyce Report post Posted May 20, 2018 We signed up a month ago. Wife has an IPAD 128 (a lot of Facebook), old style texting phone and I still have a flip phone plus an HP laptop we travel with. Very good usage experience so far traveling between South Dakota, Indiana and then Maryland; not even close to our 25 Gb limit. Then my son offered me his wife's old Smart Phone to replace my flip. Chat on May 7 with Verizon said we could do a free straight hardware swap with just a new SIM card. Son was surprised as he thought I would have to get an additional data plan. Contacted Verizon today to do rest of the transaction and a different rep said we could NOT swap the phones. So we are slightly confused..a couple questions: 1. Are folks who already have Smart Phones doing the Verizon FMCA offer? If so, does that only work if you are not already on a contract? 2. For folks like us still living in the hardware dark ages who want to go "smart" sounds like the only way is to dump the old phone and buy a Verizon smart phone with an additional data package...? That would defeat the purpose of the FMCA plan so I am obviously missing something here. Hank FMCA 155625 2005 Mandalay DP 2012 Honda Toad On the road in Fort Wayne, Indiana hanknjoyce@netzero.net Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted May 20, 2018 Hank, I use my MiFi for the internet only. I don't make calls through it nor do I stream movies. I have not had any issues whatsoever with ours. My fife and I both have Smart Phones and she uses it for Facebook however I do not. Good for what I use it for. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted May 20, 2018 I've had a Verizon MiFi for several years, I'm on my third different model. I recently upgraded my smart phone and checked to see how much I'm paying for just the MiFi. They told me that it only adds $20 to my bill as I was thinking of switching to FMCA. Didn't change. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
richard5933 Report post Posted May 21, 2018 If your old plan didn't have a smart phone, then you'll probably need to add a data plan in order to bring the smartphone over. You don't need to buy the phone from Verizon, as long as it's one that will work on their network. My understanding that the FMCA plan being offered for MiFi is a stand-alone plan. You'll still need to have a data plan on your phone's plan if you have a smartphone or want to order one. The FMCA data plan through the Jetpack has a much higher data limit than most of the lower-priced phone data plans. If you only use a small amount of data then you' might have no need for the FMCA plan. You might be able to use your new smartphone as a hotspot and connect your laptap & iPad, but of course you'll be using the data allowance in your smartphone's plan. If you connect your iPad and HP laptop through Wifi, then you still won't need the FMCA plan. If, however, you are looking for a way to connect and get online when there is no Wifi and/or use the internet above and beyond what your smartphone's plan allows, then you might find the FMCA plan just what you're looking for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted May 21, 2018 When looking into the FMCA data plan, I came to the conclusion that the plan offered was for one jetpack data device only, no sharing with other hotspots. If you use the plan, any phone that will connect to wifi will connect to the data device as long as it is used like wifi, not through the phone network. I use Verizon for data as well but it is through an individual plan, not FMCA. The $20.00 per month is a line charge for each device that you plan to use on the phone network, and does not include data usage in the event that you go over your data limit for that plan. If your sons phone is an unlocked version, then you should be able to switch by simply moving the sim card if the card will fit the new phone, if not then an adequate sim card will be necessary to make the change. Your son can contact his carrier and ask if they will unlock the phone in the event that it is. Phone locking usually occurs in the event that a person chooses a plan to get the phone for a reduced or free price with a particular carrier for a contract time frame, most do not have an automatic removal when the contract ends, but most carriers will unlock if you ask them to, and the contract has expired on that device. The FMCA plan is great up to 25 gig, but if you stream or use data in excess of 25 gig per month, the downgrading from 4g to 2g is to say the least, very annoying. I would advise that you take both the phone that you want to replace, and your sons phone to a Verizon center and ask that they make the swap for you, there should very small to no charge for them to make it happen, rather than just calling and getting a different rep each time. Face to face always works best for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hanknjoyce Report post Posted May 21, 2018 Thanks to all for the info and insight. I think a trip to a Verizon company store would be useful as a last check on switching phones. We had planned to do the sim card thing at a store anyway. Hank FMCA 155625 2005 Mandalay DP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted May 21, 2018 Quote For phone, I have AT&T and great service thru out the US. It's also compatible with 90% off other phone company's out side of US ! For my Lap top, I use Verizon! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
