ATT will throttle you for 2gb of Data or more

[lordofthereef]

They certainly can. However, it is easier for a person to quit and to fire them. When you fire a person without just cause, it opens yourself up to discrimination suits and also paying unemployment benefits. However, if you quit, you lose all of those privileges.

The same goes for all of those people on unlimited plans. If AT&T terminates their contracts, it could open themselves up to a lawsuit or at least a large public relations backlash. However, if people just leave or move over to another carrier, then very little comes out of it.

You have a point, but nobody is really talking about cancelling contracts. We are talking about letting people ride out their contract and then dropping the unlimited plan from their line(s) all together. I completely agree with the risk of backlash, but it seems to me there already is backlash anyway.

 

[ap3604]

To the people being throttled and complaining:

Quit using streaming applications over 3G (Pandora, Youtube, Netflix, etc) and you won't get throttled. It's really simple if you think about it

Your used to streaming your music? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some MP3's on your phone yourself if you want to listen to music.

Your used to streaming video content? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some movies/tv shows on your phone yourself if you want to watch movies on the go.

No way in hell someone just browsing the web w/ safari and getting emails could reach 2gb. Act like a responsible adult with your data use and you won't have to worry about throttling at all. I know it was fun being a kid and not having to worry at all about how much data you were using before but now we need to grow up and put on our big boy pants ok?

 

[lordofthereef]

To the people being throttled and complaining:

Quit using streaming applications over 3G (Pandora, Youtube, Netflix, etc) and you won't get throttled. It's really simple if you think about it

Your used to streaming your music? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some MP3's on your phone yourself if you want to listen to music.

Your used to streaming video content? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some movies/tv shows on your phone yourself if you want to watch movies on the go.

No way in hell someone just browsing the web w/ safari and getting emails could reach 2gb. Act like a responsible adult with your data use and you won't have to worry about throttling at all. I know it was fun being a kid and not having to worry at all about how much data you were using before but now we need to grow up and put on our big boy pants ok?

Respectfully, I really don't think anyone needs instructions on how to reduce their data consumption. It stands to reason that if you use data intensive applications strictly on wifi, you will reduce your mobile data consumption. I will argue, however, that if you are browsing a lot of picture heavy sites or open emails with images in them, you can pretty quickly hit the 2GB cap.

That said, I think people have the right to be upset. I am upset not so much about throttling, but about pricing. $12.50 a gig (first two gigs) is a little outrageous, especially comparing data rates worldwide.

 

[ap3604]

That said, I think people have the right to be upset. I am upset not so much about throttling, but about pricing. $12.50 a gig (first two gigs) is a little outrageous, especially comparing data rates worldwide.

I agree that the pricing is bad in the U.S. for data compared to the U.K.

One thing I remember reading is that a wireless network in the U.S. has a ton of more urban ground to cover, thus making it more expensive to build out such a huge infrastructure and maintain it? Not sure really sure but made sense when I read it...

I also hate the fact that the U.K. also gets ALL of the cool phones (outside of the iPhone) MONTHS before people in the U.S. do but theres not much to be done about it. That's just the way the U.S. wireless system works (along with $12.50/gb pricing... yuck )

 

[lordofthereef]

I agree that the pricing is bad in the U.S. for data compared to the U.K.

One thing I remember reading is that a wireless network in the U.S. has a ton of more urban ground to cover, thus making it more expensive to build out such a huge infrastructure and maintain it? Not sure really sure but made sense when I read it

What you are saying makes sense, and understandable. There is a lot more ground to cover, and I have made that statement as well. However, with the increased coverage also comes increased users.

Perhaps a nice option would be to give people discounted data rates in their market (let's say a few hundred square miles) and anything outside of that is "roaming" data and is more expensive. I would bet that the majority of data people use would fit within "their market" easily.

It is somewhat interesting too that the data was so cheap before (all you can eat for $30), but so expensive now (in the states). Where/how did they come up with that pricing plan? I think this whole thing is twofold. ATT isn't just looking out for the customer. They figured out a good way to increase their income as well. Likely the only reason they didn't make their 2GB plan $30 as well is so that they could claim this was all for the customer and that they are "passing on the savings". THAT is the biggest thing that I have a problem with.

Couple all this with the fact that they are unwilling to unlock your iphone (ever), and they are unwilling to give you cheaper rates even if you are off contract without handset subsidy, there are quite a few things that warrant customer upset.

 

[ayeying]

To the people being throttled and complaining:

Quit using streaming applications over 3G (Pandora, Youtube, Netflix, etc) and you won't get throttled. It's really simple if you think about it

Your used to streaming your music? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some MP3's on your phone yourself if you want to listen to music.

Your used to streaming video content? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some movies/tv shows on your phone yourself if you want to watch movies on the go.

No way in hell someone just browsing the web w/ safari and getting emails could reach 2gb. Act like a responsible adult with your data use and you won't have to worry about throttling at all. I know it was fun being a kid and not having to worry at all about how much data you were using before but now we need to grow up and put on our big boy pants ok?

Seriously... in this day and age, without those apps, why do I even need a smartphone?

 

[lordofthereef]

Seriously... in this day and age, without those apps, why do I even need a smartphone?

Everyone has their reasons/opinions/desires/etc. I would certainly say that if I had the choice, I would rather lose all streaming content but still have the information of the world wide web at my fingertips, which, IMO, was the point of the smartphone in the first place. I do enjoy my Pandroa (luckily it really is light on data all things considered), but I enjoy being able to read the news, check the weather, compare prices of items while at a store (especially those that price match), etc. more than I enjoy being able to stream a movie on the go.

 

[ap3604]

What you are saying makes sense, and understandable. There is a lot more ground to cover, and I have made that statement as well. However, with the increased coverage also comes increased users.

Perhaps a nice option would be to give people discounted data rates in their market (let's say a few hundred square miles) and anything outside of that is "roaming" data and is more expensive. I would bet that the majority of data people use would fit within "their market" easily.

It is somewhat interesting too that the data was so cheap before (all you can eat for $30), but so expensive now (in the states). Where/how did they come up with that pricing plan? I think this whole thing is twofold. ATT isn't just looking out for the customer. They figured out a good way to increase their income as well. Likely the only reason they didn't make their 2GB plan $30 as well is so that they could claim this was all for the customer and that they are "passing on the savings". THAT is the biggest thing that I have a problem with.

Couple all this with the fact that they are unwilling to unlock your iphone (ever), and they are unwilling to give you cheaper rates even if you are off contract without handset subsidy, there are quite a few things that warrant customer upset.

I really like your response style lordofthereef

Both respectful and insightful. Appreciate the knowledge and good ideas just wanted to tell you.

Seriously... in this day and age, without those apps, why do I even need a smartphone?

Hmmm let me think of a few things...

- HTML internet browsing
- Music player
- Great camera
- Email
- Song identifying (soundhound)
- Looking at the stars (startracker)
- Password protection
- Run tracker (nike+)
- Light for when its dark (quick light)
- Audio recording of lectures
- iMessage
- TONS of games
- GPS directions (with maps on board of course)

These are just a few, I could come up with alot more but the main idea is that a smartphone is an amazing piece of technology that helps you out in ton's of ways beyond just abusing streaming applications like Netflix, Pandora, Youtube, etc

 

[lordofthereef]

I really like your response style lordofthereef

Both respectful and insightful. Appreciate the knowledge and good ideas just wanted to tell you.

Thanks. Unfortunately for me, there have been a few here that would disagree. Most of those seem to be among the crowd of "Apple made it this way. Deal with it or go get an Android". To that I just say "I'd rather not deal with it, but I do have an android"

 

[overlyunderme]

To the people being throttled and complaining:

Quit using streaming applications over 3G (Pandora, Youtube, Netflix, etc) and you won't get throttled. It's really simple if you think about it

Your used to streaming your music? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some MP3's on your phone yourself if you want to listen to music.

Your used to streaming video content? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some movies/tv shows on your phone yourself if you want to watch movies on the go.

No way in hell someone just browsing the web w/ safari and getting emails could reach 2gb. Act like a responsible adult with your data use and you won't have to worry about throttling at all. I know it was fun being a kid and not having to worry at all about how much data you were using before but now we need to grow up and put on our big boy pants ok?

What an ignorant rant. You're asking people to not use their iPhone as a smartphone but more as a regular cellphone. What's the point of getting an iPhone then? You do know that wi-fi is not available everywhere, right?

By your standards:

Wanna listen to Pandora in your car? Tough crap.

Wanna play a movie on Netflix while you're sitting at Discount tire getting your tires changed for a few hours? Too bad.

How about watching a movie on Netflix in the backseat on a road trip? Nope, not gonna happen.

Just suck it up and watch the same movies you've had on iTunes for 5 years that you've seen hundreds of times. But hey, you're saving bandwidth, right?



Also, this is not just limited to Netflix and Pandora. How about WatchESPN to see live games on the go? VEVO for watching music videos, Hulu, Slacker, iHeart Radio, Crackle, Adult Swim, 5-0 Scanner... I could go on but the point is, there are a lot more data intensive apps than you think.

 

[lordofthereef]

By your standards:

Wanna listen to Pandora in your car? Tough crap.

Wanna play a movie on Netflix while you're sitting at Discount tire getting your tires changed for a few hours? Too bad.

How about watching a movie on Netflix in the backseat on a road trip? Nope, not gonna happen.

Well that's basically the way we are headed, unfortunately. I suspect we will see a lot more compression optimization since we are getting to a point where we are trying to squeeze every drop out of the 2GB plans which seem to come standard nowadays. I am still amazing that I can stream Pandora for 8+ hours and rack up a mere 100-ish mb while streaming google music (and I have heard match) all day would easily get me hit with 6-800mb, if not more.

 

[Carlanga]

misleading title...
I have never experienced throttle on my unlimited plan and the most I have done is 6GB once, the rest of the time has been ~3GB monthly. The top 5% most be using around 15+GB I would think.

 

[ap3604]

What's the point of getting an iPhone then? You do know that wi-fi is not available everywhere, right?

See my post (#258) a few spots above on the many amazing things you can do with a smartphone beyond just abusing streaming applications

By your standards:

Wanna listen to Pandora in your car? Tough crap.

Wanna play a movie on Netflix while you're sitting at Discount tire getting your tires changed for a few hours? Too bad.

How about watching a movie on Netflix in the backseat on a road trip? Nope, not gonna happen.

Just suck it up and watch the same movies you've had on iTunes for 5 years that you've seen hundreds of times. But hey, you're saving bandwidth, right?

That's exactly what I am saying. You want to stream over 3G?... Tough

Don't get my wrong I liked it before when you could jailbreak, tether gobs of data for free and never get caught, or watch 6 movies on Netflix over 3G... but now you can't and it's up to us to adjust to the new changes.

At least that is what At&t has started saying with their actions of throttling.

There are ton's of things you can do on a smartphone to occupy your time besides streaming music and movies over 3G when you are getting your tires changed for a few hours. At&t is now forcing people to get with the times and adapt to the new changes.

It's now time for the streamers to finally adjust...

 

[overlyunderme]

misleading title...
I have never experienced throttle on my unlimited plan and the most I have done is 6GB once, the rest of the time has been ~3GB monthly. The top 5% most be using around 15+GB I would think.

I don't think you even read half of the posts in this thread. There are many people being throttled as low as 1.6GB/month (my buddy included).

----------

See my post (#258) a few spots above on the many amazing things you can do with a smartphone beyond just abusing streaming applications

But what defines "abusing"? About 6 full length movies per month would put you over 2 GB. I would hardly consider 6 movies/month "abusing".

 

[ahfu25]

See my post (#258) a few spots above on the many amazing things you can do with a smartphone beyond just abusing streaming applications



That's exactly what I am saying. You want to stream over 3G?... Tough

Don't get my wrong I liked it before when you could jailbreak, tether gobs of data for free and never get caught, or watch 6 movies on Netflix over 3G... but now you can't and it's up to us to adjust to the new changes.

At least that is what At&t has started saying with their actions of throttling.

There are ton's of things you can do on a smartphone to occupy your time besides streaming music and movies over 3G when you are getting your tires changed for a few hours. At&t is now forcing people to get with the times and adapt to the new changes.

It's now time for the streamers to finally adjust...

You love to preach this "We must adjust" Your all over these "throttling" based threads...lol. Dude do you have to respond to every one who complains on these threads with this? Were upset and we have a right to be.

 

[ap3604]

Do you have to respond to every one who complains on these threads with this?

If you don't like people responding to threads on this forum you can always go somewhere else ...

I get it though, I was just telling you how it really is (no more 3G streaming on At&t regardless of 'unlimited data'), but that isn't what you want to hear is it?

You would rather have a thread you could complain about throttling with no real productive purpose just to feel better, right?

But what defines "abusing"? About 6 full length movies per month would put you over 2 GB. I would hardly consider 6 movies/month "abusing".

Of course you don't since you benefit of taxing the system streaming movies over 3G... but At&t does think this is abusing and have changed the rules (throttling) so that you can't use 'unlimited data' as an excuse to stream tons of content over 3G anymore.

 

[Pipper99]

I really like your response style lordofthereef

Both respectful and insightful. Appreciate the knowledge and good ideas just wanted to tell you.

Yes, lordofthereef's response style was far more respectful and insightful than your insulting, name-calling rant.

I'm really tired of hearing someone with a legitimate complaint being called a childish whiner. No one on here who is complaining about throttling is whining: they have a legitimate grievance. AT&T knew what they wanted us to believe when they sold us on unlimited data: they wanted us to think that it would be unlimited in every sense of the word. Yes, they structured their fine print legalese to allow them to do whatever that they wanted, but doing so is the equivalent of the child who promises something while crossing his fingers behind his back. By causing their customers to have to be sure that AT&T doesn't have its fingers crossed when they say something, they've lost a good bit of trust.
AT&T doesn't think that using over 2gb is abusing data: they just don't like missing out on having every customer pay through the nose for each GB, and as someone else said, they're trying to make the experience as miserable as possible for the unlimited users so that they'll switch to a tiered plan: I think that that tactic is reprehensible.

Also, no one is abusing anything by using over 2gb of data. If, as AT&T claims, that the percentage of customers that use over 2gb is so small (less than 2%), then I don't believe that those users are hampering the experience for any of the 98%. I'd bet that the amount of customers that use over 5gb is infinitesimal.

Talking about "adjusting", when Verizon stated that they were going to charge a $2 convenience fee for online payments, customers "whined" loudly, and Verizon adjusted. When Bank of America said that they were going to charge their customers a monthly fee, those childish, whining people got BofA to adjust and back off of that policy.

I'm reminded of the Monty Python skit where an insurance customer comes in to make a claim, and the rep says, "I'm sorry, but your contract specifically states that any claim made by you will not be paid".

It seems to me that by asking customers to "adjust" to whatever promise (explicit or implied) on which a company chooses to renege, it's like asking those customers to buy a good lubricant for the screwing that they're getting.

Thanks for telling us "how it really is", though.

 

[ayeying]

Cutting back doesn't work unless we're paying for a limited resource already, which in that case, my parents, which both of them have a 200MB plan because they only use 15-50MB per month.

For my parents, they're paying for a limited amount of data resource, aka, 200MB.

For me, I pay for "unlimited" as stated in my contract. Unlimited, as defined, is without limit.

Now the throttling is basically just saying, hey, well, you pay more for the word "Unlimited" but in reality you're just going to be throttled to the point where even EDGE is faster then your connection. How is that fair? Without caring what I use the phone for or how I'm eating up large amounts of data, explain How is that fair to me as a paying customer?

If I was:

- Jailbreak Tethering
- Running Pandora or other Music apps without be actually listening to it
- Running Netflix for no apparent reason

Then I agree, I'd be abusing the system.

If I was:

- Listening to Pandora as a replacement of my FM Radio/iPod
- Watching Netflix on the go during my commutes/break time
- Using 3G because Wi-Fi is locked or no where near a public Wi-Fi point

Is that abuse? And Netflix easily uses up 300MB of data per episode.

 

[ap3604]

Yes, At&t structured their fine print legalese to allow them to do whatever that they wanted, but doing so is the equivalent of the child who promises something while crossing his fingers behind his back.

And you agreed to this 'legalese'...

AT&T doesn't think that using over 2gb is abusing data

Get an official quote from AT&T saying this before making assumptions...

Thanks for telling us "how it really is", though.

No problem, happy to help

 

[ahfu25]

If you don't like people responding to threads on this forum you can always go somewhere else ...

I get it though, I was just telling you how it really is (no more 3G streaming on At&t regardless of 'unlimited data'), but that isn't what you want to hear is it?

You would rather have a thread you could complain about throttling with no real productive purpose just to feel better, right?



Of course you don't since you benefit of taxing the system streaming movies over 3G... but At&t does think this is abusing and have changed the rules (throttling) so that you can't use 'unlimited data' as an excuse to stream tons of content over 3G anymore.

It's not that I don't want to hear the truth. I know what the truth is but I feel it isn't fair. You just come off as the "stop streaming" police!..lol

----------

You must work for at&t's legal department..lol

 

[ap3604]

It's not that I don't want to hear the truth. I know what the truth is but I feel it isn't fair. You just come off as the "stop streaming" police

I don't really care one bit if you end up streaming and being throttled for the rest of the month but I just want those who complain about it to understand why it happens to them and how they can avoid it in the future so they have nothing more to complain about

You must work for at&t's legal department

I got offered a job there a couple of months ago but it excluded my involvement in Macrumors iPhone forum so I turned it down

 

[Vesian]

I just want those who complain about it to understand why it happens to them and how they can avoid it in the future so they have nothing more to complain about

Humans! You use air to breath, but don't worry, you have an unlimited amount of it! Have fun!

Oh, on second thought, we take that back. 20 breaths a day. It's okay though, just take fewer breaths and you'll be fine. Have fun!


That's how ridiculous the quoted statement is.

To all those posting on this thread claiming that ATT exercising questionable methods in throttling users is a "myth" or that only those that "abuse" their unlimited plans are subject to this cap, please educate yourselves. The evidence is all around you. I received the threat of data throttling last month for downloading 2.2gb on an UNLIMITED plan. Because of that, I can understand how dangerous of a situation this is to all of us still on unlimited plans. AT&T is relying on us to stay quiet, accept their new terms as a status quo, and fade into the world of 2gb plans so they can wash their hands of unlimited plans. The question is, how low of a data cap do they need to set before we stop complaining and start taking ACTION?

 

[ap3604]

Humans! You use air to breath, but don't worry, you have an unlimited amount of it! Have fun!

Oh, on second thought, we take that back. 20 breaths a day. It's okay though, just take fewer breaths and you'll be fine. Have fun!

Did you seriously just compare smartphone data to oxygen we need to live?

How low of a data cap do they need to set before we stop complaining and start taking ACTION?

Awesome idea! Talk is cheap though so now what do we do?...

 

[Hellvalley]

To the people being throttled and complaining:

Quit using streaming applications over 3G (Pandora, Youtube, Netflix, etc) and you won't get throttled. It's really simple if you think about it

Your used to streaming your music? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some MP3's on your phone yourself if you want to listen to music.

Your used to streaming video content? Tough #&@!... either A) do it over wifi or B) put some movies/tv shows on your phone yourself if you want to watch movies on the go.

No way in hell someone just browsing the web w/ safari and getting emails could reach 2gb. Act like a responsible adult with your data use and you won't have to worry about throttling at all. I know it was fun being a kid and not having to worry at all about how much data you were using before but now we need to grow up and put on our big boy pants ok?

Actually, yes way in hell. AT&T throttled me at 2GB last month, so I decided to cut back on streaming over 3G (when I say cut back, I mean NO STREAMING PERIOD. So don't go off on a rant sense you seem to be the forum troll.) Not, this month I have used 1300MB and AT&T is threatening me with being throttled. Now, you tell me how (I know you're going to say something ridiculous) how is that fair? I am saying $30 a month for 1.5GB maybe? Oh, wait, tough @#$% right? Get real for once and stop defending AT&T.

misleading title...
I have never experienced throttle on my unlimited plan and the most I have done is 6GB once, the rest of the time has been ~3GB monthly. The top 5% most be using around 15+GB I would think.

You should really read the forum posts. AT&T is throttling well below 2GB now.

If you don't like people responding to threads on this forum you can always go somewhere else ...

I get it though, I was just telling you how it really is (no more 3G streaming on At&t regardless of 'unlimited data'), but that isn't what you want to hear is it?

You would rather have a thread you could complain about throttling with no real productive purpose just to feel better, right?



Of course you don't since you benefit of taxing the system streaming movies over 3G... but At&t does think this is abusing and have changed the rules (throttling) so that you can't use 'unlimited data' as an excuse to stream tons of content over 3G anymore.

Show proof of "Taxing the system." Oh wait, you can't. The point is, AT&T is going after Unlimited data users. Only us. anyone on a tiered plan can use as much DATA as they want (Assuming that pay the overages) without being throttled.

Example 1: 2GB tiered plan user decided to use, lets say 5GB, they will be able to use all 5GB at FULL SPEED.

Example 2: An unlimited data user decided that, "Oh, I'm going to use 3GB of data this month." Wait a second, AT&T says you can use under 2GB and then be throttled to dial-up speeds.
Do you see how ridiculous that is?
This is about greed, not network issues. Get real.

 

[ap3604]

AT&T throttled me at 2GB last month, so I decided to cut back on streaming over 3G. Not, this month I have used 1300MB and AT&T is threatening me with being throttled.

Screenshot showing this?