Database Users

5% of data users

i got a text today that im att top 5% data user so they slowed down my data speed to like 3g wtf is this legal
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

I have been throttled for the last 2 weeks now. I think its a bunch of BS and now most of my apps barely work now cuz my speeds are so low. I tried to contact a class action law firm and it wouldn't even send cuz my speeds are so low at times. I'll try again today but I personally don't think its legal
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA App

Fwiw, i was throttled 3 weeks into my billing period. My usage was 1.7 gigabytes (remember, over the first3 weeks of the billing cycle) at that point.
My normal down speeds range 1.5-4mbps. Now, I am throttled down to 150kbps.
Like the last poster, lots of apps are unusable and essentially has left me without data for most uses besides basic weboage viewing. This has happened the last 3 months and I have reduced my usage in fear of this the last 2. I think its BS that Im being throttled for 1.7 gigabytes of use 3/4s of the way through my billing period and I expect to just keep getting throttled every month til I disconnect att.
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

1.7 gig, that's crazy
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

Before you go calling in the calvalry, I recommend reading your terms of service.. Not the ones that GayT&T gave you when you signed up, but the ones that currently apply. They always put a clause in there stating they can change the rules and whatnot you agree on, so get the latest. THEN.. have a law-savvy individual give it a once-over. These companies change their terms in order to "improve services" for everyone. This means that they may want to throttle your bandwidth in order to provide more to others while they enhance their network coverage. Basically, their network is flooded and overwhelmed with traffic and they cant keep up.. However, in my opinion, they have way more money than us and can make these upgrades as needed. Stating they cannot is basically saying "we want more money and dont care till we lose customers". I have ran into this rut a few times with cellular providers, and I honestly see no way to easily deal with it besides getting service with no contract. Providers dislike this, but it opens new means to reasonable service over time as masses change service. And as far as a lawsuit, if you find the nugget of gold to get you to win, screw a class-action lawsuit. Do it yourself with a lawyer, because it's a huge gamble either way, but the payoff will be significantly more doing it solo... Or, you can go with a class-action suit and get 10 bucks out of it. At least your point would get across..

I was also in the to 5% the last two months and am throttled. There is a thread about this in every att phone forum on xda. Total bull**** is what it is.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S Captivate using XDA Premium.

wow,
Must be with the 2gig users and up, because me and my wife are on the 200MB plan, and each month i come very close, to it, like 189mb give or take each month, all i get is a txt saying your close to your limit. but i never get throttled.
must be since 200MB isnt crap. for me, thats like 2 web pages lol.
I did go over once, by like 1 MB and i got charged another $15.00 , as*holes. but i am not paying an extra $$$ for the 2 gigs, when most of the time, there are wifis all over so. data is getting cheaper and cheaper, and so far sprint is the truly unlimited. But there service sux. so im sticking with att. but everyone will go to unlimited. I dont mind unlimited with throttling a little but down to only 150-250kbs, is crap. If im not using my data, and im not in a wifi area, i just turn the data part off. Im not a huge facebook fan, and I only update apps etc, when im on a wifi. so. but there are alot of people out there that update there freakbook stats every time they take a dump.
The only time u should be getting throttled is if u go over by ALOT. but hey, AT&T is getting alot of money for those who go over. so why do they care.

**** att and they're dirty business practices. Anyone with unlimited data is getting emails about being in the top 5% of data usage and then throttle us to the point where the phone is useless. There response is use wifi, wtf I'm suppose to stay home when i use my phone? I will be joining the class action law suit with many other pissed off customers.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S Captivate using XDA Premium.

Here is your Ferrari sir with unlimited gas. You can only drive it 5 miles per hour though.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S Captivate using XDA Premium.

im going to sprint f*** this they getting the nexus
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

pcrat said:
wow,
Must be with the 2gig users and up, because me and my wife are on the 200MB plan, and each month i come very close, to it, like 189mb give or take each month, all i get is a txt saying your close to your limit. but i never get throttled.
must be since 200MB isnt crap. for me, thats like 2 web pages lol.
I did go over once, by like 1 MB and i got charged another $15.00 , as*holes. but i am not paying an extra $$$ for the 2 gigs, when most of the time, there are wifis all over so. data is getting cheaper and cheaper, and so far sprint is the truly unlimited. But there service sux. so im sticking with att. but everyone will go to unlimited. I dont mind unlimited with throttling a little but down to only 150-250kbs, is crap. If im not using my data, and im not in a wifi area, i just turn the data part off. Im not a huge facebook fan, and I only update apps etc, when im on a wifi. so. but there are alot of people out there that update there freakbook stats every time they take a dump.
The only time u should be getting throttled is if u go over by ALOT. but hey, AT&T is getting alot of money for those who go over. so why do they care.
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I'm pretty sure Throttling is only for unlimited users. If you go over your 200 MB they'll happily charge you the overage and keep serving more.
As an aside, if you're on the 200 MB plan you can go online and change your data plan for the billing period when you go over and backdate it to the beginning of the month. then change it after the billing cycle is up.

upNsmokeAllDay said:
Here is your Ferrari sir with unlimited gas. You can only drive it 5 miles per hour though.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S Captivate using XDA Premium.
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A better ananlogy would be, "you can drive it as fast as you want for the first 5 miles."
I don't see a class-action suit being successful here. The contract is for unlimited data, not for unlimited data at maximum speed. If AT&T can show that a small percentage of users are using an extraordinarily high percentage of overall bandwidth, throttling may be seen as a legitimate answer to improve overall network performance.
Although, a case like this would never make it to trial. AT&T would settle and anybody who was throttled will likely get a couple dollars. AT&T would continue to throttle.

pcrat said:
wow,
Must be with the 2gig users and up, because me and my wife are on the 200MB plan, and each month i come very close, to it, like 189mb give or take each month, all i get is a txt saying your close to your limit. but i never get throttled.
must be since 200MB isnt crap. for me, thats like 2 web pages lol.
I did go over once, by like 1 MB and i got charged another $15.00 , as*holes. but i am not paying an extra $$$ for the 2 gigs, when most of the time, there are wifis all over so. data is getting cheaper and cheaper, and so far sprint is the truly unlimited. But there service sux. so im sticking with att. but everyone will go to unlimited. I dont mind unlimited with throttling a little but down to only 150-250kbs, is crap. If im not using my data, and im not in a wifi area, i just turn the data part off. Im not a huge facebook fan, and I only update apps etc, when im on a wifi. so. but there are alot of people out there that update there freakbook stats every time they take a dump.
The only time u should be getting throttled is if u go over by ALOT. but hey, AT&T is getting alot of money for those who go over. so why do they care.
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JuanDaDon86 said:
im going to sprint f*** this they getting the nexus
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
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Sprint has the WORST coverage of all of the carriers (I tried them ALL last year), at the very least in my area they are the worst. Also, dont buy into there lies about not throttling, SPRINT THROTTLES there is no doubt about that. Also Sprint advertises a good price, but its also a lie, they charge an extra $10 that they don't mention just because. There unlimited plan costs $100+ (regardless of what they advertise, when you get the bill you will see I assure you, I have been there) and on Att I pay slightly less than $100 for much better service. I am not always happy with Att, in fact most of the time I am unhappy with them, but I'm definitely not going to take a step back to Sprint, a more expensive service with less coverage. At least when Att lies they use some inventive techniques like "The Atrix is capable of HSPA", thats not a lie, but it seams unethical. When Sprint lies they just flat out lie. They lie about their prices. They lie about throttling. The CEO goes on thier commercials and straight up lies to the whole country saying they don't throttle, then tells Forbes the truth. Hopefully you hear my warning and avoid Sprint like the plague, but if you choose to do business with them you will see for yourself soon enough.
mandrsn1 said:
A better ananlogy would be, "you can drive it as fast as you want for the first 5 miles."
I don't see a class-action suit being successful here. The contract is for unlimited data, not for unlimited data at maximum speed. If AT&T can show that a small percentage of users are using an extraordinarily high percentage of overall bandwidth, throttling may be seen as a legitimate answer to improve overall network performance.
Although, a case like this would never make it to trial. AT&T would settle and anybody who was throttled will likely get a couple dollars. AT&T would continue to throttle.
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Agreed.

stewartsoda said:
I'm pretty sure Throttling is only for unlimited users. If you go over your 200 MB they'll happily charge you the overage and keep serving more.
As an aside, if you're on the 200 MB plan you can go online and change your data plan for the billing period when you go over and backdate it to the beginning of the month. then change it after the billing cycle is up.
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I agree they are only throttling the unlimited users. I had that problem till I switched plans (actually they forced the switch, but that is another long thread in itself). Once I got to a metered plan, they stopped throttling, and were more than happy to charge for data overages.
ATT still thinks that customer service is to give you as little as possible based on their outdated infastructure instead of updating\modernizing and providing the customer what they want. They still can't figure whether to update their existing equipment for 3g, or go with LTE, so they are trying to do both. Two years now they been touting 3g and still have about the slowest data speeds, nowhere near what the 3g is supposed to be.
If we as individuals had the power to sue them, they would be more inclined to attempt to meet customer demands and stop the false advertising. Thank congress for taking away the right to sue.

So they offer a 2GB plan and a 4GB plan, and then they turn around and try and claim that someone using less than 2GB is among the top 5%!?
I call BS on that and that could be the only hope for a class action suit; make at&t prove the data usage they claim. With netflix and youtube and all sorts of streaming services there is no way that 1.7GB puts you in the top 5%.
By the way, I'm at 1.8GB about halfway through my billing period on normal usage for me and I have never been throttled yet.

martinisadork said:
By the way, I'm at 1.8GB about halfway through my billing period on normal usage for me and I have never been throttled yet.
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It's top 5% in your market. I feel sorry for those in retirement communities.

thats what really gets me going about some of these carriers, i'm on a unlimited plan with verizon but am careful not to overdo it, keep hearing cases of people getting throttled etc...its seems to me unlimted should never be limited, perhaps we need to hand them a dictionary

rquinn19 said:
It's top 5% in your market. I feel sorry for those in retirement communities.
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what happens if you travel alot?

gammite said:
what happens if you travel alot?
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I'm assuming it's still your home market and I'm guessing that has something to do with the FCC and how they are getting away with it. There's a lot of rules that pertain to your market. I read a little about it when trying to port two lines over that were from different markets. Couldn't happen, was only able to keep one of the numbers.

I had the same problem a few months back.
Speculation from a lower division rep is that they're trying to push everyone who has the unlimited data to tier plans because as far as I know, a lot of users with unlimited who have gotten the top 5% warning in the past are getting capped around 2GB
I spoke with an upper division rep and this is what they said, and this is not word for word:
If you get flagged once as a top 5% user, you will stay flagged indefinitely. This means that whenever you reach the top 5% (I asked, not specified as to how that works considering every one has a different billing cycle and top 5% of which users, unlimited or every one, or every one that is flagged), you will get reduced speeds.
For those with unlimited who have never been flagged and reach past 2GB will not be flagged unless they deem you a serious data user.
How they define top 5% is not specific, but is based on their "research".
Now you're thinking if less and less people want to get capped, they'll use less data, and therefore the top data usage number will change, that sounds exactly like what they're trying to do. I asked about that, but she said she has no idea about how they actually do the capping except once you're flagged, you're flagged, especially since you're getting capped around 2GB.
Just letting you guys know the facts I got from the CSR and their supervisor.

[GT-N7000] AT&T throttling madness!

I had another long conversation with AT&T today after having barely any data service for the past week even though I have the "unlimited" data plan. My billing cycle started 2/17 and they started to throttle me on 2/18 because I was in the top 5% of users.
AT&T claims I have used close to 6GB worth of data in the last 6 days, 3 days of which I was in an area with no service! My service won't be restored to normal until 3/17!!! She told me I should consider moving to another plan and thats after I accused them of trying to force people off their grand fathered unlimited plans, which she denied.
And their claim that I have service but that it's just slower is a load of bs. With a modern phone a certain amount of bandwidth is required and apparently I'm getting so little I can't access anything for hours at a time. The fact that I use my phone for work makes this completely unacceptable.

Install a traffic monitor to prove their lies. I pity you guys that have to put up with US operator madness.
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

Is there a traffic monitor you recommend?

Onavo seems pretty good.. I don't use much data so I can't say how good long term it is.. It also lets you stop apps from accessing mobile data, and make them wifi only per individual app.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium

Maybe its my area but I've never had my data service discontinued for X number of days. I have however received several letters from att stating my plan needs an upgrade (move from unlimited to their limited plans. upgrade my Arse) I actually had a rep tell me, it would be faster! lol.
I am grandfathered in on the unlimited data plan. and I generally use 10gb a month. The most I have ever used, in recent memory was 30gb. I got a tether notice once, called them to have them prove it (since i wasn't tethering). I never heard a response back.
I am a civilian contractor for the marines. When we go out on a training op, I bring my phone, a solar battery pack, and we watch Netflix, and a lot of it. lol.

songokussm: They tried the "honey" with their "upgrade to our faster plan" spiel. Now they are using the stick. They will now proceed to jerk you around until you either give in or quit them. Nice eh?

Moderator------Please note my phone is NOT AT&T I717. It's the unlocked version I purchase several months ago. Please move the post back to the correct forum. Thank you.

Maybe its my area but I've never had my data service discontinued for X number of days.
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They are not stopping my data service but they are making it so slow it rarely works.

Perhaps if you are heavy user you get on the **** list and they will may your service terrible. After all, they don't need or want you if you are a heavy user.
They would probably pay you to leave their service.
The only way to fight this would be to switch service.
I suggest you go to Verizon (until they kick you off)

amv13 said:
They are not stopping my data service but they are making it so slow it rarely works.
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There are some ways to get your speeds back, you should search these forums.

amv13 said:
Moderator------Please note my phone is NOT AT&T I717. It's the unlocked version I purchase several months ago. Please move the post back to the correct forum. Thank you.
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I would imagine he moved it because it's about AT&T service with the note.

amv13 said:
I had another long conversation with AT&T today after having barely any data service for the past week even though I have the "unlimited" data plan. My billing cycle started 2/17 and they started to throttle me on 2/18 because I was in the top 5% of users.
AT&T claims I have used close to 6GB worth of data in the last 6 days, 3 days of which I was in an area with no service! My service won't be restored to normal until 3/17!!! She told me I should consider moving to another plan and thats after I accused them of trying to force people off their grand fathered unlimited plans, which she denied.
And their claim that I have service but that it's just slower is a load of bs. With a modern phone a certain amount of bandwidth is required and apparently I'm getting so little I can't access anything for hours at a time. The fact that I use my phone for work makes this completely unacceptable.
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Those CSR's are probably trained to lie to customers calling in to complain about the throttling that applies to the unlimited. Unfortunately, the way they talk makes that rather obvious.
Besides, the corporate clearly wants to force as many people as possible onto tiered data...thinking the insanely heavy data users will go over their limit multiple times each month...to milk more money from them.

Dont give in, unlimited people, Dont give in......

Believe me I'm NOT giving in. I have a feeling AT&T is going to be feeling more heat on this issue.
I would consider going to Verizon for a number of reasons, including their service in my area is much better, but that would mean giving up the Note. Something I'm not prepared to do.

amv13 said:
Believe me I'm NOT giving in. I have a feeling AT&T is going to be feeling more heat on this issue.
I would consider going to Verizon for a number of reasons, including their service in my area is much better, but that would mean giving up the Note. Something I'm not prepared to do.
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I feel the same as well, doesnt make sense to throtlle unlimited people at 2gb but 3gb plan people dont get throttled at 2gb and essentially we are paying the same thing and for more.
#LAWSUITS #CREDIT #LAWSUITS #

you should prbly pm the mod

Can't you get around this by creating the new access point with the settings I saw elsewhere in this forum? Seems like that was working for other people.

Apn change works sometimes...
I just kept calling and complaining and now unthrottled...at least for the time being
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA App

I downloaded Radioopt Traffic monitor earlier today and so far I've used 1GB today, almost all email! 430mb via wireless and 365mb via AT&T Data.
I have numerous email accounts but only two were set for frequent updates, one at every 5 minutes, one at every 30 minutes. I've adjusted them all to see if my usage goes down.

Att looses in data throttling case!
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/02/24/iphone_user_successfully_sues_att_over_3g_throttling.html

Unlimited Data

Anyone else running into the data plan change problem? I have a Grandfathered Unlimited data plan, however when ordering the new phone I was forced to select a plan most similar to the one I have due to LTE 4G. Well it did say Premier Personal Unlimited Data so I selected it. I called twice and talked to AT&T reps before fully checking out online for the pre-order. I just now actually activated the phone and the rep said he did not have the clearance to put me back on the Unlimited plan so I would have to wait up to 10 days, though he said it usually only takes a couple days. He opened a case and wrote notes. The case supposedly will be escalated to the next tier of support to get my Unlimited back. For now I got stuck on 3GB. Anyone else run into this?

My understanding is if you wanna keep unlimited then you wouldn't be able to access the LTE side.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2

Not true at all. You can get lte unlimited. I have it. But they will cap you 5gb I think. I do have lte where I live so I would know. Granted I buy my phones outright so I don't deal with plans and all that bs. I know best buy can keep your current plan and pretty sure att.com does it to. If you were forced I would have canceled the order personally. Call att. If you did already select a new plan it can not be undone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

shoman94 said:
My understanding is if you wanna keep unlimited then you wouldn't be able to access the LTE side.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
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Ya when I got my SGS3 I kept my unlimited data. It was nice since it raised from Unlimited Data plans to where I am throttled at 5Gb rather than the 3Gb for my SGS2. Plus when I got throttled for the 5Gb I just had to change my APN to the huspa+ APN and get another 3Gb unthrottled. I am sure it will be the same here.
OP and future people what I have ALWAYS done is while I am at Walmart/Radio Shack and upgrading my phone I would call ATT during it to MAKE SURE my data plan wasn't changed in the first place. So far it has always worked for me this way.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium

So my AT&T plan is a good fit for me right now. I have DataPro 2GB (25$) and 1000 texts (10$). I get my Galaxy S4 in the mail and I go to activate it using some AT&T automated system online. When I do that my old phone deactivates and my new phone activates as expected. I give it some time to complete on the back end but after several hours I can make calls but I still can't text or use data.
I stop by AT&T on the way home and ask about what might have happened, they tell me that I have no data plan, and I have no texting plan. I explain the earlier events and that I was using this very data/text plan on my old phone earlier today. They tell me they can't do anything and suggest I call support. I go home and call support.
"Customer service" says no-can-do but offers me a 3GB plan for 30$ and unlimited text for 20$. This is 15$ more a month (obvious bull**** is obvious). I explain that this is unacceptable. When I chose to upgrade my phone I also chose (using their online pre-ordering form) to keep my existing rate plan. It explain that it even lists the two items on the new contract (which I had to dig around on their site to even find).
Finally after a lot of "customer service" bull**** where they fake empathy and try to just make you go away, I get transferred to the guys who get **** done...
Within two minutes the problem was fixed. Took me three hours wading through salesmen and customer service tards.
If there is some LTE limitation I'll upgrade to the 3GB plan, but as of right now it looks completely normal.

highaltitude said:
Anyone else running into the data plan change problem? I have a Grandfathered Unlimited data plan, however when ordering the new phone I was forced to select a plan most similar to the one I have due to LTE 4G. Well it did say Premier Personal Unlimited Data so I selected it. I called twice and talked to AT&T reps before fully checking out online for the pre-order. I just now actually activated the phone and the rep said he did not have the clearance to put me back on the Unlimited plan so I would have to wait up to 10 days, though he said it usually only takes a couple days. He opened a case and wrote notes. The case supposedly will be escalated to the next tier of support to get my Unlimited back. For now I got stuck on 3GB. Anyone else run into this?
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don't worry I m sure u will get it back in few days... that happened a lot to my customer..

kofpk said:
don't worry I m sure u will get it back in few days... that happened a lot to my customer..
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When I ordered the phone I clicked "keep current plan." When I set up the phone they took away the unlimited data. I just had to call and ask for it back.

This is my THIRD LTE device on the grandfathered unlimited data plan, it's not going anywhere as long as I keep paying for it! If someone "forces" you to choose, whether it is in store or online, then you need to find an alternative, and that usually means finding someone who knows what they're doing and not their first day out of training....

Just checked today, I am back on Unlimited Data! Woo hoo!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

The best buy system was trying to do the same for me. I had her call and verify I was keeping my unlimited data and I was. Somehow that dummy removed our family text in the process though. So I went to my buddy at att to fix that and verify my data didn't change and it said LTE unlimited data...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah they cannot force you off.... if you selected keep same plan and they changed it they need to fix it. At&t is trying really hard to get people off the unlimited data plan....I tell all the peeps I help to NEVER take it off (unless they really want to).... and that every time they speak with an att rep. to expect them to try and get them off of it..
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

I got my S4 yesterday at the local AT&T store and today when I went to check my account online I saw that as of next June 15 I will be moved from the unlimited data plan to the unlimited LTE plan. This happened with no intervention from me at all.
sblevine

sblevine said:
I got my S4 yesterday at the local AT&T store and today when I went to check my account online I saw that as of next June 15 I will be moved from the unlimited data plan to the unlimited LTE plan. This happened with no intervention from me at all.
sblevine
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Yeah just coded different in their system.... They have to change it but still the same. Plan is like gold!! Lol
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

got my phone today from bestbuy 199+tax got it around to $260 :3 anyway
i was on unlimited on my SGS2 got the SGS4 said it automatically changed it to unlimted LTE. checked my account and this is what it shows
LTE Smartphone Unlimited Personal Add-On
all my other services where kept and no change in monthly payments.

How bad is the data speed throttling on LTE? I know ATT is bad for throttling unlimited data but just wondering what the speeds drop down to on LTE these days.

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Mobile Hotspot free to Unlimited Data Plans

I just got off the phone with a Verizon representative about adding the hotspot to my unlimited plan. Now yes I'm rooted and already had access to the hotspot, but I'm fixing to go on a trip where I would probably use enough data through it to get noticed. The woman I spoke to asked if I wanted to add a line and use the jetpack or just use the hotspot and let it use my data. Well obviously with a unlimited plan I wanted the latter. I asked two times during the call if this would change my plan and or cost extra and was told no. So I guess I will find out at the end of the month.
Now it was my understanding that the data share plans had the hotspot already but I was unaware of the old unlimited plans having this and Verizon not charging the extra $30. As I said I will find out at the end of this cycle if my plan goes up $30 or not but I though I would put it out there to the others who still have there unlimited plan.

This makes me nervous. I hope you are safe and they don't try any funny business.
I no longer talk to Verizon if possible. They almost had a heart attack last time I was in there. I then realized having over 30GB per month is not normal. So over 59GB this month would be even more crazy.... If that was true... Because I am not really saying that is me..... Just saying....
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

Well they don't have a plan to accommodate my usage. Last month was around 25 gig and so far this cycle I'm at 11 gig. I was ready to pay the $30 so I'll buy have to see what happens. I haven't received a email saying anything has changed so "fingers crossed".

When I upgraded from my Droid X (3G) to a Droid Razr Maxx (4G) the VZW store rep told me that because I have unlimited data, I could add hotspot too, and said it would cost more (don't remember what it was), but it would also be unlimited. I didn't do it, because I didn't need it, and if I did, I could probably root and get it.
I've never had a major need for it, but will be interested to see what happens with this. I seem to remember reading stuff about the FCC ruling that customers should be allowed by the carriers to use their data any way they wish, whether on their phone or tethered (wired or wireless) to other devices as they choose. But there was some strange wording that meant it only applied to people on non-unlimited plans, so Verizon never honored it.
I bought my Moto X outright to keep my unlimited data, and rarely use more than 2-3GB anymore. I used 10-12/mo when I didn't have internet at home for a while watching lots of stuff on Netflix and listening to Pandora a lot.
Keep us posted...

In the past I had the hotspot on my account because where I lived there was no internet but there was cell service then when I was able to get internet I canced it. I would think that it would still show that it had been on my account in the past but who knows. There is a possibility that she didn't know what she was talking about because at one time she said that there wasn't a option for a hotspot in my phone settings. I told here there was and the app was on my phone. Then she saw it. So there are some questions in my head and I will keep a close eye on it and come back with what I find.

My fingers are crossed for you. If that girl was clueless and the change forces you off unlimited there is practically no chance you will get it back unless you know the right someone on the inside. I don't see any way Verizon would allow a user with unlimited data to tether at no extra charge... especially when you consider unlimited data was explicitly disallowed from tethering when then FCC dropped the hammer on their use of band 7.
What if I have an old Verizon unlimited data plan? Can I download an app and avoid the $20 tethering fee too?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no. Verizon says that customers under the unlimited plan are required by the company's terms of service to pay an additional fee to tether their device.
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-http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57...ns-fcc-tethering-settlement-means-to-you-faq/
I tether off my unlimited here and there but don't make a habit of it... plus I rarely go over three gigs of usage so whenever I hear all these 30, 40, 50+ gig users brought up I think I have very little to worry about for the foreseeable future. I've heard any changes to the account will force you onto a tiered plan so I only talk to Verizon when absolutely necessary, and only in a store, on the off chance that just having them look at my account would constitute a change.

kbluhm said:
My fingers are crossed for you. If that girl was clueless and the change forces you off unlimited there is practically no chance you will get it back unless you know the right someone on the inside.
I tether off my unlimited as well but I rarely go over three gigs of usage so whenever I hear all these 30, 40, 50+ gig users brought up I think I have very little to worry about for the foreseeable future. I've heard any changes to the account will force you onto a tiered plan so I only talk to Verizon when absolutely necessary, and only in a store, on the off chance that just having them look at my account would constitute a change.
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I agree that I am very wary about any potential changes to my account. When I brought my Moto X in to activate it (bought it from Moto directly, off contract), I asked to speak to the manager and made it very clear that I ONLY wanted to activate the phone if I would absolutely NOT lose unlimited data. He chuckled and told me that they get a lot of people who are super paranoid about it, and there are always shady employees who want to upsell on stuff so they will tell you that you can get XYZ new feature for only $5 more per month, but not tell you that making that change will also take you off of unlimited data. I told him that was EXACTLY what I wanted to avoid and he again chuckled and said I wouldn't lose unlimited, then proceeded to upgrade my device, and then exited out of the computer program and pulled up my account a second time to show me it was still in there as unlimited.
My girlfriend used to work at Radioshack and there were people there (including managers) that did those shady "upgrades" all the time just to get more commission. People at authorized phone stores do that stuff too. Never deal with those people.

I have checked my online account twice today and its still showing unlimited. And she said it would not change or make me lose the unlimited. I did let her know that I didn't want to lose that.

I remember when I had an unlimited data plan and got a new cell + new "subscription" that meant that it wasn't unlimited anymore, lol.
Anyway, I forgot all about it and downloaded a few movies during that weekend.
The following monday they blocked all outgoing calls from my phone and directed me to their customer service (I was furious because i didn't know why) and told me that my subscription fee was around 2600usd (one MB was like 3usd at that time when you reached your limit).
I totally **** my pants and told them the story (acted kind of dumb, pretended to be technically handicapped) and they erased the whole amount.:laugh:
I'm still faithful to that carrier

canezila said:
This makes me nervous. I hope you are safe and they don't try any funny business.
I no longer talk to Verizon if possible. They almost had a heart attack last time I was in there. I then realized having over 30GB per month is not normal. So over 59GB this month would be even more crazy.... If that was true... Because I am not really saying that is me..... Just saying....
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
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You can relax sir I use the least 40 gigs per month and Verizon is very well aware of this any **** to do with anything about it other than they think its quite funny
Moto X

ghostt021 said:
You can relax sir I use the least 40 gigs per month and Verizon is very well aware of this any **** to do with anything about it other than they think its quite funny
Moto X
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This. I routinely use between 80GB & 200GB a month and no problems as of yet. The last time I was in a Verizon store the guy asked me what the heck I was doing, I told him I watch a lot of Netflix. (Which isn't a lie, my last phone had HDMI out and I would Stream Netflix/GPM&TV/HBOGO/HULU through my phone) What I DIDN'T tell him was that about 20-30 of those gigs were through hotspot to other devices.

Yea that doesn't sound right. Where I work there is no "unlimited hotspot" option at all. If anything you'll probably see the 5 GB hotspot option for $50
Sent from my Lumia 928

Ok I got my bill the other day and there is no extra charge for the hotspot. So I figured that I would go ahead and update to 4.4.2 and when I tried to turn on the hotspot I got the familiar sign that I needed to contact verizon. But after rerooting and unlocking the wifi tether it worked. So obviously the rep that I talked with just didnt know what she was talking about and figured that it was on my plan or something as she didnt activate the hotspot. So scratch the free hotspot on unlimited plans.

I just updated my two computers at work and have to teather them. I also have an enormous music library because I am an elementary school music teacher and occasional DJ. This month I am at 109+ GB. I need to add my fiancée to my family plan by creating a data plan on her current number (not my unlimited plan) and just worry they might pull something. Maybe I should wait until the 13th when billing cycle resets current usage?
Also, my old phone (the one she will use) is x912 Droid RAZR Maxx. Will putting my old sim card that is used with that phone be able to get switched to her info? Just curious because I would rather hear information on this thread then at the Verizon store. Thanks!
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

canezila said:
I just updated my two computers at work and have to teather them. I also have an enormous music library because I am an elementary school music teacher and occasional DJ. This month I am at 109+ GB. I need to add my fiancée to my family plan by creating a data plan on her current number (not my unlimited plan) and just worry they might pull something. Maybe I should wait until the 13th when billing cycle resets current usage?
Also, my old phone (the one she will use) is x912 Droid RAZR Maxx. Will putting my old sim card that is used with that phone be able to get switched to her info? Just curious because I would rather hear information on this thread then at the Verizon store. Thanks!
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
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I think you should be able to add her to your family plan for an extra 10 bucks a month plus the data plan. She will only be able to get a capped plan, but I'm sure you know this already. Even still she should be able to get 2gb for 30 bucks I think. They will probably try and get you to switch to their Share Everything plan.
As far as the Sim card is concerned, just trash it. They will give her a new one for the RAZR and assign it to her account. They're free anyways.
Sent from my XT1060 using xda app-developers app

ATT Changed my plan from Unlimited to Family Shared without permission?

My apologies as this isnt really device specific although I do use a Note 3 with ATT. I have had a family plan for at least 8 years now, and have always been on unlimited plan for my line (Im the acct holder). Yesterday I logged into my account to see that it was now a '10gb Family Shared Plan'. I call them up and they can't tell me why or how this changed but will be looking into it.
Ironically last month was the first time I surpassed the 5gb throttle limit. Its almost as though they are purposely downgrading my plan.
Anyways not too happy about this and hopefully its a relatively smooth transition back. Just annoyed this 'randomly' happened. Has anyone else experienced something like this lately?

RoachForLife said:
My apologies as this isnt really device specific although I do use a Note 3 with ATT. I have had a family plan for at least 8 years now, and have always been on unlimited plan for my line (Im the acct holder). Yesterday I logged into my account to see that it was now a '10gb Family Shared Plan'. I call them up and they can't tell me why or how this changed but will be looking into it.
Ironically last month was the first time I surpassed the 5gb throttle limit. Its almost as though they are purposely downgrading my plan.
Anyways not too happy about this and hopefully its a relatively smooth transition back. Just annoyed this 'randomly' happened. Has anyone else experienced something like this lately?
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Have you been tethering? I've heard of it happening when excessive tethering was used without a tethering plan. I was warned once. I dont risk it anymore. I love my family unlimited too much.

theorioles33 said:
Have you been tethering? I've heard of it happening when excessive tethering was used without a tethering plan. I was warned once. I dont risk it anymore. I love my family unlimited too much.
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No, never tether. I only used 5 gigs last month because I got a new car with bluetooth (yeh, welcome to the 21st century right! lol) and stream for 2 hours a day since i commute a lot. I probably used just over 5gigs though as I got the text notifying me of my usage just days before the end of the billing cycle.

RoachForLife said:
No, never tether. I only used 5 gigs last month because I got a new car with bluetooth (yeh, welcome to the 21st century right! lol) and stream for 2 hours a day since i commute a lot. I probably used just over 5gigs though as I got the text notifying me of my usage just days before the end of the billing cycle.
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That is unusual then. Hopefully it was a mistake. I've gone over 5gb a few times. My daughter did 12gb once. I mean it's unlimited. Right?
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theorioles33 said:
That is unusual then. Hopefully it was a mistake. I've gone over 5gb a few times. My daughter did 12gb once. I mean it's unlimited. Right?
Sent from my SM-N900A using Tapatalk
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Sprint was "unlimited" too though Look where that got me

Does the 10gb plan include tethering? I might switch if it does, I have unlimited but hardly ever go over 1gb...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A

slimslim said:
Does the 10gb plan include tethering? I might switch if it does, I have unlimited but hardly ever go over 1gb...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A
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It does and it's actually cheaper per month.
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Actually everyone on family share plan with 10 or more gig data automatically got switched over, I had mine changed to it and the lady told me everyone would be switched over automatically. I'm sure they will switch u back, but we're probably hoping people would be willing to sacrifice unlimited for cheaper overall.
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Here's a few things to note.
Unlimited is not called Unlimited anymore. It's called Unlimited access, but will be throttled at 3gb.
If you tether, you will be notified by text that you will be switched to a tethering plan the next month. (had this happen lol)
AT&T can switch you of unlimited anytime they like, read the fine print contact.
On a side note, I was on unlimted until they keep throttling me. Coming off that slow unlimited access made life better for me.
Sent from my SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

I still don't understand why people on ATT are trying to cling on to their Unlimited data. The people on Verizon have good enough reasons to (Verizon doesn't throttle or get pissy if you consume 10s of gigs per month, for now anyway). But on ATT your Unlimited plans are basically pointless at this point. After 3-4GB, your data essentially becomes useless after the throttle. For all intents and purposes, you can't tether. And it's actually cheaper to get access to more high-speed data every month on the newer plans. They literally made switching over to limited data a much better deal (or made keeping Unlimited a worse one, depending on how you look at it).

Just switched mine, got 10gb, tethering included and actually cheaper.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A

nawh..not so much
hoping my crocodile mouth don't get my humming bird @SS in trouble

Yeah I gave up my unlimited long time ago. 10GB shared data is more than enough.
Sent from my Note 3 Running FireNote V8

Keeping unlimited.
The catch is that if you go on the shared minutes planes, your phones are no longer subsidized... So if you upgrade your phones every two years, the cost ends up being the same, if not greater when paying monthly for the phones. This in my calculations is about a wash in terms of cost, however you do not get to keep your phones at the end. These are great plans if you byop however.

dave812 said:
The catch is that if you go on the shared minutes planes, your phones are no longer subsidized... So if you upgrade your phones every two years, the cost ends up being the same, if not greater when paying monthly for the phones. This in my calculations is about a wash in terms of cost, however you do not get to keep your phones at the end. These are great plans if you byop however.
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You keep your phone, just pay the remainder off. 9 out of 10 times phone has scratches, which means no giving it to therm. The thing is, you might pay the same amount in the long run (I won't because I'm saving $120 per month which equals $1440 in a year, at end of year I only owe $248 left on phone. Which leaves me with $1192 in savings.) Then I get another upgrade, which is every 12 months instead of 24. Plus no upgrade or activation fees. So tell me where this is a bad deal for me at all?
Oh and by the way its not shared minutes, in fact is unlimited talk and text.
Sent from my SM-N900A

sandman7793 said:
You keep your phone, just pay the remainder off. 9 out of 10 times phone has scratches, which means no giving it to therm. The thing is, you might pay the same amount in the long run (I won't because I'm saving $120 per month which equals $1440 in a year, at end of year I only owe $248 left on phone. Which leaves me with $1192 in savings.) Then I get another upgrade, which is every 12 months instead of 24. Plus no upgrade or activation fees. So tell me where this is a bad deal for me at all?
Oh and by the way its not shared minutes, in fact is unlimited talk and text.
Sent from my SM-N900A
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It sounds like a better deal for you for sure. The way i'm set up to switch to next save me only $20/month before taxes. I have four lines so I get 2 upgrades a year. So I pay 240 more per year plus about 200 for each phone. This equals 640 a year with two phones. If the average phone on next is 30 a month, then there is the wash. My minutes are not unlimited, but on all lines mobile to mobile is unlimited and I rarely use more than 300. Plus they roll over so I have lots banked. Texting is also unlimited. Plus I can sell the phones at the end (I never do, though, and have 8 phones to sell or get rid of of you include the 2 phones each of my two children have to play on).
I guess how good of a deal next is depends on how good of a deal you had before. ...

They're absolute garbage. I had a 1GB family plan (you know, wifi everywhere and I never even pass that 1GB at all), so.i called them up to see why my bill was a little high then this girl was telling me that she has a better plan for me. 2GB for $5 less. I was like "hell yeah. Switch up now". Next bill was $15 over. LOL
Called them up again and downgraded back to my ole 1GB. I don't know why the lying. Do they really think people are that stupid? If you ever call them, first thing you wanna do is ask the employee about their ID number. Just say " I'd like your ID number". They can't say no. They'll get in trouble. So when an employee screws you over you just call them and ask for a manager and tell them about the employee that did it and give them the number to identify him/her. Other than that names don't work.
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I gave up my unlimited plan for the 10gig plan a month ago, I added my dad's phone to the data and we are saving $80 a month now over the old plan and no more throttle or tethering is gtg without root. I'm actually pleased.
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Att almost had me, I was about to let go of my unlimited data, I wasn't gonna save much since I wabted the 20 gb shareplan, but then I found out about the scam, I have 5 lines, sounded good to only pay 15 for each additional but how about when my mother in law wants to update for some 50 dollar renovate contract new smartphone, she never gets the most expensive, the point is that If I later want to upgrade for the best cheap offer new phone then it rises 25 for each line so instead of 228 that I pay I will end up paying 328, or if I get the next for every account, lets see at least 27 a month for 5 lines, wow arround 360, now how in hell thats gonna save me money.
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---------- Post added at 08:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:25 PM ----------
oh and I alone use arround 12gb a month.
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Because when you threaten to leave they knock it right to the $15, seen it happen a lot already.
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