Newbie Questions Before Signing Up

[CR500]

I'm a complete Newb.  Always had a work phone so never looked into wireless service.  Plan on getting a used iPhone 12 Max Pro.

I don't do any streaming (music or video), occasionally use app or surf web at HomeDepot or various airlines & hotels.  It will primarily be used with Waze and in-car race track lap timer apps (Track Addict and Harrys).  I think the lap timers mainly use GPS but may also use some cell tower data.

How intrusive is the throttling?  Would it even be an issue for what I do with the phone?  Does it affect phone calls?  Any statistics / graphs on the throttling?  I'm in the MD/DC/VA area.

Initially thought the $25 service would work, now not sure.  Oof, also googled Visible and complaint and now thinking that maybe I should just pay up and go with Verizon ..  Is it just the unhappy people that are vocal?

Thanks!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Visible doesn't throttle data but you are at the mercy of the congestion on the Verizon towers in your area. The basic plan you are deprioritized on data so if you have heavy tower traffic you will see slower speeds. The plus plan will get you premium data(not prioritized) for 50GB then you will be back to deprioritized data speeds. The plus plan would be similar to a Verizon plan. Only restriction is hotspot speeds are limited to 5Gbps no matter which plan.

If you get a used iPhone 12 it should be capable of an eSIM so you can actually get a free 15 day trial period. I believe the trial is for the basic plan so you can try it out. From what I have read get a different email address and sign up for the trial, if you like it some have had problems with the same account, then sign up with your regular email address on a new account. 

I have been with Visible since July 2021. I like the unlimited plan I started with and now the basic plan and have good luck with service. I did have horrid data speeds up until last fall when Visible upgraded their system to use the same core system as Verizon(Visible's parent company). The drawback or the dislike for Visible that you probably read about is customer service. If you have any issues or problems you don't have a brick and mortar store to go to or even a phone number to call. They handle their customer service online through chat, Facebook messenger, Twitter DM and Visible's Reddit page by messaging them. Getting an issue fixed is a long tedious process that may end in frustration and some have been given the runaround for days on some problems including activations. With that said I can say I have only had a minor issue or two and only reason I have mainly contacted them is to get some questions answered but end up with vague response that really doesn't give me an answer, kind of like an answer a politician gives.

Hopefully this helps on whatever you decide. If you get an iPhone here is the link to the free trial. 

https://www.visible.com/free-trial?CMP=MarketingTactic-KNC_Site-GAW_Funnel-AC_AudienceType-PSP_Audie...

[CR500]

Thanks for the info.  I'll give the free trial a try and see how it goes!

[InquisitiveOne]

Hey,  CR500.  Just curious how your trial run is going.  I am about to be a new customer as well as soon as they get my desired phone back in stock. (Currently they are sold out of twelve different phones.)  How has your two week trial experience been?

[CR500]

Actually just got my phone yesterday.  Will sign up for the trial this weekend!

[CR500]

Service so far seem ok.  Waze worked w/o issue and I was able to get service out at Summit Point WV.  I just ran speedtest (6pm on a Sunday) and only got 15mbps.

[CR500]

So not quite so rosy.  I carry my new phone with Visible trial service and a work phone with AT&T.  Visible service is LTE and the ATT 5Ge.  Speed test constantly shows the ATT service being faster.  A quick google and I see 5Ge is ~3x faster than LTE.

Tried checking gmail this afternoon using Safari and the Visible phone sat with blank screen when the ATT checked w/o issue.

Also, overnight the Visible phone went from 100% battery down to 55% and the ATT stayed fully charged.  Checking the battery usage, the Visible phone used 85% of the power used searching for a cell signal.

I'm guessing I'd have these issues with any provider that uses the Verizon network.  Surprising as I don't live out in the boonies.

[CR500]

forgot to add, running speed test while at my office is about 0.3 Mbps, the ATT is 1 Mbps.  Dog slow on both.

[InquisitiveOne]

Thank You CR500 for taking your time to experiment and share your experiences in your various specific locations. That is very helpful to the rest of us wondering what to expect for ourselves in similar environments as well. I believe Visible should now allow you try a two week trial using their Visible Plus plan to see what difference it makes, if any, using their "Premium Network Experience"! 

I can appreciate the opportunity for a Basic Plan trial run , however considering the results, If they want your business, it would only make sense now to offer a two week trial of their Better plan to try to keep from losing you and others as customers. Wouldn't you agree?  Thank You again for sharing your experience with the rest of us!

[CR500]

When I signed up, there wasn't any way to pick which plan to test.  I'm guessing its the plus plan.  I think today is the end of the freebie.  I'll probably sign up for a few months and see how it goes.

[InquisitiveOne]

CR500, to the best of my knowledge from what I have read, the fourteen day trial is the Basic Plan. According to the details, the Plus Plan gives you priority in times of tower congestion over basic plan users and also access to 5G Ultra Wideband Network in some Metropolitan areas if your phone has the Ultra Wide Band capability.  Maybe the results will improve if you are signing up for the upgraded Plus Plan. I am still waiting for some of the phones to come back in stock.

[edieredmann]

Make sure you know exactly what you are getting, before you sign with them. I have service with them. Never had any problem with them over the past two years. Previously I had Verizon since it's inception with pagers. I went with Visible, because I never had any problems with Verizon, and I thought my good luck would transfer to Visible, as they didn't give me any problems with my first phone. Everything was going fine, until Visible told me I have to upgrade my phone to receive their services. I was a little upset, but figured I would get the new Samsung s23 Ultra, as they had it for sale on their site. I ordered the phone, and wanted the upgrade, as I was told that would be their Ultra Plan. I got the phone, and Visible sent the esim card to install. I inserted it, correctly, and nothing on my phone would load. I pulled up my old phone, and it still worked, as Visible had charged me to leave it on until I got my Samsung all set. Well, it has been a complete mess, and Visible has their chat line button filled in, so you can't get ahold of them by chat. I have NO way of getting ahold of Visible, other then I can see that my services are fully paid for. I did NOT know, that cell phone carriers can actually change the internal build of the phone, for it's services. I know that they can lock your phone from receiving any other services for sixty days, but NOT that they can change the build. Anyway, I have absolutely NO cell phone at all, and I'm paying for their service. They, without telling me anything by email or text, or anything, DROPPED MY SERVICE! I am handicapped, and depend on my phone to get my medical care and my records. I have NO phone, and they are the cause of it! I wouldn't go with them at all. Go with someone that you can get ahold of, who knows, it might be an emergency, and you would go to use your phone, and it's dead! Then what would you do, if you are in a wheelchair/ you sit there until you can finally get ahold of them on chat, maybe two to three weeks later. I have a number for the case, that Visible gave me, but it is no good, because I can't even get through to them. I am going to have to go to my bank on Monday, and have automatic withdrawal removed for them to get paid. I am, a sitting duck, because there is NO way to get ahold of them. I was told by BOTH Verizon AND Visible, to go to the Verizon store and they would take care of it. I went there today, and the young man that assisted me at first, was very nice. He continued to be nice, until I very nicely said that I was contacting my lawyer, and I would like his name, and the manager of the store's name, so I could tell my lawyer who I talked to. The young man said he was going to get a phone number for me to call Verizon, and see if they could pull up my chat. Another person came out from the back room, and absolutely treated me like I was nothing. He sat down, with a sarcastic smile and stated "We ABSOLUTELY do NOT have to give you ANY of our names at all. I nicely said that I was asking , only since my lawyer would ask me. I wasn't being nasty at all. He then swiftly walked toward the door, opened it, and briskly shooed me out the door. Even though Verizon owns them, and I had written confirmation from them, that they would take care of this situation, I couldn't pull it up, as they had dropped me, for no reason at all. So if you want to deal with service that they can drop at their own whim, an d there is absolutely NO way of getting it taken care of, go with Visible, but I would never go with them by choice again, even with all of the services being able to tell you to get a new phone every two years, at least you can get ahold of them. With Visible there is NO way to get ahold of them, as their chat lines are not available at all, and when they do chat with you, they do NOTHING about it. Stay with ATT, or go with s cheaper Verizon service, as they own all the towers, and you will ALWAYS be second banana to them.

[CR500]

Good to know, you'd think they would use the higher speed service to suck you in!  I'm going to test one of the ATT network providers at the end of this month.  Then I'll decide which to go with.

[InquisitiveOne]

I totally agree with you. Please share the findings of your comparison tests. It will be interesting to see the actual results.

[edieredmann]

I am rewriting this post, because Visible says I used a bad word in describing my opinion here. First of all, I DID NOT use the word they accused me of using, AT ALL. Secondly, I would advise you NOT to get this service. I am having a severe problem with them, NOT providing the service that I am paying for. I have never been late, and have ALWAYS abided by the rules. They say you can get ahold of them 24/7, the chat area is completely blocked out, and no one can get through to them in any form, because they have blocked out the area where you would check to get chat! So unless you want poor service, and want to pay for something that is only 4G at best,. that would get you to use some of Verizon's 4G service, and you would pay $45 a month, not Verizon's 5G. Any customer who is with Verizon, gets the best service, and if you are coming in on the same line, you will sit and spin. I am handicapped, and have trouble with hands and voice, and I have been going round and round, LITERALLY, since I got this service. I talked to Verizon yesterday by chat. They own Visible. THEY, told me by chat, that I could take the phone into the Verizon store, and it would be exchanged. I went to the store today, and they wouldn't do anything about it, as I couldn't pull up the chat. Visible, had cut off my service to BOTH phones! The first person that I spoke to was very nice, and tried to help me the best he could. It finally came down to him trying to install the Verizon service, and he couldn't, because of the part where all phones, sold through a service, have the right to not only install an esim card of the company, but the cell phone in itself, can be built to ONLY accept a certain carrier, and this particular phone that I bought through Visible, is this way. So now I own a $1300 phone, that is a paper weight! I am now going through a handicapped lawyer, to try and get this mess straightened out. So, NO, I would suggest you at least stay with a carrier, that you have some way of getting in touch with.

[edieredmann]

If I were you, I would go with ANY other service but Visible. I transferred my phone over to Visible two years ago, and the transfer was a breeze. No problem with anything. For two years, I had absolutely no problem, until I was notified that my phone that I had bought two years ago, would have to be upgraded to a new phone. After several attempts to get ahold of Visible by chat, (they have had so many problems with service, that their chat lines aren't even open to receive you TO chat. There is no way currently, for me, or thousands of people to get through to them. You could be being charged $100 a month, and you wouldn't be able to get ahold of them in ANY way! There is no phone number at all, and your charges would just continue to ring up, and you would have absolutely no recourse, or way to get ahold of them. I am having to go through an attorney, to get this straightened out. So, NO, I wouldn't transfer my services to this company at all. Stick with who you are currently with, even though Verizon owns every tower, and all the services. All the other services, RENT usage of the towers, and Verizon customers will always receive the priority services. We are at the point of now medical service lines, airplane controller communication, train service, and other emergency lines are all being severely affected, because the public has to be able to walk, talk, and sleep with their phones attached to their faces! A lady walked right out of a store without taking her face off of her phone, and didn't stop to walk across an open throughway for garbage trucks to cross. She walked right out the door at an even pace, NEVER stopping to look if any cars were coming through where she was walking, and a trash truck with two big forks, ran right into her, and impaled her! She never heard the truck, or saw it, because she was too locked in, to looking at all her memes and crap! Anyway, I wouldn't advise using this service to anyone, until you find out all the things it DOESn"T provide you with, not the least of all, is service! I have a bill that will probably just keep going up, because I can't even get the service that I am paying for! If you want to have a service that is horrible, where your phone sits and spins, and you can't get ahold of ANYONE, because they shut their chat lines down , then go with Visible. Personally, I don't think ANYONE wants that, but that is what you will get. Go online, and look at the thousands of disgruntled customers, that are all over the internet. This probably won't get posted, but if it does, DON'T GO WITH VISIBLE!