It's really a scam. Heavy users make no difference in the anyone else's data or speed. How much they download has nothing to do with the bandwidth issues at a particular place or time. It's all about AT&T and Verizon and others trying to make you mad at the unlimited people when it's really about the companies wanting them to switch to tiered plans.
I hate to take their side, but it has been almost 2 years since they stopped offering this plan. The people who still have it (myself included) could have just as easily been forced to switch plans when they renewed contract (pretty likely to have happened at least once by now, and I've renewed twice), or switched carriers if they so choose.
The fact that the plan still exists in any form is sort of surprising to me, and personally if they ever do throttle my account I'll switch to the 3 gig plan immediately. I'm perfectly satisfied with AT&T service and for me, I don't see any added value in switching my service. I'll stay put for now.
Honesty, in today's world there is a lot to be outraged about. However, this is just not on the list, personally.
My problem in this fiasco, is with the AT&T contract. Unlimited data should mean no caps. But, a bigger problem with it is thinking that a TOS can stop you from joining a class-action suit. I'm not a lawyer, but I think such no TOS can be binding to sign away rights to representation in the courts. Doing so would set a precedent in Law. AT&T might get away with getting you to agreed, but that's because it hasn't been challenged effectively. There are other parts, in this realm, in that TOS I believe are suspect.
Lawyers please way in??
If the are shady about how they offer the unlimited data or pull some of this throttling crap to the point that your data is unusual then I agree. However, in general people need to understand that being unlimited in one aspect doesn't mean unlimited in every aspect as noted by my comical example.
PS: Does anyone remember seeing MNOs advertise Unlimited/Unlimited which referred to calling plans that were unlimited for peak and off peak times?
True, but is the contract for unlimited data amounts or unlimited data speed?
Amounts would be my guess.
That said, I have no issue with throttling speeds in theory and I believe that carriers should be allowed to do so. HOWEVER, I do not believe it is fair to any degree to even consider throttling until one has gone over a fair amount of data. And in my mind the 3GB limit for which later subscribers also pay $30 a month would be a fair amount. NOT 1GB and such that they are using. This top 5% of users in an area is just bunk when it falls under that level.
Frankly I wish they would just kill the unlimited plans altogether if they are going to act like this. Let those that were grandfathered in continue until they next renew their contracts or two years from the last one whichever comes first and be done with it.
Frankly I wish they would just kill the unlimited plans altogether if they are going to act like this. Let those that were grandfathered in continue until they next renew their contracts or two years from the last one whichever comes first and be done with it.
I'm surprised they haven't. I figured they would have forced users in the Summer of 2010 who wanted a new iPhone to move to tiered plans when they switched contracts. It would have been the time to do it, too. Now they have to weigh in potential lose from users going to Verizon or Sprint out of spite.
As far as I know, AT&T's unlimited is the most expensive iPhone plan in the US. I have it and pay $125/month for it, and that doesn't include tethering or voice navigation. I haven't been throttled because I am mostly using wifi these days. However, I plan to sue too should I get throttled!! I have been paying that for roughly 56 months now, and doing the math just now made me realize how much I have wasted. 56 x 125 = $7,000
You use it constantly to do WHAT, exactly? Play Solitaire?
Streaming 128Kbps audio (like Sirius satellite radio) uses up 56MB/hour; Netflix at its lowest quality, 300MB/hour. You don't have to be a torrent junkie to use up gigabytes of data.
I mostly stream Sirius during my commute, and I think that's completely within reasonable use and what I pay for and the bill of goods I was sold. There you go, maybe you learned something today and you'll go to bed a little less dumb than you woke up this morning.
It's obvious this guy is not getting it- and I'm glad you were brave enough to school him-
I have been trying out something on my end and I listen fall asleep to pandora radio with my iPhone 4 - supposedly 100% UNLIMITED DATA -(cough-cough) and I still have 19 days left and I have (according to AT&THIEF) used 1.4GB OF UPLOAD AND DOWNLOADED 10GB so far-
I'd recommend everyone watch the HBO documentary "Hot Coffee" if you're an American. It will open your eyes to how corporations with our government have stripped us of our 12th amendment rights. Caps on awards... Arbitration clauses. $850 won't make AT&T do anything.
Oh- we can all join together and sue for what is right before a jury of our peers? Oh- we can't. We have to go to an arbitration company picked by AT&T- that wont be biased. Then, the max award will be potentially $100k- nothing to them.
It all boils down to- we aren't going to get anything different- and we, the people, lose our rights in the process. But Andy- you chose to use AT&T- if you don't like their arbitration policy- use a company that doesn't. Verizon, tmobile, and sprint all have similar ones. In the end- we're screwed and are dictated what we can and can't do by major corporations- and the court system now protects and favors them because we allowed it through our moronic political system.
Good luck using your old receipt to Golden Corral with that argument. I have a feeling the judge won't side with you.
phone carriers have you sign a two yr contract , of course you cant keep returning to golden corral after paying for one visit. but with a contract you should be getting the service that was agreed to when the contract was signed which is why the judge sided with the consumer
If the limited plans are sold by GB, then I'm assuming that means the unlimited plans means unlimited GBs..
But that doesn't mean you have unlimited SPEED...
Unless the plans guarantee a certain speed for the entire month, then AT&T has every right to limit the speed they give you..
Sucks, but that's the way it is..
It's people like you that allow tyranny to take over.
You believe they have "every right" to throttle unlimited data plans, at a usage level LOWER than even the comparably priced limited plan?
You're wrong.
I have to LMAO at the children who think contracts and endless pages of fine print and verbiage, mean anything. All that matters is if the judge finds that fine print valid, or finds it abusive, presumptuous and inappropriate.
This is good news. Nice to see a win for the consumer.
AT&T's throttling practices with their grandfathered unlimited users is BS and ruins the unlimited aspect of it.
Who wants an unlimited supply of slow internet speeds?
On the other hand, who wants unlimited speeds when you can only use it for several minutes a month?
For a phone, I would rather have a plan that offers unlimited usage, but capped to something like 1mbit. Fast enought for email, browsing, and some low quality streams. For comparison, I'm grandfathered into an unlimited plan and average around 4mbit in speed.
Also, such plans seem to make more sense to me, especially when the telecoms are claiming bandwidth issues for moving to tiered plans. If that's the case, why wouldn't they cap bandwidth instead of usage?
If you are paying for the service they shouldn't be throttling anyone's service. That's not what the people signed up for. If someone is paying for each GB of data used then AT&T should just collect the money. They just need to change their policy. It's these kinds of things that AT&T does that makes people not want to do business with them even when they have the best network.
[QUOTE=Slurpy;2055721] Yes, I'm aware streaming video consumes a large amount of data. My question was why an average person would need to constantly be watching netflix on a data connection on a phone or streaming shit outside of wifi. Most people actually have jobs during the day, socializing, classes, etc that prevents them from having their noses attached to a screen."
Well for me I stream Sirius at work most of the day (12 hour shifts), WiFi is NOT available there. Of course other things like browsing, video calls, etc all add up too. I'm sure there are many other people who use the phone the same way I do.
Also, if I am at home where there is free wifi, why the hell would I be using the phone to watch movies or browse the web? That's what my desktop/laptop is for!
Seems pretty obvious to me why people may use so much data, and since ATT sold us an unlimited data plan then I will use it whenever I feel like it.
I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually land in a post-pay-per-GB wireless data world. None of the carriers can provide unlimited bandwidth so why would consumers ever expect to get it? Really, it isn't fair for 5 or 10% of users to be allowed to use 90% of the available data bandwidth while paying the same price. The flip side to this whole "problem" with "unlimited" data plans is folks who use a more reasonable/limited amount of data yet are forced to pay the same rate as these so called data hogs.
This is why I have abandoned contracts completely and currently use prepaid service on an AT&T MVNO. Used iPhone market+reduced monthly rate+conscientious use of data = a true win for me. To the rest of you guys who expect ultra premium service for the same price everyone else pays: good luck
None of the carriers can provide unlimited bandwidth so why would consumers ever expect to get it?
Because all the wired ISPs can do it so there's really no excuse for the telecoms raping us on speed, price, and usage.
Quote:
Really, it isn't fair for 5 or 10% of users to be allowed to use 90% of the available data bandwidth while paying the same price. The flip side to this whole "problem" with "unlimited" data plans is folks who use a more reasonable/limited amount of data yet are forced to pay the same rate as these so called data hogs.
So either have "rollover data" or set up plans where you can choose to pay by usage if you don't use a lot.
Seems to me that AT&T unlimited data plan is actually that. Unlimited data but not unlimited speed. The top 5% of bandwidth users still get unlimited data but at reduced speeds. I may havr a minority opinion bit it seems fair to me. Why should the many suffer for the needs of a few?
Seems to me that AT&T unlimited data plan is actually that. Unlimited data but not unlimited speed. The top 5% of bandwidth users still get unlimited data but at reduced speeds. I may havr a minority opinion bit it seems fair to me. Why should the many suffer for the needs of a few?
Technically they limit two of three parameters. Unlimited data comes with limited speed and limited duration.
My questions:
Are the majority suffering from the few?
Are the majority suffering when people hit 1.5GB in a month?
Should you throttle those that have capped data usage plans?
Is it fair just to pick the top x% regardless of how much data or effect on the network that actually relates to?
I don't think anyone can reasonably argue that it is fair to throttle at anything less than 3GB a month since the unlimited people and tiered both pay $30 a month. $30 should at least guarantee anyone that amount of data at full speed. Years ago when all carriers had unlimited, when pressed they often cited 5GB as fair use for the month. They have obviously figured out that they can make a nice profit at selling 3GB of data for $30 a month and that amount should be guaranteed for the older unlimited plans as well.
The fairest way would be to charge users a flat $10 per GB. But they don't want to do that because it makes too much sense and they want to lock you in to a data plan of at least $25 or more. Many people might not exceed 1GB a month which would result in lower monthly bills and in turn lower revenue. It is the same reason you don't see shared family data packages and only shared voice minutes. It makes too much sense and earns them less money. You also don't hear AT&T proposing any rollover data use like they offer for voice minutes. That would be a nice gesture to offer customers that might only use an average of 800MB or less a month but pay $30/3GB monthly for high use times like vacations where they might use 4 or 5GB and not be charged extra. The reason I cite vacations is because I just got back from a trip to Miami beach and used over 6GB in just over a week. That is easy to do when you stream music the whole drive down, and on the beach, and use GPS, along with Netflix, Showtime mobile, email, and just surf the web. Luckily I have unlimited with Sprint and don't have to worry about being throttled now.
Sounds great for me I'm olanning to pass my unlimited plan on ipad 1 to iPad 3 (LTE). In the 2 years I have been using ipad I have used up close to 2 terra bites, I use my 3G so I download the big 200m-1.5g apps on 3G and also use mywi for hotspaot to my laptop occasionally. But the main culprit is Netflix, everyone in my house uses theipad as a second tv to watch Netflix...
Comments
The fact that the plan still exists in any form is sort of surprising to me, and personally if they ever do throttle my account I'll switch to the 3 gig plan immediately. I'm perfectly satisfied with AT&T service and for me, I don't see any added value in switching my service. I'll stay put for now.
Honesty, in today's world there is a lot to be outraged about. However, this is just not on the list, personally.
My problem in this fiasco, is with the AT&T contract. Unlimited data should mean no caps. But, a bigger problem with it is thinking that a TOS can stop you from joining a class-action suit. I'm not a lawyer, but I think such no TOS can be binding to sign away rights to representation in the courts. Doing so would set a precedent in Law. AT&T might get away with getting you to agreed, but that's because it hasn't been challenged effectively. There are other parts, in this realm, in that TOS I believe are suspect.
Lawyers please way in??
If the are shady about how they offer the unlimited data or pull some of this throttling crap to the point that your data is unusual then I agree. However, in general people need to understand that being unlimited in one aspect doesn't mean unlimited in every aspect as noted by my comical example.
PS: Does anyone remember seeing MNOs advertise Unlimited/Unlimited which referred to calling plans that were unlimited for peak and off peak times?
True, but is the contract for unlimited data amounts or unlimited data speed?
Amounts would be my guess.
That said, I have no issue with throttling speeds in theory and I believe that carriers should be allowed to do so. HOWEVER, I do not believe it is fair to any degree to even consider throttling until one has gone over a fair amount of data. And in my mind the 3GB limit for which later subscribers also pay $30 a month would be a fair amount. NOT 1GB and such that they are using. This top 5% of users in an area is just bunk when it falls under that level.
Frankly I wish they would just kill the unlimited plans altogether if they are going to act like this. Let those that were grandfathered in continue until they next renew their contracts or two years from the last one whichever comes first and be done with it.
Frankly I wish they would just kill the unlimited plans altogether if they are going to act like this. Let those that were grandfathered in continue until they next renew their contracts or two years from the last one whichever comes first and be done with it.
I'm surprised they haven't. I figured they would have forced users in the Summer of 2010 who wanted a new iPhone to move to tiered plans when they switched contracts. It would have been the time to do it, too. Now they have to weigh in potential lose from users going to Verizon or Sprint out of spite.
You use it constantly to do WHAT, exactly? Play Solitaire?
Streaming 128Kbps audio (like Sirius satellite radio) uses up 56MB/hour; Netflix at its lowest quality, 300MB/hour. You don't have to be a torrent junkie to use up gigabytes of data.
I mostly stream Sirius during my commute, and I think that's completely within reasonable use and what I pay for and the bill of goods I was sold. There you go, maybe you learned something today and you'll go to bed a little less dumb than you woke up this morning.
It's obvious this guy is not getting it- and I'm glad you were brave enough to school him-
I have been trying out something on my end and I listen fall asleep to pandora radio with my iPhone 4 - supposedly 100% UNLIMITED DATA -(cough-cough) and I still have 19 days left and I have (according to AT&THIEF) used 1.4GB OF UPLOAD AND DOWNLOADED 10GB so far-
Still yet to receive the throttle message
Oh- we can all join together and sue for what is right before a jury of our peers? Oh- we can't. We have to go to an arbitration company picked by AT&T- that wont be biased. Then, the max award will be potentially $100k- nothing to them.
It all boils down to- we aren't going to get anything different- and we, the people, lose our rights in the process. But Andy- you chose to use AT&T- if you don't like their arbitration policy- use a company that doesn't. Verizon, tmobile, and sprint all have similar ones. In the end- we're screwed and are dictated what we can and can't do by major corporations- and the court system now protects and favors them because we allowed it through our moronic political system.
Yay tort reform.
Good luck using your old receipt to Golden Corral with that argument. I have a feeling the judge won't side with you.
phone carriers have you sign a two yr contract , of course you cant keep returning to golden corral after paying for one visit. but with a contract you should be getting the service that was agreed to when the contract was signed which is why the judge sided with the consumer
If the limited plans are sold by GB, then I'm assuming that means the unlimited plans means unlimited GBs..
But that doesn't mean you have unlimited SPEED...
Unless the plans guarantee a certain speed for the entire month, then AT&T has every right to limit the speed they give you..
Sucks, but that's the way it is..
It's people like you that allow tyranny to take over.
You believe they have "every right" to throttle unlimited data plans, at a usage level LOWER than even the comparably priced limited plan?
You're wrong.
I have to LMAO at the children who think contracts and endless pages of fine print and verbiage, mean anything. All that matters is if the judge finds that fine print valid, or finds it abusive, presumptuous and inappropriate.
This is good news. Nice to see a win for the consumer.
AT&T's throttling practices with their grandfathered unlimited users is BS and ruins the unlimited aspect of it.
Who wants an unlimited supply of slow internet speeds?
On the other hand, who wants unlimited speeds when you can only use it for several minutes a month?
For a phone, I would rather have a plan that offers unlimited usage, but capped to something like 1mbit. Fast enought for email, browsing, and some low quality streams. For comparison, I'm grandfathered into an unlimited plan and average around 4mbit in speed.
Also, such plans seem to make more sense to me, especially when the telecoms are claiming bandwidth issues for moving to tiered plans. If that's the case, why wouldn't they cap bandwidth instead of usage?
Well for me I stream Sirius at work most of the day (12 hour shifts), WiFi is NOT available there. Of course other things like browsing, video calls, etc all add up too. I'm sure there are many other people who use the phone the same way I do.
Also, if I am at home where there is free wifi, why the hell would I be using the phone to watch movies or browse the web? That's what my desktop/laptop is for!
Seems pretty obvious to me why people may use so much data, and since ATT sold us an unlimited data plan then I will use it whenever I feel like it.
This is why I have abandoned contracts completely and currently use prepaid service on an AT&T MVNO. Used iPhone market+reduced monthly rate+conscientious use of data = a true win for me. To the rest of you guys who expect ultra premium service for the same price everyone else pays: good luck
None of the carriers can provide unlimited bandwidth so why would consumers ever expect to get it?
Because all the wired ISPs can do it so there's really no excuse for the telecoms raping us on speed, price, and usage.
Really, it isn't fair for 5 or 10% of users to be allowed to use 90% of the available data bandwidth while paying the same price. The flip side to this whole "problem" with "unlimited" data plans is folks who use a more reasonable/limited amount of data yet are forced to pay the same rate as these so called data hogs.
So either have "rollover data" or set up plans where you can choose to pay by usage if you don't use a lot.
Seems to me that AT&T unlimited data plan is actually that. Unlimited data but not unlimited speed. The top 5% of bandwidth users still get unlimited data but at reduced speeds. I may havr a minority opinion bit it seems fair to me. Why should the many suffer for the needs of a few?
Technically they limit two of three parameters. Unlimited data comes with limited speed and limited duration.
My questions:
The fairest way would be to charge users a flat $10 per GB. But they don't want to do that because it makes too much sense and they want to lock you in to a data plan of at least $25 or more. Many people might not exceed 1GB a month which would result in lower monthly bills and in turn lower revenue. It is the same reason you don't see shared family data packages and only shared voice minutes. It makes too much sense and earns them less money. You also don't hear AT&T proposing any rollover data use like they offer for voice minutes. That would be a nice gesture to offer customers that might only use an average of 800MB or less a month but pay $30/3GB monthly for high use times like vacations where they might use 4 or 5GB and not be charged extra. The reason I cite vacations is because I just got back from a trip to Miami beach and used over 6GB in just over a week. That is easy to do when you stream music the whole drive down, and on the beach, and use GPS, along with Netflix, Showtime mobile, email, and just surf the web. Luckily I have unlimited with Sprint and don't have to worry about being throttled now.
Hopefully this will end throttling!!!