You guys rock... thanks... yah, it will come down to whichever is cheapest. And if the iPhone 5 is indeed longer, my wife will just get a 4S, making it cheaper overall as i am sure that will be discounted.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Grandfathered unlimited data - why the fuss?
- Thread starter KeepCalmPeople
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is a valid point. But what if they begin throttling the "unlimited" users at anything over, say, 5GB. Technically they still offer you unlimited, but now you are at a slower speed. They'll always find a way to make the money. Or they'll make it "less convenient" so stay on the unlimited. it all stinks IMO.
I don't go over 2 gb ever really maybe once a year. But i have unlimited with ATT. I guess I could change it and it would not matter. If I have to upgrade and loose it i would rather pay the no commitment pricing. Who knows I may need unlimited with 4G..
But I guess for me it comes down to I had unlimited why do I want to be limited... I will feel like I am getting something less then what I had. It's the same reason I upgrade every year. To have the best thing right....
Now if only I could get my GF to stop using Pandora over 3g and going over her 2GBs...
But I guess for me it comes down to I had unlimited why do I want to be limited... I will feel like I am getting something less then what I had. It's the same reason I upgrade every year. To have the best thing right....
Now if only I could get my GF to stop using Pandora over 3g and going over her 2GBs...
Yeah, and that sucks. But it's still cheaper than switching to a plan that gives me that 5GB headroom.
Not for me, I have to pay full retail if I buy before May. And since I travel, I'm going to buy factory unlocked anyway, which is fine since it's a tax write-off for me, then see what T-Mobile offers down the line and potentially jump ship when my AT&T contract is up, pending pricing and speed.
No what he is saying is that facetime will chew up data, which means that you will hit caps faster. Which his argument I find to be invalid in that aspect, because even on a tiered plan you have the same issue.
I've posted the fine grain details before, but I actually saved money without sacrificing service level by switching to Verizon's Share Everything plan.
Basically, neither my wife or I use more than 1GB of data per phone each month. What we did use a lot of was minutes. The Share Everything plan comes with unlimited minutes and text, and we weren't going to use all of that unlimited data anyway, so it was a no-brainer.
Overall I am saving about $30 per month from my old plan and am not restricted in our typical usage patterns.
To each their own...
Basically, neither my wife or I use more than 1GB of data per phone each month. What we did use a lot of was minutes. The Share Everything plan comes with unlimited minutes and text, and we weren't going to use all of that unlimited data anyway, so it was a no-brainer.
Overall I am saving about $30 per month from my old plan and am not restricted in our typical usage patterns.
To each their own...
For ATT. For Verizon, if you have unlimited data and you have an LTE phone, you can add tethering ($30/mo) for unlimited tethering - and this feature is still available and can be added anytime you wish.
I use my unlimited data on Verizon a lot but it changes month to month. When I have a 3G phone, it is around 1-2GB (no unlimited tethering plan on 3G). When I have a 4G phone (switched back to 4G last week), it is anywhere from 1GB up (most in a month was 80GB and change). But on 4G, I use tethering all the time for all of my devices.
My biggest data usage is streaming HBO, Netflix, iTunes and Hulu+. I don't have cable TV so if I watch something, it is streamed.
For me, giving up unlimited is a huge disadvantage. I also wonder why people think Verizon wants you to stop using so much data when they still offer the unlimited tethering for grandfathered users. If they were so concerned, they wouldn't let you add it to your line anymore! (I added it back on last week)
My bill right now is $150/mo for one phone. Unlimited everything and I utilize it enough to make it worth it for me personally.
We have 4 lines and each have unlimited data. And each line gets a 28% discount on data.
So for 4 lines each having unlimited data that's $86.40.
How much would a shared limited plan be?
I'm with ATT and have the unlimited plan. Dropping it in favor of Verizon shared plans (will initially go with the 4GB one since i have an iPad 3 as well) when i get the iPhone 5 in a few weeks.
I don't care if i pay a little bit more. For one, Verizon has better overall service and customer support. Secondly, if you're stressing about paying $10 - $15 more on your phone bill, maybe you shouldn't be using a smartphone in the first place and put that money into other things you need.
I don't care if i pay a little bit more. For one, Verizon has better overall service and customer support. Secondly, if you're stressing about paying $10 - $15 more on your phone bill, maybe you shouldn't be using a smartphone in the first place and put that money into other things you need.
I have 3 lines on unlimited data thru AT&T with a 15% fan discount making them $25.50 each. The main reason I keep them is that prices on everything, including data plans, will eventually go up. My hope is they will allow me to keep the grandfathered plans for a few more years when everyone is paying $40 or more for 5gb.
It's not an issue on tiered data plans either, because you can't do facetime over data on them either. You must have a shared data plan to utilize facetime over data.
Breakaway--Don't make using facetime over data a deciding factor if it doesn't otherwise make sense (economically). You and Granny can download Tango for free and make video calls over data all day long.
As for 'why the fuss'? Let's see. $30 for unlimited or $30 to be capped at 3GB? They forced me to purchase unlimited data when I first bought an iPhone and then they take it away, but keep the same price?
I rarely use 3+GB, but there are times I do, and I don't want to pay overages. The only other option is a 300MB plan for 20 freaking dollars? Really? If there was a 2GB plan for say, $15, I'd do it and ditch the unlimited. But it doesn't make any sense to change to a capped plan for the same price..as a matter of fact, it would be plain stupid to change on my own free will.
What made me even more irate at ATT, is what they did with the texting plans. They did the exact freaking opposite. They went from tiered plans to all-or-nothing.
And whoever said something about them having to invest in infrastructure...get real. The bank accounts of the execs at ATT are doing just fine, I assure you.
I'm in the tiny minority with Unlimited International Data - worldwide, no restrictions. It's good even in the countries where the 800 MB plan is not.
I use about 300-500 MB/month domestically so I don't really care about it in the US. I'm on wifi at home, office, and a few places I regularly visit.
When I travel overseas I use as much as 1 GB/week and never look for wifi. My last trip to Europe resulted in $3 or so in usage charges - for SMS to non iMessage users. Everything else is data.
I don't really care about LTE from ATT in the US. My market is probably three years away from having it and HSPA is fine for my uses. If I have to buy my own iPhone 5 and forgo LTE I'm also OK with that. I don't care about Facetime over 3G because I use Skype and I don't care about hotspot because my Verizon LTE iPad offers it - and VZW's LTE network is a reality today.
So that's why I'm so interested in keeping it. For others - I think it might be the idea that we don't know what we'll want to use our phones for in the future and prefer not to be restricted. Five years ago how many of us envisioned Pandora, Netflix, Slingbox, etc., all being available on our phones? (I know some people did but most did not)
Now THAT is worth holding onto! With international data rates being what they are, that must save you hundreds of dollars everytime you travel abroad... No need to unlock and swap out sims or any of that nonsense.
I just gave up unlimited on 2 or 3 phones to go to the mobile share plans. We were averaging around $100 per phone for 4 iPhones. Now I will have 6 iPhones (my parents were on basic phones) sharing 10 gig for $50 per phone (actually $45 after my 20% discount on the share plan.) I never used over 1-1.5 gig. This gives each of us 1.5 gig. I know none of us will go over. This plan is actually cheaper than the 6 gig because the phones dropped by $5 each. $5 times 6 phones is $30, which is the price difference in the plans. But with my 20% discount, the 10 gig plan is actually CHEAPER! And my mom and dad can get on the internet anytime anywhere while they are camping all summer.
The more phones you have (or combine) the better these share deals are. FWIW, I was going to go VZW but it would be more money with them because of the way ATT discounts the phones as you buy more data.
The more phones you have (or combine) the better these share deals are. FWIW, I was going to go VZW but it would be more money with them because of the way ATT discounts the phones as you buy more data.
If 3Gb/mo shared plan was CHEAPER then yes, I probably would switch over to that and just figure I'll break even if I have to pay some overages a couple times a year. However, last time I worked the numbers between unlimited and shared data with just two phones (iPhone 4S and feature phone) the price was about the same, but it added unlimited text and shared data to the feature phone. My mom has that phone and averages about 5 to 10 text messages a month and has NEVER even asked for data to be turned on for anything. So now I'm paying the SAME for nothing extra, except being able to hotspot and FaceTime, two items that will use that now limited data even faster. My unlimited will give me the same amount of full speed data (3Gig) but will NOT cost me more if i happen to travel one month and use an extra gig or two, which is actually about the amount i would use.
Right now I average about 2 to 2.5Gig a month when local, when I travel (two or three times a year for maybe four or five days at a time) it jumps to probably 3.5 or maybe even 4Gig. No way excessive but that would be an extra what, $10 two or three times a year for ZERO extra?
(iPhone acts as primary GPS unit when traveling by car and also for local directions and booking anything + the fun email and maybe an hr of streaming music every night)
Right now I average about 2 to 2.5Gig a month when local, when I travel (two or three times a year for maybe four or five days at a time) it jumps to probably 3.5 or maybe even 4Gig. No way excessive but that would be an extra what, $10 two or three times a year for ZERO extra?
(iPhone acts as primary GPS unit when traveling by car and also for local directions and booking anything + the fun email and maybe an hr of streaming music every night)
I'll fully admit, that's what I do.
Then again, I use more than AT&T's cheapest plan and the best plan they have for me is the same price as my unlimited. So I'll just use the unlimited and not worry about overage (but when they first discontinued unlimited I prolly could have gotten away with the 2GB plan and saved 5 bux a month but I would have had to been careful cause I do get close. Just 5 dollars a month to me wasn't worth worrying about overage).