Related
aaaaaaaaaaaaaa
ya... and? it's called being throttled... 10gb in a month, really? how much porn are you downloading lol. anyway, they andother carriers will do this to free up bandwidth for moderate users ....and its still unlimited because you're not being charged any "overage"
10 gigs is a lot of data, especially on a cell phone. I 'm on the web all the time and don't even come close. And I use Slacker a lot as well. THe only thing I don't really do is tether so I guess that could boost your data but still 10 gigs is a lot.
My Comcast has 250gb limit, i don't agree with it but they all do it.
Find yourself a hotspot and enable wifi. Half the time it's faster than 3G anyway.
what are you saying? it's perfect! Other companies let you go past their puny 2-5 GB/month data limit and then charge you huge overages or cut you off completely from data. With T-Mo you don't get charged extra, 10GB is a lot for a month, and when you go over you can still use data, albeit slowly, so you still receive those tweets.
Best company ever, man
I have seen somebody use over 20gb a month on there iPhone and was not sent a message from AT&T or had to pay any overage charger or be forced to have a reduced bandwidth. It's truly unlimited Internet.
Throttling is a common practice with most providers. Tethering though, believe it or not, is actually against your T-mobile terms of use...and if you reached 10gb's of data without tethering you need to go outside lol. So...if you were tethering, you shouldn't be complaining that they put a cap on internet to prevent you from overusing a system illicitly. They could just claim breach of your contract lol...though I've never seen it done before...
when did tethering become"against terms of use "I remember back in the day calling up customer care and they walked me through the tethering process. I had the 3.99tzones hack and was happily using edge to stream internet radio as tmo was and is stil lmy only isp. nowadays netflix streams fine over 3g on the 9.99 web2go...I don't think I've ever been throttled haha! (sounds funny) I don't kno what my data usage is though...
Geez...I tether everyday, and its myself and 2 other individuals who use my connection. Plus normal web browsing and pandora on my HD2 on almost a daily basis and I have never come close to the 10Gig limit.
...the fact is, even thought they throttle you after 10gigs (which is an absurd amount anyhow) you can still access the web from your phone right? So since you still have an active connection that means its still unlimited...they are just not allowing you to continue to download torrents or use your phone as your home ISP replacement for the rest of the month.
Tethering is not against Tmobiles TOS. You can find step by step guides on their forums on how to tether with wimo and blackberry. The only one it doesnt support but isnt against your TOS is android because you have to root your phone which voids the warranty.
Tethering IS against you TOS
Tethering any 3G phone is explicitly against the terms and conditions of you service agreement with T-Mobile. Tethering was never explicitly allowed by the terms and conditions, but it was not actively monitored by T-mobile. Since edge speeds and low data usage were not likely to cause network issues, T-mobile unofficially supported it. This is the same as the way you can call T-mobile tech support for assistance with an unlocked iPhone.
3G tethering is explicitly against the TOS and is actively being shut down, I have had a hand full of customers come in to the store when their tethering was blocked since it began a couple of months back.
Those of you who think that tethering is permitted, had better read your terms of service again...your sorely mistaken:
Here is the current TOS: http://www.t-mobile.com/Templates/P...&PAsset=Ftr_Ftr_TermsAndConditions&print=true
Section 29: Subsection 1: (near the bottom of the page)
1. Permissible and Prohibited Uses
Your Data Plan is intended for Web browsing, messaging, and similar activities on your device and not on any other equipment. Unless explicitly permitted by your Data Plan, other uses, including for example, tethering your device to a personal computer or other hardware, are not permitted.
Subsection 2 covers throttling and the fact that if you do tether they can suspend or cancel your account.
So since when has it been against TOS? Since as long as I can remember LOL. And if it wasn't back in the day...it is now.
The TOS should really be stickied so that people don't think it's okay.
Are you seriously complaining about getting throttled after using over 10gb of data??? Grow the eff up and stop using your cellphone as your internet connection to you computer. Tethering was meant for mobile users to have access to the internet while they were away from available WAPs. It wasn't meant for some 40 year old virgin to download porn all day. ******.
[highlight]Mod Edit: No Need for Insulting. Play Nice[/highlight]
I have to totally agree with you...LOLOLOLOL
+1 there... LOL
While I was at the Tmo store getting a new sim card I happened to ask the guy helping if tethering was allowed. He said it was as long as the phone supported it and you didn't go over the 10gb limit. My wife has been tethering her winmo phone for 2 years now and they have never said anything to us. although she's not downloading porn all day she does use it when she goes over to a friend's house that doesn't have internet. That being said, I don't doubt that it is against TOS but I doubt they will say anything as long as your not over stepping your boundaries.
2. Protective Measures
To provide a good experience for the majority of our customers and minimize capacity issues and degradation in network performance, we may take measures including temporarily reducing data throughput for a subset of customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth; if your total usage exceeds 5GB (amount is subject to change; please periodically check T-Mobile.com for updates) during a billing cycle, we may reduce your data speed for the remainder of that billing cycle. We may also suspend, terminate, or restrict your data session, Plan, or service if you use your Data Plan in a manner that interferes with other customers’ service, our ability to allocate network capacity among customers, or that otherwise may degrade service quality for other customers.
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So basically it is up to TMOBILE to take (or not to take) actions if you exceed your allowed usage. Kinda went out of the subject matter a lil bit. I remember the title of this page was - !!!Beware!!!!!T-mobile Data Unlimited plan has Limit
I have been tethering using T-Mobile internet options for more than 7 years. Since I am considerate, I don't worry anything negative.
I don't mind people tethering whatsoever. What I mind is when people come onto a site dedicated to helping each other out; complaining that they are getting throttled because they are too inconsiderate to realize they are screwing other people over.
[EDIT] Some posters have responded that the assumptions made below are unrealistic as regards the average subscriber. That is absolutely true! This OP is unrelated to the "average subscriber." The thread is about the disconnect between the data download volume required by high-bandwidth apps being advertised by the carriers and the cummulative monthly data volume permitted by the carriers. I.e., this post would be valid if there were zero subscribers using these services. I would note, however, that these ideas will become increasingly applicable to the average subscriber as subscribers begin to use the cited services in greater volumes.
Other posters have commented that the 2 mbps assumption in this OP is unrealistically high. Please see posts 52, 54, and 75 for calculations related to actual apps that use similar bandwidths.
There has been much contraversy surrounding TMO's throttling network access speeds after a subscriber uses (or downloads?) 5 GB of data. Also, some people seem to be confused as to the meaning of the associated terms "bandwidth," "download speed," "total monthly usage," etc. This post is simply an attempt to clarify these terms and to add perspective to the issue.
I will use an (imprecise) analogy to household electrical power usage. The quantity of electrical power (measured in kilowatts), consumed at any point in time depends upon the sum of the current draw of the appliances, fixtures, machinery, etc. operating at that point in time. (Although power = voltage multiplied by current, the power company keeps the voltage relatively constant.)
Wireless data downloads can be considered as analogous to electrical power consumption if we analogize maximum link speed (also referred to as bandwidth) to voltage and bit flow to current. The power company maintains a (relatively constant) voltage to enable us to pull a variable amount of current according to our needs. A carrier maintains a (variable) amount of bandwidth to enable us to transfer a variable amount of data according to our needs.
Kilowatts and bits/second are both instantaeous values. So, the electric meter must continuously meter the current as it flows through the meter to sum the total energy used (kilowatt-hours). Likewise, TMO (apparently) implements a meter on their servers for each subscriber to monitor data flow over the course of a billing month.
Now, this is where the analogy gets interesting.
The power company charges per usage while TMO advertises and charges a flat monthly rate (assuming an "unlimited" data plan). On the surface (read: "as advertised"), the TMO plan sounds better. One is able to plan for a fixed monthly expenditure without having to worry about consumption. That is very appealing, because TMO has also heavily marketed their newer and ever-faster networks as well as devices and services requiring these greater bandwidths.
But notice what happens when a customer attempts to aggressively use the new devices, services, and supporting network bandwidths. When the data throttling hammer comes down, Internet data services are simply terminated until the beginning of the next billing month, for most practical purposes! (The modern Internet is largely non-functional at 56 kb.)
How would such behaviour play out with household energy consumption per our analogy? Say the power company initiates a big marketing campaign to place equipment and services in your home that require lots of power to operate, and sets you up on a flat monthly fee. To accommodate the new equipment and services, the power company drops 10kV service to your home. The first month, You use the new, very power-hungry equipment and services for 5-6 hours. By then, you have used 20,000 kwH. The power company's policy is to throttle users who reach 20,000 kwH. So what do they do? According to the analogy, they decrease the voltage to your house to 20 volts. Of course, 20 volts is not enough to run anything except perhaps enough to make a couple of light bulbs flicker. However, the power company can say that, technically, they have not breached their obligation to supply you unlimited power for a fixed fee. If you can do something with 20 volts for the remainder of the billing month, have at it!
For both the power company and a wireless carrier, these are peak loading problems. The difference is that the power company builds out the infrastructure necessary to handle peak loading for all of its customers, big and small.
A wireless data carrier can "build out" in two dimensions, speed and capacity. These are related but different quantities. Say TMO replaces transceiver technology on a tower. Say the old system had 4 transceivers, each capable of handling 1000 subscribers and providing data speeds of between 500kbps and 5 Mbps to each subscriber depending upon the number of data users connected to that tower. Now assume that the upgrade has five transceivers, each capable of handling 1000 subscribers. New technolgoy coding techniques now render a transceiver capable of providing data speeds of 1-21 Mbps, depending upon the number of data uses connected to that transceiver and their data requirements, etc. In this scenario, the carrier could do fancy marketing to pull in additional subscribers and some users would in fact sometimes see faster downloads. However, the carrier might not have accomplished much from a capacity standpoint in this scenario. E.g., tripling the number of 3G radios might be better from a capacity standpoint than replacing the existing 3G radios with 4G radios. However, the latter is much sexier from a marketing standpoint.
We will know when TMO has finally built out sufficient capacity to satisfy the data demand that they themselves create by hyping speed and speed-requiring services such as TMO-TV; because at that point there will be no further need for data caps and they will be removed or increased to higher thresholds. In the meantime, the following calculation is an indication of the amount of "unlimited" nework access we currently receive from TMO in exchange for our $80 - $100:
What is your average download speed? Of course it varies from region to region and from one moment to the next. Let us just pick some reasonable number as an average to work with, say 2 mbps. Consider that average and the 5 GB data cap. For quick calculation purposes, let us consider 10 bits/byte. (The real number is ~9 bits/byte after taking into account error correction overhead, etc.)
(5 x 10E9 Bytes) x (10 bits/byte) = 5 x 10E10 bits
(5 x 10E10 bits) / (2 x 10E6 bits/sec) = 25000 seconds
(25,000 seconds) / (3600 seconds/hr) = 6.9 hours
In conclusion: An "unlimited" TMO data plan provides about 7 hours of [clarification: high bandwidth application] access monthly, based upon advertised and provided speeds, before one is cut off from useful data access. Your available number of hours will vary according to the data speeds that you experience/utilize.
There are ~720 hours in a month. Thus, our carrier's plan provides for 2 mbps use of our phone about 1% of the time or about 25 minutes per day.
If you understand and are happy with this (as many no doubt are), wonderful! I believe that a subscriber should at least be aware of what he/she is getting for his/her $80-$100 per month, though; and the carriers should, but do not, disclose this information.
The only grip I have about it is, I wished it was cheaper, maybe $20-25 (i know about the loyalty plan but I haven't gotten time to ask about it). Or offer a $15 2gb plan (as opposed to the janky $10/15 200mb plan)
Unlimited means..
1. Having no restrictions or controls.
2. Having or seeming to have no boundaries; infinite.
3. Without qualification or exception; absolute.
This is what Unlimited mean,not the twisted version T-mobile trick some into believe,Unlimited mean no restrictions no controls,you can't abuse something that is presented to you in Unlimited form period.
I don't know why people have no sue T-mobile for this.
eltormo said:
Unlimited means..
1. Having no restrictions or controls.
2. Having or seeming to have no boundaries; infinite.
3. Without qualification or exception; absolute.
This is what Unlimited mean,not the twisted version T-mobile trick some into believe,Unlimited mean no restrictions no controls,you can't abuse something that is presented to you in Unlimited form period.
I don't know why people have no sue T-mobile for this.
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Who says unlimited means no restrictions and no controls? Unlimited defines whether there is a limit or not, not how you use the internet.
As for the OP, I regularly tether and use my phone and still haven't hit the 5 GB limit (downloading apps/games on my phone, roms, kernels, streaming Pandora, forum browsing on my laptop and youtube streaming).
The one's that get over the 5GB limit are probably doing things that they shouldn't be doing so imo it's fair and I would rather have it set to 5GB than having them raise rates for everybody and offer real unlimited.
not satisfied, but not upset. had i not streamed the entire super bowl through my phone, my data wouldn't be throttled right now!
my bad
ahem
Umm....
Cap ?
sahil04 said:
Who says unlimited means no restrictions and no controls? Unlimited defines whether there is a limit or not, not how you use the internet.
As for the OP, I regularly tether and use my phone and still haven't hit the 5 GB limit (downloading apps/games on my phone, roms, kernels, streaming Pandora, forum browsing on my laptop and youtube streaming).
The one's that get over the 5GB limit are probably doing things that they shouldn't be doing so imo it's fair and I would rather have it set to 5GB than having them raise rates for everybody and offer real unlimited.
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You know i just quoted a dictionary definition of Unlimited right one of them is having not restrictions or controls.?
Maybe you know more than the dudes who wrote the dictionary maybe we should go by your terms and not what the real definition means.
In fact the terms i quote are not referring to the Internet.
Stop lying dude i download 3 gameloft games,and watched some video on youtube and i landed over 1 GB in just 3 days,games from the android market like gameloft ones are close to 300 MB,i have spiderman,SplinterCell and GT racing and with those 3 alone i got close to 900MB.
In fact i made a test and watched several videos on youtube,and did some download without tethering,and i landed on 1.3 GB in just 3 days,and i did not even tether dude,stop acting like 5GB is allot if not,in fact not even close to be that much 5GB is nothing this days,i have video on my Galaxy S that are 53MB just for a 3 and half minute video,just head over to youtube and see how much data and actual good quality video takes.
In fact i have Temperature by Sean Paul and is 53 MB,10 miserable video like that one,that is what enough to get you what an hour of entertainment or less,and you have 500MB is just 1 hours of watching videos,use it 2 hours and you have 1GB already eat up.
5GB is nothing.
In fact roms alone are 130+ MB,some are close or over 200 MB,download 7 of those on 1 week and you already have close to 1GB use,just for roms.
Your math doesn't add up,and even without tethering 5GB is nothing.
But show me what we should not be doing,since phones like the mytouch 4G are also throttle and those are advertise as video phones (not that the Vibrant can't do that) and as a wireless hub,where other devices can connect to you,(again no that the Vibrant can't do that either),so in the end you have a service that is been advertise as unlimited,only to be punish for using it,Verizon did the same thing and was force to settle in cash.
I read now that T-mobile was sue for this as well,i don't think the outcome will be any different than what happen with Verizon.
I like the dictionary version of what Unlimited means,not your or T-mobile twisted version,you most work for T-mobile you have to,to actually cheer for such a scam,and to accuse others of wrong doing,when the features all this phones have are bandwidth demanding.
Tmobile
I like Tmobile
n2ishun said:
Umm....
Cap ?
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what's this a picture of?
eltormo said:
Unlimited means..
1. Having no restrictions or controls.
2. Having or seeming to have no boundaries; infinite.
3. Without qualification or exception; absolute.
This is what Unlimited mean,not the twisted version T-mobile trick some into believe,Unlimited mean no restrictions no controls,you can't abuse something that is presented to you in Unlimited form period.
I don't know why people have no sue T-mobile for this.
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Click to collapse
Yes, that is what "unlimited" means. You got the adjective right but I believe that you may be misunderstanding the noun. "Unlimited" must modify something; it cannot be analyzed by itself. if you read the fine print you will see that TMO promises unlimited Internet access, not unlimited Internet access at any particular speed. Thus (they claim), they continue to supply "unlimited" Internet access at 56kb after switching on the cap. That is, you may download any amount of data possible at 56kb. They may not even promise that. They may simply talk in terms of an "unlimited plan," which is marketing sizzle that means essentially nothing, except perhaps suggesting an absence of up-charges.
It seems that you may be suggesting that TMO promises unlimited access at any speed. That would not make sense, of course, because they are not physically capable of providing "any speed." So, what bandwidth are you buying when you sign up with a carrier? Well, essentially you are buying into an uncertain, imaginary bandwidth. By that I mean that in your own mind you imagine/hope what the bandwidth will be like, based upon that carrier's generally-stated advertising, PR releases, reputation, etc. At the current state of the wireless art, a carrier will not promise a retail customer any particular bandwidth.
That is where the "trick" lies and how unpleasant surprises arise. The carriers speak out of two sides of their mouth. One side is the advertising, PR, press releases, etc. which suggest certain bandwidth availability by making references to services (movie downloads, Internet TV, etc.) that require such bandwidth availability. The other side of their mouths is the retail subscriber contract terms which suggest just the opposite. That is, regular use of the bandwidths suggested in the PR constitutes punishable abuse.
These are untenable, contradictory positions that will likely not persist for much longer (JMO). Unfortunately, the short-term "fix" could be a metering scheme that is even worse. If they take that route, though, their ad campaign might take a big hit, as they would likely have to abandon terms like "unlimited."
It may be helpful to keep in mind what the wireless carrier business really is. A carrier spends billions of dollars to purchase spectral bandwidth from the US government. That carrier then spends additional billions of dollars to build out a network which enables them to repackage the spectral bandwidth as voice/data bandwidth to sell at retail. Like any other business, a wireless carrier will attempt to sell its service (repackaged bandwidth) for as high a price as the market will allow. Understanding this is the key to understanding why a carrier will laugh all the way to the bank when a fixed price, high-bandwidth customer threatens to cancel their contract and/or take their business elsewhere. If that happens, the carrier will simply resell that bandwidth to two or more new customers who may be smaller bandwidth consumers. Following such a transaction, the carrier will have replaced $80 per month of revenue with $160 $240 or more of monthly revenue.
Please note that my writings in this or any other XDA threads are simply personal opinions relating to public matters and are specifically not intended as statements of fact or advice. Any references to particular carriers are intended as examples only and could be applicable to any carrier.
Interesting Poll
The poll at the top of the page is interesting. At this point, at least, the extremes of "very satisfied" and "completely dissatisfied" are fairly evenly split.
Please vote if you have not already done so.
I am sure T-Mobile will double the cap pretty soon, and $30 ($25 with EM+) internet will have tethering included in the near future because AT&T is pressing hard on the new 4G smartphone + tethering pricing:
$45 with 4GB and tethering, and $10 per GB overage.
zbt1985 said:
what's this a picture of?
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121 gigs of transfer over Tmo in the last 31 days ?
BruceElliott said:
Yes, that is what "unlimited" means. unlimited Internet access, not unlimited Internet access at any particular speed.
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I think if even YOU (a Tmobile shill) will look at it, limiting internet speed is still LIMITING.
My contract states in clear language, UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS.
They have tried to force me to change that contract many times.
Many many times.
I will not change it, or allow them to change it, it is a binding contract.
Yes, they offer free phones and minutes and even freemonths for me to change it...NFW, ain't happenin.
n2ishun said:
I think if even YOU (a Tmobile shill) will look at it, limiting internet speed is still LIMITING.
My contract states in clear language, UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS.
They have tried to force me to change that contract many times.
Many many times.
I will not change it, or allow them to change it, it is a binding contract.
Yes, they offer free phones and minutes and even freemonths for me to change it...NFW, ain't happenin.
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A T-Mobile shill? You must not be reading my posts very carefully... LOL!
n2ishun said:
121 gigs of transfer over Tmo in the last 31 days ?
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No; that is an application associated with a BitTorrent client that simply keeps track of Internet usage. Not sure how it is applicable to this thread, given that TMO provides the same information for TMO's wireless service.
mingkee said:
I am sure T-Mobile will double the cap pretty soon, and $30 ($25 with EM+) internet will have tethering included in the near future because AT&T is pressing hard on the new 4G smartphone + tethering pricing:
$45 with 4GB and tethering, and $10 per GB overage.
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That would be good. Let's hope that you are correct.
I pay good money for my data plan. And it is indeed very limited.
I had a talk with T-mobile on Twitter back when it was announced about the HSPA+ speeds and said why is there a cap after 5gb and I used the 21mb/s and gave them all the calculations as to how quickly that 5gb would get used up. I asked why give us faster speeds when you could be investing our money into expanding the network giving 3G speeds to areas stuck on EDGE or have no coverage from T-mobile. Their only response was stay tuned for what we have in store for our customers.
Yes throttling speed that is done purposely by T-mobile makes it not unlimited. If it was simply limited to the speed that you can get given where you are using your phone at then that would mean unlimited.
Scoobyracing03 said:
I had a talk with T-mobile on Twitter back when it was announced about the HSPA+ speeds and said why is there a cap after 5gb and I used the 21mb/s and gave them all the calculations as to how quickly that 5gb would get used up. I asked why give us faster speeds when you could be investing our money into expanding the network giving 3G speeds to areas stuck on EDGE or have no coverage from T-mobile. Their only response was stay tuned for what we have in store for our customers.
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Yep, you clearly anticipated what my OP is about when you communicated with TMO. Let's hope that the person who suggested that you "stay tuned" was well-informed!
I imagine that the early build-out in the speed dimension was a marketing tool designed to capture customers based upon the "wow" factor of enormous speed. However, a carrier who does not quickly follow this angle up with building out in the capacity dimension will (and has) disappoint(ed) customers and will likely fall flat on their face. Wireless carriers are, of course, a limited monopoly, limited by available spectral bandwidth constraints and huge investment costs. We in the U.S. are fortunate to at least have a few carriers to compete for customers. Hopefully that competition will be sufficient to continue to drive investment in capacity. If not, the public sector can always step in... At the end of the day, the freqency spectrum, like the air we breath, is owned by the people. We may lease it out. We may also cancel leases for the public good...
Well seems Verizon users will now join us AT&T/T-mobile users, guess that only leaves Sprint as large carrier with unlimited, that thought just sickens me.... My point is I was going to jump to Verizon (and iCrap) because of the unlimited plan and would have missed out on owning my Streak, every phone has it's issues, but none compare to our Streak, hopefully next 5" dual core phone that comes out has better information flow than Dell and some quality improvements (personally am happy overall with Dell's customer service, power button went bad they sent me a refrub, I am on DJ_Steve's ROM, he wife is running stock 353 and life is good).
http://news.yahoo.com/budgeting-wireless-data-verizons-plans-102313947.html
Yeah unlimited data plans are going the way of the dodo. IT's just too much potintial profit for the cell service providers to pass up. Plus all the smartphone driven data usage and growing bandwith is not free for them to provide.
Of course they make up any potential losses with texting charges.
htcjikelly said:
Yeah unlimited data plans are going the way of the dodo. IT's just too much potintial profit for the cell service providers to pass up. Plus all the smartphone driven data usage and growing bandwith is not free for them to provide.
Of course they make up any potential losses with texting charges.
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It is just greed plain and simple. EU has plenty of unlimited data plans our providers just suck. T-Mobile was my last real hope at a decent company, I am still crossing my fingers that the merger fails. Oh well I m grandfathered in.
http://gizmodo.com/5825913/this-would-be-terribly-lame-on-atts-part-if-its-true
This Would Be Terribly Lame on AT&T’s Part, If It’s True
A rumor: Like Verizon, AT&T is going to start slowing down the internets of its heaviest users—something like the top 5 percent of data hogs—starting around October.
This would be okay (grudgingly), given precisely two conditions: If everybody on AT&T still had unlimited data (they don't) or if AT&T only applied the throttling to the heaviest users who still have unlimited data. In other words, if AT&T started slowing down the connections of users who don't have unlimited data—the ones who pay for every byte they download—that would be total bull****, since, well, they're paying for all of it. Effectively, they'd be getting screwed on both ends.
AT&T won't say a word about it, so it's hard to say exactly how they'd apply the throttling. Verizon's reps haven't gotten back to me as to whether their throttling will also apply to heavy users who don't have unlimited data plans, now that they've switched to tiered data plans too. Obviously, it'd be crappy on their part to hit those users twice, too. (Verizon's supposedly trying to limit 3G FaceTime to people who have limited data plans, to keep the network from exploding, and obviously to make more money.)
If this happens, and AT&T does start throttling its heavy users, it'll leave Sprint as the only major carrier that doesn't implement throttling at all—not to mention it's the only carrier with truly unlimited data. And bless them for that.
I didn't know it was made any faster for them to slow down. Here in houston tx. the speeds seem to be the same speed as they were over a year ago. The only thing the speed upgrade did was decrease coverage and increase dropped calls.
long read.. posted in its entirety to clearly illustrate AT&T's intentions..utterly infuriating... here it is..
Chat InformationPlease wait for a chat representative to respond.
Chat InformationYou are now chatting with 'Kaethryn Walker'
Kaethryn Walker: Hello, I understand that you just got a text saying high data usage warning. Is that correct?
rick riego: yes
Kaethryn Walker: I am sorry for the problems you are having with your service. I'll be happy to look into this issue for you. Please allow me 2-3 minutes to verify your account. In the meantime; I would like to share some information about the self service features available to you through this online account. Did you know, you can add/remove features; suspend/restore your service; and access in-depth device tutorials at your leisure?
Kaethryn Walker: I am going to look into your issue. Please be patient. I will be back in 3 to 4 minutes.
rick riego: i guarantee i am nowhere near the top 5% data users at barely over 2 gig. the data rates are slow enough and now im being threatened to be throttled when my usage is EXTREMELY low?
rick riego: ok
Kaethryn Walker: Mr Riego, I just checked your account and your usage. You have only used 1.66 GB of data. I can't explain why you got that message & I apologize. The only customers that are supposed to get any sort of Correspondence about Extreme Data Usage are the ones still on the Expired Unlimited Data Plans because these all have a Soft Cap of 5 GB. Even so, the customer will only be notified if they exceed that 5 GB Soft Cap excessively and on a regular basis. In addition, we do not slow down data speed for High Usage customers.
Kaethryn Walker: I am very sorry for the inconvenience and confusion and suggest that you disregard that text but certainly contact us if you continue to receive anymore notices like that.
rick riego: ty for checking. i am worried as i do not trust that the co wont start thgrottling my data rate which btw is not anywhere close to 4g even though i purchased outright a "4g" phone. so yes.. having rcvd this msg in error..i will not be surprised if my data rates drop all the sudden to next to nothing .
rick riego: ok.. i will continue to monitor my usage and data rates as always.. i just hope this is just a fluke. ty for ur time.
Kaethryn Walker: I know people are under the impression that AT&T does throttle back the Data Speed for High Data Users but that is not true. AT&T has no policy in place that reduces Data Speed depending on the amount of data used.
rick riego: there was an official release saying att will begin that practice as of oct 1st..
rick riego: it was an email btw not text..but it explicitly states that att will engage in tht practice..
Kaethryn Walker: We have not been notified of an official policy change concerning AT&T and nothing of that sort of Policy change has been suggested by AT&T at this time.
Kaethryn Walker: There have been several commercials by competitors suggesting this but they are in fact incorrect.
Kaethryn Walker: I would appreciate if you could forward that email to -------------].
rick riego: i juust archived the email and im not sure how to retrieve it or i would copy paste it.. no mistaking. that is what it said. anyway..wait..i found it
rick riego: Like other wireless companies, AT&T is taking steps to manage exploding demand for mobile data. We're responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network this year and working to acquire more network capacity. As mentioned on a previous bill, we're also taking additional, more immediate steps to help address network congestion and improve reliability. One of these steps involves a change for some customers who use extraordinarily large amounts of data in a single billing period - about 12 times more data than the average smartphone user. For the current billing cycle, your data usage indicates you could be affected by this change. Here's how it works: Smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle. We're writing because you are in the top 5 percent of heaviest data users for this billing cycle. Because we recognize that data usage can change from month to month, you will not see reduced speeds this billing cycle. Beginning with your next billing cycle, we'll send you a text message if you are approaching the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. We'll also send you a second text message if you cross into the top 5 percent of heaviest users, at which point you may see reduced speeds for the rest of the month. Customers have several ways to manage extremely high data usage. Wi-Fi offers great speeds and doesn't add to your wireless data usage. Consider using Wi-Fi when possible for applications that use the highest amounts of data, such as streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, large data-file transfers (like video) and some online gaming. You may also consider switching to a tiered data plan if speed is more important to you than having an unlimited data plan. Customers on tiered plans can pay for more data if they need it, and will not see reduced speeds. To estimate how much data different activities use, and find out more about Wi-Fi or tiered data plans, visit [url]https://www.att.com/dataplans[/url] or call Customer Care at 800-331-0500.
Kaethryn Walker: Could you forward that to me so I can see where it came from, please?
rick riego: to an email?
Kaethryn Walker: [email]--------------]
rick riego: ok..
rick riego: sent
Kaethryn Walker: Thank you.
rick riego: ty for ur concern
Kaethryn Walker: You're welcome. I am going to look into your issue. Please be patient. I will be back in 3 to 4 minutes.
rick riego: ty...i will b here
Kaethryn Walker: I did check with a Supervisor about this issue and you are correct. This is because you are one of the customers that are on one the the Expired Unlimited Data Plan (with the Soft Cap). Apparently, they are basing this on the average data use across the country by the top 5% of AT&T Smartphone customers was 2GB per month, as of August 2011.
Kaethryn Walker: To rank among the top 5%, you must use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period. It’s not how much time you spend using your device, it’s what you do with it. You can send or receive thousands of e-mails, surf thousands of Web pages and watch hours of streaming video every month and not be in the top 5% of Smartphone Data Users.
rick riego: i understand that... but my usage is rt at 2 gig....thats next to nothing
rick riego: if thats the top 5% then people are averaging like 30 Mb a month... not happening.
Kaethryn Walker: But 2 GB is the average data use across the country by the top 5% of AT&T Smartphone customers, as of August 2011.
rick riego: well..i hope this email was a fluke as mu usage is nowhere near excessive..
rick riego: WAIT..SO AT OR AROUND 2 GB OF USAGE A MONTH I AM IN THE TOP 5% AND THEREFORE WILL BE THROTTLED?...? IS THAT WHAT I AM BEING TOLD?
Kaethryn Walker: These are your options to avoid reduced data speeds:
Kaethryn Walker: You can avoid reduced speeds by setting your smartphone to use Wi-Fi, which does not count against your wireless data usage. AT&T smartphone customers have unlimited access to our entire Wi-Fi network, with more than 27,000 hotspots, at no additional cost. They can also use Wi-Fi at home and in the office. You can visit [url]www.attwifi.com[/url] for Wi-Fi details and locations.
Kaethryn Walker: You can also reduce the amount of data you use when you are not using Wi-Fi. To get an estimate of how much data is used by different activities, check out our data calculator tool at [url]www.att.com/dataplans[/url] .
Kaethryn Walker: We recommend you try to keep your monthly data consumption to 2GB or less to avoid speed slowing.
Kaethryn Walker: Also, if speed is of top importance, you may wish to switch to a tiered usage data plan.
rick riego: speed is not a top priority.. but how much can you throttle somebody when they they are only getting avg 2 Mb download speed on a "4g" phone???
Kaethryn Walker: You’ll see the biggest impact when you try to stream video or upload large files. Speeds will be reduced considerably with those types of data transactions, though you should still be able to check e-mail and browse the Web.
Kaethryn Walker: Unfortunately I can’t provide a specific speed reduction gauge because it will vary based on a number of factors, like the time of day and the number of local customers. But it might be similar to the difference between dial up speeds vs. broadband speeds.
rick riego: throttling is breach of contract.. by engaging in throttling the contract is compromised and therefor
releases the customer from the risk of being charged a cancellation fee... there is plenty of documentation available and i have read it. i will be changing carriers.. both lines... by the end of next week. this is ridiculous.
Kaethryn Walker: I'm very sorry and understand your concern. Yes. Our current Wireless Customer Agreement speaks to data consumption and our terms regarding the various types of data transmission activities.
Kaethryn Walker: If requested: Information can be found at [url]www.att.com/wirelessterms[/url] , section 6.2 What Are the Intended Purposes Of the Wireless Data Service?
Kaethryn Walker: Accordingly, AT&T reserves the right to:
Kaethryn Walker: Deny, disconnect, modify and/or terminate Service, without notice, to anyone it believes is using the Service in any manner prohibited or whose usage adversely impacts its wireless network or service levels or hinders access to its wireless network, including without limitation, after a significant period of inactivity or after sessions of excessive usage.
Kaethryn Walker: Otherwise, protect its wireless network from harm, compromised capacity or degradation in performance, which may impact legitimate data flows.
Kaethryn Walker: Most wireless companies have deployed network management tools like this to manage the exploding demand for mobile broadband. The nation is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch. Each company is managing it slightly different, so I can’t speak to the specifics on what others are doing.
rick riego: quoted.."in any manner prohibited or whose usage adversely impacts its wireless network or service levels or hinders access to its wireless network"..
Kaethryn Walker: Yes.
rick riego: i am nowhere near excessive use. if that is excessive and i am gouing to be throttled to a slower speed than the dismal rate at which is being delivered..ther my business goes elsewhere.
Kaethryn Walker: I understand but just want you to be aware that it is not just AT&T that has brought on this policy. Most wireless companies have deployed network management tools like this to manage the exploding demand for mobile broadband. The nation is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch. Each company is managing it slightly different.
rick riego: i understand tht..but to be paying for an unlimited plan and then to be told that at 2Gb usage the carrier considers that excessive and will implement throtling tactics..that is ABSURD. literallt. look at it as a customer. bad business. i understand it is nopt your policy..but nonetheless it is...ridiculous.
rick riego: "your policy
rick riego: by that i mean personally.
Kaethryn Walker: I wish I could say I disagree with you but as a consumer I am also being affected by the same issues. Not just with mobile wireless service but also High Speed Internet and now that Television is promoting usage over the internet it's getting worse and we are the ones that will have our speeds slowed or restricted in order for everything to fit in the bandwith available. Unfortunately, it's not infinite like many people think it is. I can certainly empathize with you
rick riego: well..ty for ur time. i am definietely moving on though.
ten minutes after that convo.. i get the "high data usage alert" text. AT 1.66Gb USAGE WITH A WEEK LEFT IN THE BILLING CYCLE THEY ARE SAYING I AM IN THE TOP 5% OF USERS????? STFU AND GTFO WITH THAT! there must be some course of action we consumers can take.. this is utter bull****. i am completely flabbergasted and enraged at the thought that they can pull this kind of crap..NATIONWIDE...
You might want to edit your message to obfuscate/remove her email. Getting spammed by web crawler email spam bots isn't cool and certainly won't endear her to your cause.
"AT&T Msg: Youve used 65% of your data plan. Any overage bills @ $10/1GB. Tip: Mobile Data is unlimited over Wifi. Learn more at att.com/dataplans"
This is the message I usually get when i'm at 65%. I haven't gotten any yet that said I was being throttled. I don't usually stream anything unless i'm wifi though.
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stewartsoda said:
You might want to edit your message to obfuscate/remove her email. Getting spammed by web crawler email spam bots isn't cool and certainly won't endear her to your cause.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i had no warning..no anything. AND i've only used 1.66Gb...thats NOTHING. so with the old unlimited plan (which i am on..for now..) it has a 5Gb soft cap where. U are supposed to be advised of high usage and throttled after. I am barely over 2 and I am being notified I have crossed the 5% threshold and am in danger of being throttled. WTF
I got the same email for barely going over 2gb as well... never happened til now...
stewartsoda said:
You might want to edit your message to obfuscate/remove her email. Getting spammed by web crawler email spam bots isn't cool and certainly won't endear her to your cause.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx...done.
I average 2gb a month, and have never gotten a message or email about over usage or anything.
A month or so i got a message saying I was being throttled for the rest of the billing cycle due to using 18gigs of data that month. There were 2 or 3 days left in my cycle. I'm usually around 4-5 most of the time and haven't gotten a notice since..
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wow, that's nuts. I ran into a similar problem around the same time they ended their unlimited data plans, I had a nokia n97 and when i took it in to get activated they placed me on an unlimited plan. then i got the dell streak 5 and was placed on the 2gb plan. when i called and asked why was i switched, they told me that they didn't consider the n97 a smartphone, therefore they had placed me on a regular unlimited data plan. after many many phone calls i gave up trying to get switched back to unlimited. I am at the 2gb cap still and although there are other companies, i'll be sticking with att for the time being until something better comes along. I was going to go to sprint, but my father in law received a letter in the mail saying that their "everything unlimited" plan would be ending this year also. So the market for unlimited is disappearing. =/
I usually stay around 1.4 GB each month even though I have unlimited, but if I do go over and end up having my data speeds throttled, that's fine. I live in an area that has nothing but EDGE, so it doesn't get much slower for me.
I do think that this is a little excessive, though. I'm not surprised that AT$T would do this.
I remember when data was unlimited on all the carriers and they were beginning to talk about implementing throttling while assuring everyone that it was just to target the top 5% of the heaviest users. I got flamed on PS for being a paranoid idiot by telling everyone that they are just making excuses and will ultimately limit data and throttle anyone going over preset data limits....Here we are with limited data on all carriers and reduced speeds if and when you go over your plan limit....
In regards to the current state of things, I don't know how At&t decides when to send the warning text messages. I have never gone over 5GB but I have gone over 4GB several times and it's only on two occasions that I got the warning text, one warning came after I went past 4.5GB and the other after just 2.5GB. I'm wondering what triggers the At&t watchdog to a certain subscribers account activity. It seems they focus on prolonged data sessions in one location/tower? I'm guessing they are getting all the bugs worked out on their monitoring end but it seems very inconsistent.
yeah, it would be interesting to find out how they go about determining the "top 5%"
7gb per month average and no warning.
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I don't understand how I haven't gotten notified by At&t when I've used 10+gb since June and some of you got hit at 2GB. S**t dont make sense..
I'm starting to think this is nothing more than AT&T fishing.
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I use my phone a lot and have never even come close to these ridiculously high amounts of data usage. You have to be tethering or using nearly constant streaming or downloading and frankly, you're hogging bandwidth. The rest of us NOT on unlimited plans shouldn't have to subsidize the excess use of a few users.
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I'm averaging about 5gb/month and haven't received the message yet.
Doug. I do that with a handful of Netflix movies and some occasionally YouTube, with the normalbrowsing and apps. I don't have wifi during the day, and only part of the day in 3g areas. It realty doesn't take much to hit 5gb with video of any kind.
I got a message over the weekend that indicated my usage this month so far has put me in the top 5% of my area. Which is in-or-around 10 gbs. I've been streaming a lot of movies thru Subsonic just to test my unlimited.
Starting next month I will be throttled if I hit the 5% again ,this was just a *warning* message.
BTW I live in Eastern MA.
yeah throttle seems to be in full effect now, was warned after being just short of 4GB and now after going over 4gb (4,5 days later) I guy a text saying my speeds were to be reduced. 3-5 gb is my average I would say, mostly steaming music from google, streaming some vids and daily Web browsing .
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