Verizon Wireless Safety Mode

Our family doesn’t usually consume a large amount of wireless data. While we often use our desktop and mobile devices to stream music and video content through our wifi connection at home, we generally use our cellular data sparingly while on the road. Therefore, we subscribe to a 2 GB data plan through Verizon Wireless.

About a year ago, I activated a complimentary Safety Mode option that allows users to continue using cellular data at reduced speeds if they run out of data before the end of their billing cycle. This past month, we vacationed in Maui and also took a road trip to Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to visit some national park service sites. We used up our 2 GB allowance of data several days before the end of our billing cycle, so Safety Mode kicked in.

According to Verizon Wireless, data speeds in Safety Mode are reduced to 128 Kbps. I wanted to verify for myself, so I installed Speedtest for iOS and checked for myself. Here’s my result:

A download speed of 0.05 Mbps x 1024 = 51.2 Kbps, about half of the advertised speed. For comparison, I checked the speed of my Spectrum wifi connection:

As a final comparison, at the start of my new billing cycle, I checked the normal speed of my Verizon Wireless connection:

From this I can conclude that (1) at least relatively speaking, the results of Speedtest seem to be on target; and (2) my Safety Mode data speed appears to be slower than advertised. Despite this finding, I think it is fantastic that I have a way to get cellular data beyond my monthly allowance without being charged overages or being required to upgrade my plan.

Support for Legacy iOS

I have an iPad 2 (512 MB DDR2 RAM, 16 GB flash memory) that I use primarily for reading e-books and playing music, while our newer iPad and iPhones are used for more modern and processor-intensive applications. The iPad 2 was released in March 2011 (more than 8 years ago) and was discontinued in March 2014. For many years, I had assumed that it would be forever stuck on iOS 9.3.5 which was released in August 2016. To my surprise, I discovered that Apple released iOS 9.3.6 in July 2019, nearly 3 years after iOS 9.3.5.

According to a Apple Support document, this update was released “to make sure that its GPS, date, and time continue to work properly” and applies to iOS 9 and 10. It goes on to say “This is due to the GPS time rollover issue that began affecting GPS-enabled products from other manufacturers on April 6, 2019. Affected Apple devices are not impacted until November 3, 2019.”

I’m pleased that Apple has decided to support these legacy operating systems. It’s one of the reasons why I enjoy being a part of the Apple ecosystem. The fact that I can still use an 8-year old iPad (and a 12-year old mid-2007 24-inch iMac) is testimony to the total cost of ownership and the value of these products.