Not true. If you have it now, you can keep it. If you do not have it now, order it before June 7th.
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Checking AT&T iPhone Data Usage History
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Not true. If you have it now, you can keep it. If you do not have it now, order it before June 7th.
Flaw in this reasoning...
Part of the PR message is that the network will be less congested. If you're saying less than 2% of users are under the new 2GB cap, then how is this helping with congestion? This is AT&Ts pre-emptive strike for the future of mobile data usage, not a plan to help congestion today. My .02 cents.
Part of the PR message is that the network will be less congested. If you're saying less than 2% of users are under the new 2GB cap, then how is this helping with congestion? This is AT&Ts pre-emptive strike for the future of mobile data usage, not a plan to help congestion today. My .02 cents.
Because those 2% who are over the 2GB cap are using more than half the bandwidth of the network.
The amount of data over EDGE and 3G should be the same for the same activity, except you can do it faster on 3G. Limited speed does not somehow make the data you are getting smaller.
If you don't want your Exchange account taking up so much data, you can always turn off PUSH for that account and control how often you want it to get data.
But with Verizon you get an additional 5gb of data for tethering in essence giving you 10gb total. At least that's what the articles i've read seem to say.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/06/verizon-confirms-droid-tethering-cost-will-ask-subscribers-to-d/
I would have no issue paying to tether if I got an additional amount of data to tether with. That's the issue.
I was referring to new subscribers.
And trust me, AT&T will no doubt remove this option from grandfathered plans. They won't let you remain unlimited.
You are limiting the experience the same way McDonalds limits your experience by having you pay for every burger you order. This is the same way you are limiting the experience of your car by having to pay for each gallon of gas you use driving it. This is a very normal limitation. So basically, I really don't think you are making a valid point.
With the ability to buy extra GBs at $10 a pop, this isn't even expensive. You can get 3GB for $35 a month under this new plan. Only $5 more than current unlimited plan. Has anyone used more than 3GB on their iPad yet? How are doing that? Once you have a hundred apps and bunch of movies and TV shows loaded on it (which is where you will probably be in a few months) do you think you will really need to stream that much new content when you aren't in a wifi zone? Don't you people have wifi at home? You must sync with you home computers as well, right? That should allow you to load up your iPad with a ton of stuff to cover you in roaming situations.
I can answer that. Simply we are not using pandora/streaming radio.
But the reason I do not and the reason why this could be a reason shortly, especially is you decide to switch to the 2GB plan is one simple word "MULTITASKING".
If you have the 3GS or get the new iphone you will now have the ability to multitask in OS4. This opens up the high possibility that we will take advantage of data usage in ways we did not before. In the case of streaming radio/pandora I stopped using it since I could not use this in the background, while doing other things. Many people may be now utilizing multiple data apps at the same time (GPS + Sirius/Pandora/Streaming radio), where before it was only one or the other.
AT&T knows this and this is why they set the date as what we all believe as the release date for the new phone and OS. Many people will jump ship and switch plans, thinking the usage will the same as pre iPhone OS4, thus why not save a few $$. Remember, not all apps will be released on day 1 that take advantage of SDK's for background processing. So it may be months down the line when data usage starts to creep up and soon you are going over and no way to go back. I would not jump ship/plans so soon. If you are not eligible to upgrade or do not think you will upgrade so soon then you have a choice to make. But remeber, you can't go back. Personally I will probably wait 6 months and pay $30 for the insuance to see how usage goes.
I also would love for the same people posting here to save a copy of their charts and if they have a 3GS or get the New iphone HD/4G, report the same figures in the next few months, after apps are updated to allow for background processing, to then compare.
But it's analogous to the Comcast "unlimited plan" situation - the people who yell the loudest are the ones who are the outliers, not the majority-type users. You have to filter responses with that in mind.
Having said that - if I had a 3G phone I'd probably be using more than 2G a month, so this would piss me off as well. It's a good time to wait and see what's happening with the other carriers (and, as has been mentioned, Android phones). AT&T has always tended to be overpriced for what they offer. Relatively speaking, that is - ALL US carriers are overpriced compared with most of the first world, of course.
And you have hard data to verify:
1) 2% is indeed the number of users over 2GB
2) The 2% is indeed using over half the network bandwidth
I will say this again, this is a pre-emptive strike by AT&T to get more money in the long run. This isn't about network congestion. This is about user data usage habits going higher and higher in the long run. How much data did you use on a Nokia 6230 back in the day vs an iPhone 2g vs iPhone 3gs vs the next big thing
Think about it.
I'm of mixed opinions on this change. On the one hand I'll save 10 bucks on me and my wife's iphone plans (heck, I could save even more on my plan, I don't often use more than 200 MB). On the other hand, I have a 3G iPad on the way ... but it won't be here for about two weeks, so I won't be able to get the unlimited option -- and I'm thinking it's a lot more likely I'll rack up big data on the iPad than on my iPhone.
Also, the $20 tethering charge is crap. I can see charging extra if the plan is unlimited, but if you're going to put a cap on it there isn't much justification for charging more for the privilege.
Also, the $20 tethering charge is crap. I can see charging extra if the plan is unlimited, but if you're going to put a cap on it there isn't much justification for charging more for the privilege.
A) If Apple thought this was a good thing, they would have announced it themselves next week.
B) I would be nice if someone asked AT&T how much total bandwidth it would save them if every user used < 2GB. My guess is, not very much -- unlike home broadband, the speed throughput limit means that those 2% who use more than 2GB a month aren't using exponentially more, and are unlikely to comprise more than 5-10% of total usage. So this is mostly about charging users more (see C), than about saving their wires.
C) This is going to make Jobs's cool announcements about video chat a lot less cool. And announcements about anything else, for that matter. Stream your music and TV from the cloud! Just don't do it for more than a couple hours a day of music (you never listen to more than an hour of music on the road, do you?) or a few minutes of video a day. And please keep your chats to under 15 minutes a day -- don't want to have to pay another $10 just to see your girlfriend! And Oh, one more thing ... no, sorry, I can't tell you any more cool stuff, you're already at your cap!
Remember, every time something new catches on -- video Facebook, say? -- we use more bandwidth. 2GB might be 98% of users today, but in only a couple years, it will be 65%, or 5% if something like video Facebook were to catch on. I'm sure AT&T will then generously introduce a 5GB plan for only $39. Great price! Only $10 more than we used to pay for infinite!
B) I would be nice if someone asked AT&T how much total bandwidth it would save them if every user used < 2GB. My guess is, not very much -- unlike home broadband, the speed throughput limit means that those 2% who use more than 2GB a month aren't using exponentially more, and are unlikely to comprise more than 5-10% of total usage. So this is mostly about charging users more (see C), than about saving their wires.
C) This is going to make Jobs's cool announcements about video chat a lot less cool. And announcements about anything else, for that matter. Stream your music and TV from the cloud! Just don't do it for more than a couple hours a day of music (you never listen to more than an hour of music on the road, do you?) or a few minutes of video a day. And please keep your chats to under 15 minutes a day -- don't want to have to pay another $10 just to see your girlfriend! And Oh, one more thing ... no, sorry, I can't tell you any more cool stuff, you're already at your cap!
Remember, every time something new catches on -- video Facebook, say? -- we use more bandwidth. 2GB might be 98% of users today, but in only a couple years, it will be 65%, or 5% if something like video Facebook were to catch on. I'm sure AT&T will then generously introduce a 5GB plan for only $39. Great price! Only $10 more than we used to pay for infinite!
Definitely you should. I, for one, look forward to not having to pay for part of your usage
It does when you can't stand EDGE and put off surfing till later.. Example:
This is my usage over EDGE on my original iPhone. I hate to use my phone on EDGE these days so I usually wait until I'm near WiFi. I can't wait for the new iPhone so I can finally upgrade off my original. I loved the original and all, but these days it's certainly getting a little long in the tooth. Especially after playing on the iPad and my GF's 3GS. My phone isn't jailbroken, or tethered or any of that.
So I'm worried since if I had 3G I would use my internet a lot more when I'm out and about. So those of us with the original iPhone data plan (it was only $20 a month, vs $30 for the 3G data plan.) what happens when we get the new iPhone in a few weeks? Will I be screwed or will I be grandfathered in?
Hahaha. How could you have missed my post just 6 above yours?
All of us on unlimited plans are going to keep them. Expect no better service than you're already getting.
Your rolley-eyes should be looking at yourself. There's no reason to assume that capacity and usage will remain the same. Niether has ever stopped rising so there's no reason to expect them to now.
Think it through a little: AT&T is in a race to raise capacity faster than usage. They don't need to lower current usage to win the race, just slow down the rate at which overall usage is increasing. One way to do that is capping only new subscribers. (Of course, capping all users would help them even more, but they don't want to resort to that for the obvious reason that they would risk winning the race the wrong way: by losing subscribers.)
Wow! Just curious, what do you use it all for?
Unfortunately for you, I'm betting they'll come up with a way to kick you off that plan sooner or later. Perhaps there will be alternatives by that time.
Im not switching
That main one is me, and the second is my wife.... since then she has "figured out teh internetz"
..watch out AT&T you have started a jailbreak rebellion
That main one is me, and the second is my wife.... since then she has "figured out teh internetz"
..watch out AT&T you have started a jailbreak rebellion
I'm getting screwed
I actually looked back further than 6 months. It turns out that only 1 out of 12 months did I use less than 2GB. My phone is jailbroken but most of the data I use is not specific to the jailbreak and I use tethering RARELY. Even if I did not jailbreak, my data usage would still be this high with legitimate usage.
I actually looked back further than 6 months. It turns out that only 1 out of 12 months did I use less than 2GB. My phone is jailbroken but most of the data I use is not specific to the jailbreak and I use tethering RARELY. Even if I did not jailbreak, my data usage would still be this high with legitimate usage.
I think 2GB is generally enough, the only time I went over 2GB was the first month I got my iPhone. My data plan in Canada is $30/mo for 6 GB with tethering included, the plan was only available for a short time so I jumped on it but really I've never even come close to that limit.
I tether 2 hours a day, including an hour of streaming live hockey games @ 400 to 700kbps on my way home every once in awhile and since I got it 11 months ago I've used a grand total of 19.3GB... 6.6GB on the phone itself and 12.7GB through tethering. Considering I went through a whopping 2.2GB in the first month I got it when it was all still a novelty to me, in the 10 months since that's 600MB/month on the phone and 1.1GB/month tethering.
I tether 2 hours a day, including an hour of streaming live hockey games @ 400 to 700kbps on my way home every once in awhile and since I got it 11 months ago I've used a grand total of 19.3GB... 6.6GB on the phone itself and 12.7GB through tethering. Considering I went through a whopping 2.2GB in the first month I got it when it was all still a novelty to me, in the 10 months since that's 600MB/month on the phone and 1.1GB/month tethering.
the way networking gear works is that it's not designed to be used at 100% capacity. ideal is 20% to 30%. 50% to 80% you think about upgrading to something faster and anything over 80% it's unusable since you get packet collisions that destroy themselves.
so if they want to have 10GB of usable bandwidth, AT&T needs to plan on having 2 to 3 times more raw bandwidth which will be unused