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AT&T should throttle "unlimited" users at 20gigs and when it does it should be at 1.5

KPOM said:
I managed to exceed 5GB recently, mostly as a result of streaming iTunes radio in a rental car that didn't have satellite radio. I travel a lot for work. Regular e-mail and usage accounts for about 1-2GB per month. I read my newspapers (WSJ, Economist, etc.) online. I use hotel wi-fi as much as I can, but it can be slow or unreliable.

In any case, AT&T and Verizon are happy to sell 15GB and 30GB mobile share plans for as few as 2 users, so obviously they can see people downloading that much.
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And since they do sell those plans, they can also see people paying more for 15 and 30 GB of data than the 30 bucks a month that unlimited plan customers pay.

I do get the frustration. We had UDPs here until last month. Started with them in June 2007 with the first iPhone.

I got sick of being throttled, so I switched. No throttling.
 
bunnicula said:
And since they do sell those plans, they can also see people paying more for 15 and 30 GB of data than the 30 bucks a month that unlimited plan customers pay.

I do get the frustration. We had UDPs here until last month. Started with them in June 2007 with the first iPhone.

I got sick of being throttled, so I switched. No throttling.
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True, but the gist of the complaint from the FCC is that they advertised these as "unlimited" plans, not "5GB" plans. Verizon recently backed off plans to throttle its grandfathered UDP users, but so far AT&T seems to be pushing back. AT&T has a better capacity constraint argument than Verizon (since they have less spectrum in many major cities and are resorting to carrier aggregation a lot more quickly), so my guess is that they will reach some sort of compromise in which AT&T either raises the limit or throttles at a faster speed.
 
Plutonius said:
I agree with you. AT&T should cancel all the old unlimited plans.
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Sounds like someone is upset they aren't on unlimited anymore. I'm sorry, but if a few years ago I was paying $30 for unlimited, why should I have to spend hundreds of dollars now for the same thing?
 
Having had 3 iPhone's on the unlimited plan my monthly usage was around 6Gb per Line. I'm on my phone all the time but I think it's a joke that you expect to be able to stream everything all the time for $30. It really is abuse of their network. Try to make excuses but YOU are the reason throttling started. I wouldn't mind if all carriers got rid off their unlimited plans so the rest of us wouldn't have to subsidize you abusers.
 
KPOM said:
True, but the gist of the complaint from the FCC is that they advertised these as "unlimited" plans, not "5GB" plans. Verizon recently backed off plans to throttle its grandfathered UDP users, but so far AT&T seems to be pushing back. AT&T has a better capacity constraint argument than Verizon (since they have less spectrum in many major cities and are resorting to carrier aggregation a lot more quickly), so my guess is that they will reach some sort of compromise in which AT&T either raises the limit or throttles at a faster speed.
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My guess is that if they are forced, they may temporarily do away with the low-speed throttle, then get rid of the old unlimited plan altogether. They will, of course, honor the plan through the end of any contracts people have. Those off contract will have to choose a new plan.
 
Does anyone know for sure that the Mobile Share 20GB, 30Gb or whatever plans are also not throttled? These plans too don't make any promises about the speed of data delivery... Even if they are not throttling now, they may have reserved the right to throttle anyone at any time at any limit.
 
mtneer said:
Does anyone know for sure that the Mobile Share 20GB, 30Gb or whatever plans are also not throttled? These plans too don't make any promises about the speed of data delivery... Even if they are not throttling now, they may have reserved the right to throttle anyone at any time at any limit.
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The unlimited is throttled at 5 GB. The other plans do not have any such hard limit. I'm sure data slows down if demand is high, but I doubt people notice it.
 
Bobby Corwen said:
How ridiculous is that, right? They sell us unlimited --but then its not unlimited!

Oh! Supposedly its only the speed that is limited right? Well I thought it was unlimited! Why are you limiting my speeds?

Even the word used: "THROTTLE"

It is defined as: attack or kill (someone) by choking or strangling them.

They are choking us out at .5 mbps just because we stayed with their carrier.

...And after only 5GB which today is nothing. Back when they first established the data plans, they gave us unlimited data, and severely limited minutes. Now that we don't talk on the phone anymore, they give us unlimited talk minutes, but severely limit data.

Makes sense because back then, we were using so little data that it seemed like a good deal to give a ton of data and charge more than 10$ or 20$ for it because the bandwidth could not be abused with the transfer rates of old.

Now that that has changed, I think the limits could and should be based on a more usable throttling model. The current throttling model makes it a punishment for staying grandfathered. A punishment beyond a necessary or reasonable degree for bandwidth specifically. (Its not from the point of view of looking at bandwidth capacity and working backwards to fill it just enough so there is no congestion, but rather the point of view of money and getting people pushed off and onto more expensive and limited tiered data plans.)

Well the ability to stream youtube lies somewhere just between .5 mbps and 1.5 mbps. So as a throttled user, you would still be able to use all the features on your device such as streaming video -- which is the main thing you can't do now while being throttled. 1.5mpbs is decent enough to use your device, but is also just still a drop in the ocean compared to 30-50mbps LTE at regular paid speeds which is what is really abusing the network. Not some insignificant 0.5/1.5 mbps usage.

Then also the throttling should not punish you until after at least 20GB because 5GB is gone in a couple weeks now if you stream in the car.

I went over my limit in six days during this billing cycle, doing the same stuff I used to on iPhone 5S which lasted most of the month without getting to 5GB.

I think these type of limits are more realistically fair and usable to consumers, while also maintaining a useable network thats still not too congested and would probably behave no different than it does today.

The throttling could be even more reasonable, maybe with an engaged alogarigthm that splits it into nights-and-weekends-data to alleviate more from the day and give more freedom at night during off-peak hours when they can afford the space. Like maybe you're only throttled till 7 or 9 and then its back to full speed. Or maybe tiered throttling where only the more you use and abuse it does it limit you in progressively restricting tiers.

We can treat it just like we did when we were desperate for more minutes and pushing the system to its limit by alleviating the peaks and encouraging use during down time and so on...

It should be only enough to protect their bandwidth potential but still let you feel like you are mostly un-throttled as long as you're within reason and not abusing it.
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Where have you been last couple of years? Thayve started to do that about three years ago and there is a plethora of threads abou it.
 
Menel said:
I give you this, that IS a useless link.

You keep making these odd jumps back to wired networks and net neutrality.
It makes no sense. Im not gonna follow the apples to oranges jumping and try to make sense of it. There is nothing logical to discuss.

Stay ignorant, done with you.
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From the wiki for Net Neutrality:

"Neutrality proponents claim that telecom companies seek to impose a tiered service model in order to control the pipeline and thereby remove competition, create artificial scarcity, and oblige subscribers to buy their otherwise uncompetitive services. Many believe net neutrality to be primarily important as a preservation of current freedoms."

Thats like, literally, what I was talking about in the OP. How is it an odd jump?

krashx7 said:
LOL dude do you really think its not about the money? They HAVE the money to upgrade their infastructure but they are not doing it. Data caps are not the answer to moving the industry forward. People are going to be using more and more data as we progress as a society. This practice literally holds everything back. What part of that are you not getting man?? Its not about everyone saying hey guys lets all take it easy and not use this bandwidth we pay for the way we really want to because hey we all gotta share! Its about them taking the resouces they have and MOVING the industry FORWARD. It's corprate greed. Nothing more. Unlimited data should be unlimited data. Period.

Since you posted some useless links here is one for you to read. Wake up!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ney-for-infrastructure-upgrades-no-it-doesnt/
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Netflix. Netflix. Netflix.

Thats the major culprit here. The thing that is making me have to pay almost DOUBLE the amount for the same behavior.

I currently pay 100$ which worked up until I got the 6+ and now to get the plan that would suit me would be 180$+!!!

You're telling me you can't get me something reasonable for around 100$ every month? Why are you forcing it to be unlimited minutes? I only need a few hundred now.

mainomega said:
Having had 3 iPhone's on the unlimited plan my monthly usage was around 6Gb per Line. I'm on my phone all the time but I think it's a joke that you expect to be able to stream everything all the time for $30. It really is abuse of their network. Try to make excuses but YOU are the reason throttling started. I wouldn't mind if all carriers got rid off their unlimited plans so the rest of us wouldn't have to subsidize you abusers.
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Menel said:
Another abuser trying his/her best to ruin things for the rest of us. Thank you for clarifying.

Video content, movies and such, use a ridiculous amount of bandwidth, and its constant. Locking down a portion of the spectrum from use by others. Its a total douchebag move. Wireless is limited and people have to share. Thats the entire reason for the tight bandwidth limits on wireless vs wired.
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No you know what? You guys are the ones abusing the spectrum not me over here using .5

I guarantee after I get throttled at 5GB that I won't make it it to 10GB that month. While other people are hoarding 50GB a month and giving extra money for what???

DIDNT YOU JUST SAY THE LIMIT IS SPECTRUM? NOT MONEY?

So nobody needs 20-50mbps downloads. YOU GUYS SHOULD BE CAPPED, not me.

Im already using less than 10GB a month and people have way bigger plans than that.

Why don't they cap you, and all of us, to 10mbps during peak hours, and make the prices reasonable again.

They can easily micro manage it, tier it, set simple filters and hire a team to monitor behavior and single out patterns that show actual abuse of netflix or torrenting and ACTUAL STUFF THAT TAKES FROM THE SPECTRUM.

Little jonny driving down the road wanting to watch a few youtube videos a week for his hundred bucks a month isn't the bad guy.

its the way att is doing it is greedy. They could easily make it work if they just micromanaged it instead of lumping everyone at snail speeds after years of being a loyal customer.
 
mtneer said:
AT&T charges ~$100 for 20GB and $30 for 5GB (aka Unlimited). Unless they raise the rates of the unlimited plan to be comparable with the 20GB plan, they will lose money by taking up the OP's proposal.
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You're comparing apples to oranges. The ~$100 for 20GB, which is really only 10GB unless you get a special deal by threatening to cancel, is a moble share plan that includes unlimited voice and texting. The "unlimited" plan for $30 and 5GB, is for data ONLY, and needs voice and text allotments added. With 450 min of talk and unlimited texting, for a single line, comes to $90. So I disagree, AT&T can raise their caps and still make money. The OP's proposal would be viable and maybe with the FCC investigation, an adjustment might be forth coming.
 
I'm about ready to get rid of att due to throttling. My wife and I are grandfathered in with unlimited plans. I was traveling for work a few weeks ago and my phone was damn near useless bc of being throttled.

Looking at other plans/carriers now, but can't seem to find one much better/cheaper. Looked at straighttalk, but since I travel a lot, don't think it's worth the possibility of spotty coverage/customer service.
 
We did it!!

Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

Im so happy with this change!! AT&T laxed up on throttling!

I noticed streaming was surprisingly do-able the other day!!! And when I checked to see if my cycle restarted, it hadn't.

I didnt think much of it but now I see the good news!!

Unlimited lives on!!! (I was so close to paying 40$ extra a month on my single man plan to get past throttling but I'm glad I waited it out)
 
Bobby Corwen said:
We did it!!

Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

Im so happy with this change!! AT&T laxed up on throttling!

I noticed streaming was surprisingly do-able the other day!!! And when I checked to see if my cycle restarted, it hadn't.

I didnt think much of it but now I see the good news!!

Unlimited lives on!!! (I was so close to paying 40$ extra a month on my single man plan to get past throttling but I'm glad I waited it out)
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Couldn't you have just joined the conversation already in process instead of bumping this?

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1879459/
 
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