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Best USA Carrier for Unlimited iPhone Data?

HappyDude20

HappyDude20

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jul 13, 2008
3,688
1,479
Los Angeles, Ca
Hi all,

So i've been with Verizon for years, i even had their old unlimited data plan but was forced to go off of it for using close to 30gb-70gb's a month.

I now have this 6S w/ me from Verizon, which is unlocked and im wanting to go to a different carrier such as Tmobile or Sprint or even ATT but need the unlimited data. Hell, if I could tether this unlimited data to my MBP that would solve a lot.

Any advice?

*edit: bear in mind my using 30gb-70gb's a month was all with my old iPhone 4 on 3G data
 
Your best bet is probably T-Mobile or sprint. If you have cricket wireless in your area you may could try them.
 
I would say Sprint. T-Mobile's only UD plans now are the TM1 and TM1+. T-Mobile can terminate you for more than 50% of your use being tethering.
 
Applejuiced said:
Where did you hear that?
I never heard of anyone getting terminated because of tethering on Tmobile.
Click to expand...
No such thing. Complete b.s.

What T-Mobile has done is to nerf nearly all tethering so that download speeds are reduced dramatically. This has pissed me off, cause it not only effects new subscribers, but even true unlimited plans like mine that I've had for years!
Right now, I'm getting 32megabits per second dl speeds on my iPhone 7+ and tethering to my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. The Tab S2 is only able to get 15mbps dl speeds, but many times it is 90% slower than my phone.
For those going to T-Mobile now, expect to get 512kbps!!!! That's about the same as AOL gave you a decade or more ago!
Link: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/...plan-with-unlimited-tethering-and-hd-options/

You could go to Sprint, but their coverage is worse than T-Mobile and they have caveats for tethering too. And simply forget about ATT and Verizon if you want to tether!
 
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Lloydbm41 said:
No such thing. Complete b.s.

What T-Mobile has done is to nerf nearly all tethering so that download speeds are reduced dramatically. This has pissed me off, cause it not only effects new subscribers, but even true unlimited plans like mine that I've had for years!
Right now, I'm getting 32megabits per second dl speeds on my iPhone 7+ and tethering to my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. The Tab S2 is only able to get 15mbps dl speeds, but many times it is 90% slower than my phone.
For those going to T-Mobile now, expect to get 512kbps!!!! That's about the same as AOL gave you a decade or more ago!
Link: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/...plan-with-unlimited-tethering-and-hd-options/

You could go to Sprint, but their coverage is worse than T-Mobile and they have caveats for tethering too. And simply forget about ATT and Verizon if you want to tether!
Click to expand...

I have the Simple Choice Unlimited and my plan comes with 14GB's of Mobile Hotspot.
And after that tethering gets throttled to half a mb.
Still good for the price that Im paying.
I wasn't expecting unlimited full speed tethering and I dont expect Tmobile to terminate my account either.
 
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Thor_1 said:
Source?
Click to expand...
Applejuiced said:
Where did you hear that?
I never heard of anyone getting terminated because of tethering on Tmobile.
Click to expand...
Lloydbm41 said:
No such thing. Complete b.s.

What T-Mobile has done is to nerf nearly all tethering so that download speeds are reduced dramatically. This has pissed me off, cause it not only effects new subscribers, but even true unlimited plans like mine that I've had for years!
Right now, I'm getting 32megabits per second dl speeds on my iPhone 7+ and tethering to my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2. The Tab S2 is only able to get 15mbps dl speeds, but many times it is 90% slower than my phone.
For those going to T-Mobile now, expect to get 512kbps!!!! That's about the same as AOL gave you a decade or more ago!
Link: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/...plan-with-unlimited-tethering-and-hd-options/

You could go to Sprint, but their coverage is worse than T-Mobile and they have caveats for tethering too. And simply forget about ATT and Verizon if you want to tether!
Click to expand...
OK.

Understand that I am speaking ONLY of the T-Mobile One and One Plus plans. Not Simple Choice, not any other data plan. Further, understand that T-Mobile only offers UD for NEW customers on the TM1 and TM1+ plans.

So, to be CLEAR, if you have ANY T-Mobile UD plan that is NOT TM1 or TM1+ being terminated for using more than half your data for tethering DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU!

That said. Call BS if you want, but here's the relevant part in terms and conditions:

T-Mobile ONE Fair Usage Commitment

The T-Mobile ONE Fair Usage commitment is how we ensure that the highest number of customers have the best possible experience for the most common uses on our network. To ensure that smartphones and tablets have fair access to the network, we will monitor mobile hotspot/tethering usage on a regular basis to ensure that mobile hotspot usage is both reasonable and fair. The T-Mobile ONE service is designed to be used primarily on smartphones and tablets. The T-Mobile ONE mobile hotspot features are intended for personal mobile connectivity, not intended to be a complete broadband replacement for multiple users over an extended period of time. If a customer is in the top 3% of data users during a billing cycle (over 28 GB/mo.) and using their device as a mobile hotspot for the majority of their use over an extended period of time – we may contact you to discuss your plan and your options.
Click to expand...
Emphasis mine…

http://www.t-mobile.com/company/company-info/consumer/internet-services.html

That's what it says. If you want to interpret this any other way than that is your perogative.
 
Lol there is no plan these days that will alot you that much data on an UL plan...
 
eyoungren said:
OK.

Understand that I am speaking ONLY of the T-Mobile One and One Plus plans. Not Simple Choice, not any other data plan. Further, understand that T-Mobile only offers UD for NEW customers on the TM1 and TM1+ plans.

So, to be CLEAR, if you have ANY T-Mobile UD plan that is NOT TM1 or TM1+ being terminated for using more than half your data for tethering DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU!

That said. Call BS if you want, but here's the relevant part in terms and conditions:


Emphasis mine…

http://www.t-mobile.com/company/company-info/consumer/internet-services.html

That's what it says. If you want to interpret this any other way than that is your perogative.
Click to expand...


There's always disclaimers and such but have you personally saw or heard of anyone getting their account terminated for tethering on a TM1 plan?
Interpreting the part that says if you abuse it we may contact you to discuss your options and interpreting it as we will disconnect you if you use more than half of your data on tethering is completely different.
 
Applejuiced said:
There's always disclaimers and such but have you personally saw or heard of anyone getting their account terminated for tethering on a TM1 plan?
Interpreting the part that says if you abuse it we may contact you to discuss your options and interpreting it as we will disconnect you if you use more than half of your data on tethering is completely different.
Click to expand...
Me personally? No.

However, I am frequently on the T-Mobile reddit and there have been a number of T-Mobile employees pointing out to several people who wanted to replace their ISP with TM1 or TM1+ that T-Mobile's T&Cs allow the company to drop them.

Perhaps it is an extreme measure I am automatically jumping to, but considering how Legere went after data 'abusers' last year I'm not so sure.
 
Its going to be really hard to replace your home internet and try to tether to multiple devices on a daily basis with 0.5mbps speeds.
Off course anyone abusing it can get notified and contacted by their wireless carrier to discuss other options but jumping in and saying they will disconnect you without any supporting evidence doesn't sound very logical.
 
Applejuiced said:
Its going to be really hard to replace your home internet and try to tether to multiple devices on a daily basis with 0.5mbps speeds.
Off course anyone abusing it can get notified and contacted by their wireless carrier to discuss other options but jumping in and saying they will disconnect you without any supporting evidence doesn't sound very logical.
Click to expand...

AJ, I'm not arguing with you and if I came across as hostile that's not what I intended.

I was asked for a source though and that's the best I could find.

The only other sources I can proffer are T-Mobile employees on the T-Mobile reddit making the exact same statements I have.

Granted, that's not definitive proof and again I may be jumping straight to an extreme conclusion. But I try not to repeat information I'm really fuzzy on.

Of course the employees could be wrong and this is not an OFFICIAL T-Mobile reddit, but for myself I'd rather err on the side of caution.
 
HappyDude20 said:
Hi all,

So i've been with Verizon for years, i even had their old unlimited data plan but was forced to go off of it for using close to 30gb-70gb's a month.

I now have this 6S w/ me from Verizon, which is unlocked and im wanting to go to a different carrier such as Tmobile or Sprint or even ATT but need the unlimited data. Hell, if I could tether this unlimited data to my MBP that would solve a lot.

Any advice?

*edit: bear in mind my using 30gb-70gb's a month was all with my old iPhone 4 on 3G data
Click to expand...

T-Mobile all the way!!!!
 
eyoungren said:
AJ, I'm not arguing with you and if I came across as hostile that's not what I intended.

I was asked for a source though and that's the best I could find.

The only other sources I can proffer are T-Mobile employees on the T-Mobile reddit making the exact same statements I have.

Granted, that's not definitive proof and again I may be jumping straight to an extreme conclusion. But I try not to repeat information I'm really fuzzy on.

Of course the employees could be wrong and this is not an OFFICIAL T-Mobile reddit, but for myself I'd rather err on the side of caution.
Click to expand...

No arguing bro, we're just having a conversation:)
From what I read and heard from local Tmobile stores is they will not disconnect you.
They will just throttle you. And depending on the amount of data you use you might get a phone call but that's on extreme cases where 1 line racks up 100-200GB in one month.

One detail to keep in mind is that T-Mobile’s network prioritization is still in effect with these plans. That means that customers that use more than 26GB of data per month may have their data slowed.
 
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eyoungren said:
OK.

Understand that I am speaking ONLY of the T-Mobile One and One Plus plans. Not Simple Choice, not any other data plan. Further, understand that T-Mobile only offers UD for NEW customers on the TM1 and TM1+ plans.

So, to be CLEAR, if you have ANY T-Mobile UD plan that is NOT TM1 or TM1+ being terminated for using more than half your data for tethering DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU!

That said. Call BS if you want, but here's the relevant part in terms and conditions:


Emphasis mine…

http://www.t-mobile.com/company/company-info/consumer/internet-services.html

That's what it says. If you want to interpret this any other way than that is your perogative.
Click to expand...
And NO WHERE on any form or written document, regardless of plan, does it say you will be terminated from carrier usage for using or tethering excessive data. (Unless you are found to be doing something illegal, then you have more than the carrier to worry about anyway).

So again, what was said was b.s. Even your links don't support what was posted before.
 
HappyDude20 said:
for using close to 30gb-70gb's a month.
Click to expand...
Assuming you meant between 30 and 70.

Regardless, that's surprising Verizon kicked you off for using less than 70GB unless you were using a hotspot. I heard Verizon was really only going after customers using hundreds of GBs and/or those using their SIMs in hotspots.

I previously used over 100GB/month regularly. Now I try to keep it under 100GB every month and use my AT&T unlimited plan when I don't really need the faster speeds. So far I've used a little over 72GB this month on Verizon with 3 days left in my cycle.
 
Lloydbm41 said:
And NO WHERE on any form or written document, regardless of plan, does it say you will be terminated from carrier usage for using or tethering excessive data. (Unless you are found to be doing something illegal, then you have more than the carrier to worry about anyway).

So again, what was said was b.s. Even your links don't support what was posted before.
Click to expand...
Okay. You're right. I'm wrong.
 
clunkmess said:
AT&T is the best. They MAY reduce your speed in congested areas after 22GB of usage but won't reduce it to 4G speeds like T-Mobile does.

You must have DirecTV to qualify for unlimited though.

https://www.att.com/shop/wireless/u...0000PSM01P&WT.srch=1&source=ECPS0000000PSM01P
Click to expand...
I really liked my Grandfathered UDP on AT&T. I would have kept if they gave a little effort to make us feel like a valued long time customer... but they don't hide the fact they want to get rid of my GFUDP.

I have Simple Choice unlimited data through T-Mobile. Don't notice any reduced speeds. I average 40gb/mo. I don't get those annoying text messages from T-Mobile that they will reduce speeds on congested towers like I did with AT&T every month. This is my usage last billing cycle:

oct16data.png


AT&T speeds are faster in my neighborhood, but over all satisfied with T-Mobile. We are cable cutters for 8+ years so DirecTV isn't an option for us.
 
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