Verizon review: A stellar option for families and friend groups with four or more lines

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In the spectrum of US carrier choices, Verizon sits firmly in the same field as AT&T and T-Mobile as a premium major carrier operating its own network.

As such, Verizon offers postpaid plans that come with none of the compromises from even the best cheap cell phone plans and more affordable prepaid plans from mobile-virtual-network-operators (MVNOs), like Mint Mobile, Tello, US Mobile, and even its subsidiary, Visible.

To be sure, Verizon also offers prepaid plans, but they're awful value compared to the prepaid MVNO plans, including Visible. Indeed, major carriers are mostly known for their postpaid plans.

• See the latest Verizon deals

Still, Verizon may not be for everyone from a value standpoint for those with three or fewer lines. Whether you choose Verizon should also depend on whether its network has coverage for your particular area and needs.

After years of personal use, testing, and comparing against major carriers and MVNOs, I can safely say that my experience with Verizon's coverage, plans, and data speeds has been excellent. Specifically, Verizon's Unlimited Plus plan earns the top spot in our best cell phone plan and best unlimited data plans guide.

Plan offerings and flexibility

Verizon offers three premium-level postpaid plans and three budget-conscious prepaid plans. As things stand, the myPlan postpaid plans all come with a three-year price-lock guarantee (excluding taxes and fees) - not that you need us to tell you, given how much the Pete Davidson ads for it have been running lately.

Right off the bat, check out Visible instead if you're looking for fewer than four-line plans, or you're considering Verizon's prepaid plans for a lower monthly bill. Visible is a Verizon subsidiary that runs on the major carrier's network and offers significantly more value.

Focusing now on Verizon's three postpaid plans, they all offer truly unlimited data and access to all of Verizon's 5G networks, including basic 5G (low and mid-band) and mmWave 5G, which Verizon markets as "5G Ultra Wideband."

Unlike T-Mobile, each line can opt for a different plan, so you're not all stuck with the highest cost if only one of you needs the Ultimate version.

Just note that Verizon's Unlimited Welcome plan offers 5G Ultra Wideband access at a limited 25 Mbps data speed. This is plenty for regular browsing and can handle streaming nicely, too. But if you're regularly downloading larger files away from WiFi, it'll take much longer than the more expensive plans.

Only the mid-range Unlimited Plus and high-end Unlimited Ultimate plans include mobile hotspot and discounts on separate device plans (for smartwatches and tablets).

Unlimited Plus comes with 30GB of hotspot data. Unlimited Ultimate has some small print worth noting regarding its inclusion of "unlimited mobile hotspot data," as there's a caveat that speeds are reduced to 6 Mbps once you go past 200GB of hotspot data.

That's a large chunk of data, but if you're regularly working away from WiFi and do a lot of video calls, download large files, or want to stream video content, you might hit a cap. 6 Mbps after that is a huge reduction, but still enough for browsing the web, Zoom calls might get a bit choppy though.

They all offer discounts for Verizon Home Internet customers (like Fios). With Verizon's current structure, you could pay as little as $35 monthly for Verizon's 300 Mbps Fios service, or $75 monthly for gigabit speeds combined with autopay and paperless billing discounts. They also all include bring-your-own-device (BYOD) discounts with increasing discount amounts for higher-tier plans.

One of Verizon's major draws is its perks, which include discounts on popular third-party services like the Disney Plus Bundle, a Netflix and Max combo, Apple One, Apple Music Family, and YouTube Premium.

These perks will increase your monthly Verizon bill, as you pay for those services through Verizon. However, they reduce the cost of subscribing to those services. You can use these perks to reduce the cost of existing subscriptions, which can be a little confusing to manage via Verizon, as you need to transfer your subscription accounts to your Verizon account, but the option is there.

Data speeds

Verizon's advertised data speeds range between 11 Mbps, the slowest speed on its LTE network, and 634 Mbps, the highest speed on its 5G Ultra Wideband network. Verizon's basic 5G data speeds are advertised between 35 and 143 Mbps.

Suffice to say that data speeds shouldn't be an issue for most people for almost any task, from basic web browsing and basic apps to streaming video and scrolling down media-rich social media apps.

Speeds and coverage vary greatly depending on your location, whether at home, work, or in your hometown. We rarely faced any issues with Verizon's data speeds for data-heavy tasks, even with one or two bars of signal.

The only time I faced issues was in area pockets known to have poor Verizon coverage, which I get to below.

Coverage

Verizon is known for its expansive and balanced coverage in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Still, there are areas where other carriers, like T-Mobile or AT&T, have better coverage.

Our overall experience with Verizon has been very good, and it covers areas we frequent well. However, we can't possibly tell you if Verizon has good coverage for you. Your best bet is to ask neighbors, friends, family, and even social media what network they use and whether they're happy with it.

While Verizon's coverage map can give you an idea, it's not always accurate — even if it shows your area has coverage, it doesn't reflect whether it supports sufficient data speeds.

For example, I live in a specific pocket of a sprawling Connecticut mid-country suburb, and I face coverage issues with all carriers, including Verizon (I recognize the irony for a reporter like myself writing carrier reviews). While I can get two bars of Verizon LTE coverage at home, video streaming on data is impossible, and phone calls are just about acceptable. I am strongly reliant on WiFi for internet and WiFi calling at home.

Indeed, I can forget about the lightest data usage at home, inside, or outside. Even sending data-based texts like iMessages or WhatsApp (not SMS texts) requires me to stand on a low wall outside the house, reaching for the sky with my phone, when there's an internet outage.

Verizon will sometimes offer a promotion for a free network extender (usually $250). I've used a similar variant to the current model in the past, and while it provides a strong LTE signal for phone calls, texts, and data, it's reliant on an internet connection. That's not helpful to anyone if your ISP is facing an internet outage. The range extender I used in the past also required to be installed near a window so it could get a GPS connection, which isn't ideal depending on the location of your router. Overall, I don't recommend the network extender, especially at $250.

On the flipside, Verizon has coverage in a remote area of the Adirondacks region in upstate NY I visit annually, which is one of the reasons I picked Verizon over others. Indeed, I can stream videos on Verizon's networks in this remote region.

To be sure, this kind of experience can be had with any carrier, so as I mentioned earlier, it's best to find out whether Verizon works well for people in the areas you often visit.

Customer support

You can reach Verizon customer support via online chat, text message, at a first-party or authorized physical location, and over the phone.

Verizon's customer support is typical for a large company — remote support options usually start with automated or AI assistance, but you can say or type "representative" to get a real human being.

It depends on the day, but it can take anywhere from less than a minute to "a while" to reach a human. Verizon offers a call-back feature that lets you hang up and keep your place in line, and a customer service representative will call you back when it's your turn.

I've had all my minor issues in recent memory addressed, and it can take five minutes (after reaching a human) to a couple of hours, depending on the issue, day, or representative. Overall, I have been happy with Verizon's support.

Should you sign up for Verizon?

Anyone living in and visiting places with good Verizon coverage will be happy with its data speeds and overall experience. However, it might not offer the best value for every type of user or account.

Verizon offers the best value for customers with four lines or more, making it a great option for families and friend groups. If you have fewer than four lines, you should check out Verizon's subsidiary, Visible. Our guide provides a detailed Visible vs. Verizon comparison.

There's only one good reason to opt for a Verizon prepaid plan: the potential to get better support from a human being, whether on the phone, online, or at a physical location. Otherwise, Visible's prepaid plans offer significantly better value.

Verizon offers the best perks in the industry with its discounts for popular third-party services. However, don't base your decision on perks alone. Rather, you should primarily pick a carrier based on coverage.

Does Verizon have a senior plan?

Yes and no. Verizon offers plans for seniors 55 or older who live in Florida only. These plans include unlimited talk, text, and deprioritized data. They also include a mobile hotspot, but at an unusably slow 600 Kbps (too slow to be of any use). In most cases, we'd rather recommend Verizon's Unlimited Welcome for seniors.

For a single line, its $62 monthly cost is marginally less than Verizon's base $65 Unlimited Welcome plan. For two lines at $42 each a month, you could argue it's worth going for compared to the Unlimited Welcome's $55 a month per line for two lines.

• See Verizon's seniors plans

Either way, we'd rather recommend Verizon over Visible or other MVNOs for seniors due to Verizon's superior support options and availability.

If T-Mobile is an option, we'd rather recommend the top pick in our best cell phone plans for seniors guide, T-Mobile's Essentials Choice 55 Plan for $45 a month for a single line or $60 total a month for two lines.

Which is better, Verizon or AT&T?

This is a question of coverage for your specific area and places you visit — I've personally experienced better coverage and data speeds with Verizon in the Northeast, but it might be different for you.

If Verizon and AT&T both offer the coverage you need, however, Verizon has an edge for its perks.

Considering the competition? Don't miss our full T-Mobile review to see if they're a better match for you.