Data diet, how do you guys manage? - AT&T Galaxy Note 3 General

I'm testing out At&t network to see if the grass is really greener on the other side. So far it is but I'm not allowed to eat as much grass as I want. I'm currently on Sprint with the contract expiring in a few months. I know most of you guys would think this is a slam dunk case. Of course At&t is going to be faster but you gotta live with the limited data and higher price. But you guys don't know that I live in a Sprint Spark city which is Tampa/St Petersburg.
So for the past month while on Sprint, I've been running 4g LTE speed test on my note 2(didn't upgrade to note 3 because no spark antenna) whenever I'm driving to see how much they've improved. Surprisingly, I stay on 4GLTE most of the time and the speed range anywhere from .2Mbps to 24Mbps. I'm getting 12-20 Mbps at home but at work, it is a paltry .2Mbps.
I looked at my data usage last month on Sprint and it was 16GB! The only one that stream video from youtube is my son since he loves to turn off wifi and utililize the 12-17 Mbps LTE. So I blamed that heavy usage on him.
So I got the no contract note 3 for $250 today via FEDEX, set it up and proceeded to run speed test at work. I ran two speed test back to back and got 20Mbps and 17Mbps download speed. Fantastic! Fast like I thought it should be. Then I went and set the data usage limit at 1GB and a warning at 500MB since I signed up for the $50 mobile value share plan (1GB). I glanced down and saw that the two speed test I just ran just consumed 100MB! So much for running speed test head to head against my note 2 on Sprint. Seems I was too quick to blame my son since the speed test I ran on Sprint Note 2 is probably responsible for most of the 16GB usage last month!
So realistically, for 1GB, if I don't stream video and just check email, facebook, web browsing, yelp, google map, will that be enough?
I'm not looking to stay with the mobile value plan because of the tax on top of the $50 plan. I'm switching to Go Phone plan 2.5GB free hot spot plan after I use up my $100 credit for new customer with AT&T. I figured 2.5 gb is plenty since my wife occasionally stream video on her note 3 on Sprint and hardly go over 2gb of usage.
What is you guys typical usage since most of you guys are tech savvy enough to limit background data, disabling sync, notification, etc. I figured 1GB is probably too limited and 2.5 GB should be plenty if I'm not streaming video. I also have plenty of choice for Wifi now that I am both a Brighthouse customer and an AT&T customer.

I use about 2.3 GB per month, most from web browsing at work where there's no wifi.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I personally use 5-10 gm per month. this is doing anything i want with it and only using wifi at home since i do not have wifi at work (well i do but its filtered and scrubbed)
this would be a few netflix movies, some streaming music through the play store (all access subscriber) and downloading any game/app i want.

What the hell speed test did you run? the Ookla Speedtest.net app uses a 3mb source file.
Also, I don't have a data diet, I have 10gb. I used ~4 last month.
Edit: I don't stream video or audio. I just download (buy) music, surf, Facebook, and download games.

I run Plex, netflix, spotify, Web browsing, facebook, games... pretty much everything. I usually watch one 30 minute tv show over LTE during lunch due to no wireless at work. My usage is around 8gb/month. My wife uses around 1gb since her work has wireless. We use the 10gb plan.
I have been trying to go on a "data diet" since realizing how much I have been using. One thing I am currently trying is PlexPass sync. This allows me to download my TV shows to my device for offline viewing. It's still in beta, and it definitely shows (random unplayable content, breaking its usability). The streaming of Plex works perfectly and I just set the bit rate low to conserve.
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raduque said:
What the hell speed test did you run? the Ookla Speedtest.net app uses a 3mb source file.
Also, I don't have a data diet, I have 10gb. I used ~4 last month.
Edit: I don't stream video or audio. I just download (buy) music, surf, Facebook, and download games.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me, I'll post screen shot later. The faster your dl and ul speed, the more the Ookla speed test app use. I ran another one at home and got over 20 dl and 7 ul and that tack another 50 MB. On the other hand I streamed Milk music and that only used .5Mb for every minute. Not bad at all.

Speedtest Data Use
I ran three Ookla speedtests and two rootmetric speedtest (7 Mbps not shown). So the higher the speed, the more data it consumes.

i dont watch youtube or stream music/movie.
i use about 1.7gb-1.9gb per month.
i have the old att 2gb plan for 25$.
i just ordered the FreedomPop hotspot, 500mb free data every month.
so now i have 2.5gb a month !

If I don't stream music on Play Music I can stay under 2gb with what I would consider to be "moderately heavy" web browsing (1-2 hours a day maybe) and then crap tons of Hangout messages/texts etc.
If I stream music when i'm driving to work (which I generally do) it goes up to like 3-5gb per month.

I have a 20gb plan with 7 phones for $320 a month, that includes my phone payment and taxes. I use 6 to 8 of the gb myself.
Sent from my SM-N900A using xda app-developers app

netnerd said:
i dont watch youtube or stream music/movie.
i use about 1.7gb-1.9gb per month.
i have the old att 2gb plan for 25$.
i just ordered the FreedomPop hotspot, 500mb free data every month.
so now i have 2.5gb a month !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know you can be friends with other freedompop users, if you add 10, you get 50MB extra per each friend, making it total 1GB per month for free. But if you get close to 900MB, I heard they cut you off. In your current situation, if you get close to 400MB, you will be cut off.
Also Freedompop uses Sprint's Wi-Max which doesn't have that good coverage. But that depends on where you are.
I'm living with 300MB plan, but I wish I can remove the data completely. I think $20 for 300MB is a rip off.

I have been on a data diet ever since I switched from my 4GB plan 2yr contract to the 2GB value plan with no contract. I usually get speeds up to 25GB/s.
The way I manage is by listening to pandora at work on my work computer on my cell via their wifi... its the only way I can survive programming all day. On saturdays, I still punch about 12 hours on pandora at my side job. Other than that... that is all of my heavy usage. Everything else would only clock about 700MBs a month. ALL OF my updates for apps are done at home on my home wifi since my work wifi doesn't like the stores download packages, its will update some but not all.
Overall i am averaging about 1400 MBs a month. Sometimes just to get my moneys worth... I will purposly DL large so i cap out... even if I don't need it.

I'll bet your 100mb was the phone downloading updates for installed apps? Check Settings -> Data Usage to be sure.
Ookla speed test is ~2.5MB/run
If I don't stream video, I use 250mb/month, plus what I use tethering. I have no idea how people run through 16GB of bandwidth in a month - I don't even do that on my home broadband...

hp79 said:
I'm living with 300MB plan, but I wish I can remove the data completely. I think $20 for 300MB is a rip off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give att a call and tell them you switched to a dumb phone.
Then uncheck the box for Mobile Data from phone.

netnerd said:
Give att a call and tell them you switched to a dumb phone.
Then uncheck the box for Mobile Data from phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't work. They have a IMEI database, so they know I'm using a smartphone. Even if you get to take off the data, it'll be added right back on within days.
If I had an international version Note3, that would be a little bit different story. But even then (with unknown IMEI smartphone), they sometimes find out that you have a smartphone, and they slap you with $30 data or whatever charge. It's pure BS.
I'm thinking of moving to AIO wireless once my contract is over. $35 per month with unlimited (throttled data after 500MB) everything.

DrAzzy said:
I'll bet your 100mb was the phone downloading updates for installed apps? Check Settings -> Data Usage to be sure.
Ookla speed test is ~2.5MB/run
If I don't stream video, I use 250mb/month, plus what I use tethering. I have no idea how people run through 16GB of bandwidth in a month - I don't even do that on my home broadband...
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Click to collapse
Nope all apps and therfore the Google play store are downloaded and updated via wifi. Clearly the data usage screen shot showed what used a majority of the 226 Mb. And that was the speed test app and the root metric app. I ran two test shown and it used 100Mb. Ran the third one and it showed 159 Mb used. I got the phone for two days and that is all the data used.
None of this is a big deal. I can effortlessly stayed under 2GB with wifi at work and at home. Just search speed test data hog and you will confirm that it used a lot more than you think. If you're getting 25 Mbps download, it likely used 50 Mb of your data. I ran Speedtest app continuously on my note 2 on sprint and racked up 2.5gb in 7 days. I never paid attention to it until I'm testing at&t. I'm going to switch to the 2.5gb go phone plan anyway so I am sure I can stay under 2.5gb.

Related

How much 3G/GSM Traffic do you generate

I don't own an Andorid phone yet. And from what I was reading thus far, it seems that android and its apps generate quite a lot more data-traffic than a 'plain ol' WinMo device used for some e-mail and calendar sync.
Now since in Switzerland unlimited GSM data contracts are way too expensive, I am looking for a 100-250megs/month plan but am not sure at all if this will be sufficient for daily use.
What is your guess, except Webbrowsing, how much traffic do you generate a month?
my phone is my laptop replacement, and my business is online, everything is online, i'll die without the internet
i tether to my laptop and use it to browse the web in the evenings 4-5 hours per, 6-7 days per week
i've been monitoring my data usage on my account at Tmobile's web and it hit low 6 GBs the two months i used it to view quite a bit on youtube
months that i didn't, 2.8 to 3.5 GB a month
that's also sending/reading emails from my laptop
that was with a MyTouch 3G - this Vibrant's download speeds are faster so i expect those numbers will go up in the coming months
jeeez, i guess i'm screwed with my 100-250megs...
if you're not talking about browsing etc, just emails/texting etc that about might be just fine
remember, i said i use it for browsing 6-7 times a week, 4-5 hours per night
i'm on a Tmo unlimited data plan (that apparently actually has either a 5GB or 10GB ceiling - but that's surprising about switzerland - it's been a couple years since i've been there but it used to surpise me how cheap communications was there
=
larryccf said:
i'm on a Tmo unlimited data plan (that apparently actually has either a 5GB or 10GB ceiling - but that's surprising about switzerland - it's been a couple years since i've been there but it used to surpise me how cheap communications was there
=
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Click to collapse
seems like switzerland didn't keep up with the rest of the world in terms of communication fees. a 250megs plan costs about 50$ - with no telephony or texting discounts at all. an unlimited plan is about 160$ - and you actually get capped on your speed after reaching 2gb...
well well well
I usually don't even bother changing to WiFi when I'm at home, so almost all the data traffic goes over the mobile network, and I usually end up in the 500MB -> 1GB range.
If you just make sure to install and update apps, and do large data transfers while you have a WiFi network available, 250MB should be more than enough.
My GF has a 500MB plan and she has never even been close to going over the limit.
karmakuma said:
seems like switzerland didn't keep up with the rest of the world in terms of communication fees. a 250megs plan costs about 50$ - with no telephony or texting discounts at all. an unlimited plan is about 160$ - and you actually get capped on your speed after reaching 2gb...
well well well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Korea is about to switch to a plan with unlimited data on about $40 USD plan that includes free incoming calls/text along with free minutes and texts for outgoing communicatoin.
igniztion said:
I usually don't even bother changing to WiFi when I'm at home, so almost all the data traffic goes over the mobile network, and I usually end up in the 500MB -> 1GB range.
If you just make sure to install and update apps, and do large data transfers while you have a WiFi network available, 250MB should be more than enough.
My GF has a 500MB plan and she has never even been close to going over the limit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd probably switch for the enhanced speed and better battery, though I've lived without wifi on 2G speeds. When I had the original iPhone which was edge, I rarely switched over to WiFi because I knew my battery life went down when using wi-fi but didn't actually know that my battery life went down even more when surfing on 2G.
Here in Finland Saunalahti offers a data package with (supposedly) unlimited speeds and quota. I haven't used my galaxy for a month but I think I should end up using 3-5gigs of data.
Edit: forgot to bragg about the price, which is 14eur/month
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rkantos said:
Here in Finland Saunalahti offers a data package with (supposedly) unlimited speeds and quota. I haven't used my galaxy for a month but I think I should end up using 3-5gigs of data.
Edit: forgot to bragg about the price, which is 14eur/month
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does that mean it's faster than super warp speed?
rkantos said:
Here in Finland Saunalahti offers a data package with (supposedly) unlimited speeds and quota. I haven't used my galaxy for a month but I think I should end up using 3-5gigs of data.
Edit: forgot to bragg about the price, which is 14eur/month
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yaya keep on braggin
hope one day we will end up with fees like that as well... ...but thats a long way to go i gues
250 MByte for sure will be enough if you just send/check mails (including attachements) and surf the web for news. You can download apps and watch youtube at home or in a restaurant where there is wifi.
I have a plan for 250 MByte myself and it works out pretty well.
vengador said:
250 MByte for sure will be enough if you just send/check mails (including attachements) and surf the web for news. You can download apps and watch youtube at home or in a restaurant where there is wifi.
I have a plan for 250 MByte myself and it works out pretty well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that sounds promising... in that case i think i will not have to worry. though when i look at the poll results, it seems that there are quite som data-junkies out there
but you know, i'm no different myself - but over cable instead
don't worry you should be fine.
I just happen to be internet adicted
got 3 different broadband ISP at home on a cisco balancer for redundancy and load balancing.
same reason why in need 2 cell phones HSPDA capable that works just as fast as my computer home computer for when i'm on the move.

More then 5k cap?

I was wondering if t mobile offer more then that 5k cap cuz I have unlimited and we all know its pretty ****ty when you go over it uggggg soooo slowwwee. I go over it with out even teathering lol but ya if anyone know let me know.
HTC Mytouch 4g S-off Root
You go over without tethering??? I thought the internet on the phone was setup to use smaller bandwith so we dont go over wow
There was one individual in G2 forums who *supposedly* was throttled and all he had to do is reboot the phone (or switch to edge and back to 3G) to get his speeds back. This was a while ago and I couldn't find the thread at this point but it may work, at least temporary. I never go over so I dont have a way to test it
Good luck.
there is no way to un-cap/throttle yourself when you hit the 5GB limit .. if you have hit it in the middle of the cycle then you are doomed to dial up like speeds for the rest of the cycle.
turning off the phone will not do it and neither will changing the network type cuz you are bound by the computer system that is tied to your number/sim in your account.
and yes the phones are set for mobile view by default which uses about a 3rd less data than full desktop view. So if you took that off or are changing to desktop view then you will use a lot of data for nothing.
if you hit your 5GB limit on the phone and not thru tethering ... you need to lay down the phone every once in awhile.... it'll be good for ya .. promise.
Downloading videos directly to your phone will eat up tons of data. Even if you download on wifi it still uses up your data. After you reach that 5GB plateau you can still use wifi but before you reach that 5GB plateau all wifi DL goes towards your overall data usage. The only way to put videos on your hone is thru your computer. Download on your computer and then hook up your phone to computer and put them directly on your SD Card.
This is obvious to probably everyone here but many think because you are using wifi it doesn't count on usable data. It does. I was throttled because of just that.
vinnyjr said:
Downloading videos directly to your phone will eat up tons of data. Even if you download on wifi it still uses up your data. After you reach that 5GB plateau you can still use wifi but before you reach that 5GB plateau all wifi DL goes towards your overall data usage. The only way to put videos on your hone is thru your computer. Download on your computer and then hook up your phone to computer and put them directly on your SD Card.
This is obvious to probably everyone here but many think because you are using wifi it doesn't count on usable data. It does. I was throttled because of just that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is it possible for it to count against ya when on wifi? You're not even on TMO's network. I use wifi whenever I am home it doesn't show up at all when I check my account through the website. The CSRs even recommend using wifi when ever possible so you don't go over and get throttled
Ive gone over 5gb in the first 2 days of my billing cycle and have gone up to 30+ gb. Yes I tether. And I still get 3-5mbps dl. Speed test confirmed it and I have no noticeable slowed speed. So I don't believe they slow everyone down. They did optimize the phone to use slower bandwidth but if you watch movies or download them, they eat away at your data
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Browsing or downloading over wireless does not go towards your 5gig cap.
I was just throttled due to going over the limit. I downloaded youtube videos over my RCN wifi connection and it counted against my data consumption. I called into T-Mobile and was told by 2 different people there that data still goes thru the device so it will still count towards usable data. I argued your point forever and they kept telling me just the opposite. I'm going to have to do some testing now.
You guys are correct, wifi does not count on your billable data. I knew that was correct but I was told by two different tech people just the opposite. I finaly went to the tethering dept of T-Mobile and spent 1 hour on the phone with him and he explained it to me without any bull **** that wifi does NOT count as billable data. Thank God. I am sorry if I confused anyone but I thought after speaking to two different tech agents that something had changed. Use your wifi for any downloading or watching anything videos. He broke it down like this,
1 minute of watching any video will use about 3 mb of data.
1 hour of audio will use about 1 mb of data.
PS - these numbers came from the tethering dept. from T-Mobile.
hawaiian.monzta said:
Ive gone over 5gb in the first 2 days of my billing cycle and have gone up to 30+ gb. Yes I tether. And I still get 3-5mbps dl. Speed test confirmed it and I have no noticeable slowed speed. So I don't believe they slow everyone down. They did optimize the phone to use slower bandwidth but if you watch movies or download them, they eat away at your data
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought me hitting 10gbs per billing cycle was bad. I have been throttled down once, and it only lasted a day. My speed was consistently under 100kbps.

[Discussion] Do you get angry over the data cap?

I finally reached 5GB on my T-mobile data plan, I often do not even go over 3 gb. I watched about two dozens of tv episodes due to the lack of assignments The cap lowers the speed to about 7 kilobytes per second and is fast enough for web chating, browsing and email syncyng. What are your thoughts about this?
Sent from my HTC Leo powered by HyperDroidGBX
The cap really does suck. They shouldn't name the plan unlimited because I know of many people who didn't know about the cap and found out the hard way. I'm glad Sprint is true unlimited.
What!!! So 'unlimited' is actually 5gb??
meepmopmop said:
What!!! So 'unlimited' is actually 5gb??
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Click to collapse
Yes. It has been since Nov. 2011. Before that it was 10GB per month. Once you go over you are sent a text and throttled to between 7kbps to 56kbps. T-mobile continues to argue that it's unlimited because you can still access the web. (Although, at those speeds it's pretty much unusable.
Sent from either my Nexus S, N1 or telepathically using two tin cans and some string.
*****sad but true********
"Verizon Wireless will join AT&T in adopting data caps soon, probably in mid-summer, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said at an investor's conference Tuesday.
The precise timing for the move to a tiered-pricing scheme has not been announced, however. AT&T put an end to unlimited data plans for new customers last year.
Verizon has been offering the iPhone 4 since Feb. 10 with a $30 unlimited plan, which applies to other smartphones it sells that run on the Verizon CDMA/EV-DO network.
Shammo said some of the details of the data caps and tiered pricing will come when Verizon launches the HTCThunderbolt on LTE soon. Thunderbolt will have a 4.3-in. screen and run Android, Verizon said in January."
here is the link to the story http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9212378/Verizon_data_caps_coming_probably
I don't agree with the cap itself; I don't like how they call it unlimited but cap it at 5 gigs, but I can understand why they do this. Think about it; if an exponential number of people just jump on the network or switch over to the unlimited plan and just use gigs of data, where can they draw the line and tell you to stop?
It isn't like they "want" to cap it so much, but if they don't people are inevitably going to use Tmobile as their main internet connection, for the most part (browsing, downloading, everything except for pirating movies) IMO.
AntonJart said:
I finally reached 5GB on my T-mobile data plan, I often do not even go over 3 gb. I watched about two dozens of tv episodes due to the lack of assignments The cap lowers the speed to about 7 kilobytes per second and is fast enough for web chating, browsing and email syncyng. What are your thoughts about this?
Sent from my HTC Leo powered by HyperDroidGBX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was kinda irritated the first time I heard about this. At first, there was no problem, at 10 gigs. Unlimited or not, 10 gigs a month was a fair deal. The data cap dropped to 5 around the same time CM7 nightlies came out, and absolutely pissed me off. I had no actual notification of the change, so I ended up reaching the data cap at the BEGINNING of the month. Absolute malarkey I say. My data, being that I live on an island in the pacific, is already slow by ANY standards. Slower data speeds and a lowered data cap. It was not a good day to be a tmobile owner.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
yes
yes. yes I am.
I got capped the 1st month I got my phone. I knew about the cap but I didn't think it was thatttt badddd. I now use the 3g watchdog app to remind and I use wifi whenever I can.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Limited "unlimited"
I ran into my 30 bucks worth last month, around the 17th. It want a great day, in fact I wasn't even using it at the time. I am running android on my hd2 and found the netflix app an awesome addition. Instead of listening to the radio, I steamed every episode of ancient aliens for about a week. Let me tell you, when you hit the wall, its over, you are lucky if your emails come through. Worse yet, there is nothing they can do, they say, not even the ceo has a button to start your data over again. What I did in the end was upgrade my plan, they credited me for the 10g plan $30, them I called back and switched my plan back to the original. I got my data restarted in the end, but a day of heartache when you use your phone for work as well.
I think they should have to call it what it is, limited, tiered, what have you, even if you never went over 10g it is still limited!
The cap doesn't bother me, I just use wifi religiously.
Now they have changed it. 10 gb option is available
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I used to use wifi all the time & rarely used more than 500MB per month (300MB was about normal). Since they started capping, I just turned off the wifi until I hit 4GB and use TMO data instead. Once I hit 4GB, I go back to wifi whenever I can to make sure I don't hit their limit.
If they're going to cap my unlimited plan, I'll use it as much as possible without causing an inconvenience for myself. Way to go TMO, you've now caused me to use around 10 times more data than I did previously!
I agree with this post, and I user wifi whenever its available...however I still check my data usage constantly.
Theres a work around now that I found...some files you load into your phone, but haven't tried it.
My house has more wifi coverage than more corporate offices lol / I make wimax look like a bleep on the radar - and theres lots of programs on the market for mapping of open wifi,.the names just escape me.
Look at it this way...tmo will be taken over by the evil att monster and I'm not happy about that, I hate att, however we will then get free access to their wifi all over...so maybe that'll ease your minds...
My personal thoughts however are they should be sued for misrepresenting their product but they all do it with the exception of sprint and criket...which runs on sprint lol _ unlimited means unlimited, not unlimited broadband for X amount of data then kick you down to dial up/old school isdn speeds.
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AntonJart said:
Now they have changed it. 10 gb option is available
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a new plan or did they simply change it for the unlimited plans?
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Here in germany capped data plans are quite usual (for mobile internet).
My plan contains only 500 MB for 20 Euro (?close to 25USD?). But using WiFi at home, the university and my friends places doesn't cause any problems for me.
During the last month I consumed about 200 MB while travelling/on the go and about 6 GB over WiFi. With a quite capable SGS2 ;-)
But I don't watch many movies on my phone, and if I do, I put them on the internal storage (after... uhm... ripping them from DVD )
Though I can understand the companies limiting the plans: If most users use mobile internet even if WiFi is available it causes a lot of traffic over a very expensive infrastructure, so they try to limit the use of their wireless links.
And just causing as much traffic as possible "because you paid for it" doesn't make it any better.
The general idea behind such an "unlimited" plan is fair use, and because some people tend to overstress that fair use they have to put the limit in place.
Obviously, if your phone is your only internet access than my argument doesn't hold, but than you have some money to spare for a bigger plan
michaelstigers said:
Is there a new plan or did they simply change it for the unlimited plans?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
new plan, like "premium"

[Q] How's your data? Not happy w/TMO

So I've had my SGS III on tmobile about two weeks (Bought 6/28) And I've already hit my data cap at 5.2gb with 2gb from Play Music alone.
I just got off the phone with retentions and they told me 2 things:
1. ETF is $200 (so I could theoretically sell the phone here or on ebay for $300-600, or I still have 3 days to return the phone to walmart.)
2. There's nothing they can do for me, aside from charge me full price for the $65/mo 10gb "unlimited" data. I could not get the $10 off for 24 months either. I pay $108/mo after fees for unltd. everything. (Ha ha!)
So, Sprint users, how is your data? I'm seriously considering dumping tmobile this week for sprint, I can't do this throttling BS for two years.
And Tmo users, have *you* hit your cap yet? how quickly?
I've only hit my cap once with my 5 gig data plan since I switched over to T-Mobile from Sprint last year. I had Sprint for 4 years and boy does their data speeds suck. Yeah their data speed may be unlimited but you'll be stuck with dial up connections compared to to T-Mobiles hspa
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Gopena said:
So I've had my SGS III on tmobile about two weeks (Bought 6/28) And I've already hit my data cap at 5.2gb with 2gb from Play Music alone.
I just got off the phone with retentions and they told me 2 things:
1. ETF is $200 (so I could theoretically sell the phone here or on ebay for $300-600, or I still have 3 days to return the phone to walmart.)
2. There's nothing they can do for me, aside from charge me full price for the $65/mo 10gb "unlimited" data. I could not get the $10 off for 24 months either. I pay $108/mo after fees for unltd. everything. (Ha ha!)
So, Sprint users, how is your data? I'm seriously considering dumping tmobile this week for sprint, I can't do this throttling BS for two years.
And Tmo users, have *you* hit your cap yet? how quickly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't hit my cap yet but I don't stream much, I have used 2 gb in almost 2 weeks that's for sure, also new YouTube app held since it downloads the videos in wifi, sprint if is good where you live is great but if is not you will definitely prefer to pay more for tmobile, I used to have sprint but loading YouTube videos sucks now, compare to two years ago, if you are in one of the cities that is getting sprint soon I would definitely recommend it to
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
So please explain to us all how it's T-Mobiles fault? You obviously know what your usage habits are. You should know if 5GB a month won't be enough for you. I download apps, play online games, watch YouTube, surf the net, etc.. 2GB a month works well for me. So obviously if you use that much data it's on you and not on them. Upgrade to the highest plan and quit complaining.
No one's fault but your own, sorry.
Chicago281 said:
So please explain to us all how it's T-Mobiles fault? You obviously know what your usage habits are. You should know if 5GB a month won't be enough for you. I download apps, play online games, watch YouTube, surf the net, etc.. 2GB a month works well for me. So obviously if you use that much data it's on you and not on them. Upgrade to the highest plan and quit complaining.
No one's fault but your own, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 This
XDA Mobile
Seriously, it's like you think you're entitled to unlimited. You chose T-Mobile over anyone else, and chose their 5GB plan. Why are you so surprised that you'd have to pay more for more unthrottled data?
Cool story bro!
Powered by the SGSIII
How can you even use 2 gigs from Play Music in two weeks?!? Are you using it 24/7?
Hahaha!!!!!!!! Go to verizon lol they will sell you all the high speed you need. I just switched from Verizon to tmobile. Verizon charges $60/ month for 1gb and tmobile charges $25/month for 5gb.
I couldn't be happier. If you need to stream that much use fm radio or wifi or.. Pay more money.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
OP,
Why aren't you using wifi for large items?
I averaged 2GB data & 5GB wifi /mo on TMO....and that 2GB was surfing whenever I wanted and streaming pandora/google music for hours everyday..
Okay, then switch to sprint.. there's nothing we can do here..
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
I'd say switch to sprint and hop on their unlimited. Lots of people complain about slow speeds (which compared to other carriers they are) but I 've never had a problem streaming Netflix and other videos while tethering and hopefully their quick with the lte rollout. I've been with sprint 11yrs and never had a problem
You may want to consider a bigger microsd card if you are streaming so much data. As far as speeds go, it all depends on market. Ask around at work and see if anyone has sprint, if they do, see if they will do a speed test for you. I know for a fact that in my area, sprint has the worst 3g out of any of the big 4. When i had them i averaged less than 100kb down. I've also seen people hit 1.5 mbps in other areas on a regular basis. YMMV.
dcmtnbkr said:
You may want to consider a bigger microsd card if you are streaming so much data. As far as speeds go, it all depends on market. Ask around at work and see if anyone has sprint, if they do, see if they will do a speed test for you. I know for a fact that in my area, sprint has the worst 3g out of any of the big 4. When i had them i averaged less than 100kb down. I've also seen people hit 1.5 mbps in other areas on a regular basis. YMMV.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, after I realized that I'd lose the "4G" with the one on t-mobile waiting for sprint to roll out LTE in orlando, I think the best way to do this is trim down my music library and keep it on an SD, and just use play music to push new songs
I'm just frustrated that t-mobile calls it unlimited at all. It's a lie in itself because the service is limited in one way or another, it's not fair to still call it unlimited just because it's not limited in the way it usually is. :laugh:
sprint................suckkkksssssss! Had the service for 4 days and it was painful with roaming, pathetic speeds. Tmobile is insane in my area with their 3g+ I get consistent 15mbs down and 3mbs up. learn to find wifi and use it. wifi is our friend.
Gopena said:
I'm just frustrated that t-mobile calls it unlimited at all. It's a lie in itself because the service is limited in one way or another, it's not fair to still call it unlimited just because it's not limited in the way it usually is. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But they don't call it unlimited 4G access anywhere I've seen. They call it, quite clearly, unlimited data with xGB of high speed data. And they deliver exactly on that promise.
Chicago281 said:
So please explain to us all how it's T-Mobiles fault? You obviously know what your usage habits are. You should know if 5GB a month won't be enough for you. I download apps, play online games, watch YouTube, surf the net, etc.. 2GB a month works well for me. So obviously if you use that much data it's on you and not on them. Upgrade to the highest plan and quit complaining.
No one's fault but your own, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
++++1 On this. I consider myself an average to moderate user when it comes to data. I use the WIFI only at my house, and I have a 5 GB data plan. I have yet to pass 2GB of usage since switching from Sprint 3 months ago. On another note, I average 17MB down and 3MB up in my area, which is faster than my own internet service provider, and on Sprint I would average around 700KB down and 300KB up. Good luck switching to Sprint.
Gopena said:
Yeah, after I realized that I'd lose the "4G" with the one on t-mobile waiting for sprint to roll out LTE in orlando, I think the best way to do this is trim down my music library and keep it on an SD, and just use play music to push new songs
I'm just frustrated that t-mobile calls it unlimited at all. It's a lie in itself because the service is limited in one way or another, it's not fair to still call it unlimited just because it's not limited in the way it usually is. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your frustrated...uh huh..sorry but I'm frustrated reading this post...They call it unlimited 2 gb, 5 gb.. there's a reason for the number after the unlimited, also read the fine print it says they throttle your speeds... In the future you should really try to read the fine print and ask questions like why is the unlimited 2gb cheaper then the unlimited 5 gb... Make sure YOU don't make the same mistake again in when you actually buy something important with financing like a car or house...
Op I say check in your area and see if sprint has good coverage and good network speed in your area before making any moves. I live in Miami and still have my e4gt since I rely on wimax and it isn't a big upgrade difference with the s3, here's some speed test I took a few days ago using wimax
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium
I rather get an average of 9-11mbps and highs 13-14mbps on a good day and have unlimited then to have 20-60mbps and have a data cap but that's just me lol, the speeds I get now is good enough to browse, play hd YouTube videos with no problem, and tether with good speeds too.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Verizon Brings Back Unlimited Data!

Not sure if anyone noticed but Verizon announced yesterday it was bringing back unlimited data! I was on the 24 GB plan with 10 devices. The VZ web site is basically down when you try and upgrade so I spent 2 hours on hold. When I finally got someone they compared what I pay now with what it would cost to go to unlimited. My cost went DOWN 30 bucks a month to go to unlimited. They can throttle you after 22 GB but only if there is heavy network congestion. I think this is the same thing T-Mobile and AT&T too. This new plan also provides 10 GB of hotspot use. I signed up just now.
https://www.verizonwireless.com/pla...=p&gclid=CNG6oabNjdICFcPqDQodRpkFHw&gclsrc=ds
Yeah this was all over Internet. Bad news: you can't use corporate discount. I am better off on their short lived 12 GB plan+2 extra GB wth rollover as it is cheaper wth corporate discount. Many months I have 20+ GB which is more than enough for me.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Just read up on this. Not a huge fan of Verizon but some things seem a little off to me about this plan.
"Everything included in Verizon Unlimited:
Unlimited talk, text and data.
If a line uses 22GB of data in a billing cycle, Verizon can throttle that line within the rest of the cycle should it attach to a congested network location.
10GB per month per line of 4G LTE tethering; drops to 3G after first 10GB.
Unlimited calls and text to Mexico and Canada.
Unlimited talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada. Only first 500MB of data at 4G LTE speeds; 2G afterwards.
“Full-quality HD video,” which Verizon says comes at you the way the partner sends it. It’s not throttled to 480p like T-Mobile and Sprint do. Technically, that should mean you get 4K streams, 1080p streams, and whatever else is sent to you from a partner (the app you are streaming from). There isn’t a toggle on or off – you just get HD and above streams if the partner is sending that level of stream."
Source: http://www.droid-life.com/2017/02/12/verizon-unlimited-plan-faq-pricing-availability/
I've highlighted two bullets there for a very specific reason. In my experience, the unlimited plans are great for people that are constantly scrolling their way through Facebook and Instagram and can't stay off Snapchat. Additionally (and perhaps more importantly), these plans are useful for people that like to stream videos and shows when WiFi isn't available to them. The fact that these videos are streamed to your device in the highest quality the connection can achieve is actually a problem. This is because you only get 10GB of 4G LTE data a month, afterwards it's throttled to 3G. This means that watching videos will use up your 10GB in a flash and then you'll be stuck with mediocre speeds.
For comparison, the equivalent T-Mobile plan gives you 26 GBs of unthrottled data for $10 less, after which you have the chance of being throttled. The only drawback being that all of the video content you watch is in 460p or less. Either way, it's kind of cool to see Verizon bringing this plan back. Competition is usually good for consumers.
EDIT: jk, this is wrong lol
Alcolawl said:
Just read up on this. Not a huge fan of Verizon but some things seem a little off to me about this plan.
"Everything included in Verizon Unlimited:
Unlimited talk, text and data.
If a line uses 22GB of data in a billing cycle, Verizon can throttle that line within the rest of the cycle should it attach to a congested network location.
10GB per month per line of 4G LTE tethering; drops to 3G after first 10GB.
Unlimited calls and text to Mexico and Canada.
Unlimited talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada. Only first 500MB of data at 4G LTE speeds; 2G afterwards.
“Full-quality HD video,” which Verizon says comes at you the way the partner sends it. It’s not throttled to 480p like T-Mobile and Sprint do. Technically, that should mean you get 4K streams, 1080p streams, and whatever else is sent to you from a partner (the app you are streaming from). There isn’t a toggle on or off – you just get HD and above streams if the partner is sending that level of stream."
Source: http://www.droid-life.com/2017/02/12/verizon-unlimited-plan-faq-pricing-availability/
I've highlighted two bullets there for a very specific reason. In my experience, the unlimited plans are great for people that are constantly scrolling their way through Facebook and Instagram and can't stay off Snapchat. Additionally (and perhaps more importantly), these plans are useful for people that like to stream videos and shows when WiFi isn't available to them. The fact that these videos are streamed to your device in the highest quality the connection can achieve is actually a problem. This is because you only get 10GB of 4G LTE data a month, afterwards it's throttled to 3G. This means that watching videos will use up your 10GB in a flash and then you'll be stuck with mediocre speeds.
For comparison, the equivalent T-Mobile plan gives you 26 GBs of unthrottled data for $10 less, after which you have the chance of being throttled. The only drawback being that all of the video content you watch is in 460p or less. Either way, it's kind of cool to see Verizon bringing this plan back. Competition is usually good for consumers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing that is getting throttled is your tethering (hotspot) after 10gigs ..
As far as streaming movies and TV shows from your phone, you can do that as much as you want. And you won't notice and slowdown unless there is heavy network congestion AND you've used over 22gig already.
Nothing off or weird about this at all.
swapavi said:
The only thing that is getting throttled is your tethering (hotspot) after 10gigs ..
As far as streaming movies and TV shows from your phone, you can do that as much as you want. And you won't notice and slowdown unless there is heavy network congestion AND you've used over 22gig already.
Nothing off or weird about this at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stand corrected. Thanks for clearing that up, I misread the DroidLife article on the matter. Carry on.
Alcolawl said:
Just read up on this. Not a huge fan of Verizon but some things seem a little off to me about this plan.
"Everything included in Verizon Unlimited:
Unlimited talk, text and data.
If a line uses 22GB of data in a billing cycle, Verizon can throttle that line within the rest of the cycle should it attach to a congested network location.
10GB per month per line of 4G LTE tethering; drops to 3G after first 10GB.
Unlimited calls and text to Mexico and Canada.
Unlimited talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada. Only first 500MB of data at 4G LTE speeds; 2G afterwards.
“Full-quality HD video,” which Verizon says comes at you the way the partner sends it. It’s not throttled to 480p like T-Mobile and Sprint do. Technically, that should mean you get 4K streams, 1080p streams, and whatever else is sent to you from a partner (the app you are streaming from). There isn’t a toggle on or off – you just get HD and above streams if the partner is sending that level of stream."
Source: http://www.droid-life.com/2017/02/12/verizon-unlimited-plan-faq-pricing-availability/
I've highlighted two bullets there for a very specific reason. In my experience, the unlimited plans are great for people that are constantly scrolling their way through Facebook and Instagram and can't stay off Snapchat. Additionally (and perhaps more importantly), these plans are useful for people that like to stream videos and shows when WiFi isn't available to them. The fact that these videos are streamed to your device in the highest quality the connection can achieve is actually a problem. This is because you only get 10GB of 4G LTE data a month, afterwards it's throttled to 3G. This means that watching videos will use up your 10GB in a flash and then you'll be stuck with mediocre speeds.
For comparison, the equivalent T-Mobile plan gives you 26 GBs of unthrottled data for $10 less, after which you have the chance of being throttled. The only drawback being that all of the video content you watch is in 460p or less. Either way, it's kind of cool to see Verizon bringing this plan back. Competition is usually good for consumers.
EDIT: jk, this is wrong lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alcolawl said:
I stand corrected. Thanks for clearing that up, I misread the DroidLife article on the matter. Carry on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol not a problem. Just didn't want any misinformation about the new plan being thrown around, because in some regards, this could be better than T-Mobile's plan.
TMobile is upping there game now! Gotta love competition...
http://www.droid-life.com/2017/02/1...ted-plan-caves-hd-video-high-speed-tethering/
Inapplicable corporate discount is what's keeping me from upgrading to this plan. I get 21% off. That's a significant amount.
I wonder what the core differences are between the old Unlimited data plan that costs $50 now vs this new one. I know they both will have the 22GB "soft cap" as that has been a thing for quite some time now. Since I'm sure quite a few of us tether without the extra monthly charge I wonder if we were to switch over and they provision our line, Verizon would be able to detect this? If that is the case 10GB being tethered will go fast especially when you're watching videos. I tether my devices a lot at work to listen music and watch YouTube and I can exceed that quite quickly. I'm wondering with the new plan with custom software on our devices if they would be able to detect the tethering activity or not. Looking forward to seeing people's thoughts on this . I'd save $8/month switching to the new plan even w/ my 21% discount not applying.
I get veterans discount so I'm really debating about doing this. I wonder since I have the bypass that the tethering would still get bypassed so instead of the 10gb it would be on the mobile side data.
*update*
Just switched to new unlimited. saving me like $24
coldconfession13 said:
I get veterans discount so I'm really debating about doing this. I wonder since I have the bypass that the tethering would still get bypassed so instead of the 10gb it would be on the mobile side data.
*update*
Just switched to new unlimited. saving me like $24
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you tell me please when you tether does it show your 10GB allotment being used on your Verizon page?
Won't go into effect till next bill period which is in march
coldconfession13 said:
Won't go into effect till next bill period which is in march
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess it would be a messy bill if you did make the change to go into effect immediately. Verizon and their prorations and month in advance billing.
Yup it would have been 213 or some crap
I switched immediately. Dropped my bill by about 20 or so.
won't save me any money with them taking away the corporate discount. It would cost me 45 more. I rarely use more than 2 GB a month, always on wifi (at work, home, wherever xfinity has a hotspot). I am on the 12GB plan and have 2 GB of bonus data from getting my pixel xl.
zetsumeikuro said:
I wonder what the core differences are between the old Unlimited data plan that costs $50 now vs this new one. I know they both will have the 22GB "soft cap" as that has been a thing for quite some time now. Since I'm sure quite a few of us tether without the extra monthly charge I wonder if we were to switch over and they provision our line, Verizon would be able to detect this? If that is the case 10GB being tethered will go fast especially when you're watching videos. I tether my devices a lot at work to listen music and watch YouTube and I can exceed that quite quickly. I'm wondering with the new plan with custom software on our devices if they would be able to detect the tethering activity or not. Looking forward to seeing people's thoughts on this . I'd save $8/month switching to the new plan even w/ my 21% discount not applying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The old plan doesn't have a throttle cap at all.
I lost my 20% Corporate discount but I kept running out of data with a week left in my cycle and I had the 30 GB plan. I have 6 phones and one tablet on my account. This new plan winds up costing about the same as the old plan with the 20% discount but I'll get more data as one phone rarely uses the bulk of our data. It's 4 of the 6. Even if they do throttle at 22 GB per line, that would be 88 GB in total on the 4 lines that use a lot of data.
It's not perfect, but it suits my needs better.
I have the old UDP with no cap use 200gb monthly never throttled and there's a loophole for the $29.99 pricing for UDP
Mike02z said:
Not sure if anyone noticed but Verizon announced yesterday it was bringing back unlimited data! I was on the 24 GB plan with 10 devices. The VZ web site is basically down when you try and upgrade so I spent 2 hours on hold. When I finally got someone they compared what I pay now with what it would cost to go to unlimited. My cost went DOWN 30 bucks a month to go to unlimited. They can throttle you after 22 GB but only if there is heavy network congestion. I think this is the same thing T-Mobile and AT&T too. This new plan also provides 10 GB of hotspot use. I signed up just now.
https://www.verizonwireless.com/pla...=p&gclid=CNG6oabNjdICFcPqDQodRpkFHw&gclsrc=ds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, 10 devices?!?! Very cool! What all do you have?
markwebb said:
Yeah this was all over Internet. Bad news: you can't use corporate discount. I am better off on their short lived 12 GB plan+2 extra GB wth rollover as it is cheaper wth corporate discount. Many months I have 20+ GB which is more than enough for me.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now I am on 12 Gigs +6 Gigs Bonus Data. When I switch my bill goes up quite a bit. And I never use more than 10 gigs in a month. Not sure this is for me.
BurtGummer said:
Inapplicable corporate discount is what's keeping me from upgrading to this plan. I get 21% off. That's a significant amount.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that was the other thing... No Corp Discount and must Auto pay on Checking Acount or a Debit Card... No credit cards allowed for auto pay on this program. :crying:
coldconfession13 said:
I get veterans discount so I'm really debating about doing this. I wonder since I have the bypass that the tethering would still get bypassed so instead of the 10gb it would be on the mobile side data.
*update*
Just switched to new unlimited. saving me like $24
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also a veteran... But I get a better discount with my employer. Did they let you apply veteran discount?

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