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ATT to kill off EVERYONE'S unlimited data for good come October 2011!

A

ap3604

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 11, 2011
1,929
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http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/28/att-t...g-in-early-october-just-in-time-for-iphone-5/

"The throttling plan will work like the others’. The heaviest users will see significant speed decreases for one billing cycle once they go over a threshold of data (we’re guessing 2-4GB?). These heavy users will still be able to access the network, but at a much slower speed. At the start of the next billing cycle, their speeds will return to normal. We don’t have numbers for AT&T’s throttle speeds but Virgin takes you down to 256Kb/s once you’ve reached their 2.5GB limit (not too bad actually – sometimes we’re happy to get 256kbs)"

I personally don't use much (probably less than 200mb per month) and had thought about giving up unlimited for the $15/mo savings before, but kept unlimited anyways in case of emergency... But now that ATT is going to throttle any unlimited data user that goes over a couple of gigs there's no point to keep unlimited data anymore :(

And here I thought grandfathering meant something...
 
ap3604 said:
http://9to5mac.com/2011/07/28/att-t...g-in-early-october-just-in-time-for-iphone-5/

"The throttling plan will work like the others’. The heaviest users will see significant speed decreases for one billing cycle once they go over a threshold of data (we’re guessing 2-4GB?). These heavy users will still be able to access the network, but at a much slower speed. At the start of the next billing cycle, their speeds will return to normal. We don’t have numbers for AT&T’s throttle speeds but Virgin takes you down to 256Kb/s once you’ve reached their 2.5GB limit (not too bad actually – sometimes we’re happy to get 256kbs)"

I personally don't use much (probably less than 200mb per month) and had thought about giving up unlimited for the $15/mo savings before, but kept unlimited anyways in case of emergency... But now that ATT is going to throttle any unlimited data user that goes over a couple of gigs there's no point to keep unlimited data anymore :(

And here I thought grandfathering meant something...
Click to expand...

They are not going to "kill off" the unlimited data plans. They are going to slow you down if you abuse the bandwidth.

It will be "killed off" one day but not yet.
 
What do you want when you're dealing with oligopolies? And people think allowing AT&T to buy T-Mobile is "good".
 
I have unlimited on both the iPhone and iPad
I rarely use much data at all
I am on WiFi at home and at work most of the time

Not sure how folks use such massive amounts of data
 
Stealthipad said:
They are not going to "kill off" the unlimited data plans. They are going to slow you down if you abuse the bandwidth.

It will be "killed off" one day but not yet.
Click to expand...

They might be still called "unlimited" but a unlimited plan that gives you edge speeds after 2gb is not truly unlimited anymore. Hence they are killing it off.

You could argue that you can still get unlimited edge speeds but what if, hypothetically, they lowered your speeds to 0.000001 Kbps after 2gb? Technically you still have unlimited data but it's pretty useless and no reason to keep the "unlimited" plan anymore...
 
Like mentioned above, you'll still have unlimited data. I don't know what to say other than the fact that it's better than not having unlimited data at all.
Some people seriously abuse the network though. I think a threshold of 5GB would be fair.

ap3604 said:
They might be still called "unlimited" but a unlimited plan that gives you edge speeds after 2gb is not truly unlimited anymore. Hence they are killing it off.

You could argue that you can still get unlimited edge speeds but what if, hypothetically, they lowered your speeds to 0.000001 Kbps after 2gb? Pretty useless and no reason to keep the "unlimited" plan anymore...
Click to expand...


Unlimited data refers to the amount you are allowed to use, not at what speed you use it.
As far as I'm concerned, you still get to use as much data as you want.

Btw, I don't think they'll throttle your speeds to 0.0000001 kbps
 
ap3604 said:
They might be still called "unlimited" but a unlimited plan that gives you edge speeds after 2gb is not truly unlimited anymore. Hence they are killing it off.

You could argue that you can still get unlimited edge speeds but what if, hypothetically, they lowered your speeds to 0.000001 Kbps after 2gb? Technically you still have unlimited data but it's pretty useless and no reason to keep the "unlimited" plan anymore...
Click to expand...

"Hey man, did you hear that they just put a stop sign over on Johnson & 5th?"

"WHAT???????? The city is basically making it illegal to use your car!!!! If I can't do 75 down Johnson, what's the point?"
 
MacDawg said:
I have unlimited on both the iPhone and iPad
I rarely use much data at all
I am on WiFi at home and at work most of the time

Not sure how folks use such massive amounts of data
Click to expand...

Yeah I guess this will actually be good for me since I can save the $15 a month for the 200 mb plan and perhaps improve the network by throttling the ones that use their iPhone as their home internet connection.

Not sure why I feel mad though... :confused:
 
I think it's hilarious AT$T is going to throttle the network right before the deploy HSPA+. The people chomping at the bit for the new HSPA+ phones will get hit first because they will be sucking up more data due to the fact they will be getting ridiculous speeds. iPhone users won't having anything to worry about because they won't see anything above 3G until iPhone 6.
 
ap3604 said:
They might be still called "unlimited" but a unlimited plan that gives you edge speeds after 2gb is not truly unlimited anymore. Hence they are killing it off.

You could argue that you can still get unlimited edge speeds but what if, hypothetically, they lowered your speeds to 0.000001 Kbps after 2gb? Technically you still have unlimited data but it's pretty useless and no reason to keep the "unlimited" plan anymore...
Click to expand...

Sorry I do not agree. If they were killing it off you would no longer have it!

I kept the unlimited plan for years but dropped it as I NEVER came close to using what it was costing. Most who keep it today are in the same boat. AT&T does not miond people like me keeping it but for those who use more than what it is worth, they will be glad to cancel your plan.

All the carriers will be the same soon, our government/FCC gave the carriers permission to charge for bandwidth.
 
mrkramer said:
Tethering and possibly video streaming.
Click to expand...

ap3604 said:
Yeah I guess this will actually be good for me since I can save the $15 a month for the 200 mb plan and perhaps improve the network by throttling the ones that use their iPhone as their home internet connection.

Not sure why I feel mad though... :confused:
Click to expand...

I guess I can see that, but I don't have much sympathy
 
mrkramer said:
Tethering and possibly video streaming.
Click to expand...

If they use large amounts of data while tethering they should, according to their contract, pay for it anyway so wouldn't necessarily see a drop in speed. If they jailbreak to do tethering then tough luck for them.
 
mrkramer said:
Tethering and possibly video streaming.
Click to expand...

I tether my iPad daily from my iPhone and I occaisionaly watch some netflix video from work while tethered and I was really surprised that I've never passed 2.5gb. I don't see how anyone could use more then 5 and even 10gbs a month.

Its that small percentage that hurts the overall users.
 
ap3604 said:
Yeah I guess this will actually be good for me since I can save the $15 a month for the 200 mb plan and perhaps improve the network by throttling the ones that use their iPhone as their home internet connection.

Not sure why I feel mad though... :confused:
Click to expand...

You feel mad because you pay for unlimited data. Sure there are restrictions in the small print, but the service AT&T advertises is X amount of dollars for "UNLIMITED DATA" not for "Unlimited Data but it slows down to whatever speed we feel is fair (and will save our overtaxed network) if you use an undisclosed amount of your UNLIMITED Data plan."

It's like going to an all you can eat buffet and if you get too many plates too quickly they have a bunch of employees block your way so you cannot quickly get to the food.
 
awadeee said:
I LOVE this analogy.
Click to expand...

Using this analogy, tethering is like using different kitchenware/utensils to eat your food.

Carriers want you use the small plate that they give you (your mobile phone), but tethering is like using a huge honking soup bowl to grab food every time you get in the buffet line.
 
256 kb/sec with at&t terrible ping is slower than your 28.8K modem from 15 years ago. You can't make a voip call, you can't use weatherbug, you can't even check how many minutes you have left on the at&t app.
 
Small White Car said:
I really can't have an opinion on this without knowing exactly what they mean.

At 1 GB? Boo! :mad:

At 5 GBs? Good job! :D
Click to expand...

Well put. We do need some hard figures.

Though I doubt they'll ever be disclosed, as it's hard to quantify what constitutes being in the top "X %" of data eaters on an ongoing basis.
 
This isn't really a big deal right now. When a ATT iPhone goes 4G it will be a bigger deal. I am pretty sure the grandfathered people will be forced to drop to a tiered plan to obtain 4G service. That's when this will all really start to hurt. Faster speeds, lower limits, and devices more data hungry than ever. It's like, the future.
 
Tarzanman said:
Using this analogy, tethering is like using different kitchenware/utensils to eat your food.

Carriers want you use the small plate that they give you (your mobile phone), but tethering is like using a huge honking soup bowl to grab food every time you get in the buffet line.
Click to expand...

No Tethering is like going to an all you can eat buffet and wanting a take out box so you can get some food for the wife and kids at home.
 
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