T-Mobile to Restrict Unlimited Customers Using Up to 2,000 GB of Data Per Month

[McGiord]

Just because a company advertises 'unlimited' does not mean that they have to give you unlimited EVERYTHING. What you are saying is effectively that T-Mobile must give you unlimited bread, unlimited car washes because they use the word unlimited.

The clearly state unlimited SMART PHONE DATA.

This is not a difficult concept folks.

I pay for monthly car washes, I can take my car every single day of the month up to two times every day if I wanted to. And if they don't make it clean in the two attempts I can request them to make it clean so they will manually compensate for the bad quality of their automated service. So the automated service will not consume more water or detergents each time my car goes through the system, the price I pay was defined by the car wash. I cannot abuse the system, every time the car is washed they consume the same amount of energy. If the car wash is full of vehicles or not is their issue, not mine. The speed of the car wash tunnel is pre-set and would not go any faster than it can go.

 

[MrXiro]

It's data and how it is used is the user's right.
If give my neighbor water I'm still paying for it.
Why tethering should be different?
Only because the carriers want everyone to have their own line, doesn't mean the user is abusing the system, you cannot consume more data than what the network can handle, there are technical limitations to each device connected to the network, you cannot consume data faster.

So with your logic; if you go to an All You can Eat Restaurant, you can bring a bag with you and stuff food in there as well to take to go? Or pass it along out the window to your friend sitting outside, they said "ALL YOU CAN EAT" not per person....

 

[manu chao]

I pay for monthly car washes, I can take my car every single day of the month up to two times every day if I wanted to. And if they don't make it clean in the two attempts I can request them to make it clean so they will manually compensate for the bad quality of their automated service. So the automated service will not consume more water or detergents each time my car goes through the system, the price I pay was defined by the car wash. I cannot abuse the system, every time the car is washed they consume the same amount of energy. If the car wash is full of vehicles or not is their issue, not mine. The speed of the car wash tunnel is pre-set and would not go any faster than it can go.

What if you towed additional cars with your car? If you were to tow ten cars in one go through the carwash but only paid for one carwash?

 

[manu chao]

I understand the concept and the difference… but limiting the 'unlimited' use of data is clearly limiting it! It doesn't matter how they want to slice up the limits, if they place limitations on 'unlimited' then it isn't unlimited, it's limited.

You mean if an unlimited data plan doesn't include unlimited data worldwide, it should not be called unlimited?

 

[aristobrat]

What if you split up the US territory into 29 smaller ones? Do you not think that companies would step in to serve those territories? Should it not be much more efficient to serve them as a single entity (let's call this the 'United States' or something...)

To me, "split up into 29 smaller ones" seems to describe the European wireless market. The few times I've looked into the details of those crazy-inexpensive EU plans (or plans with great features, like truly unlimited data), seems like that plan doesn't work the same way if you travel outside of the home area (typically the country). Take a 3 hour road trip and if you happen to cross a border, how the plan works is likely to change... roaming fees, great features getting neutered (like truly unlimited data being replaced by a bucket of limited data), etc.

Very much reminds of of the US back in the 90s and 2000s when the prevalent wireless carriers were the tons of smaller, regional ones (to your point of the US being split up into smaller territories). IIRC, they were cheaper than the national carriers, but again, take a road trip a few hours out and you were likely to be socked with roaming charges which could quickly make it not cheaper.

Until there is a European wireless carrier that offers a plan that works the same from one side of Europe to the other (like how the major US wireless carriers' plans work), I think it's pretty hard to directly compare prices or features.

 

[aristobrat]

I'm not saying they didn't make it clear, I'm saying they made it clearly nonsensical. Placing a limit upon what is described as unlimited, is not unlimited. It's like when things say 'ABSOLUTELY FREE X!* (*but only when you buy Y). Most of us know what they mean, sure, but it's still wrong IMHO.

So what is your sensical way for naming a plan that comes with the following features:
* as much data as you can use on your smartphone
* an additional 7GB of data that you can use on devices tethered to your smartphone

 

[zhenya]

I pay for monthly car washes, I can take my car every single day of the month up to two times every day if I wanted to. And if they don't make it clean in the two attempts I can request them to make it clean so they will manually compensate for the bad quality of their automated service. So the automated service will not consume more water or detergents each time my car goes through the system, the price I pay was defined by the car wash. I cannot abuse the system, every time the car is washed they consume the same amount of energy. If the car wash is full of vehicles or not is their issue, not mine. The speed of the car wash tunnel is pre-set and would not go any faster than it can go.

This isn't what the other poster that I responded to was claiming though. They were effectively stating that if a car wash offered an 'unlimited automatic wash service' with one hand wash and detail per month, that because they they are using the word 'unlimited' they must also give you unlimited hand washes despite clearly stating the terms in their advertising. It's ludicrous.

 

[MaciMac100]

Do they include unlimited tethering also?

Sure. It doesn't matter in what device I put SIM card, make a hotspot or whatever. I don't think there is even a term for "tethering" here. Data is data.

To me, "split up into 29 smaller ones" seems to describe the European wireless market. The few times I've looked into the details of those crazy-inexpensive EU plans (or plans with great features, like truly unlimited data), seems like that plan doesn't work the same way if you travel outside of the home area (typically the country).

Yes. Roaming fees are insane if you travel to another country in EU. But since I don't travel that much outside my "state", I can enjoy my 20 dollars/month truly unlimited everything 4G plan.

 

[Porco]

Does everyone here defending the name 'unlimited' seriously think that if every 'unlimited' customer was to (try to...) download 2TB of data to their smartphones the 'unlimited' plan would remain as it is right now? Is that what people are saying? That it really makes some difference to T-Mobile if data is only consumed on the smartphone itself, other than the (typically lower) amount of data a typical user consumes? I would guess not.

And of course one can extrapolate my problem with them using the word 'unlimited' to bizzarre proportions, and I accept that, but my point is you don't need to go to such lengths because limitations are indeed spelled out right there. I guess it comes down to this: You are limited by your usage to a smartphone other than the limited 7GB cap for tethering, even if not by your smartphone data consumption.

I'll try once more.

If you say something is unlimited, then right underneath qualify that in a restricted manner, it isn't unlimited. By definition. So it's meaningless.

Furthermore 4G LTE is limited by the technology's limitations anyway.

Yet furthermore it seems reasonable to assume that if everyone used the kind of relatively extremely excessive 2TB quoted, no-one could get this deal, because otherwise it wouldn't be a problem to do so when tethered, and there would be no need to place a limit on data when tethered.

Additionally, it's all data going through the smartphone in any event. Once it's in the smartphone it's arguably not data traveling over 4G LTE anymore is it?

So I think calling it unlimited is disingenuous on numerous levels, even in the context of reasonable considerations closely specificlly tied to the service being provided, let alone going sillier and saying in that case it needs to provide unlimited bread and car washes etc. You're all free to disagree and think calling something with blatantly spelled-out limitations 'unlimited' if you like, but to me you're accepting a silly marketing definition of the word, not the actual word's definition itself. The data is the data, I'm not talking about separate things that could reasonably be called unlimited because they're separate like unlimited cats but limited dogs. The only difference is what the user does with the same data once it's at their phone. That is not unlimited, IMHO. Good day to you all.

 

[zhenya]

If you say something is unlimited, then right underneath qualify that in a restricted manner, it isn't unlimited. By definition. So it's meaningless.

No, unlimited smart phone data means exactly what it says it means. Just because you want to interpret it to mean something far broader doesn't mean it's meaningless.

If a restaurant offers unlimited refills on soda, that doesn't mean you get to extend unlimited to include the food.

 

[MaciMac100]

No, unlimited smart phone data means exactly what it says it means.

What if I have a phablet? I am a hacker then? Only in America.

 

[McGiord]

So with your logic; if you go to an All You can Eat Restaurant, you can bring a bag with you and stuff food in there as well to take to go? Or pass it along out the window to your friend sitting outside, they said "ALL YOU CAN EAT" not per person....

It's what you eat at the restaurant, in the cellphone data is the data you consume not what you store or share, all the data you get through your device. In the restaurant is the food you put in your mouth. Your phone is your hardware, you body is your hardware.

 

[aristobrat]

You're all free to disagree and think calling something with blatantly spelled-out limitations 'unlimited' if you like, but to me you're accepting a silly marketing definition of the word, not the actual word's definition itself.

So your suggestion for T-Mobile is to drop the word "unlimited" from their plan name/description and replace it with "You are limited by your usage to a smartphone other than the limited 7GB cap for tethering, even if not by your smartphone data consumption."?

 

[Porco]

No, unlimited smart phone data means exactly what it says it means. Just because you want to interpret it to mean something far broader doesn't mean it's meaningless.

If a restaurant offers unlimited refills on soda, that doesn't mean you get to extend unlimited to include the food.

But it's all soda!

 

[McGiord]

What if you towed additional cars with your car? If you were to tow ten cars in one go through the carwash but only paid for one carwash?

The car wash is not unattended. You have to scan your vehicle and pass the security bar. Assuming you want to forcibly do what you described: Then you will jam the car wash, crash against all the devices that clean the car, and have a blast with you 5 minutes of fame in all local news, Twitter, YouTube and memes around the world as the stupid idiot whom followed the unlimited logic from MacRumors forums to try to explain how someone can "abuse" the data transfer from a cellphone provider, when indeed it isn't possible because as much a as you wanted you cannot make the data to transfer any faster than what the cellphone network can provide to your smartphone.

 

[McGiord]

But it's all soda!

Water fake sugar colorants and CO2.

 

[McGiord]

What is the maximum speed of data transfer in 4G LTE to download data?

How many GB can you get in a 24h day?

Can you download anymore than that?

 

[aristobrat]

What is the maximum speed of data transfer in 4G LTE to download data?

How many GB can you get in a 24h day?

Can you download anymore than that?

If some people are pulling down 2TB a month, that's 67GB a day, or almost 3GB an hour.

Streaming Netflix in HD uses 3GB an hour. It's hard to imagine someone with a smartphone streamed Netflix literally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for a month.

What else can you do on a smartphone that would use 3GB an hour of data 24x7?

IMO, that's why carriers make a differential between "unlimited data for your smartphone" vs "unlimited data for your smartphone and everything that you can tether it do". A smartphone, by its design, seems to limit the amount of data it can realistically use.

 

[Apples n' Stone]

So much for my 4K Netflix streaming empire.

 

[aristobrat]

So much for my 4K Netflix streaming empire.

Apparently as long as you're watching 4K Netflix on an awesome smartphone screen, you're good.

 

[Apples n' Stone]

Apparently as long as you're watching 4K Netflix on an awesome smartphone screen, you're good.

But 'M9', streaming a Netflix empire for running a cinema. One subscription, charge half the price of other cinema films. It was foolproof until the throttling, 2000GB is such a small amount after all. Like. Hello? We need more than a SnapChat trip to the toilets-worth of data. Not having this Travel allowance crap.

Back up plan, thinking more the 'Netflix & Chill' thing. Which is slightly harder to get into on a smartphone. But 4K camera on the 6S Plus, I am sure it will be just as successful. But slightly messier.

 

[Porco]

So your suggestion for T-Mobile is to drop the word "unlimited" from their plan name/description and replace it with "You are limited by your usage to a smartphone other than the limited 7GB cap for tethering, even if not by your smartphone data consumption."?

For me personally that would be preferable, but I get why that wouldn't be quite as snappy or marketable.

I'm sure there must be a compromise that is more accurate than calling it unlimited then listing limitations. Maybe the 'Generous' plan, as that'd be more subjective.

 

[_Refurbished_]

It's data and how it is used is the user's right.
If give my neighbor water I'm still paying for it.
Why tethering should be different?
Only because the carriers want everyone to have their own line, doesn't mean the user is abusing the system, you cannot consume more data than what the network can handle, there are technical limitations to each device connected to the network, you cannot consume data faster.

Do you have unlimited water for a set price? If you're paying for water based on how much you consume each month, then your analogy doesn't work.

If you're paying for unlimited water each month, is it fair to fill your neighbor's swimming pool with your water? I mean, you have unlimited water, you should be able to fill all of your neighbor's pools with your unlimited water.

 

[31 Flavas]

THEN DON'T ****ING CALL IT UNLIMITED AND THEN THEY WON'T USE UNLIMITED AMOUNTS OF DATA! ****ERS!!

First, did you, at all, read more then the headline? If not, then RTFA. Now that you've read the article you will know that this is happening because select users are disguising teathered data, which is *not* unlimited, as mobile phone data. The plan allows only 7GB of high-speed data to be shared to teathered devices. As such, disguising tethered data (making it appear as though it is not tethered, and instead, a data request from the mobile handset itself) to get around that limit is therefor stealing. That said, the customers that John Legere of T-Mobile is talking about are not surreptitiously using only a little extra data.

Moreover, the fact that these abusive customers are consuming as much as 2,000 GB, in a month, should demonstrate to you that T-Mobile is *literally* offering these customers an *actually* unlimited amount of high speed data. So you can't even get upset at T-Mobile and accuse them of not honoring the word "Unlimited" in their unlimited high speed data plan. These user are apparently not connected to congested or overloaded cell towers (therefor, being unaffected by de-prioritization over 21GB) and purport the data requests as being from the phone itself. Therefore T-Mobile has *literally* offered an unlimited amount of high speed data to these customers; as the plan they signed up for provides unlimited high speed data provided it is a data request from the mobile phone itself and not from a tethered device.

What T-Mobile is saying is that they will no longer tolerate this abusive disguising of tethered data. These customers are going to be warned first. Told to stop their behavior. And if they continue to try to purport that tethered data is still a legitimate data request from their mobile phone itself -- Then they will force them onto the 1GB tiered plan.

What is your response to this? Or why is this an unacceptable response to egregious abuse?

 

[MaciMac100]

Apparently as long as you're watching 4K Netflix on an awesome smartphone screen, you're good.

No, it's clearly hacking the internetz. That phone is running linux.