FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EXEDE LIBERTY PLAN & LIBERTY PASS
What Liberty Plans are available?
We offer three Priority Data packages for Liberty Plans: 12 GB, 18 GB or 30 GB. We also offer a basic plan in some Liberty areas called Essential 10. This plan has a traditional data allowance (and no Liberty Pass), plus a five-hour daily Free Zone (3 a.m. to 8 a.m.) where all data is unmetered. Liberty Plans are not available in all areas. To check on pricing and availability of Liberty plans in your area, go to www.exede.com and enter your Zip code.
What’s Priority Data?
Every Exede plan comes with a dedicated amount of Priority Data that has our fastest 12 Mbps download speeds. You should choose your plan based on how much data you and your family typically use on a monthly basis (we have tools to help you estimate this amount). Priority Data is used until you reach your data limit, and is reset every month on your billing date.
What’s the Liberty Pass?
If you go over your Priority Data limit, the Liberty Pass kicks in to give you 1 to 5 Mbps download speeds. The speed and experience you get has to do with the time of day, your geographic location and the type of activity you’re engaging in online:
- During morning/daytime hours (usually from about 2 a.m. to 5pm), Liberty Pass speeds should allow you to do most of the things you want to do online. For example, you should still be able to stream video, but not on multiple devices and you may not be able to stream high definition video.
- During evening hours (usually from about 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.) when we typically have heavy traffic on the network, or you are engaging in activities that use a lot of data (such as video streaming), your speeds will be slower. Even so, Liberty Pass lets you avoid the restrictions automatically imposed when you use up your data allowance under our other internet plans.
Remember: If you don’t go over your Priority Data limit, you won’t need the Liberty Pass. It’s just good to know it’s there if you do go over!
While the Liberty Pass is a better experience than the data allowance restrictions imposed under our older plans, keep in mind that it’s not unlimited. As described in our Data Allowance Policy, Liberty Pass users who use the service more heavily than lighter users may experience slower speeds, depending on the level of internet traffic on our network in the customer’s geographic area. Liberty Pass customers will receive lower priority on the network than subscribers who have not used their data allowance, which may result in slower speeds when the network is busy.
Who should choose a Liberty Plan?
- If you and your family mostly use the internet during the daytime, especially before 5 p.m., you’ll likely benefit from one of our Liberty Plans.
- If you and your family use the internet a lot at all hours of the day and night, the Liberty Plans should improve your overall experience compared to our older Exede plans.
- If you’re a light user of the internet in general, our entry-level Essential 10 plan will likely provide all the data you need every month. If you mostly use email and visit websites without streaming much video or downloading files, you probably don’t need a Liberty Plan.
- If most of your internet usage occurs during the evening – from about 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. – you may find the benefits of a Liberty Plan to be limited. But, since you can try Liberty 12 for three months for the same price as Essential 10, why not give it a try? You may find that the speeds are still pretty good after you use all of your Priority Data.
How are the Liberty Plans different than traditional data plans?
With a traditional data plan, your plan has a strict data allowance (sometimes called a “data cap”) every month. Once you’ve used up all your data, your service will be restricted, with very slow speeds if you do not buy more data. With Liberty Plans, if you use all of your Priority Data, you can continue to use the service at slower speeds that should still be fast enough to do most of what you want to do online.
At what times will the Liberty Pass be the most useful?
For about 15 hours a day – roughly from 2 a.m. to 5 p.m. –your speeds will likely be pretty good. During “peak” hours when the Exede network is busiest – roughly 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. – there is less bandwidth available, causing speeds to be much slower. Think of it as more cars on the highway, causing slower traffic.
What can I do online when I’m using the Liberty Pass?
During the daytime, you should be able to do most of the same things you do when you’re using your Priority Data, but your speeds will be slower. For example: during daytime hours, you should be able to stream video, although you will be unable to do multiple streams at the same time. During the evening, high-bandwidth activities like streaming video and video chatting may not be possible. However, low bandwidth activities like web browsing and email should continue to work just fine.
What kind of speeds can I expect when I’m using the Liberty Pass?
When the network isn’t very busy (such as during daytime hours), you can expect download speeds from 1-5 Mbps when using your Liberty Pass and upload speed of 1 Mbps. Your precise speeds will vary depending on how much other traffic is on the network in your geographic area. The heaviest users of Liberty Pass may experience slower speeds.
During the times of heaviest usage on the network — usually from about 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. — your Liberty Pass speeds will be much slower than at other times of the day.
What if the Liberty Pass isn’t fast enough?
You’ll always have the option to buy more Priority Data when you need it. You can also upgrade (there is no upgrade charge) to a more expensive plan that includes more Priority Data every month.
So, is there any data limit while using Liberty Pass?
The Liberty Plans are not unlimited. Heavy users of Liberty Pass may experience slower speeds than lighter users of Liberty Pass. Your speeds on Liberty Pass will vary and in certain situations (such as during evening hours when the network is busy), the speeds may be so slow that your ability to use the internet may be greatly impaired. See the Data Allowance Policy and Network Management Policy for more information.
Is there a Free Zone on the Liberty Plans?
With the new Liberty Plans, we’re no longer offering a Free Zone during the late night or early morning hours. The Liberty Pass also works in the overnight hours. The Essential 10 plan, which is also offered in Liberty Plan areas, does have a Free Zone from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. daily, but it does not have a Liberty Pass option.
