Verizon 3G to be ending December 31st, 2019

[AGarbers]

I don't know how much equipment or cell phones are left out there still using only 3G but Verizon has let it be known that their 3G service will end on December 31st of this year. We use 3G modems in some of our remote monitoring equipment and they all have to be upgraded to new modems.

 

[Phase2]

Do you have a link? Couldn't find it when I searched. I have a friend with an old flip-phone that will be affected.

 

[AGarbers]

There are dozens of articles out there. It has been coming since 2014. Here is a more recent article: https://knowtechie.com/verizon-3g-support/

And another: https://www.ecnmag.com/blog/2017/12/end-could-be-near-3g-united-states

 

[Leadeye]

Here in the woods, the wife's phone drops from 4G to 3G about 50% of the time. I'm wondering if when 3G goes away the coverage will go with it and we'll have nothing.

 

[justacog]

Here in the woods, the wife's phone drops from 4G to 3G about 50% of the time. I'm wondering if when 3G goes away the coverage will go with it and we'll have nothing.

I'd say that is a pretty safe bet. If you are in an edge cell like that, you might want to think about dropping some cash on a signal booster:
https://www.repeaterstore.com/pages/verizon-signal-boosters

 

[Hoosierkav]

I was in a business ~Rockville and Holt area of Indy yesterday and got 3G... going to make for some unhappy people when it goes away.

 

[terrehautian]

I was in a business ~Rockville and Holt area of Indy yesterday and got 3G... going to make for some unhappy people when it goes away.

Rockville is terrible. Sometimes I only get 1x.

 

[justacog]

If you already have cable/fiber home internet, you could also try one of these:
https://www.verizonwireless.com/products/samsung-4g-lte-network-extender-2/?sku=sku2490003

 

[K_W]

My Sprint phone is on 3g all day inside at work. I hope this doesn't happen to me.

 

[pute62]

I get still get 2g with t-mobile most days. What am I missing

 

[rob63]

I only pay for minimal data, so I get dropped to 3G for most of the month once my son uses it all up. This could be a boon for me if they have no option but to keep me at 4G.

However, knowing Verizon from past history, I don't doubt they already have it figured out on how to keep me real slow anyway.

 

[4sarge]

Our Trac Phones Use Verizon and we got the Notification that Our 3G phones will be Obsoleted. We too Live Rural and usually No Signal or if lucky 1 bar. If the 4G are pulling 3G in rural areas Not much use to Buy a 4G phone. Our Cells are ONLY for Emergency use or Text. No Surfing of the Web. Seems a Waste of Money but maybe needed in Emergency situations.

 

[jkaetz]

If you already have cable/fiber home internet, you could also try one of these:
https://www.verizonwireless.com/products/samsung-4g-lte-network-extender-2/?sku=sku2490003

While this will make the phones work, it's the ultimate scam. Your now paying Verizon for cellular coverage monthly and not even using Verizon's resources most of the time. Your cell phone has just become a landline. Verizon should be giving these away and paying you for supporting the last mile of their infrastructure.

 

[Ziggidy]

I only pay for minimal data, so I get dropped to 3G for most of the month once my son uses it all up. This could be a boon for me if they have no option but to keep me at 4G.

However, knowing Verizon from past history, I don't doubt they already have it figured out on how to keep me real slow anyway.

Sure they know......increase prices to maintain you at higher speeds.

 

[alabasterjar]

Here in the woods, the wife's phone drops from 4G to 3G about 50% of the time. I'm wondering if when 3G goes away the coverage will go with it and we'll have nothing.

My guess is that it will be similar to the switch to digital tv broadcasting...go from someone being able to watch something to never being able to watch anything. At my home, we'll go to effectively no service unless you go stand in the two spots that will sometimes get 4g.

 

[justacog]

While this will make the phones work, it's the ultimate scam. Your now paying Verizon for cellular coverage monthly and not even using Verizon's resources most of the time. Your cell phone has just become a landline. Verizon should be giving these away and paying you for supporting the last mile of their infrastructure.

What's a scam about it? If you're already paying monthly for service, it isn't their fault your calls drop unless you sit next to the window any more than it is the city/county fault you have to pay to put in a septic field because the sewer lines don't run to the far corners of the boonies. If there was a competitor you would have already switched, canceled service, or moved unless you are a masochist. We've all been paying the government mandated Universal Service Fees for decades and expecting the coverage to improve; that would just make too much sense. The phone doesn't become just a land line with a home router for VoIP; it will still work as a regular cell phone when you are far enough away from the house that the tower has better signal.

And, not only is 5G not going to fix anything, it will probably make things worse as funds that could have gone to coverage infrastructure are diverted to the new hotness:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...-that-5g-was-overhyped-rushed-to-market.shtml

 

[wabash]

Our Trac Phones Use Verizon and we got the Notification that Our 3G phones will be Obsoleted.

this happened a couple of years ago and I had to get new cell phones. iirc, that was when 2G went away. I have not seen the latest message.

 

[jkaetz]

What's a scam about it? If you're already paying monthly for service, it isn't their fault your calls drop unless you sit next to the window any more than it is the city/county fault you have to pay to put in a septic field because the sewer lines don't run to the far corners of the boonies. If there was a competitor you would have already switched, canceled service, or moved unless you are a masochist. We've all been paying the government mandated Universal Service Fees for decades and expecting the coverage to improve; that would just make too much sense. The phone doesn't become just a land line with a home router for VoIP; it will still work as a regular cell phone when you are far enough away from the house that the tower has better signal.

And, not only is 5G not going to fix anything, it will probably make things worse as funds that could have gone to coverage infrastructure are diverted to the new hotness:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/2...-that-5g-was-overhyped-rushed-to-market.shtml

My point being that your paying for service that isn't being provided and their solution is to charge you more money to route your usage through another service that you must provide and pay for also.

You're absolutely right about 5g as well. It is all about high bandwidth and short range.