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Data Plan Comparison: Unlimited Options From T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint
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AT&T does offer 5gb of tethering with the unlimited plan but, includes high risks. If you exceed 5gb, you'll be charged $50 for every line that exceeds it and tethering reduced to 2g speeds.
An AT&T rep talked me into t-mobile today! Haha
An AT&T rep talked me into t-mobile today! Haha
Lol. Where did you see that? Last week it was no tethering whatsoever. And yes, the AT&T rep talked me into T-Mobile too!
Except that many us live in areas that are congested ALL the time. Such is life in the big city.
I have sprint who says they will do that and I used 43gb last month and rarely was my speeds slowed. Only during the evening rush hours I have noticed it.
Just because there is a lot of use in urban areas it doesn't mean that the areas are constantly or even often actually congested resulting in actual deprioritization or at least noticeable deprioritization for users that might fall into that bucket that is eligible to be deprioritized.
Actually, that's a really good point. I'd love it if the companies that review carriers and report on bandwidth, cost, etc. would also include the percentage of people who experience throttling due to congestion. Look at it this way:
- They all claim that they won't throttle you UNLESS you're over a set limit AND the bandwidth is in high demand.
- Thus, if they do throttle, it means that they have under-estimated the necessary capacity for a specific market
- As such, the need to throttle would be considered a black-flag and one could assume that, should they not find enough people over said threshold, they'd have to throttle "normal" users (since they can't add bandwidth on demand).
If region A has more throttling on one carrier over another, it may help me decide who is the right carrier for me in I'm in that region.
Let's keep in mind that it's still depriorization rather than throttling, but information like that would certainly be welcome from the consumer side of things at least.
Scanned thru the thread and didn't see it mentioned, but if signing up with Verizon unlimited, you'll lose your corporate or educational discount. Military and veterans get to keep theirs. Also, Tablet access fee goes up to $20 from $10. With the current fees, loss of discount, and the $10 tablet access fee increase, my bill will increase at least $45 for 3 phones and a tablet (XL plan currently). Need that unlimited...
Actually, in this case, no. Yes, they all say "deprioritization" but that means "you MAY experience a reduction in speed." I'm talking about throttling here which is when they actually DO reduce your speed.
Strange. The unlimited plan started on the 17th, but there was no mention of a tethering allowance when I called in to ask about the plan on the 17th. In fact, the rep reiterated what the marketing material said, that there was no tethering allowed on the plan whatsoever.
From AT&T web page located at: https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/wireless/KM1108844
"Mobile hotspot and tethering is prohibited on AT&T unlimited plans. Learn how to change your plan to one that supports hotspot and tethering."
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I have actually been on the att/direct tv unlimited for 14 months. (I only know the time because the 1 year price bit) but, the att rep explained they added "a new" unlimited plan which was the same price but will "allow" 5gb of tethering before they slap you with $50 addition for using all 5gb..
Seems like there would/should be something about this somewhere beyond a single representative mentioning it, which unfortunately doesn't really always mean anything one way or another.
Indeed. See my link above. Maybe they've changed that, but it seems like an awfully quick about face for a company like AT&T (arrogant, expensive, tone deaf, large and slow-moving).
I found that also. If you call and speak to a rep though, they will explain their tethering plan under unlimited to you. So far the "new unlimited" plan still isn't reflecting on their website or app but, they got a "memo" of it yesterday stating its active as of the 17th
The thing with cell towers is that they are sort of like one wanting a Beer and Wine license where local people can oppose or object. All it takes is a couple of lawyers that live nearby where they want to put up a cell tower for them to object and there goes the cell tower and cell reception for everyone in the neighborhood.
Lol. If that's true, they're keeping it really under wraps! They're going to have to contend with a slew of articles slamming them for not including tethering, in addition to fixing their website content.
As you said, though, even if it's true, it's still nowhere near the plan "feature" that the others are offering. I mean, why bother backtracking if you're still offering a terrible alternative??
This is another thing that Tmobile does right. They have a new thing called Kickback that you can opt-in to, giving you a $10 per line credit for lines that use less than 2GBs per month. My 2 line plan for $100 will drop to $80 since my wife and I usually use wifi for data at home and work.
Would you explain tipping in those situations?
Do you still tip 15% with slow service?
i'm all for including the tip in the base price.
If you travel internationally go with T-Mobile. If you need to send the message to AT&T you can always switch again. T-Mobile doesn't hold you for the contract, plus they give you $150 gift card after a few months with them.
Its right on the FAQ page https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/new-verizon-plan-unlimited-faqs/
How much will the new Verizon Plan Unlimited cost me?
The unlimited data prices below include the discount for having Auto Pay and paper-free billing. The discount is $10 for multi-line and $5 for single line plans.
- Single line: $60/month for unlimited data (with Auto Pay and paper-free billing) + Line access fee(s) + Taxes & fees.
- Multi-line: Starts at $100/month for unlimited data (with Auto Pay and paper-free billing) + Line access fee(s) + Taxes & fees
- Smartphone/basic phone: $20/month
- Tablet: $20/month
- Internet device (Jetpack): $20/month
- Connected device: $5/month
- One Talk device: $10/month (multi-line plan only)
Would you really choose not to use more than 3gb if you had unlimited though? Of course not! Most use less than 3gb a month because you don't want to pay more. Plain and simple. If it were cheaper, everyone would have the unlimited plan.