2GB Data Plans? WTF?

[TruckdriverSean]

Clearly AT&T is trying to throttle their bandwidth to iPhone users.

Basically, yes.

Or to be more precise, AT&T is trying to monetize data usage so users throttle their own Internet use based on what their willing to pay.

As I said earlier, I too think $25/2GB is overpriced, but this will hopefully get better when other carriers abandon their old fixed rate "all you can eat" data plans. We shall see.

The upshot to all this will likely be a less reluctant high-speed data rollout, more emphasis on data efficient app development and possibly even some movement toward net-neutral carrier policy.(paid bits are paid bits, right?)

Sean

 

[ToroidalZeus]

As I said earlier, I too think $25/2GB is overpriced, but this will hopefully get better when other carriers abandon their old fixed rate "all you can eat" data plans. We shall see.

How? It's $30 for unlimited on Verizon and was on AT&T as well. I don't see us possibly getting better deals then that for a VERY long time.

 

[OneMike]

How? It's $30 for unlimited on Verizon and was on AT&T as well. I don't see us possibly getting better deals then that for a VERY long time.

I agree.

It's going in the other direction. Plans are getting cheaper for those that use less. Plans are also allowing for less usage and there is no in-between as with text.

 

[Resist]

Plans are getting cheaper for those that use less.

And the sad thing is that with faster speeds, people will download more data making it easier to fly past that 2GB limit. But then again, AT&T knows this and are counting on it.

 

[Alaerian]

Here's a question, albeit only slightly off-topic.

I am quite contentedly using my original iPhone 2G. It's in perfect working condition. I'm finally noticing a bit of slowdown in some newer applications that were obviously built to take advantage of the newer hardware in the 3G and up. Since I'm still on my original unlimited data plan, is it possible to simply swap my current SIM into a 3GS and keep my plan, assuming I find one for a decent price outright via a 3rd party?

 

[1rottenapple]

Just curious but how do people use that much data on a small 3.5 in screen?

Do you not have wifi at home?

Are you rarely home to use the wifi? (like travel due to business)

I just can't fathom looking at my 3.5 in screen for hours at a time watching a movie! I'm the person that will be fine with 250mb, but its crazy using 9 gigs of data on a phone that sooo small. Now on my laptop, its a different story where I d/l a lot and stream video...

 

[SpaceKitty]

Just curious but how do people use that much data on a small 3.5 in screen?

Do you not have wifi at home?

Are you rarely home to use the wifi? (like travel due to business)

I just can't fathom looking at my 3.5 in screen for hours at a time watching a movie! I'm the person that will be fine with 250mb, but its crazy using 9 gigs of data on a phone that sooo small. Now on my laptop, its a different story where I d/l a lot and stream video...

I've used over 12GB in one month just streaming music using my XM app. It not hard to do especially being back at school.

 

[67 Goat]

The problem I have with the new pricing is that you "pay for what you use" AND "you pay for what you don't use". If I have a plan with X GB per month, I should not automatically be allowed to exceed that threshold.

 

[NWI73]

I've used over 12GB in one month just streaming music using my XM app. It not hard to do especially being back at school.

I stream xm for 2 hours, stream iheartradio for 3 hours and stream slacker radio for 2 hours per day and I usually hit about 3gb per month. Tons of facebook, twitter and some net browsing.

12gb? Sweet jesus!

 

[BigRedOne]

I still don't see why AT&T does not allow people with either the 2GB or 400MB plan to accumulate the un-used portion of the plan by month. If you have a 2GB plan and one mouth you use 1GB and the next month you use 3GB what is the problem. Your paying for 48GB per contract period so if you don't exceed that number, what's the big deal if it is averaged out per month for the life of the contract.

At the end of the two year period what ever portion of the 48GB that you have not used is then lost. AT&T could do a lot to help out it's customers in big ways with little effort and zero cost on their part.

I have an unlimited plan and I have never used 2GB of data but I am keeping my data plan....

 

[Squid7085]

I'm just amazed that all one gets now for $25 / mo is only 2GB! Do those of you on this plan find this to be sufficient? Seems to me like I could use this amount up in the first day or two each month. What is AT&T thinking? In this day and age how can anyone charge $25 for 2GB of anything??

You are complaining, the irony of course is that you are the reason AT&T went to this approach.

 

[Resist]

"you pay for what you don't use".

That by itself isn't a valid point, because as with many things we pay whether we use it or not. For instance, Telephone, Internet, Cable TV, Cell Phone, Car, Mortgage......the list goes on and on.

 

[DiamondMac]

I have unlimited with my iPhone and the 2-gig cap on my iPad

The 2-gig cap gets me angry just about every month as I run close to it every single month with a few days left. I do NOT stream movies nor download any large files....I simply use it often for email, maybe some streaming music, and I enjoy a good number of apps for sports/news...and every month I get a notice about me having a small % left

It really is a joke that I have to not use the iPad in some situations because I am afraid of going over.

I have said on the iPad forum that if AT&T does not raise the cap significantly for the next iPad, I probably will skip the next iPad for another tablet that gives me more freedom of data

 

[pettit03]

I have unlimited with my iPhone and the 2-gig cap on my iPad

The 2-gig cap gets me angry just about every month as I run close to it every single month with a few days left. I do NOT stream movies nor download any large files....I simply use it often for email, maybe some streaming music, and I enjoy a good number of apps for sports/news...and every month I get a notice about me having a small % left

It really is a joke that I have to not use the iPad in some situations because I am afraid of going over.

I have said on the iPad forum that if AT&T does not raise the cap significantly for the next iPad, I probably will skip the next iPad for another tablet that gives me more freedom of data

I am a heavy user of data but I am smart using my wifi connections. On my droid my highest was 8gbs of data cause I never used wifi. With the iPhone 4 my highest is 1.2 gbs.

 

[pettit03]

I have unlimited with my iPhone and the 2-gig cap on my iPad

The 2-gig cap gets me angry just about every month as I run close to it every single month with a few days left. I do NOT stream movies nor download any large files....I simply use it often for email, maybe some streaming music, and I enjoy a good number of apps for sports/news...and every month I get a notice about me having a small % left

It really is a joke that I have to not use the iPad in some situations because I am afraid of going over.

I have said on the iPad forum that if AT&T does not raise the cap significantly for the next iPad, I probably will skip the next iPad for another tablet that gives me more freedom of data

1700 emails a month, 100 emails with photo attachments, 2000 web pages, and downloading 290 songs a month gets you at 1.87gb/month. USE YOUR WIFI.

 

[quadchick10]

I have unlimited data. I am at about 3.5 GB a this month because of Netflix. I feel sorry for new IPhone users because they are limited to the amount of data they can use. By having limits, it takes the fun out of using the IPhone. I have read where people are constantly checking their data usage and worrying about going over. There are so many apps out there and more are being developed. It will being very easy to go over. This is why I chose to keep my unlimited plan. I can stream Netflix or Slacker for as long as I like and not worry. I can use Mapquest and not have to worry about the extra money I will have to pay to AT&T.

 

[KingMob16]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

2GB is a lot of space. It's 2,048MB and the average user would probably only use 400-500MB. Just make sure if you are in a wi-fi area to turn your cellular data off and you'll be fine.

 

[DiamondMac]

1700 emails a month, 100 emails with photo attachments, 2000 web pages, and downloading 290 songs a month gets you at 1.87gb/month. USE YOUR WIFI.

I use my Wifi every time I can and I am still up against the wall monthly.

I send very few attachments every month outside of family pics. I don't download songs. I send many emails but I honestly couldn't tell you an exact number. I visit a good amount of pages but nothing more.

My only guess as to what eats it up are the apps that I use which are sports, newsman, etc...but the idea that those are eating up my space is shocking to me

And no, there is nothing else. I wish there were so I could identify it and lower it so every end-of-the-month stops being a stress.

 

[Jett0516]

I have unlimited data. I am at about 3.5 GB a this month because of Netflix. I feel sorry for new IPhone users because they are limited to the amount of data they can use. By having limits, it takes the fun out of using the IPhone. I have read where people are constantly checking their data usage and worrying about going over. There are so many apps out there and more are being developed. It will being very easy to go over. This is why I chose to keep my unlimited plan. I can stream Netflix or Slacker for as long as I like and not worry. I can use Mapquest and not have to worry about the extra money I will have to pay to AT&T.

this.

totally agree that this data cap crap takes the fun of the iphone.

 

[Alaerian]

I do NOT stream movies nor download any large files....I simply use it often for email, maybe some streaming music, and I enjoy a good number of apps for sports/news...and every month I get a notice about me having a small % left

Streaming music (I assume you mean Pandora) takes up more bandwidth than you think it does. I'm willing to bet that's the kicker.

 

[stylinexpat]

Here in Taiwan the Chinese are quite generous giving us all we can download (no data limit) for under $25 It is around 699 NT for all that you can use
Other places charging more are a rip-off ripping off consumers. No reason on earth they should charge that much money. Here in China the Data rates and caps are a rip-off as well.

 

[ano0oj]

I'm currently on the 200MB plan, but being around wifi almost 90% of the time takes away my need for 3G. Although, it sucks when I'm nearing 200 when I'm on a road trip...

 

[Givmeabrek]

"Here in Taiwan the Chinese are quite generous giving us all we can download (no data limit) for under $25 "

All you can download as long as the Chinese approve of it.......

 

[mister.kevin]

Here in the UK I pay £35/mo ($55) for 600 minutes, 600 texts and 'unlimited' data, however, 'unlimited data' has a fair usage policy attached that actually limits it to 750mb. I also get the luxury of 750mb at WiFi hotspots that don't work. Needless to say I use my home WiFi and the network at work for any big data.

 

[IrishVixen]

Streaming music (I assume you mean Pandora) takes up more bandwidth than you think it does. I'm willing to bet that's the kicker.

^^^This.

From the website for TuneIn Radio, a streaming service my husband and I both use:

The amount of download data the application uses depends on the bitrate of the stream and can be significant. For example, a 128 kbps stream would use about 60 MB/hour. So, if you don't have an unlmited data plan, monitoring your data usage is very important when using the application.

60 MB an hour for merely streaming music?! Now, most of their streams that we use are a quarter to half that rate, but even so, if you're doing that over 3G, it's going to add up.