AT&T's unlimited plan still good value?

speekez · Nov 9, 2012

Hi all,

My wife and I want to upgrade our Iphone4s to 5 and we have always had the AT&T unlimited plan. Though AT&T no longer offers unlimited to new customers, we should be able to continue this plan I believe when we upgrade.

Is the unlimited plan still considered a good value, even when compared to other cell companies? AT&T doesn't allow Facetime under unlimited plans, but that's not a bother. There's always Skype.

Also, is there a way to tell if your speed is being throttled by AT&T. Are they required to notify you via text before they throttle you?

Thanks for any input.

BFizzzle · Nov 9, 2012

i think it is.

A) $30 5 gb.... on a tiered plan its $30 for 2gb or 3gb i cant remember.
B) Yes they throttle you.. but despite what people on her make it out to be.. it is usable. it runs from .6mbps-.8mbps. You can still use spotify/pandora almost no buffering. Maps will load (slowly) You can sends pics/vids (your upload isnt throttled as bad) Netflix will load but requires several minutes to buffer (and the resolution will be low due to the speed) Siri works..
Over all yes it sucks going form LTE to .6-.8mbps.. but its usable..

I cant remember if they notify you before you reach your cap/after but you can use the speedtest app for free and check. ..its been a while for me I had unlimited with ATT but was lucky and found someone who would switch their verizon unlimited for mine ( no throttle on verizon)

F123D · Nov 9, 2012

Unlimited is an even better value on LTE due to the throttling after 5GB instead of 3GB on 3G. I spoke with AT&T reps a couple times about my account and they mentioned they get 4 to 5 calls a day from people asking if they can get their unlimited plan back.

Applejuiced · Nov 9, 2012

My friends son this month racked up over $350 in data overages.
He was on a 3GB iphone data plan.
On an unlimited plan that would have never happened. He would have got throttled but wouldnt have paid an arm and a leg

I feel bad for her. Kid was streaming youtube all day and ignoring the text messages from AT&T and she got the surprise when the bill came in yesterday

BFizzzle · Nov 9, 2012

Applejuiced said:
My friends son this month racked up over $350 in data overages.
He was on a 3GB iphone data plan.
On an unlimited plan that would have never happened. He would have got throttled but wouldnt have paid an arm and a leg
I feel bad for her. Kid was streaming youtube all day and ignoring the text messages from AT&T and she got the surprise when the bill came in yesterday

good god.

sucks they wont do the data packages like the ipad.

Applejuiced · Nov 9, 2012

BFizzzle said:
good god.

sucks they wont do the data packages like the ipad.

Not sure how the ipad data packages work.
Do they continue to charge you for additional GB's after your limit is reached or they cut you off?
Sucks that she cant put a cap on his usage or something after his limit is reached. But AT&T is probably ok with it since they'll be making plenty of money with data overages

wookiee2cu · Nov 9, 2012

Don't give up your unlimited data!! The iPhone 5 on LTE burns through data like crazy. On my iPhone 4 a typical month of usage was 450mb-650mb, the first month on the iPhone 5 was 2gb's with pretty much the same usage. I mainly check email, facebook, twitter, a few safari searches now and then, maybe a navigation or two and possibly a few clips on youtube. No streaming or anything like that.

palmerc2 · Nov 9, 2012

Definitely keep it, you'd be amazed how quick your data goes. I stream a lot from songza, iHeartRadio and the like while driving.

BFizzzle · Nov 9, 2012

Applejuiced said:
Not sure how the ipad data packages work.
Do they continue to charge you for additional GB's after your limit is reached or they cut you off?
Sucks that she cant put a cap on his usage or something after his limit is reached. But AT&T is probably ok with it since they'll be making plenty of money with data overages

yep the ipad wont automatically charge it. just emails you saying you are almost out of data etc.

yeah im sure att is more than happy

Myiphone7 · Nov 9, 2012

speekez said:
Hi all,

My wife and I want to upgrade our Iphone4s to 5 and we have always had the AT&T unlimited plan. Though AT&T no longer offers unlimited to new customers, we should be able to continue this plan I believe when we upgrade.

Is the unlimited plan still considered a good value, even when compared to other cell companies? AT&T doesn't allow Facetime under unlimited plans, but that's not a bother. There's always Skype.

Also, is there a way to tell if your speed is being throttled by AT&T. Are they required to notify you via text before they throttle you?

Thanks for any input.

It's $50 for 5gb plus 10 for any extra. But for us it's 30 for 5gb and we get throttled but its usable and we can use as much

Myiphone7 · Nov 9, 2012

Applejuiced said:
My friends son this month racked up over $350 in data overages.
He was on a 3GB iphone data plan.
On an unlimited plan that would have never happened. He would have got throttled but wouldnt have paid an arm and a leg
I feel bad for her. Kid was streaming youtube all day and ignoring the text messages from AT&T and she got the surprise when the bill came in yesterday

This is so sad. For 3Gb that's 29 months of data paid for at $350.

Was she able to pay it?

PLin · Nov 9, 2012

The $30 unlimited plan is still the best plan especially if you receive a FAN discount through your employer, because the 20% discount brings it to $24. The $30 3GB plan does not qualify for the FAN discount.

I rarely ever go over 1GB, but It doesn't make sense for me to pay $6 more to switch. The old $25 2GB plan actually did qualify for the discount to make it $20, but AT&T must have gotten greedy when they discontinued that plan.

speekez · Nov 9, 2012

Thanks, everyone. We will stick with ATT&T and our unlimited plan, and not bother looking into plans from other service providers.

Really appreciate the feedback!

ITS ME DAVID · Nov 9, 2012

BFizzzle said:
i think it is.

A) $30 5 gb.... on a tiered plan its $30 for 2gb or 3gb i cant remember.
B) Yes they throttle you.. but despite what people on her make it out to be.. it is usable. it runs from .6mbps-.8mbps. You can still use spotify/pandora almost no buffering. Maps will load (slowly) You can sends pics/vids (your upload isnt throttled as bad) Netflix will load but requires several minutes to buffer (and the resolution will be low due to the speed) Siri works..
Over all yes it sucks going form LTE to .6-.8mbps.. but its usable..

I cant remember if they notify you before you reach your cap/after but you can use the speedtest app for free and check. ..its been a while for me I had unlimited with ATT but was lucky and found someone who would switch their verizon unlimited for mine ( no throttle on verizon)

No the throttling is worse then that I got web pages to time out and pandora wouldn't load. But I would keep it that's what I did.

Arnezie · Nov 9, 2012

Applejuiced said:
My friends son this month racked up over $350 in data overages.

That's a lot of porn

SAIRUS · Nov 9, 2012

My data usage has increased with LTE actually. So take a look at what you're using. Then double it (being safe).

Applejuiced · Nov 9, 2012

Arnezie said:
That's a lot of porn

Lol

Probably. He said he was on YouTube for hours every day.

aztooh · Nov 9, 2012

speekez said:
Thanks, everyone. We will stick with ATT&T and our unlimited plan, and not bother looking into plans from other service providers.

Really appreciate the feedback!

I see you already replied, saying you're staying with the unlimited...definitely the right choice.

The reason I decided to chime in is your original comment about FaceTime. I just read that, in the next 8-10 weeks, ATT is going to start allowing FaceTime over cellular to iPhone5 users, regardless of what plan they are on.

Personally, I've never worried about it with the other options out there, which also have the advantage of being cross-platform, but I suppose it's nice they are finally allowing it.

Applejuiced · Nov 9, 2012

Myiphone7 said:
This is so sad. For 3Gb that's 29 months of data paid for at $350.

Was she able to pay it?

Yes, she can afford it but she's just really mad at him.
I told her that AT&T sends you texts every time you're near your limit and once you go over it and start charging you more money per GB.
I guess he ignored all the messages he received and deleted them without saying anything

I'd take away the phone.
12 year old irresponsible kids with iphones

noisycats · Nov 9, 2012

Applejuiced said:
My friends son this month racked up over $350 in data overages.
He was on a 3GB iphone data plan.
On an unlimited plan that would have never happened. He would have got throttled but wouldnt have paid an arm and a leg
I feel bad for her. Kid was streaming youtube all day and ignoring the text messages from AT&T and she got the surprise when the bill came in yesterday

Ignored the messages!

Time for junior to feel the financial pain of not being responsible.

Applejuiced · Nov 9, 2012

noisycats said:
Ignored the messages!

Time for junior to feel the financial pain of not being responsible.

Exactly.
Normal phone bill from $140-150 went up to over $500 now.
I'd be heated

Myiphone7 · Nov 9, 2012

Applejuiced said:
Yes, she can afford it but she's just really mad at him.
I told her that AT&T sends you texts every time you're near your limit and once you go over it and start charging you more money per GB.
I guess he ignored all the messages he received and deleted them without saying anything
I'd take away the phone.
12 year old irresponsible kids with iphones

Aye! Yeah 12 years old is definitely old enough to heed a warning that you're going over you're limit. Hmmm I'd do no sim, airplane mode and wifi for a month so he wouldn't forget next time!!!

AT&T's unlimited plan still good value?

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