As a van lifer who works from the street, having dependable web in my van is essential. A typical work day in my van would possibly embrace Zoom calls with my van teaching shoppers, sending dozens of emails, updating my web site, and importing photographs to my weblog and movies to Instagram. These are data-heavy actions, and a gradual web connection means glitchy video calls and a variety of wasted time whereas I sit round ready for pages to load.
I’ve a Starlink for after I’m tenting in my van and out of cell vary, however the Starlink dish isn’t completely put in on the roof of my van. So until I’m parked someplace for an prolonged interval and take the time to arrange my Starlink, it implies that I’m most of the time utilizing my mobile phone as my main supply of web.
I’ve been a Verizon buyer for almost 20 years. When evaluating service whereas tenting with my van life mates, it’s clear that Verizon has the very best protection, particularly in distant areas across the US. Nonetheless, a couple of years in the past, one in all my Bearfoot Principle contributors (Courtney Stephenson) switched to a provider I’d by no means heard of: Seen. As a full-time van lifer who was working remotely (together with from down in Baja), Courtney was so proud of the service that she wrote a Seen overview right here on the weblog.
This yr as my contract with Verizon was up, I made a decision to modify to Seen too. With Verizon, I used to be paying $115 a month, and now with Seen+, my plan is simply $45 a month (or $395 for a complete yr when paid yearly). Switching to Seen was loads simpler than I anticipated, and I’m sooooo blissful to be saving almost $1,000 a yr on my telephone invoice, particularly when the service is comparable.
Seen is definitely owned by Verizon and operates on Verizon’s 5G and 4G LTE networks. Aside from having the identical protection as Verizon, Seen additionally presents limitless knowledge, discuss, textual content, and cell hotspot utilization. It virtually appeared too good to be true, however I had nothing to lose giving Seen a attempt. Seen requires no annual contract, so I knew if I didn’t prefer it as a lot as Courtney did, I might simply swap again to Verizon or one other provider.
I’ve been testing Seen for a couple of months now – and I’m satisfied it’s the very best mobile phone provider available on the market for van lifers. It was so easy to modify over, billing is easy, and there aren’t any hidden taxes or charges. Additionally in evaluating my service to my associate Ryan’s (who continues to be with Verizon), I haven’t observed any distinction in velocity or protection, and I’ve performed velocity checks to show it.
On this up to date Seen overview, I break down Seen plan choices and pricing, the professionals and cons of Seen, and my private expertise utilizing Seen to work remotely on the street.
Sponsored by Seen
This weblog submit is sponsored by Seen. Seen plans begin as little as $25 a month, and if you wish to give Seen a attempt with out committing, they’re providing Bearfoot Principle readers $10 off any Seen month-to-month plan for the primary 3 months. Use code MOOLAH for a restricted time to say. As at all times, I solely suggest services I like and suppose you’ll love too!
What Is Seen?
Seen is a low-cost mobile phone provider that’s owned by Verizon and runs off of Verizon’s 5G/4G LTE community so anytime there’s Verizon protection, Seen also needs to have protection. Even should you’re not a van lifer, Seen could possibly be an awesome provider possibility should you stay in an space with sturdy Verizon protection.
I discussed above that Ryan continues to be on Verizon. This has given us the chance to check Seen towards Verizon each at house and on a current street journey to Arizona. There hasn’t been anyplace the place Ryan has had protection with Verizon that I didn’t have the identical variety of bars with Seen.
Seen has two easy plans – the Seen plan ($25/month) and the Seen+ plan ($45/month). Each plans supply limitless knowledge, discuss, textual content, and cell hotspot utilization. I’ll get into the main points and variations between the 2 plans under.
Seen is a pre-paid service that requires no credit score verify until you’re financing a brand new telephone. There aren’t any required annual contracts or activation charges, so there’s better flexibility than different telephone corporations. Billing is dealt with via their app the place you may simply arrange month-to-month auto-pay or handle your funds. You can even pay yearly for even better financial savings.
Seen’s plans are designed for single-line customers as an alternative of households, and there aren’t any multi-line reductions. This makes it particularly good for solo van lifers and vacationers. Even with Ryan and I, if we each had the costliest Seen+ plan ($45/month), it could nonetheless be cheaper than if we had been on a household plan with one other provider.
Seen Professionals
Seen Cons
Seen Pricing and Plan Comparisons
There are presently two plans obtainable, Seen ($25/month) and Seen+ ($45/month). There are some apparent advantages of the Seen+ plan and a few key variations to think about when selecting a plan.
Seen vs Seen+
The largest variations between Seen vs Seen+ are:
I personally selected Seen+ as a result of excessive speeds are vital to me, particularly after I’m working remotely, so my Seen overview is concentrated on the Seen+ plan. Even after I’m not engaged on the weblog, I depend on my telephone for therefore many issues. I take advantage of my telephone to search out campsites, potable water, mountaineering trails, instructions, grocery shops, and extra. To reduce my frustrations with every day planning on my telephone, I wished the quickest community obtainable.
What I like about Seen is that I’m not locked right into a plan and might change my service at any time. For instance, if there’s a stretch of time after I’m not touring, I can downgrade to the Seen plan with the press of a button, saving myself $20 a month. Or if I’m on the Seen plan and am headed to Baja or Canada, I can immediately improve to the Seen+ plan.
Plan Pricing and Comparability
Under is a breakdown of what every plan offers and the associated fee when paying month-to-month. You’ll be able to take a look at the main points of the two Seen plans on their web site. The ultimate worth is what you see right here. There aren’t any hidden taxes or charges tacked on to your invoice.
Seen Plan
$25/mo
inc. taxes and charges
Seen+
$45/mo
inc. taxes and charges
Paying Yearly
Lately, Seen began providing the power to pay yearly which comes with further financial savings. When see the annual price in comparison with what you’d pay for a yr with one other provider, it actually places it into perspective.
seen
$275/yr
seen +
$395/yr
My Expertise Switching to Seen
I used to be a bit nervous about switching from Verizon to Seen. It looks as if at any time when I get a brand new telephone, it’s at all times a trouble coping with my mobile phone supplier. I didn’t count on this expertise to be any completely different.
I used to be pleasantly shocked by how straightforward it was. All I needed to do was join on their web site, obtain the Seen app to my telephone, come out my previous SIM card, and enter some data like my telephone’s IMEI quantity (which may be present in your settings). The app walks you thru the step-by-step course of that typically was fairly straightforward to observe.
There have been a few instances through the course of after I had questions, and I used to be capable of begin a web-based chat. It took a minute to go from the bot assistant to getting an actual particular person within the chat. After that, the particular person stayed within the chat to stroll me via all the course of, ensuring my telephone quantity was transferred correctly, and I used to be capable of obtain and ship texts and calls earlier than we stated goodbye.
One of many causes Seen is so cheap in comparison with different carriers is that they don’t have a telephone quantity you may name or brick-and-mortar shops. As an alternative, you can begin a web-based chat with a Seen Rep any time of the day or week both on their web site or proper within the app.
One factor you’ll must do earlier than you turn over is to verify your telephone is appropriate. You need to use Seen’s compatibility checker to make sure your gadget is supported, and if it’s not, you will get a brand new telephone via Seen. As well as, if you wish to convey your present telephone with you, you’ll want to verify your telephone is unlocked. You’ll be able to often discover that data in your telephone’s settings or you may name your present supplier to search out out.
In the event you’re feeling skeptical, you may also attempt Seen totally free for 15 days. I did this to verify I appreciated it earlier than making the swap. Mainly, they set you up with a trial telephone quantity that you should utilize to make calls, textual content, and visit cyberspace utilizing your present telephone.
It doesn’t have an effect on your present service or telephone quantity, and it was principally straightforward to arrange. It took about an hour, and I did want some help from the Seen Rep within the chat, but it surely made me really feel extra assured about switching and was additionally an opportunity to see what their customer support is like.
How Quick is Seen’s Information?
The largest distinction between the Seen plan and the Seen+ plan is knowledge speeds. Here’s what you may count on:
To see simply how briskly Seen+ is in follow, I ran a velocity check on my iPhone 12 Professional max with Seen+, in addition to on Ryan’s iPhone 13 Professional with Verizon. Listed here are the outcomes.
I ran the check a number of instances on each telephones and bought fairly related outcomes each time. You’ll be able to see that the Verizon telephone had barely larger obtain speeds, however the Seen+ telephone had larger add speeds. Total although, there isn’t an excessive amount of distinction in knowledge speeds between Verizon and Seen+.
The 306 Mbps obtain velocity on the Seen+ telephone could be very quick. For a Zoom assembly at 1080p decision, you want 3.8 Mbps (add velocity) and three.0 Mbps (obtain velocity). For 720p decision, this requirement drops to 1.2 Mbps. For Netflix 1080p streaming (which is all you really want in case you are watching on an iPad), Netflix recommends a minimal of 5 Mbps obtain velocity.
I did this velocity check at my house within the mountains exterior of Park Metropolis. Clearly in a extra distant space the place there isn’t a 5G community obtainable, knowledge speeds are going to be slower. The purpose of this velocity check although is to point out there there’s a negligible distinction in knowledge speeds between Verizon and Seen+.
Whereas on the Seen plan, BFT Contributor Courtney Stephenson reported that she hardly ever had any points with gradual web speeds in areas with protection. In her unique Seen overview, she wrote, “When working web velocity checks from my telephone, my obtain speeds with the Seen plan are sometimes 60Mbps or better, generally even topping 100Mbps. With these speeds, I’m capable of browse the web, stream Netflix, and use my telephone with out lag or a lot thought in any respect about knowledge speeds.”
Courtney added, “I’ve solely observed slower service twice – as soon as at a music competition in San Francisco and as soon as having no cell reception within the small city of Stanley, Idaho whereas my mates with Verizon had a gradual connection. I chalked this as much as the city itself having tremendous spotty protection, and up to now, that’s the one time I’ve ever not had any reception when Verizon clients had sign.”
Seen Cellular Hotspot
What units Seen other than different carriers is its limitless cell hotspot. Utilizing a telephone as a hotspot is a quite common means for van lifers to get web on the street, but it surely’s fairly unusual to have a plan that provides actually limitless cell hotspot knowledge utilization. Most different carriers will cap knowledge utilization and severely decelerate your web speeds when you’ve hit your knowledge restrict for the month, making your hotspot unreliable and unusable when you’ve hit the cap.
As an alternative of capping knowledge allowance, Seen caps your knowledge speeds. Utilizing your telephone as a hotspot, the Seen plan presents limitless knowledge at 5 Mbps and 10 Mbps on the Seen+ plan. This implies you’ll at all times be capable to use your telephone as a dependable hotspot, irrespective of how a lot knowledge you’ve used every month.
For the common particular person, this shouldn’t trigger many points. Courtney used Seen’s cell hotspot as her main web supply for engaged on the street for two+ years with no complaints. She was capable of do all of her pc work with no points and be a part of our BFT workforce video calls with minimal to no disruption.
I additionally used my Seen+ plan as a hotspot whereas in Arizona lately and located it greater than satisfactory for primary duties. I used to be capable of write my weekly publication, add photographs, and make some updates on my web site with none frustrations.
Nonetheless, in case you are somebody who incessantly downloads/uploads giant information, is on video calls all day, or requires extremely quick web speeds, it’s possible you’ll discover 5-10 Mbps hotspot speeds limiting. Nonetheless this could be the case whether or not it’s Seen, Verizon, T-mobile, or another mobile phone supplier. On days after I must do data-heavy work (like importing a YouTube video), I’ll both arrange my Starlink or I’ll head to the closest city with a espresso store or library.
Seen Worldwide Service
If you wish to go to Mexico or Canada in your van, you’ll want the Seen+ plan for the reason that Seen plan doesn’t embrace any worldwide service. On the Seen+ plan, you get limitless discuss, textual content, and roaming in Mexico and Canada (in addition to Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands).
This lets you make native calls or to name again to the US or numerous different international locations. It additionally consists of 2 GB of high-speed knowledge per day. After you employ the two GB, speeds are lowered to 3G, which if I’m being sincere is frustratingly gradual.
With a purpose to make the two GB final, you’ll need to go to your settings and switch off “background app refresh” for your entire apps. That means apps like Instagram and Fb aren’t refreshing within the background losing your knowledge. You can even flip off mobile knowledge for your entire apps that you just aren’t utilizing commonly (like Zillow, Amazon, or no matter they could be), so these apps received’t work until you’re on wi-fi.
Whereas I haven’t gone to Mexico in my van, BFT Contributor Courtney made an annual van life journey to the Baja Peninsula each winter. She relied on the Seen+ plan to communicate with individuals within the States, in addition to to work remotely.
Courtney upgraded her plan to Seen+ proper earlier than crossing the border. The improve took lower than 10 minutes and could possibly be performed proper within the Seen app with none help. The change occurred instantly, and he or she didn’t have to attend for one more billing cycle.
After utilizing Seen+ in Baja for a complete winter, in her Seen overview she reported, “I’ve been actually impressed with Seen’s service down right here. In areas with cell protection, I’ve been capable of name and textual content household and mates again within the US as regular and use my telephone minimally for Google Maps, social media, and light-weight web shopping. The speeds are quickest within the morning and decelerate over the course of the day, as knowledge utilization is capped at 2 GB a day and slows down considerably after that. So long as you handle your expectations (you’re not going to see the identical web speeds roaming in Mexico as within the US), it’s an awesome perk and the service is corresponding to different main carriers’ worldwide companies.”
Now, there are limitations to Seen’s worldwide capabilities – most notably that worldwide discuss, textual content, and knowledge are restricted to Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands, until you buy a International Go which works in over 140 international locations.
Seen+ Members get 1 free International Go monthly. In any other case, the International Go is $5/day in Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Virigin Islands or $10/day for protection in over 140 international locations. International Go consists of limitless discuss and textual content and a pair of GB of high-speed knowledge per day earlier than it’s lowered to 3G speeds.
In the event you’re solely touring for per week, that’s high-quality, however in case you are going overseas for any prolonged time frame and counting on International Go, $10/day can actually add up. Alternatively, when you have Seen and your telephone is unlocked, you should purchase a pay as you go native SIM card within the nation you might be touring wherein is usually cheaper than paying for worldwide service on any provider.
Conclusion
Total, I’ve been tremendous proud of Seen+. I truthfully can’t imagine how less expensive it’s than the competitors whereas offering a majority of the identical advantages. It’s a lot quick, I don’t have to fret about any additional charges or fees, and it’s month to month, so there isn’t any long-term dedication.
Regardless of having no customer support quantity, within the few on-line chats I’ve had through the sign-up course of, I’ve discovered the customer support brokers to be useful, responsive, and genuinely interested by discovering options.
The limitless cell hotspot knowledge is a large perk, and since a lot of the journey I’m doing proper now’s home I’m not too anxious by the dearth of worldwide protection. I’m hopeful that Seen will develop its worldwide roaming protection sooner or later, and the truth that it’s month-to-month means I can at all times swap to a different provider if want be.
In the event you’re interested by giving Seen a whirl, bear in mind you will get $10 off any Seen month-to-month plan for the primary 3 months. Use code MOOLAH throughout check-out.
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Have you ever heard of Seen or have you ever tried it? I’d love to listen to about your expertise within the feedback.
