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AT&T Starts Throttling Unlimited Data Users after 2GB of Monthly Usage
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That's a reason that I'm with Sprint. But don't you ever have WiFi? Steaming Netflix all the time seems like a pain over 3G.
My wife is a Siri whore (claims Siri saves her an hour a day) and she's never gotten over 500mb, so I don't think that's the culprit.
Apple was originally going to start there own Wifi/Cell network.
Since Apple has all this surplus money they need to buy Sprint and roll out there own LTE network and show everyone how it is done right.
I love all these posts shouting for a lawsuit and how their original contract says 'Unlimited' as if any of that means anything.
The only important thing that matters is that your original contracts all stated that AT&T has full right to change the terms of your contract so long as they give you ample warning and a chance to leave the contract without paying an ETF if you did not agree to the new terms.
AT&T announced publicly last July (and included a notice in everyone's August bill) that, starting on October 1st, they were amending the plan so they could throttle the top 5% of data consumers to better serve the remaining 95%.
If you did not agree to the new terms, you had months before it took effect where you could walk away from AT&T and not pay an ETF. Instead, those complaining now turned a blind eye and naively assumed that it would never effect them - even though the writing was clear that they would end up throttling at, or below, the 2GB point.
By all means, continue to cry about how unfair it is (even though you were given warning) and try to get a class action lawsuit against AT&T or the FCC involved over their changing of the terms (even though the contract you signed stated that they could). I, like AT&T, will be happy to laugh at your feeble attempts while you not only continue to be throttled to a useless speed each month, but you gladly pay AT&T for that service.
The time to raise up and complain was last August/ September. At this point, what's done is done. AT&T has made up their mind and has no reason to change it. If you want to hit them where it hurts the most, take your money and go somewhere else.
The only important thing that matters is that your original contracts all stated that AT&T has full right to change the terms of your contract so long as they give you ample warning and a chance to leave the contract without paying an ETF if you did not agree to the new terms.
AT&T announced publicly last July (and included a notice in everyone's August bill) that, starting on October 1st, they were amending the plan so they could throttle the top 5% of data consumers to better serve the remaining 95%.
If you did not agree to the new terms, you had months before it took effect where you could walk away from AT&T and not pay an ETF. Instead, those complaining now turned a blind eye and naively assumed that it would never effect them - even though the writing was clear that they would end up throttling at, or below, the 2GB point.
By all means, continue to cry about how unfair it is (even though you were given warning) and try to get a class action lawsuit against AT&T or the FCC involved over their changing of the terms (even though the contract you signed stated that they could). I, like AT&T, will be happy to laugh at your feeble attempts while you not only continue to be throttled to a useless speed each month, but you gladly pay AT&T for that service.
The time to raise up and complain was last August/ September. At this point, what's done is done. AT&T has made up their mind and has no reason to change it. If you want to hit them where it hurts the most, take your money and go somewhere else.
Apple may have the cash, but I just don't think they have it in their DNA to run a network. Every time they try, it's crap. They just don't do services well at all. Google on the other hand could pull it off and disrupt the entire industry. A Google cell network running Android devices and iPhones with LTE could be amazing. I think Google could pull it off. They have the network experience to handle the data loads and the dark fiber to support it. I think it would destroy the status quo of the current reign of carriers and their policies. Not only would Google benefit, but the consumers of data would too. Here's hoping for G-Mobile sometime in 2012.
re: throttling
hello! i got the message this month and currently being throttled ,it was in NYC, and "supposedly" i am in the high 5% with 2.1 Gb of data when it happened with 20 more days in my billing cycle remaining .
What i did next and i think that all of us unlimited plans customers should do : ,is streaming Netflix 24/7 or as much as i can ,currently i am at 6.5 Gb hopefully i will reach at least 15 G by the end of my cycle , i don't know if it helps us the unlimited folks in raising the 5% treshold ,but at least i feel good about consuming as much data from my unlimited plan as i can .
What is so funny about that is that i never used more than 2 ,maybe 3 Gigs since i had the unlimited plan till now and been with AT&T since they where called cingular ,they the dicks from AT&T finally succeded to make me use a lot more data ,throttled of course but i feel good that at least i am sticking it to them somehow ,i don't know if it affects them ,but at least i feel good about it ,is that wrong how i feel ? i guess not ,and i urge you all unlimited customers to do the same ,try it you might feel good about it , and i will continue doing that till i get the next iphone 5 ,hopefully LTE enabled ,and i will buy it unlocked and then see which carrier to switch to .**** off and your throttling At&T,sincerely your loyal and pissed customer for 15 plus years .
hello! i got the message this month and currently being throttled ,it was in NYC, and "supposedly" i am in the high 5% with 2.1 Gb of data when it happened with 20 more days in my billing cycle remaining .
What i did next and i think that all of us unlimited plans customers should do : ,is streaming Netflix 24/7 or as much as i can ,currently i am at 6.5 Gb hopefully i will reach at least 15 G by the end of my cycle , i don't know if it helps us the unlimited folks in raising the 5% treshold ,but at least i feel good about consuming as much data from my unlimited plan as i can .
What is so funny about that is that i never used more than 2 ,maybe 3 Gigs since i had the unlimited plan till now and been with AT&T since they where called cingular ,they the dicks from AT&T finally succeded to make me use a lot more data ,throttled of course but i feel good that at least i am sticking it to them somehow ,i don't know if it affects them ,but at least i feel good about it ,is that wrong how i feel ? i guess not ,and i urge you all unlimited customers to do the same ,try it you might feel good about it , and i will continue doing that till i get the next iphone 5 ,hopefully LTE enabled ,and i will buy it unlocked and then see which carrier to switch to .**** off and your throttling At&T,sincerely your loyal and pissed customer for 15 plus years .
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Is this even legal, idk why I even deal with this bull. I'm just going to go to Sprint, I know they're not as fast but they will progress and their speeds are way faster than if I get "throttled."
As customers we should be pleased but instead we get this crap.
Is this even legal, idk why I even deal with this bull. I'm just going to go to Sprint, I know they're not as fast but they will progress and their speeds are way faster than if I get "throttled."
As customers we should be pleased but instead we get this crap.
freedom isnt free.
My GF got throttled at 2.2gb, now shes all paranoid haha. This is in southern california. I think 2gb is way too soon, somewhere closer to 5gb would be a good compromise, but who am I to be speculating on this.
Words that used to mean something, but now mean nothing:
"Free"
"Exclusive"
"Live"
and now:
"Unlimited"
"Free"
"Exclusive"
"Live"
and now:
"Unlimited"
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Soo true. I had no idea how much power these companies had until the past couple of years. I just don't understand how this is allowed, especially when they are marketing the iPhone 4s as being faster on their network in addition to this. This is pathetic....I can't wait for an LTE iPhone to come out, I will be jumping ship at that point. Besides AT&T doesn't have a chance to get near Verizon in their LTE coverage. Not a good idea to tick off your loyal customers (those that joined in the time of unlimited plans) when you won't be able to compete with Verizon's LTE....HSPA+ is great compared to 3G, but let's face it, it's nothing near LTE speeds.
whooleytoo said:
Soo true. I had no idea how much power these companies had until the past couple of years. I just don't understand how this is allowed, especially when they are marketing the iPhone 4s as being faster on their network in addition to this. This is pathetic....I can't wait for an LTE iPhone to come out, I will be jumping ship at that point. Besides AT&T doesn't have a chance to get near Verizon in their LTE coverage. Not a good idea to tick off your loyal customers (those that joined in the time of unlimited plans) when you won't be able to compete with Verizon's LTE....HSPA+ is great compared to 3G, but let's face it, it's nothing near LTE speeds.
People don't have a problem with them cutting off people using 10gb of data a month, but I think cutting people off at 2gb is a bit much and needs to be looked at....
I'm not sure if you understand how averages work, but you are most definitely wrong. An average amount of data would be calculated by taking the entire amount of data used and dividing by the entire number of users in a given area. That in no way guarantees that the areas with higher smartphone ownership have higher average dat usage.
I can't even imagine using more than 500MB per month. I've not reset my data logs since the very first iPhone and I've used a total of 10GB down and 2GB up!
I don't see how Google could pull this off any better then Apple?
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I can easily use 2GB a month, just surfing and listing to music.
In the past I've somewhat understood AT&T's position. If you remember how this all started, Apple made AT&T offer unlimited data as a term of getting the exclusive iPhone contract. That was in a different world where data levels (and speeds) were MUCH lower.
AT&T made the business decision to grandfather uses into unlimited, even though they could've required them to change when they signed a new contract. This decision has been interpreted by a lot of users as a constitutional amendment they have an unalienable right to.
In the big picture, expecting any carrier in the US to provide unlimited data in a world where users can easily wrack up 10s of MB worth of data is unrealistic. And I could even understood where clear abusers (who used many times the tiered data plan amounts) could be throttled.
But their latest move was simply a dick move. If you want to move people to the tiered plan, just be upfront about it. But throttling users who are 33% UNDER the current $30 plan is a slap in the face to your long term users.
End unlimited with the next contract and force people to move. Some will complain, some will leave, but at least they can make a decision. Throttling your users out of the blue is going to give them the type of negative experience that will be a lot more bitter than changing the contract terms.
AT&T made the business decision to grandfather uses into unlimited, even though they could've required them to change when they signed a new contract. This decision has been interpreted by a lot of users as a constitutional amendment they have an unalienable right to.
In the big picture, expecting any carrier in the US to provide unlimited data in a world where users can easily wrack up 10s of MB worth of data is unrealistic. And I could even understood where clear abusers (who used many times the tiered data plan amounts) could be throttled.
But their latest move was simply a dick move. If you want to move people to the tiered plan, just be upfront about it. But throttling users who are 33% UNDER the current $30 plan is a slap in the face to your long term users.
End unlimited with the next contract and force people to move. Some will complain, some will leave, but at least they can make a decision. Throttling your users out of the blue is going to give them the type of negative experience that will be a lot more bitter than changing the contract terms.
Haters sure are a sensitive bunch.
There were long threads like this saying things would be so much better once Verizon got the iPhone. Then when they did, the complaints about AT&T stopped & a series of Verizon hating threads started.
Perhaps nothing will stop the haters from piling on the latest cause.
Thriving on being negative must really feel good.
There were long threads like this saying things would be so much better once Verizon got the iPhone. Then when they did, the complaints about AT&T stopped & a series of Verizon hating threads started.
Perhaps nothing will stop the haters from piling on the latest cause.
Thriving on being negative must really feel good.
That's rich. You're actually calling out corporate fanboyism as mind boggling on a site that pretty much epitomizes the concept.
Explain how an area with known heavy data users... like San Jose, can get throttled at 2GB but an area with little data user, like the middle of alabama, can have no throttling what so ever. AT&T's throttling has nothing to do with the "average" use of data used in the area, but about total amount of congestion in the area. The more people in the area, the smaller amount of data it will take to trigger the throttling message.
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just got my warning text last week around 4GB in Houston Texas, anyone using more than 2GB be warned they're coming for your data
So, you can point me to the part of the agreement that specifies who and what the top 5% of users are and what amount of data quantifies as the top 5%? You can also show me in the agreement whether this is a fixed percentage or variable rate as well right?
If you can - I'll eat my words - until then - I thought not. That's where the trouble lies.
In the L.A. area and got this message after 2G usage
Yes - I also received the message. Insane since my average usage is 3 gig per month going back for years.
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Dude, verizon limits us to 5 gig per month and then the per unit fees kick in. I seem to recall $.80 per 100 meg . I would double check that though. It is a very fluid environment these days.
Yes - I also received the message. Insane since my average usage is 3 gig per month going back for years.
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Dude, verizon limits us to 5 gig per month and then the per unit fees kick in. I seem to recall $.80 per 100 meg . I would double check that though. It is a very fluid environment these days.