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Data Plan Comparison: Unlimited Options From T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint
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Yes there is. Unlimted means no stoping of data usage but does not guarantee speed.
Tmobile wont stop you from using data but if you're a heavy volume user in a place where many other people are on the same tower you goto the back of the line until the tower get less congested or you change locations.
You could use 100gb a month and at 3am have full speeds but if you're downtown at 10am it 'could' slow to unusable speeds.
Some people don't want to pay for internet or use wifi and then complain they get slower speeds when they needed it. Thats the chance they take for not being more mindfull of their usage
I don't mind someone correcting me if my thinking is totally off. AT&T should be ashamed of themselves. When you have a head start on the competition and you don't put money into your infrastructure to be the best...you should be ashamed of themselves. What were they doing with all the iPhone money when nobody else had the iPhone (that seems like so long ago)? I bet their executives got some nice bonuses.
Oh, and I'm a AT&T customer. In some ways I think they all suck.
No, these are entirely different concepts to anyone familiar with network technology. "Throttling" means you are slowed down no matter what. "Deprioritization" means you are slowed down only if it is overcrowded. Deprioritization is nothing new (you can read up on QoS). Every significant data network in history has a way to deal with overcrowding by reducing service in some way-- it's a necessity for networks to operate.
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More likely, just "unusable" for streaming.
Same here. I get the text message every month, and they haven't throttled my speed yet. Seems like they are being honest about saying "only when necessary".
In my previous experience with AT&T, they would throttle my speed every single time, even if I was a single byte over the limit.
I doubt Sprint users have the patience to use that much data.
Most of the stuff I haven't used, but the free T-mobile shirt they sent me and the countless free frosty coupons for Wendys have been nice.
Also T-mobile's DIGITS is sweet. I hope it's priced right after the beta ends.
The $160 from T-Mobile includes taxes and fees where as the $180 from Verizon does not include taxes and fees.
Verizon actually sucks. In Asia one can take out their SIM card and place it in any device they want to use. If you have a different cell phone or iPad you could take SIM card out to use it where stupid Verizon will not allow you to do so without charging you extra for doing so.
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Verizon actually sucks. In Asia one can take out their SIM card and place it in any device they want to use. If you have a different cell phone or iPad you could take SIM card out to use it where stupid Verizon will not allow you to do so without charging you extra for doing so.
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You are right, it depends on where you live. One has to pick a provider that has cell towers near their home and work. This will be different for each person depending on where they work and live. Within a mile of a cell tower and you got good cell reception. The closer the better
After 10 years with AT&T, I moved to T-Mobile last Friday.
I called AT&T to talk to them before making my decision. None of the "options" they gave me were options at all. Either more expensive or limited in the offering. They seem to have given up altogether and are tone deaf. They really seem to be wanting to appear to care while knowing that their customers likely won't switch. Well, I had been contemplating it for a long time, and their customer service person made it real easy to law the decision.
Yes, T-Mobile's "bars" of signal strength aren't quite as high, but I still get better speeds than I did with AT&T. The fact that taxes and fees are included, their international features are the best by far, and they have forced all these changes on the industry, means that they deserve a chance. Oh, and the $150 per line rebate is nice too!
I called AT&T to talk to them before making my decision. None of the "options" they gave me were options at all. Either more expensive or limited in the offering. They seem to have given up altogether and are tone deaf. They really seem to be wanting to appear to care while knowing that their customers likely won't switch. Well, I had been contemplating it for a long time, and their customer service person made it real easy to law the decision.
Yes, T-Mobile's "bars" of signal strength aren't quite as high, but I still get better speeds than I did with AT&T. The fact that taxes and fees are included, their international features are the best by far, and they have forced all these changes on the industry, means that they deserve a chance. Oh, and the $150 per line rebate is nice too!
Not sure where you live in Key Biscayne, but my mother lives there and has T-Mobile. Aside from when she's getting near the KB side of the big bridge, her reception is fine.
In the center of Key Biscayne it's true T-Mobile reception is ok. But if one lives in Key Biscayne right after Ocean Club going south toward the ocean there is almost no reception. And at the Key Biscayne Light house and surrounding park AT&T has 5 bars and T-mobile has "no service".
I'm sure you're right. It has been a long, long time since I've been down to the lighthouse. I can say that just south of Ocean Club it's still all right, maybe on down to the Towers, but I haven't even been down that far. It's too bad that their reception near Bill Bags is so bad; their offering is a lot better than AT&T's.
I have been with AT&T for last 14 years. Got UDP with iPhone and stayed this long since I could get a new iPhone subsidized every 2 years. They used to permanently throttle UDP after 2 GB usage till couple of years back. 2 GB. No hotspot. Well, I am planning to leave now that they are increasing UDP price.
T-Mobile coverage has improved a lot in last 5 years where I live, so that is one option.
Another option id ATT GoPhone plan - 4GB for $40. tax included, hotspot included. same coverage and speed. Can anyone think of any cons of going with AT&T prepaid? I haven't seen people commenting on it.
T-Mobile coverage has improved a lot in last 5 years where I live, so that is one option.
Another option id ATT GoPhone plan - 4GB for $40. tax included, hotspot included. same coverage and speed. Can anyone think of any cons of going with AT&T prepaid? I haven't seen people commenting on it.
I just contacted them via their website's chat and they dropped the $20 SIM kit/activation fee to $0.99.
On top of that they currently have a promotion for those switching from other carriers. For a single line, they will give you a $150 prepaid MasterCard.
This is going to save me over $360/year compared to my grandfathered AT&T "unlimited" plan, which only includes 450 voice minutes, 1500 text messages, and no tethering. That's excluding the one time $150 sign-on gift.
I know many people in my area who are on T-Mobile and everyone I've asked has said they're happy with their coverage areas and speeds.
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I use 16.5gbs in 8-9 days I still have a conspiracy about this. When they used to throttle at 5gbs, I would always hit 75% exactly 8-9 days in. Now, I'm doing the same type of browsing but more than 4x the usuage? Scams I tells ya. Scams!
Say goodbye to any help from the FCC, for the next four years at least. Expect to see rising costs for cable and broadband and an increase in abusive and deceptive tactics, including efforts to charge differently depending on what services you use online (aka, the end of net neutrality.)
You summary is inaccurate, our at least misleading. Anyone who lives in or near a major metro area and uses their phone during rush hour is almost certain to encounter network congestion. During those times, "deprioritization" will be effectively the same as throttling.
The good news is that 22GB a month is a huge amount of data for a smartphone. Most people use somewhere between 3-5GB a month. So unless you spend your day watching HD videos on your phone while on a cellular connection, you're unlikely to ever come near that threshold.
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Yes and no. CDMA networks like Verizon's have always had this limitation. Verizon came up with a workaround a couple of years ago, but it only works while you're on their LTE network on a supported device.
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With AT&T I get a free subscription to Sunday Ticket and unlimited data. T-mobile offers to subsidize DirecTV Now subscription. Not sure what incentives Verizon offers.....
And I can't imagine anyone using over 20GB of data a month on a smartphone unless they're using their wireless service to replace their home internet.