Verizon subscribers must toggle this switch to view the highest resolution videos their plans allow

You might be paying a small fortune each month for your Verizon wireless plan but this doesn't mean that you are automatically receiving the highest-quality video that your plan allows. The nation's largest carrier has a document titled "Important Plan Information" which reveals something very important and also very interesting. As noted on Reddit by subscriber Busy-Solution7642, Verizon subscribers are required to toggle on a switch for "unlimited premium network access" to view the highest-quality video they are entitled to.

The "Important Plan Information" document notes that subscribers to Verizon's Unlimited Ultimate and Unlimited Plus plans can stream up to 4K UHD Video inside the 5G Ultra Wideband (5G UWB) coverage area and 1080p HD Video Streaming available inside the 5G and 4G LTE coverage areas. For Unlimited Ultimate, video can be streamed up to 4K UHD Video Streaming on certain smartphones inside the 5G Ultra Wideband (5G UWB) coverage area and 720p HD inside the 5G and 4G LTE coverage areas.

These resolutions are not available by default. As Verizon says, the aforementioned toggle switch "must be turned on by [the] customer in My Verizon online, the My Verizon App, or by calling customer service.

Without the toggle turned on, Unlimited Ultimate and Unlimited Plus subscribers will be viewing video at 720p in 5G UWB territory and 480p video in areas covered with nationwide 5G (which shows up as "5G" on your phone's status bar) and 4G LTE signals. Those on the Unlimited Welcome plan are receiving 480p video regardless if they are receiving 5G UWB, 5G, or 4G LTE signals.

To turn on the toggle, open the My Verizon app. From the Account tab on the bottom of the screen, tap on Plans under the Account links heading. Tap on the plan connected to your phone number, scroll down to Network usage, and you'll see the "Maximum  video streaming quality" toggle. Keep in mind that while video will be improved, toggling on the feature does consume data faster. 

While enabling "Maximum video streaming quality" won't change your monthly rate, for an additional $10 per month per line, you can receive 1080p video quality with 5G and 4G LTE coverage.

Verizon's 5G UWB uses the carrier's mid-band spectrum located on the C-band. While 5G UWB has delivered download data speeds as high as 600Mbps, nationwide 5G had a recent high download data speed of 98Mbps according to Speedtest results in the northeast United States conducted by a Verizon subscriber.