Is 256 Kbps download speed the bare-minimum of what is considered "3G" speed, or is that still considered "EDGE"?
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Clauses in AT&T Contracts Have Always Provided for Limits on 'Unlimited' Data Plans
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Then I guess Verizon has to stop selling 3G phones, too. They've got pretty much the exact same throttling going on, and for the exact same reasons.
READ YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN IT. If you didn't read it (and understand it), you shouldn't have signed it. If you did, then you're just whining about nothing right now because you knew that this was a possibility, and you signed it anyway.
The difference being that they will throttle the tower you're on, not your entire service for the rest of the billing cycle. So if you leave that area and hop onto a different tower, you'll be back to regular speeds......which aren't that awesome in the first place. Just more reliable, which helps quite a bit.
The word "UNLIMITED" should not be permitted for use by ANY provider in it's marketing or description of services . It is misleading at the very least and downright purposefully deceiving in this case...
AT&T has culpability here and is trying to play the "innocent"...
It's better than the whiners on these boards who are (quite successfully) playing 'stupid'. If the contract expressly says the company can do X, don't complain when the company actually *does* X. They didn't trick you, they told you up front that this was a possibility. You just weren't paying attention.
Actually I do think they would lose that test if somebody tried it.
Frommer boy sounds totally ridiculous with his reasoning.
Also, while in the contract and maybe signed how many people actually bother to read this and then say I don't want to sign this?
This issue will soon be picked up by a politician who needs to show how active s/he is.
The needs for speed and capacity has only just begun with LTE and what else is coming next.
I can see a data supply shortage like an oil shortage
Have you looked at your credit card agreements? Most, if not all, require arbitration to settle disputes versus being able to take a credit card company to court. This is considered voluntary because no one is forcing you to enter into an agreement with AT&T.
The US has something like this as well. Just because you sign something doesn't always mean it sticks. If it's unenforceable because it's against the law, it doesn't apply.
Signing a contract that states it can be changed at any time falls under this category. It's just legal-speak that tries to make people think they can do it. They can't change the terms of the service in the future without letting you determine whether or not you want to continue.
The only items this doesn't apply to is if something is already deemed variable, as in interest rates. If their plan stated that the amount of data you received would be variable based on their decision, then they'd have you by the balls.
Otherwise this really is just false advertising/deceptive sales. Too bad it takes a lawsuit to enforce it. That's why the guy won $850 the other day in CA when he sued AT&T. Of course they'll appeal - it will end up costing the guy thousands to defend. At that point, it deters others from doing the same thing.
It's not about right and wrong here in the US - it's about who has the most money and the best legal team.
Not even close.
Use 3GB/mo on the 3GB plan, and you're a valued customer.
Use 3GB/mo on the 'unlimited' plan, and you're a valued customer.
Use 4GB/mo on the 3GB plan, and you're an exceptionally valued customer because you just contributed another $10 toward their build-out costs.
Use 4GB/mo on the 'unlimited' plan, and you're a valued customer.
Use 20GB/mo on the 3GB plan, and they absolutely *love* you for the extra $170 you're paying.
Use 20GB/mo on the 'unlimited' plan, and you've tied up huge swaths of shared resources that you aren't meaningfully contributing toward increasing. (aka: a 'data hog')
AT&T (and Verizon) are building out their networks as quickly as they can. It can take upwards of two *years* to get the building permits needed to add a tower somewhere. Absent additional towers, there's only so much spectrum available. (After a point, adding towers won't help either.)
The contract forbids it? It says that AT&T forbids itself from providing tethering? I have to admit, I do not remember reading that, even if it is a strawman.
Anyway, I'm not about to jailbreak my phone to get tethering -- but it is technically possible. I'm using about 150MB/mo on my "unlimited" plan. It sure would be nice to be able to get my email on my laptop sometimes while on the road -- VIA my iphone, but I can not with my current plan.
I can, of course, switch out from unlimited (or choose a new plan, once they
stop allowing me to continue with my current plan) -- and pay for bandwidth and then pay more for the privilege of being able to tether.
Honestly, what I'd like to see is $50/mo for 5GB (or whatever for 2GB, 3GB, etc) w/ $0 for the "privilege" of being able to tether.
*AND* if/when I get close to a limit, a nice reminder -- and when I get this limit -- 0. cut me off. I'm not paying for overages. (I also don't sms).
Who knows -- I'm skipping the 4s (have the 4) and going to the 5. Will the 5 have LTE? Will I need to choose a new plan then? Time will tell and I am patient.
Scott
I wasn't aware that this was Verizon's policy. That is awesome and as an AT&T unlimited plan user I would be very happy with that.
Honestly, I don't believe that fine print should be allowed on anything that states unlimited in the title. (Yes, this includes T-Mobile's "Unlimited" plans; however, they make it abundantly clear when you sign up that they will throttle you after an agreed upon usage (how much usage depends on how much you are willing to pay), but I don't think they should be allowed to even call this an unlimited plan, data plan with no overage costs, sure, but not unlimited).
In AT&T's case, they sold it as an unlimited plan, then they want to put limits on it. Sorry, unlimited means without restrictions (as long as it is legal).
At least AT&T does not appear to be going after business accounts at this time, that would be really bad. In our case we work in the engineering field and will quite often have to download and forward emails with 10MB attachments (that's at least 20MB of data each time we do so). This can happen as frequently as 10-20 times in a single day. So we would be talking about 200MB per day or about 5.5GB in a month at just 10 times per day. We have some users hit 18GB without any tethering (I know, because I administer the accounts and monitor the phones). Now I understand that non-business users will use only a fraction of this, but the point is that 3GB at high speed is not the unlimited that was promised to them.
In AT&T's case, they sold it as an unlimited plan, then they want to put limits on it. Sorry, unlimited means without restrictions (as long as it is legal).
At least AT&T does not appear to be going after business accounts at this time, that would be really bad. In our case we work in the engineering field and will quite often have to download and forward emails with 10MB attachments (that's at least 20MB of data each time we do so). This can happen as frequently as 10-20 times in a single day. So we would be talking about 200MB per day or about 5.5GB in a month at just 10 times per day. We have some users hit 18GB without any tethering (I know, because I administer the accounts and monitor the phones). Now I understand that non-business users will use only a fraction of this, but the point is that 3GB at high speed is not the unlimited that was promised to them.
This throttling policy treats the 4GB and the 20GB user on an unlimited plan the same way, after 3 GB's... I would go so far as to say that if you have an unlimited plan and use more than 3GB's AT&T views you as a problem, not a valued customer.
How does using a phone's normal functions get you anywhere near 1.5GB a month, let alone 3GB?
Speaking of a strawman...
The contract doesn't forbid AT&T from providing tethering, nor did I make any such claim. The contract explicitly says the *user* is not allowed to tether. AT&T can (and does) offer plans where tethering is allowed for an extra fee, or included in the base price. The unlimited plan was (and is) not one of those. I find that mildly annoying, and have considered switching from it to one of the limited plans to enable tethering, but I haven't made the jump yet.
On the other hand, if I were to tether anyway, and AT&T discovered it (and believe me they can), they are fully within their rights *according to that same contract* to either cut me off completely or change my data plan to one which *does* allow tethering. The second option is more likely, because those plans are more expensive (because of the different usage patterns creating more stress on the network).
I may be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure the $50/5GB plan includes tethering at no additional charge. (I think it's an additional $10 on top of the $40/3GB plan.)
Not true. They apply the throttle, and there is no problem.
If you want to use more than 3GB, switch to the tiered plan. Then you will be paying for your overage, and AT&T can use that extra money to expand their network.
You're, right. They do treat you the same way after you go past 3GB on the unlimited plan. They let you keep using data *at no additional charge*. You're probably not a problem when that 3GB threshold happens near the end of the month. You're almost certainly a problem for them when that 3GB threshold happens halfway through the first week of the month.
Note: AT&T hasn't said they're going to throttle everyone as soon as they hit the 3GB threshold. They've said they're not going to throttle anyone *until* they hit that 3GB threshold. (There's almost certainly some lag between the announcement, and their actually getting all of the transmitters and supporting systems configured properly for that, but that's to be expected on any non-trivial network.)
AT&T is not a network but a branch off Verizon.....
I think it's funny how AT&T started this whole thing right after verizon made the move to no offer unlimited data, and also if your on AT&T and visit dslreports.com it says the Verizon owns the ip address on my iPhone and it may not be the same everywhere but it's the case in Hawaii! Remember AT&T was a bust before the iPhone and to spit back in the people that brought the company out of a point when it stopped existing in the mobile industry is just the tell signs of greed and the fact the it's network is not all its own but another company's with a different name. All I know is the government is all about control at this time and having the world think its got options for things like mobile service is a way to dumb down the world! But if anyone is thinking I'm a nut then look up the HAARP project and tell me after you look into that that I'm a nut. HAARP (is weather control) but I say everyone needs to drop the iPhone and go back to real socializing like we did in the good old days.... Look where mobilization has got us! Empty pockets and minipulation by company's that just want you pay check and give you less then you signed up for! FTW
I think it's funny how AT&T started this whole thing right after verizon made the move to no offer unlimited data, and also if your on AT&T and visit dslreports.com it says the Verizon owns the ip address on my iPhone and it may not be the same everywhere but it's the case in Hawaii! Remember AT&T was a bust before the iPhone and to spit back in the people that brought the company out of a point when it stopped existing in the mobile industry is just the tell signs of greed and the fact the it's network is not all its own but another company's with a different name. All I know is the government is all about control at this time and having the world think its got options for things like mobile service is a way to dumb down the world! But if anyone is thinking I'm a nut then look up the HAARP project and tell me after you look into that that I'm a nut. HAARP (is weather control) but I say everyone needs to drop the iPhone and go back to real socializing like we did in the good old days.... Look where mobilization has got us! Empty pockets and minipulation by company's that just want you pay check and give you less then you signed up for! FTW
Nah, I still think they view anyone over 3GB a problem, there'd just be too much of a PR mess if they were to revoke the plans. They want everyone on tiered plans, they just haven't figured out how to do it yet.
I don't think there's anything wrong with my iPhone 4S. I think it may have been partially because I was "pushing" my email from one account and having automatic checking too often, but still doesn't explain 1) why I was throttled while well under 3gb, and why I was throttled down to 120 kbs and slower.
oh reality .. how can I ever stay mad at you?
"Please get over your emotional battle -- and extinguish any legal threats, that's silly -- and join us in reality."
Thanks for that.. I'd love to invite Marketing and Legal to a 3-way conference call with us in reality.
'Cause you use a word like "Unlimited", it has one definition : without limit. Otherwise, you really should be using the more appropriate words "3gb / month" or "5gb / month" etc. That is reality.
Corporations just hate it when the words their Marketers use are used against them. Sorry Marketers .. but you have just joined reality!
"Please get over your emotional battle -- and extinguish any legal threats, that's silly -- and join us in reality."
Thanks for that.. I'd love to invite Marketing and Legal to a 3-way conference call with us in reality.
'Cause you use a word like "Unlimited", it has one definition : without limit. Otherwise, you really should be using the more appropriate words "3gb / month" or "5gb / month" etc. That is reality.
Corporations just hate it when the words their Marketers use are used against them. Sorry Marketers .. but you have just joined reality!
Replace "upwards of" with "at least", and your statement will be much more accurate. In places like SF and NYC, it's estimated that it can take even upwards of 7 years for permits to clear. The iPhone is about 6 years old, so assuming AT&T has been pouring money into infrastructure expansion, in places where permits take longer to clear, everything's probably still in progress and held up by red tape and NIMBYs.