AT&T Customers With Grandfathered Unlimited iPad Data Plans Will See Throttling After 22GB of Usage

[jlc1978]

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.

The FCC issued a rule requiring transparency, not preventing network management. The letter you refer to was a request for information on their policies, not an outright ban.

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.

Certainly some people will get upset. ATT may even want them to get so mad they leave or switch plans so they can kill the unlimited tablet plan completely. Sometimes a company doesn't want a particular customer and thus will eliminate what makes them stay a customer or fire them outright. ATT could have simply terminated all those plans at the end of a billing cycle.

What is also coming into play is "loss aversion," people feel much more strongly about losing something than gaining something. In this case, even though they may never be affected by the change they see it as a losing something and thus have a negative reaction.

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.

Oh I agree, expecting people to be rational, especially on the internet, is a losing proposition.

 

[Ca$hflow]

Bait and switch. No love to the customer.

 

[aristobrat]

Bait and switch. No love to the customer.

Bait and switch? They stopped selling this plan back in 2010.

 

[CarlJ]

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.

No, "may" pretty clearly is the correct word here. If you're over the specified amount AND there's not enough bandwidth on the tower you're currently connected to for them to give everyone full speed, then they can lower your bitrate if they need to in order to keep traffic flowing to everyone.

It's like those signs in restaurants that say, "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone". Does that mean they will refuse service to everyone? No, it means if they refuse service to you (for a reason that falls within the law, usually that you're disrupting the business / driving away other customers), they can point to that sign. I've seen numerous instances where companies say "may" so that they have standing to act in the really egregious cases. My ISP has a data cap (and it used to be much lower than it is now). I used to go over it occasionally. It was never a problem. They've never complained about it. Because it was occasional and minor. The rules were there so that they could limit someone if that person went WAY over every month and it caused a problem.

I'm not a huge fan of mobile carriers, and I don't think they should have ever offered "unlimited" plans with that specific word (maybe if they had called them "practically unlimited"), but I can see the logic. Many people, when presented with "unlimited" will simply use what they need without worrying about running out, but a handful will try to use as much data as they possibly can "to get their money's worth". It's a weird kind of greed. Like "I'm losing money if I don't download/stream every possible thing" even if they're not actually using or enjoying all that stuff (similar to, say, people on an 8GB data plan who've only used 7GB near the end of the month and they feel the need to use up that last GB so it isn't "wasted"). It's as if they're fearful they'll be taken advantage of, so they try to take advantage of others, or "the man", or whoever, first.

 

[mdgm]

In Australia I recall an ISP got taken to task by the local regulator for calling a fixed-line broadband plan with shaping 'Unlimited'. If an unlimited service is shaped then there are limits being applied and it shouldn't be called unlimited.

 

[tomegun]

I have AT&T and I think they are they are the worse cell company. How can you make all the money they made with exclusive iPhone usage (that seems like so long ago) and not have the best network/service? You give that money to your executives as bonuses.

 

[2010mini]

They are definitely a money grab

That argument makes sense with traditional ISPs like Comcast. But with cellular, they all have a capacity problem. As there is currently not enough spectrum to handle all their users.

 

[Cronbo]

AT&T sucks they are always trying to squeeze more out of you for less. I switched to TMobile and my upload and doanlows speeds are 2-3X faster, tested with DSLReports.... I can't wait to see ATT sink

 

[2010mini]

I have AT&T and I think they are they are the worse cell company. How can you make all the money they made with exclusive iPhone usage (that seems like so long ago) and not have the best network/service? You give that money to your executives as bonuses.

Because the FCC hasn't opened up new spectrums for cell companies to use.

 

[Statusnone88]

I hate when articles are so misleading and click-baity like this. It's still unlimited. Users will still likely be able to use 30, 40, 50, even 100GB and beyond on their iPad. It IS NOT a throttle. It IS NOT a data cap.

What it IS, is deprioritization. Your data is prioritized lower than other users ONLY DURING TIMES OF CONGESTION. And that doesn't mean you are going to see a hard cap to your speeds, you are just going to see slightly slowed speeds so that other users will have enough bandwidth and higher priority.

This is why everybody is so wrongly antagonistic and hostile toward the new unlimited plans, because they are convinced there is a 22GB **CAP** where you will be throttled down to unusable speeds. That is NOT the case, and people are unable to understand that because of constant misleading articles such as this.

Yes, speeds *might* be slowed. But only in areas that are very congested. Most users are not going to be on a super congested tower all the time where you'd actually see this "deprioritization".
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It is NOT A DATA CAP.

You're overreacting. Besides, you will have the exact same "limit" (that really isn't even a limit) on every other carrier.

It is not a cap. It is a threshold at which users will see lower priority. If the tower is extremely congested, then their speeds will be slightly slowed so that other users will have usable speeds. No, it isn't going to strictly limit speeds to 128kbps or anything like that at all. What it might do, is reduce ALREADY SLOW SPEEDS. The network experience would already suck, even when not deprioritized.

For example, if the tower can only put out 5mbps to you because of congestion, then while deprioritized you might see something more like 1-2mbps. And this might only happen for a moment, as well. When there is less traffic again, speeds will go back to normal and be the same for everybody, those who are past the 22GB threshold or not.

To put things into perspective, prepaid customers ALREADY ARE ALWAYS DEPRIORITIZED.

I am sick of articles such as these misleading people.

This times 1000. I have had a "capped" unlimited plan with AT&T for a while now. I use on average 50-60GB a month. Never once did I ever notice my data being throttled. I live in a VERY populated city in central Florida, so if anyone is going to be throttled, it would be me.

If the node on the tower can support 10 simultaneous data connections, and there's 110 people trying to access it, the 10 who are over their cap will be DEPRIORITIZED, not throttled. Which means it may be a few seconds if that, slower than normal.

This spread of misinformation really needs to stop.

 

[VMMan]

The title of the article is not misleading at all. Throttling is the active act of controlling throughput. AT&T according to the email will start actively controlling i.e. throttling users.

The poster who mentioned how intolerable throttling on the iPhone became after 2 GB of data is correct. Those days were horrendous, but thankfully the limit has been raised incrementally due to litigation and consumer complaints.

I still have two iPads for which I have continued to pay and have never stopped the unlimited option from the first day the original iPads were sold.

It is not difficult to reach 22 GB when I use them to monitor my home's security cameras and nanny cameras to monitor my young children.

This thread is full of AT&T apologists. AT&T does not need public support. They already are receiving a lot of revenue.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

SO: 'Thanks for your money and loyalty, but screw you'...

And, BTW, screw you...

I wonder how much they 'contributed'...

 

[Chupa Chupa]

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.

OK, so then why did you make your unfounded comment about ATT? You don't know of a less expensive tablet plan than the $30 grandfathered one and where you are ATT is at least as reliable as the other cellcos. You were essentially spouting off against ATT for canceling a plan that you don't have and not really familiar with it's competing plans.

You mention the TMobile tethering but that is limited 10GB LTE and also goes against TMobs own iPhone data limit. Also you were upset that the ATT plan throttles at 22GB but with this TMob plan it's 10GB. More importantly, and I can say this because I have TMob on my iPhone, it's not universally reliable everywhere. ATT mostly is -- previously had ATT on my iPhone and still have the grandfathered iPad plan. Having a stand-alone plan is worthwhile because I don't have to worry about denting my iPhone data or battery. I also don't have to depend on one cellco's network.

Cellular tablet plans are appealing to all, of course. That is why Apple makes Wi-Fi only models and Wi-Fi + Cellular. Tablet cellular plans are appeal to those of us with an LTE capable iPad.
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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.

You are right. The "22GB of LTE data and unlimited 2G data for $80" is too confusing. They should just go back to 10GB for $100. Then people like you would have nothing to complain about -- or not.

 

[jujufreeze]

It IS NOT a throttle. It IS NOT a data cap. What it IS, is deprioritization.

So why don't carriers advertise "Unlimited until deprioritized"? Not as catchy? The marketing ploy of Unlimited is dishonest at best.

 

[NachoGrande]

I finally broke down and switch off of my unlimited and 200 text message plan. I was being stubborn and it ended up costing may more than I needed to pay. I was paying 160 for two phones. I got that down to 90 with ulimted data and text and $25 off of my DirecTv.

 

[ssl0408]

I have AT&T as my service provider and their data speeds are awful. It would be nice to switch to T-Mobile but when I need to make a phone call that's when there's a problem. My dad uses T-Mobile and lives in NYC; his calls are always dropping and he sounds like he's in a tunnel most of the time. I just can't trust T-Mobile for cell phone service.

 

[sparkhill]

it is now a better deal to add your iPad to your Unlimited Plus plan ($20/month) rather than keep the old iPad unlimited plan ($30/month).

 

[macTW]

It isn't a throttle and it isn't a cap. You are misinformed. As is 90% of anybody else you talk to about this.

It is by definition a throttle. Try using a dictionary.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I I just can't trust T-Mobile for cell phone service.

I switched to TMob from ATT recently. This is very true. The service is great in DC but when I travel up and down the east coast it gets unreliable, both phone and data. They also still have a problem inside buildings. I'm loving the lower price and the perks like TMob Tuesday but I'll probably have to switch to VZW before too long.

 

[furi0usbee]

"Will" shouldn't be in the headline.

In this case, "may" means "will." So MR just stopped playing the game and got right to the point. Network congestion could mean a million things under the sun.

As in... anything you say *may* be used against you in a court of law. HINT: EVERYTHING you say that CAN be used against you in a court of law WILL be used against you.

 

[thadoggfather]

Think iPad unlimited sim prices will plummet on eBay now?



(I still don't want one, new UDP with tethering is fine for me)

 

[MH01]

Is $29 unlimited good in the US?

 

[aristobrat]

In this case, "may" means "will." So MR just stopped playing the game and got right to the point. Network congestion could mean a million things under the sun.

AT&T's been doing the "may" thing on pretty much all of its unlimited plans since 2015.

Haven't see any MacRumors mega-threads full of AT&T customers complaining about their service speeds going to crap after 22GB.

What are you basing your "may means will" comment on?

 

[OneMike]

OK, so then why did you make your unfounded comment about ATT? You don't know of a less expensive tablet plan than the $30 grandfathered one and where you are ATT is at least as reliable as the other cellcos. You were essentially spouting off against ATT for canceling a plan that you don't have and not really familiar with it's competing plans.

It's not unfounded. As with the unlimited iPhone plan that increased in price and was changed several times. The same is happening with the tablet plan. I could write a very detailed post but it's not that serious to me.

If you're happy stick with it. I don't like the current Mac lineup. That doesn't mean I shouldn't state that because I can't name another company that makes Mac computers.

Not going back and forth.

 

[dannyyankou]

I don't have an issue with slowing down speeds during network congestion, but they're saying they'll slow speeds for the rest of your billing period. I don't like the sound of that.