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AT&T Customers With Grandfathered Unlimited iPad Data Plans Will See Throttling After 22GB of Usage
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Until recently I had the grandfathered unlimited iPhone plan. I live in suburban area and normally saw 25-90gb download speeds. When they first instituted throttling it meant that once you went over the threshold you were stuck there for the rest of the billing cycle. The speed was around the old crappy 3g speeds- not very usable for anything. This totally sucked.
When they switched to the "temporary" data throttling only when in a congested area, I never had it affect me. The only time I'd ever be in a congested area is if a football game with 80000 people would be going on in my neighborhood. Basically, they never slowed me down after this change.
If you are in a regularly congested area then this will likely be a problem. If not, then I wouldn't worry about it..
I agree that it is not as big an issue now if you live in non-congested areas, but if you do hit this limitation it is realistically lowering the amount of data you can use, and isn't "Unlimited". There is no infinite/unlimited amount of time (practically speaking) between billing periods, so if the speeds are artificially slowed, then the total amount of data is artificially limited. I'm not sure how one can consider limiting the effective amount of data "not a cap".
When ATT limited their original phone Unlimited phone plan and kept the throttled speeds for the rest of the billing period, it was just plain wrong. It is wrong for the folks that have the original iPad unlimited plan. This new managed bandwidth scheme is (IMO) much more practical for the carriers and overall network health, but does not fit into the expectations or intent of the original Unlimited plans.
I recently switched to the new Verizon unlimited plan, accepting the conditions of temporary network throttling in congested area, which were clearly stated in the plan. There's a big difference in having the limitations listed up front, and changing them after you have agreed and upheld your end of the deal.
Verizon, BTW, isn't nearly as fast in my neighborhood as AT&T is.
That unicorn network congestion is a lie to milk the consumer and please don't even say it's a depriotization. You tell me when you watch on DirectvNow you're not congesting the network? But when you watch on Sling or Youtube or Netflix now your causing network congestion? I will say bull***t! When people watch worth 30gb of lower quality video on Binge-On is not a problem. Now a 30gb HD video all of a sudden it's hurting the network? When network offers the unlimited the first time they don't throttle it. They only care charging your voice and text messages that uses the data you paid. When people start using messaging apps now text messaging is now like a giveaway. Therefore NETWORK CONGESTION IS A LIE! Call it whatever you want if you actually believe it then you're a SHEEPLE if not, you're working for that carrier.
This.right.here. This is likely to be the most well thought out, reasonable argued, well presented post on this subject that this thread will see. But some people just want to hate AT&T, what can you do.
I just checked my usage for the month...I am at 32.2 GB so far on ATT. I actually had no idea I was that high on data usage this month. I haven't really had an issue with my phone slowing down. My kids have used my phone for tethering a lot recently. I live in a suburb of Los Angeles and travel into the city a lot. Last month I hit the 22gb limit while staying right in the middle of San Francisco and didn't have an issue. I didn't even have a change to my tethering rates when usage went over 10gb. My kids were still able to stream you tube from my phone's hot spot. I don't assume this will always be the case with deprioritizarion but this is my experience so far. We have a handful of days left in our billing cycle and I am going to be monitoring how my speeds seem. I'm sure if I went to a sports stadium or concert right now that my speeds would decrease but so be it. I need the coverage of ATT or Verizon so I have to settle somehow.
This is accurate, unless you are a Verizon customer. Longtime Verizon guy here. When the new unlimited plan released they sold it with the 22GB then prioritization clause. This was per line on your plan. Second month in I noticed my JetPack said speeds slowed after 10GB, where it had previously said Unlimited. Called customer service, was told that they were not sure why that message was there and because the JetPack had its own number it most certainly fell under the 22GB then prioritization guideline, and the only 10GB stipulation was that if you are tethering from a device then you are limited to 10GB, this I was told when I switched plans, and fully understood.
They made notes on my account stating this and that I had inquired about it. Few weeks ago I get an email stating that on the JetPack, one you hit 10GB that speeds will be reduced to 3G speeds for the remainder of the billing period. I call customer service, spoke to an agent, and a supervisor. Told them that is not what I was told when I switched to the plan, nor when I called in an inquired. Supervisor told me that I misunderstood. I most definitely did not misunderstood and had spoke at length with the customer service agent about that in the first call in. I told the supervisor to check the notes on my account and he told me that the notes stated that I was well informed of the 10GB cap on the JetPack data, as well as the tethering data. Was also informed at this time that the 10GB cap applied to tablets. Went back and forth over this for a while and the supervisor got quite snippy and told me that there was nothing I could do about it.
So I, as a previously happy Verizon customer, who never had an issue with anything about them before, did have an option. I hung up, went straight to AT&T and ported every number I have from Verizon.
They will never get another dime of my money.
So far data speeds have been similar in the areas I am staying (I work cross country) and at home the wife has better service and data speeds than with Verizon. So far so good......
Only reason I'm staying for now is they got DirecTV NOW working finally, and the discount they bundle with their unlimited plan means i get 100 channels of TV + HBO for $10 a month (which offsets the high price of their phone plan).
ATT can take their plans and shove it.
I switched to VzW when they wanted to add $5 to my grandfathered UL phone plan and could not be happier.
Screw you ATT. I will NEVER go back to you ATT.
I switched to VzW when they wanted to add $5 to my grandfathered UL phone plan and could not be happier.
Screw you ATT. I will NEVER go back to you ATT.
Can you tell me of another reliable tablet data only plan that offers 22GB/mo for $30 out the door? If so I'll switch. Otherwise the grandfathered plan is still a reason for me to use ATT.
I did cancel my grandfathered iPhone plan a few months ago b/c that plan was no longer a deal in the face of multiple options for $80 or less unlimited data. But I don't know of ANY carrier that offers an unlimited LTE data for either phones or tablets. Do you?
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No. This plan was only available for the first few weeks of the first iPad cellular's existence. Likely very few original customers like me on the books anymore. But original subscribers sell their accounts for big money because they were unlimited LTE, not just unlimited data. Then the new account holder puts the SIMs in a hotspot and abused the data deal.
Also DTV customers are hardly getting free bandwidth. ATT's unlimited plan is more expensive than the other carriers and DTV service isn't cheap either. Also who can watch that many movies and still be productive enough to be able to afford an ATT cell line and DTV?
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Yep. What I do. If one doesn't, easy to launch the AT&T app and check usage. It's on the first screen after login.
Yes, I think peak for me was when my dad was in the hospital for a few weeks. I used about 12GB of data that month. I can't imagine what people are doing with 22GB of data on an iPad. If they are using that much maybe they need to find their door and explore the outdoors a bit.
How so? You do not get charged extra if you go over a certain amount of data use each month and the carrier can manage their network to handle periods of high bandwidth use. No one is promised a minimum speed with the unlimited data plans. I get free unlimited data on my iPad from Tmobile as well as unlimited on my lines and have never had an issue with speed, except for brief periods, even when tethering. Now, someone who is streaming a lot of data off of a high use tower might, but unless carriers manage their network more customers would experience issues than the person using a lot of data, so it's a reasonable way to provide service to all the users even at the expense of one or two.
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They're on a month to month no contract plan that ATT has allowed to continue; ATT has no obligation to continue to provide it under the same terms forever.
Probably, but this change simply brings those plans into line with current similar offerings.
To answer your initial question. No, I can't tell you of a tablet only option with that amount of data for that price as honestly I'm not familiar with them anymore. As far as reliability, that will depend on your area. Here, in that respect all the carriers are essentially the same.
Tablet aside, many carriers such as T-Mobile offer at least 10GB of LTE tethering, with unlimited reduced speed after that. In the past tethering was a pricey add-on option. With tethering as an included option for many phone plans. The idea of a tablet plan in itself is less appealing for many.
AT&T and DirecTV have a partnership. Even on a regular data plan, DirecTV usage does not count toward your data limit. I see the notification every time that I turn it on.
AT&T's contractual obligations have very little to do with whether or not their decision will upset their customers. AT&T is (possibly illegally - the FCC prevented something similar three years ago) decreasing the functionality of a service that they provide. It is basic human nature that this will upset the folks it affects.
It's the same reaction as when your favorite sandwich is eliminated from the menu of the restaurant you eat lunch at 3 times a week; it sucks.
I suggest you give up trying to moderate the emotions of folks on the internet. While you may be perfectly right about your facts, the facts you are choosing to discuss have little-to-nothing to do with why folks are upset.
AT&T needs to look up the definition of "unlimited". I hate how companies use the word "may" when warning that something will happen. Just be honest. "May" means "will". They will throttle the alleged "unlimited" data.
Well, the number of weekdays in a month varies between 20 and 23, averaging around 21.74. So, rounding up, it works out to 1 gigabyte per weekday.
I have the unlimited plus plan for my phone, never once have used wifi on, obviously because time Warner sucks, and I've used over 22 gigs. I live in the second largest city in New York, and my data is very rarely throttled. At most, my speeds are slower by about 2mbs at most. I don't think users of the old unlimited plan are going to notice a difference at all.
Oh man, so glad I sold my old iPad unlimited SIM around the end of the year. I'm sure I wouldn't get anywhere near that 2k now.
If I was a AT&T customer with the unlimited plan and was upset about this news, your post would make me reconsider staying with AT&T.