Seeking some straight answers on "share everything" and mobile hotspots

Question

Hello all;
I get a sense from reading other posts that the "share everything" plan is -- to say the least -- not going over too well among most Verizon customers.  However I'm one case for which I think it might actually be beneficial.  Here's the facts.  My wife has an iphone -- 2GB data per month.  I have a regular phone -- basic 39.99 per month for calls with no extras, not even texting.  Right now both phones are set up as individual lines under my account number; nothing is shared.  I went through the simple calculator Verizon had on the site, and the monthly cost came out to about what we're paying now --$140 plus "other fees" (whatever than means).
So it seems to me that it might be a good move, just it case I ever had a need for accessing data on my "dumb" phone -- which right now is pay as you go.  Also, since my wife uses wifi most of the time, it would appear that the 2GB per month would be more than adequate for both of us.  Am I missing something here?  Some fee or hidden costs that I'm overlooking?
Second quesiton:  Verizon indicates that mobile hotspot is "free" with the share everything plan.  Does this mean that we could use my wife's iPhone as a hotspot in order to use our wifi-only iPad when we are in location that does not have wifi service?  Sorry if that's an obvious question, but I don't really find a clear explaination of this on Verizon's site.  Also, I assume hotspot usage counts against the monthly data allowance?  Or is that a whole separate charge we would get hit with?
Thanks in advance for any and all enlightenment on these issues!

Answer 1

gaken wrote:
Hello all;
I get a sense from reading other posts that the "share everything" plan is -- to say the least -- not going over too well among most Verizon customers.  However I'm one case for which I think it might actually be beneficial.  Here's the facts.  My wife has an iphone -- 2GB data per month.  I have a regular phone -- basic 39.99 per month for calls with no extras, not even texting.  Right now both phones are set up as individual lines under my account number; nothing is shared.  I went through the simple calculator Verizon had on the site, and the monthly cost came out to about what we're paying now --$140 plus "other fees" (whatever than means). fyi.....on $140 the taxes and fees will be about $20 so your total bill will be about $160.
So it seems to me that it might be a good move, just it case I ever had a need for accessing data on my "dumb" phone -- which right now is pay as you go.  Also, since my wife uses wifi most of the time, it would appear that the 2GB per month would be more than adequate for both of us.  Am I missing something here?  Some fee or hidden costs that I'm overlooking? you aren't missing anything. most users use well below 2 gigs, especially if they use wifi often.
Second quesiton:  Verizon indicates that mobile hotspot is "free" with the share everything plan.  Does this mean that we could use my wife's iPhone as a hotspot in order to use our wifi-only iPad when we are in location that does not have wifi service? yes Sorry if that's an obvious question, but I don't really find a clear explaination of this on Verizon's site.  Also, I assume hotspot usage counts against the monthly data allowance? yes Or is that a whole separate charge we would get hit with? no seperate charge. you're looking at about $160 total (after taxes and fees). however, keep in mind that if you start using her hot spot for wifi access for your ipad, your data could go up pretty quickly so you will want to monitor it closely for a while.
Thanks in advance for any and all enlightenment on these issues!
basically, you are looking at $140 (as jimfitzgerald stated) plus about $20 in taxes and fees for unlimited talk and text on both phones and 2 gigs of data that can be used via hotspot from the iphone. it's that simple.