Verizon has two unlimited plans to choose from, but after taking a closer look at them, that unlimited marketing comes with a couple of catches. Across the entire wireless spectrum, carriers are notorious for imposing soft data caps on ‘unlimited’ plans. After people use a certain amount of data every month, their data access is prioritized less, and they’re more subject to speed throttling. It’s a lesser-known tactic that all major wireless providers implement one way or another, including Verizon.

Not considering these data caps, Verizon’s revamped Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Welcome plans are quite impressive. The Unlimited Plus plan offers 5G UW (Ultra Wideband) access, the carrier's fastest 5G network. Users on this plan get truly unlimited premium mobile data, with no caps. The Unlimited Welcome plan only offers access to standalone 5G, and does come with a data cap. However, unlike older Verizon Unlimited plans, subscribers can access up to 500GB of smartphone data per month before the cap sets in, after which the speeds drop to 4Mbps for the rest of the monthly billing cycle. While this is as good as truly unlimited data, Verizon does mention that "speeds may be slower in times of congestion," which means users might face data throttling from time to time.

Related: Is T-Mobile Magenta Max Worth It? Why It Is (And Isn't)

Verizon Unlimited Plan Data Caps On Mobile Hotspot

Verizon Mobile Hotspot with Galaxy S23 Ultra
Image: Verizon

In addition to there being caps on regular data access, Verizon also has speed throttles for its hotspot feature. The Unlimited Plus plan comes with 30GB of mobile hotspot data per month. The Unlimited Welcome plan doesn't offer any mobile hotspot data, but subscribers can buy 100GB of hotspot data as an added perk for $10 per month. Once a user crosses the mobile hotspot limit for either plan, the speeds will be reduced to 3GB when on 5G Ultra Wideband, and 600kbps on 5G/4G LTE for the rest of the month.

Verizon's monthly perks are available for both plans, which means even Unlimited Plus subscribers can purchase 100GB additional hotspot data if 30GB per month doesn't cut it. All Verizon's monthly perks are priced at $10 per month, and users can add as many as they want, and change them as often as they want. The perks include Apple One, Apple Music Family, Disney Bundle (Disney+ Premium, Hulu with ads, and ESPN+ with ads), a Walmart+ membership, Smartwatch Data & Safety, +Play monthly credit, a three-day travel pass, and 2TB of cloud storage.

Verizon's Unlimited plans start at $65 per month (one line) for Unlimited Plus, and $60 per month (one line) for Unlimited Welcome, before taxes and other charges. Adding more lines results in more savings, so keep that in mind when choosing the right Verizon Unlimited plan for you.

Source: Verizon