I received an email from Verizon last week saying they were going to raise our bill by $15 a month. This was on top of the fact that even when Andy received my texts he couldn’t text back most of the time. So we phoned Verizon and talked to a fellow. He said, yes, Verizon was trying to get people to move to more expensive plans (we have unlimited text and talking, no data). And if we wanted more reliable service we should try a new iPhone 14, which he said would give us satellite service if needed. We didn’t listen to how much extra that would cost, because an iPhone wouldn’t fit neatly into Andy’s pocket, and we already had to replace his flip phone this winter when he lost the old one in the snow.
But… I did mention that our phone says we can use WiFi if our reception is poor. Would we be charged anything if we used that option? He said no. I had assumed as much, but I like to check my assumptions. So, I spent some time figuring out how to set that up on my phone down here, then Andy and I practiced what he would have to do to connect with Kaitlin and Torben’s Starlink up on the land. I couldn’t do it for him, because he had to be within range of the Starlink, but he tried it today and it worked! He phoned me and then I phoned him. So tomorrow when he gets up there he’ll phone and leave a message on the answering machine and I’ll text him to tell him I received the call. Fingers crossed it keeps working!
When the weather gets warm in a few months he will be taking walks out of the Starlink’s range, so he will then start practicing how to send text messages on the Garmin. He can already send pre-written texts, and of course Kaitlin and I can log on to the Garmin site and see where he is if he needs non-emergency help. For emergency help he will just press the SOS button and they will know where to find him.
Anyway, Verizon raising their price motivated us to learn about WiFi calling, and we’re happy and proud of ourselves.
January 21, 2025
Technology is so complicated these days.
God bless.
Amen to that!
I have been doing wifi calling on all my phones, but not connecting to starlink.
good job learning how and hope it all works out today. let us know .
the iPhone I use for photos I do wi-fi everything on it, including Facetime to my brother and his wife, they can’t call me on my iPhone or iPad, but I can call them. I just send a text from my phone and say can you talk, then use the phone to call and they answer. I am on wifi on every device I use, my phone is TracFone and has 25 gigs data a month but when I am home I turn it off and use wifi
We seldom use our mobile phones. Mine sits in my backpack for months on end, and I text Andy from my Mac just to make sure I can reach him on the land in an emergency.
Good job on figuring that out. These companies that are constantly raising their rates yet offer incredible deals to new customers make me mad. How about offering good deals to the long time loyal customers.
I know! 🙁
…we left Verizon years ago.
It’s the only company that has coverage up there.
Well done.
Thanks. 🙂
Glad you were able to get this figured out. So much of the technology stuff that I do not understand…..what I do know is that the cost just keeps soaring. My optimum cable just went up 45.00 dollars…yikes
Yes, yikes! We don’t have cable, but apparently streaming services are going to go up a lot too.
I’ve not yet received anything from Verizon, but wouldn’t be surprised. We don’t travel out of (Wi-Fi) range, but certainly don’t want to become complacent. Please keep us apprised!
Thank you!
I think these companies stay up all night and think of ways and reasons to add things to raise the price.
And they give all the good deals to new people – what about their loyal people?
Good for you to be so smart.
Thanks.
I didn’t understand half of what you were explaining–lol! Thank goodness I am on Dagan and Leah’s family plan and they set up my phone and deal with any issues I have. I am very, very spoiled when it comes to tech support. 😉
That’s nice! It saves a lot of hassle.
Congrats to you both for figuring it out. I use Wi-Fi for all my devices.
Thanks.
When I have a problem, I just hand my device to Dave and say, “Make it work.” It is so nice to live with a technology guru.
It’s just the opposite here. Andy says if something happens to me he would stop using the internet.
So you haven’t been using the Wi-Fi with your phones? I didn’t even know you would get service without Wi-Fi. Sorry they are raising you bill.
Thanks. 🙂
Yikes, I would not have been able to do anything like this!!! You are extremely computer literate!!
Thanks! It takes a lot of time when things go wrong,
Hope you come to the right conclusions/ decisions.