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

[Channan]

I had one of these plans....sold it years ago for like $1k.

Yikes, feel sorry for the guy who bought it on eBay lol.

I'm actually shocked it took this long quite honestly.

Don't feel sorry for him. If he's been using it for years, he got his money's worth.

 

[marioguarneros]

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".
[doublepost=1493429025][/doublepost]
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.

All that you have described can be summed up in one worth, throttle.

I agree is not a cap but what they are doing is the definition of the word throttle.

Throttle

1. to obstruct or check the flow of (a fluid), as to control the speed of an engine.

In this case the fluid is your internet data.

 

[Tech198]

The fact that At&T will never change over limits is fair... I mean if are slowed down, who will continue ? Most users will drop off like flies.

Only those "nervous-nellies" that will be wanting something that bad to keep downloading.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

"Thanks for choosing us,

AT&T"

That's like a kick to the face.

Hi David we are glad you are enjoying surfing on your iPad. We are so happy we are going to pull the plug on you. Thanks for choosing us.
[doublepost=1493544936][/doublepost]

you really have no idea what you are talking about.. n AT&T rep told me after 22GB it can go as low as 128KB/s. You can barely read email at that speed. Yes it's possible they don't slow you down but you are very naive if you think that it won't be at 128KB/s a majority of the time. I used to have unlimited data on my iphone with AT&T and it was **** after you hit the cap and I don't see this being any different.

Sure they can say "deprioritized" if it is "crowded" but this a business and they will consider 2 people as crowded if it means saving money for them. The speeds will be ****.

[doublepost=1493443932][/doublepost]

I couldn't find a way to check usage at att.com/ipadlanding but if you call they will tell you how many you have used. I told them when I called that if they are putting a limit then they need a way to show us how many GB we have currently used because it's ridiculous not to have that.

128KB/s? That's as bad as using the original iPhone to put it in perspective. I did a month on T Mobile with 3 GB data and ran over and they throttled me. I was still able to load pages and use the internet. It was a bit slow but I was glad they didn't just shut my data off.

 

[chucker23n1]

I hate when articles are so misleading and click-baity like this.

The article isn't misleading.

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.

It's a throttle.

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.

You're literally describing throttling.

 

[aneftp]

22gb full speed is fair in this day and age.

Frankly even with iPhone old unlimited data and att new limited speed after 22gb announced in Sept 2015. I haven't seen slowing of my speeds. I live in proper orlando metro area. I have tested the priority slowing of internet in Disney World several times. (We have annual passes). One can assume Disney World magic kindgom is packed with tourists. But I didn't notice any slow lte speeds. My wife was under the 22gb limit and her speeds were the same as my speeds when I was over the 22gb limit.

During peak times. Internet speeds did slow down for me. I thought I was being throttled. But my wife iPhone speed test were slow as well. It was just the att network that was completely jammed at Disney over or under 22gb. Of course Disney has free wifi. So I just jump on to the free wifi.

But the point is slowing of internet after 22gb doesn't happen often for me. Maybe I'm lucky? I dunno. But after 15-18 months of att new unlimited policy. I haven't notice much of a different.

It's a lot better than the old 5gb lte cap where they slowed us down to 0.5 mpbs (which was fine for web browsing 95% of the time anyways. Videos sucked though at 0.5mpbs)

 

[jerrykur]

With the death of net neutrality and new FCC head this only going to get worse. More caps and certain traffic prioritized. Watch pay events and the picture I nice and smooth. Watch free videos and YouTube and it will stutter and stall

 

[zeram1]

With net neutrality going by the wayside, you'd think they'd want to capture more sellable "data analytics" of their user base.

 

[Channan]

The article isn't misleading.

It's a throttle.

You're literally describing throttling.

Yes it is.

No it isn't.

When you hit 22GB, your speeds aren't throttled. You're deprioritized, which means your speeds can be throttled. I use well over 22GB/month all the time and my speeds are never throttled because I don't live in a population dense location.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Everyone throwing hate on AT&T and the other carriers for having rules such as this should really be placing the blame on the customers who abused the original unlimited deals years ago. The fact that some people will pay $1000+ for an original iPad plan proves that some people are using it as a cheap replacement for their more costly home internet service. The iPad plan is a tablet/mobile data plan and was never conceived to be used a multi-user 24/7 streaming service.

So people will say "what's wrong with that? It's unlimited data so you should be able to use as much as you want!". That is true until the abuse starts affecting other users bandwidth.

 

[I7guy]

Everyone throwing hate on AT&T and the other carriers for having rules such as this should really be placing the blame on the customers who abused the original unlimited deals years ago. The fact that some people will pay $1000+ for an original iPad plan proves that some people are using it as a cheap replacement for their more costly home internet service. The iPad plan is a tablet/mobile data plan and was never conceived to be used a multi-user 24/7 streaming service.

So people will say "what's wrong with that? It's unlimited data so you should be able to use as much as you want!". That is true until the abuse starts affecting other users bandwidth.

That's all well and good, but I don't see where speed was guaranteed, only the data. And it's not even as if they are throttling the speed. The abuser is just getting their requests taken care behind the pack at the prevailing speed.

 

[AbSoluTc]

Everyone throwing hate on AT&T and the other carriers for having rules such as this should really be placing the blame on the customers who abused the original unlimited deals years ago. The fact that some people will pay $1000+ for an original iPad plan proves that some people are using it as a cheap replacement for their more costly home internet service. The iPad plan is a tablet/mobile data plan and was never conceived to be used a multi-user 24/7 streaming service.

So people will say "what's wrong with that? It's unlimited data so you should be able to use as much as you want!". That is true until the abuse starts affecting other users bandwidth.

I don't even understand how it's cheaper than home internet. Right now I am paying $75 a month for 100/100 Fios. That's much cheaper than anything AT&T offers for mobile. However I understand some people don't want to pay twice for internet, home and then mobile so they use mobile for all internet access. That doesn't seem feasible or intuitive to me. Especially as a gamer and having a connected home (hue, idevices, etc).

I also don't see anything wrong with this rule. IMO - if you're using more than 22 GB a month, you might want to re-evaluate what you're doing and put down your phone, enjoy life and the people around you. Granted there are some people who commute but everybody else, I don't know. I have 30 GB a month and I had to try really hard to consume 20 GB - that was downloading movie - 3 of them from iTunes. Monthly data use for me, I barely hit 1 or 2 GB. Always on WIFI somewhere. Work, home, etc.

 

[Tech198]

I'd much prefer a throttle, than a cap any-day... At least u can still download.... take longer, but who really cares, least u'r not charged extra. A *Cap* is where u get charged extra above the usage.

Are people really gonna download more than 22Gig's a month ? of what ? u have you home internet for that. and probably more data too.

 

[WRChris]

I have never heard of that ever happening.

Finally someone who also feels the same as I do!
[doublepost=1493437480][/doublepost]
You're in an urban area with 4-7mbps speeds? Are your uploads faster than your downloads? That's a sign of congestion.

If congestion is why speeds are down to 4-7mbps then I would be wary. I saw someone who was testing speeds before and after deprioritization. They were getting 5mbps without deprioritization and about 1mbps after deprioritization. Sometimes a little less.

However if the tower is more unloaded and speeds of 20mbps+ are common, then I wouldn't worry.

I saw videos of people who were 100GB+ and still getting speeds 90mbps+.

This all was on Verizon though, so.

If you live in an area that only gets 10mbps before deprioritization (throttling) and only get 3mbps after, one would conclude that it is effectively a data cap. You can download much more data over a 10mbps connection vs a 3mbps connection. You may have very well seen a couple videos of people with no change in speed but that may not be the case for other people. Unlimited should mean no limits(data or speed). Instead it means you pay more for "unlimited" and your data use is a lower priority than others after you have used a certain amount. They do clarify all this when you sign up but it's still not a very good way to market a service. If I pay a premium over other plans I do not expect to be a lower priority if I use the data I'm sold.
[doublepost=1493571594][/doublepost]

I'd much prefer a throttle, than a cap any-day... At least u can still download.... take longer, but who really cares, least u'r not charged extra. A *Cap* is where u get charged extra above the usage.

Are people really gonna download more than 22Gig's a month ? of what ? u have you home internet for that. and probably more data too.

Some areas get cell reception and no quality home internet. My previous home was in the sticks and all I could get was 3mbps dsl, but I had 5 bars of lte bringing in 18mbps.

 

[I7guy]

If you live in an area that only gets 10mbps before deprioritization (throttling) and only get 3mbps after, one would conclude that it is effectively a data cap. You can download much more data over a 10mbps connection vs a 3mbps connection. You may have very well seen a couple videos of people with no change in speed but that may not be the case for other people. Unlimited should mean no limits(data or speed). Instead it means you pay more for "unlimited" and your data use is a lower priority than others after you have used a certain amount. They do clarify all this when you sign up but it's still not a very good way to market a service. If I pay a premium over other plans I do not expect to be a lower priority if I use the data I'm sold.
[doublepost=1493571594][/doublepost]
Some areas get cell reception and no quality home internet. My previous home was in the sticks and all I could get was 3mbps dsl, but I had 5 bars of lte bringing in 18mbps.

deprioiritization is not throttling. Your request gets downloaded at the prevailing speed at the end of the queue. But as we know the Internet from minute to minute is unpredictable, but deprioritization is still not throttling. Seems to me these plans are the best compromise between data hogs and giving people what they want.

 

[WRChris]

deprioiritization is not throttling. Your request gets downloaded at the prevailing speed at the end of the queue. But as we know the Internet from minute to minute is unpredictable, but deprioritization is still not throttling. Seems to me these plans are the best compromise between data hogs and giving people what they want.

How is it data hogging if you pay for unlimited? So they don't slow your speeds? They just put you at the end of a queue? I've never heard or read that anywhere.

I've got no problem with the plans but they should not be called or marketed as unlimited.

 

[I7guy]

How is it data hogging if you pay for unlimited? So they don't slow your speeds? They just put you at the end of a queue? I've never heard or read that anywhere.

I've got no problem with the plans but they should not be called or marketed as unlimited.

The marketing is spot on. It is unlimited data, not unlimited data and infinite speed. Nor is your connection being throttled. You are paying for unlimited data, you are getting unlimited data. You are not guaranteed infinite speed nor are you guaranteed the order of servicing your network request.

 

[bigchief]

So, I have the unlimited plan and received the AT&T email this evening. I never checked what I use on my iPad. Is there a way to check usage?

Download the myAT&T app from the app store and it will show how much data you and everyone on your plan has used during the current pay period.

 

[Macaholic868]

Using a term like Dynamic doesn't make throttling any more palatable. (i.e. live in the sonoran desert and power company dynamically throttles power when it's 104 C, no air conditioning, yay!) If a carrier promises me unlimited data with no caveats at a set rate, I expect unlimited data at the advertised speed. If the carrier can't deliver on what it promised and I'm throttled due to network congestion, I expect a refund/rate adjustment proportional to the less than advertised speed delivered for that period of time.

In this case the carrier is promising unlimited data at unlimited speeds up to 22 GB a month after which you may be throttleded. The devil isn't in the deatails it's right out there for you to see. Buy or don't buy accordingly.

 

[lec0rsaire]

It should be completely illegal to falsely use the word unlimited in any marketing literature unless it entirely satisfies the definition of unlimited. America is the king of fine print and things are this way because nobody does anything about it. We just take it and nobody can compete with the army of corporate lawyers these companies have at their disposal and our corrupt Congress that sides with them. These companies are offering an expensive service and it is not the fault of customers that they refuse to significantly upgrade their infrastructure to handle the traffic demands of today. We're not living in the late '90s where data usage was limited to e-mail, light browsing and sub-4 MB downloads. Americans pay significantly more for phone, internet and cable tv than most other countries for inferior service. Cable TV in particular is the worst offender. Avg costs over $100 for programming filled with non-stop commercials. The corruption is repulsive.
[doublepost=1493591642][/doublepost]

In this case the carrier is promising unlimited data at unlimited speeds up to 22 GB a month after which you may be throttleded. The devil isn't in the deatails it's right out there for you to see. Buy or don't buy accordingly.

This is not like real estate or a car where you have thousands upon thousands of options. Mobile data is a necessity and every carrier is pulling the same garbage. We are now fully in the LTE era. 4G, 3G, Edge is simply unacceptable for what they are charging. There is no justification for it. Nobody is giving anybody a free lunch or doing anybody any favors here.

 

[adeedew]

My wife was fed up with AT&T, and coerced me to give up my grandfathered unlimited data plan to switch to T-Mobile. Our bill went from $170 per month on AT&T to $80 per month on T-mobile with unlimited everything. And lots of percs on T-Mobile. Wish I had dumped AT&T long ago!

Yeah but can you make a call? I think tmo is still ****

 

[tmarks11]

Are people really gonna download more than 22Gig's a month ? of what ? u have you home internet for that. and probably more data too.

People are pulling the SIM out of the ipad and putting it in a hotspot like the Unite Pro, and using it for their home internet. I have read people boasting of 500+ GB in a month.

Which is why we can't have nice things...

I don't even understand how it's cheaper than home internet. Right now I am paying $75 a month for 100/100 Fios. ... However I understand some people don't want to pay twice for internet, home and then mobile so they use mobile for all internet access.

Where I have chosen to live, the only "high speed" internet is 2.8 Mbps DSL.... I would pay $200 for decent cell service (as in 500GB cap a month), but nobody offers that. There are a lot of rural customers with the same problem. ATT has started selling "rural internet service" (500GB cap for $140), but it is only offered in a very limited market (New England).

 

[lazard]

It should be completely illegal to falsely use the word unlimited in any marketing literature unless it entirely satisfies the definition of unlimited. America is the king of fine print and things are this way because nobody does anything about it. We just take it and nobody can compete with the army of corporate lawyers these companies have at their disposal and our corrupt Congress that sides with them. These companies are offering an expensive service and it is not the fault of customers that they refuse to significantly upgrade their infrastructure to handle the traffic demands of today. We're not living in the late '90s where data usage was limited to e-mail, light browsing and sub-4 MB downloads. Americans pay significantly more for phone, internet and cable tv than most other countries for inferior service. Cable TV in particular is the worst offender. Avg costs over $100 for programming filled with non-stop commercials. The corruption is repulsive.

How did they falsely use the word unlimited? The consumer has no monthly cap on the amount of data they can use. Just because someone can't download 200GB a month at LTE speeds using their device as a hotspot doesn't mean it's not unlimited data.

 

[Packers1958]

All is right again in the world.

 

[pdaholic]

Yeah but can you make a call? I think tmo is still ****

Yeah, I've had no problems with making calls or calls dropping. Had lots of dropped calls with AT&T. I know T-Mobile's coverage is not as good, so I can see how you would be disappointed if you had issues. Fortunately in my areas coverage has been good, and you can't beat that price. If you ask me, all phone companies are, as you say, ****!