Giving Up Unlimited AT&T Plan (Switch to Different AT&T Plan): Good Idea?

[fskywalker]

Hi folks. We have three (3) I5's home, each with the grandfather AT&T unlimited plan, which as we all now does not allow tethering (can be done through jailbreak, but at risk) and with bandwidth restriction if you download "too much data". My younger son will soon need a phone (not necessarily a smart phone YET) and think my plan cannot manage a 4th sharing line in it.
A data of data consumption since late December 2013 until July 2014 is below:

I recently talked to someone (does not works for A&T) which suggested I may benefit from a newest sharing plans, which would allow tethering and potentially cost me less than what I'm paying right now (Approx $215 monthly, 2000 shared minutes, unlimited family texting, 3 unlimited data plans) for my 3 phones or even adding a fourth. He said he did the math and was a good deal and know pays less than before.

Have anyone here have willfully converted to the new AT&T plans because of benefits over the unlimited grandfather plan? (not by switching to another carrier).

Thanks,

Francisco

 

[RByers8252]

4 phones with 10gb of shared data would be 160 a month with unlimited talk and text. Plus cost of devices with next or add $25 a line for prorated pricing.

 

[jev425]

I have 3 phones under the unlimited plan still. I have looked into the new plans but for our usage it would be about the same price. Granted we would be able to tether data but I think then we would use even more data than we do now with more data access from more devices.

 

[fskywalker]

4 phones with 10gb of shared data would be 160 a month with unlimited talk and text. Plus cost of devices with next or add $25 a line for prorated pricing.

Thanks for comment, but 10GB would be too little if you look at my combined consumption for 3 Iphone 5's; if go to the next size would almost equal what I already paid.

 

[robgendreau]

You get some other benefits with the limited Share plans.

Unlimited text; since we all use more texting than before that saves since with unlimited you pay for them (and you get free unlimited intern'l tex with Share as well I think).

Unlimited voice.

Personal hotspots, although they share data.

And, of course, no throttling. Many users with lots of devices have found it better to switch.

Another sort of benefit is if you go the Next route for buying phones. The only way that program comes close to being sensible is if you want to trade up frequently and you get a discount on monthly fees; you'd probably be eligible for the $25/mo discount on a shared plan. But you don't get the discount if you are on an unlimited plan.

If you go to your account at ATT and select "change plans" it calculates your usage and gives you the options under the Share plans.

Oh, and the problem becomes adding the new phone. That will require a limited data plan. So factor that into the costs. That's usually the tipping point for many people.

 

[pooleman]

Thanks for comment, but 10GB would be too little if you look at my combined consumption for 3 Iphone 5's; if go to the next size would almost equal what I already paid.

Don't give up your unlimited data.

 

[RByers8252]

They have a 20gb share plan for $150 + 15 a line. So $210 a month.

 

[ZBoater]

Depend on your usage. The new plans have unlimited talk. These being phones, talking on them is nice.

 

[Gxray]

Looks like you could go to the 15gb shared plan for most of the year, bump it up to 20gb around the holidays (Nov/Dec) and be fine. You'd pay less, and have unlimited minutes/texting. I found it worth it but it's really up to you on how much you value unlimited. I don't really see a scenario in where you'd pay more than what you currently do though. Also, as people have said, there's other benefits to being on mobile share. $150 for 15gb a month and $15 each line would mean $195 a month.

 

[Jades]

If it's the same price and you don't need the unlimited talk then stick with what you have now for as long as possible. The usage is definitely high enough that it's too much of a headache to police everyone in the family to use less data off wifi

 

[fskywalker]

You get some other benefits with the limited Share plans.

Unlimited text; since we all use more texting than before that saves since with unlimited you pay for them (and you get free unlimited intern'l tex with Share as well I think).

Unlimited voice.

Personal hotspots, although they share data.

And, of course, no throttling. Many users with lots of devices have found it better to switch.

Another sort of benefit is if you go the Next route for buying phones. The only way that program comes close to being sensible is if you want to trade up frequently and you get a discount on monthly fees; you'd probably be eligible for the $25/mo discount on a shared plan. But you don't get the discount if you are on an unlimited plan.

If you go to your account at ATT and select "change plans" it calculates your usage and gives you the options under the Share plans.

Oh, and the problem becomes adding the new phone. That will require a limited data plan. So factor that into the costs. That's usually the tipping point for many people.

Thanks. I check into my AT&T account and 20Gig would be approx $195 for 3 lines (less a 18% corporate discount I have). The thing that worries me is that once switched, there is no coming back to the unlimited.

 

[nostresshere]

Though we did the 10gb plan like another poster, you would need 15.

At the same time, you may well a user or program that is sucking up data that you are not aware off. For example, one user was blasting through usage when her work changed her wifi login,so it reverted to cell data. Once fixed, 3-4gb a month fell off.

I am so glad I dropped unlimited - it was a waste of money. Then we got tethering as a bonus.

 

[drober30]

I'm switching our three phones. 10GB will be enough for us and for the occasional 1 or 2 months we might go over it's $15 for each GB so its not that big of a concern. In the long run I will save on my data plan and upgrading will be easy.

 

[jev425]

Now that tethering was mentioned. What about the tethering feature apple announced for ios 8?

 

[ZBoater]

Now that tethering was mentioned. What about the tethering feature apple announced for ios 8?

What about it? If you are on an unlimited plan, it still won't work.

 

[rui no onna]

They have a 20gb share plan for $150 + 15 a line. So $210 a month.

Before phone costs. His current plan already includes 3x $450 subsidy. I say stick to the old plans.

 

[AppleKash]

I would not give up my Unlimited Data Plan.

That said however, its safe to say their Throttle policy effectively renders their unlimited data plan CRAP.

I guess we can look it as our 5GB data plan, in which case, its some what cost effective. I can't quite figure out what price att charges for 5Gb..

 

[Becact]

Guys, there is no such thing as "unlimited" data on ATT. Yes, I had it as well. However, they throttle you to under 1mbps after 5gb. This is clearly laid out in their policies. I was getting about .35 Mbps every time I hit 5gb (which was every month). I switched to the share plan and now have more data (than 5gb) for less cost.

 

[vitacura]

But it's still unlimited. Maybe not high speed, but unlimited with no overage charges. Thankfully I have not been throttled yet, despite going over 5GB a few times.

 

[jlake02]

AT&T is only "unlimited" in name. The throttling is such a joke it makes your device pretty worthless after 5 gigs.

I left my "unlimited" plan this month. I've had it since 2007. Looking forward to the hotspot and no throttling.

 

[MattMJB0188]

The AT&T unlimited data plan has NO value anymore. Even if they don't throttle at 5GB in every market, its not truly unlimited. There WILL be a point where it gets cut off. Unlimited high speed data does NOT exist on AT&T.

 

[flynnst0ne]

I think I'm going to give up my unlimited. It doesn't seem worth it anymore due to the constant throttling.

 

[rui no onna]

AT&T is only "unlimited" in name. The throttling is such a joke it makes your device pretty worthless after 5 gigs.

I left my "unlimited" plan this month. I've had it since 2007. Looking forward to the hotspot and no throttling.

That's still 5GB LTE per line with unlimited and as of right now, it also includes $450 subsidy. Now if OP doesn't want to deal with throttling and wants new features such as unlimited talk, personal hotspot, etc, that's fine, switch to a Mobile Share Value Plan. He just has to be aware that if he upgrades each line every 2 years and uses more than 10GB data combined, the MSVP will be more expensive than his current plan after factoring in device costs.

 

[Cool Pup]

Never give up unlimited unless you have to. Not like the internet will suddenly stop using more bandwidth. The bigger files are, and the more the world runs on the cloud, the more data you'll need to use.

Maybe they'll actually offer unlimited data again (lol), until then, keep it as long as you can. That's my advice.

 

[Steviejobz]

keep it at all costs. Your usage with new phones will only increase.