So I'm among the top 5% of wireless data users

[iMikeT]

I received a text message from AT&T about being among the top 5% of wireless data users earlier today and I just had to share it with the community. I'm really proud of myself for this honor.

But seriously, why is there a cap or even reduced speeds for an unlimited 3G data plan? What kind of garbage is this?

 

[mikethebigo]

In the case of this still growing technology, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Still sucks though. Would love for 3G/4G to be as uninhibited as landline systems, but that's just not the case.

 

[appleguy123]

How much data do you use?

 

[iMikeT]

How much data do you use?

Typically around 10GB per month. But since I heard the news that AT&T was reducing 3G data speeds I really stuck it to them and have been consuming as much 3G data as I can. I think I finished last month at well over 22GB.

I checked my AT&T account and I was at 11GB when I received the text message about reducing my speed.

 

[spikefood]

Typically around 10GB/month. But since I heard the news that AT&T was reducing 3G data speeds I really stuck it to them and have been consuming as much 3G data as I can. I think I finished last month at well over 22GB.

I checked my AT&T account and I was at 11GB when I received the text message about reducing my speed.

What do you stream so much in order to hit that high of a data use?

 

[iMikeT]

In the case of this still growing technology, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Ha, how many of the many actually use as much 3G data as the few? Many people I know don't even come close to 1GB per month.

Still sucks though. Would love for 3G/4G to be as uninhibited as landline systems, but that's just not the case.

Yup, same here. That's why we need better telecoms with real competition here in the USA. The AT&T/T-Mobile merger is a terrible idea for us customers.

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What do you stream so much in order to hit that high of a data use?

You call 10GB per month "high" data usage? I usually blow through 10GB each day at home when I'm on my iMac using my cable internet service.

If you must know what I'm streaming, at the moment I'm streaming a live broadcast of a webcast to my iPhone 4 over 3G.

 

[mikethebigo]

Ha, how many of the many actually use as much 3G data as the few? Many people I know don't even come close to 1GB per month.

Yea, that's the point. While you're melting the 3G tower streaming Netflix and torrenting, others are getting slower speeds while you use up the available bandwidth. You're basically the equivalent of 22 people on the network when you download 22 GB.

Yup, same here. That's why we need better telecoms with real competition here in the USA. The AT&T/T-Mobile merger is a terrible idea for us customers.

Totally agree. The tech isn't quite there yet, but it's improving. Problem is, AT&T still owns a lot of spectrum that they're not even using. I know they say it's tough to put in towers because of all the regulatory crap they have to go through, but honestly, if you look at AT&T's BILLIONS of profit, there's no way they couldn't be doing more. The buying T-Mobile because of the spectrum crunch line is mostly ********. They just are lazy.

 

[iMikeT]

Yea, that's the point. While you're melting the 3G tower streaming Netflix and torrenting, others are getting slower speeds while you use up the available bandwidth. You're basically the equivalent of 22 people on the network when you download 22 GB.

Well I can only stream from official sources on my iPhone so torrents, which I never do anyway, is out of the question. And yes, I can and do stream that much content per month.

What I don't get is why is it that I can't get what I am paying for, truly unlimited data, when no one else uses theirs? I can't imagine there being that many 3G smartphone users that stream 3G data as much as I do in my area.

There are also a lot of unanswered questions about this. How slow are the reduced speeds? Is it as slow or slower than Edge? What exactly is the data cap to meet for me to get reduced speeds? Will I be compensated for not getting the unlimited 3G data that I am paying for?

Totally agree. The tech isn't quite there yet, but it's improving. Problem is, AT&T still owns a lot of spectrum that they're not even using. I know they say it's tough to put in towers because of all the regulatory crap they have to go through, but honestly, if you look at AT&T's BILLIONS of profit, there's no way they couldn't be doing more. The buying T-Mobile because of the spectrum crunch line is mostly ********. They just are lazy.

Actually, AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile is not entirely about gaining the towers as they would like everyone to believe. It's more about getting T-Mobile's customers and making them AT&T customers, only monopolizing GSM here in the USA. There was a report that was leaked where it would cost AT&T only 3.5 billion dollars to build new towers whereas they are offering 35 billion dollars to acquire T-Mobile. It doesn't take a genius to realize that this deal doesn't smell right.

Lazy, perhaps. Greedy, more like it. The bottom line is that it is us, the customer, who gets shafted.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

You call 10GB per month "high" data usage? I usually blow through 10GB each day at home when I'm on my iMac using my cable internet service.

If you must know what I'm streaming, at the moment I'm streaming a live broadcast of a webcast to my iPhone 4 over 3G.

home land line is very different that cellular data. 10 gigs+ of cell data is an abuse limit. your 22 gigs is a great example of why AT&T is starting the throttling and an example of why they started the tiered data system.

 

[iMikeT]

home land line is very different that cellular data. 10 gigs+ of cell data is an abuse limit. your 22 gigs is a great example of why AT&T is starting the throttling and an example of why they started the tiered data system.

First of all, I only stuck it to AT&T with more than 22GB once I received news of them throttling 3G speeds. My normal 3G usage is around 10GB per month.

Second, an unlimited 3G data plan shouldn't even be considered as a tiered/capped plan. I know that there's a difference between land line and wireless data but for the love of Delvin, it's unlimited to begin with! No one should be getting less of what they are paying for, in my case, an unlimited plan.

 

[kleinias]

I received a text message from AT&T about being among the top 5% of wireless data users earlier today and I just had to share it with the community. I'm really proud of myself for this honor.

But seriously, why is there a cap or even reduced speeds for an unlimited 3G data plan? What kind of garbage is this?

I think you answered your own question. Here's what you wrote in your next post in this thread:

"I think I finished last month at well over 22GB."

 

[appleguy123]

I'm glad that AT&T is throttling you. I was getting scared about using 3gb a month for a few months...

 

[iMikeT]

I think you answered your own question. Here's what you wrote in your next post in this thread:

"I think I finished last month at well over 22GB."

So what?

Can you show me what part of the contract that I'm currently under where my unlimited 3G data plan is capped at a specific number? Did the meaning of the word "unlimited" change overnight and I wasn't told? Correct me if I am wrong, but a meaning of the word "unlimited" is "without limit". So I should be able to consume all I want, correct?

Throttling back users' speeds is just a way of limiting an unlimited plan.

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I'm glad that AT&T is throttling you. I was getting scared about using 3gb a month for a few months...

Why would you be glad that AT&T (or any other telecom) is throttling me along with many other users with the unlimited plans we are currently paying for?

Are you on an unlimited plan using your 3GB per month?

Why should you fear using something that you are paying for? I don't fear using 10GB per month out of my unlimited plan.

 

[bgro]

So what?

Can you show me what part of the contract that I'm currently under where my unlimited 3G data plan is capped at a specific number? Did the meaning of the word "unlimited" change overnight and I wasn't told? Correct me if I am wrong, but a meaning of the word "unlimited" is "without limit". So I should be able to consume all I want, correct?

Throttling back users' speeds is just a way of limiting an unlimited plan.

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Are you on an unlimited plan using your 3GB per month?

Why should you fear using something that you are paying for? I don't fear using 10GB per month out of my unlimited plan.

I guess AT&T feels that there is abuse at a certain point. Not to say it's right or wrong as that is a matter of opinion.

I liken it to an all you can eat buffet. If you sit down on Monday morning at an all you can eat, do you think they'd let you sit for 3 days straight and continue eating meal after meal?

 

[iMikeT]

I liken it to an all you can eat buffet. If you sit down on Monday morning at an all you can eat, do you think they'd let you sit for 3 days straight and continue eating meal after meal?

The point that you're making is consuming something within reason.

At an all you can eat buffet, it would be unreasonable for a person to sit down and eat for three days straight, though I'm sure that there are very hefty people who would disagree. To continue with the same metaphor, it is also unreasonable for an all you can eat buffet to limit a customer's consumption to a specified time, for example, 35 minutes. And yes, I have been to an all you can eat where a sign is posted at the entrance that looks like, "All You Can Eat within 45 minutes".

This is exactly what AT&T is doing, giving you the all you can eat option and putting the unreasonable limit to the buffet.

There are people that have an unlimited plan but only consume a couple hundred MB per month, let's call them extremely light eaters. Then there are people who do consume upwards of 1-2GB per month, let's call them light eaters. Then there are those that consume well over 4-6GB per month, we can call them moderate eaters. Finally there are heavy eaters like me who normally consume around 10GB per month. All of this is subjective but I think that even with heavy users, that kind of usage is well within reason for a 30 day billing cycle.

When I think of unreasonable use of 3G wireless data, I think in terms of 220GB per month. That kind of usage means streaming data every waking moment during a billing cycle. Again, my 10GB of "heavy use" is well within reason compared to 220GB.

I read the email that AT&T sent me about being in the 5% club and there was a sales pitch for getting off the reduced speed of unlimited and stepping down to a tiered plan with full speed. The only catch is that the tiered plan is capped at 4GB and costs a lot more than the unlimited plan. In other words, AT&T is capping the less expensive buffet and forcing you to order from the more expensive a la carte.

 

[rossihvac]

I received a text message from AT&T about being among the top 5% of wireless data users earlier today and I just had to share it with the community. I'm really proud of myself for this honor.

But seriously, why is there a cap or even reduced speeds for an unlimited 3G data plan? What kind of garbage is this?

Same thing happend to me a few weeks ago before got my bill, I have already reached the 10gb mark this month and I am waiting for AT&T to start harrassing me again. Unlimited data is what it is supposed to be, unlimited. Not unlimited but we're gonna throttle
It and make is ridiculously slow just to be *******s. I pay an extra 30.00 a month for the privilege to use as much data as I want and that's it. I don't care who it is affecting all I care is that I can do what I want with the service i pay for.

 

[Ramio]

Does anybody know what speeds they throttle you down to?

 

[Rodimus Prime]

So what?

Can you show me what part of the contract that I'm currently under where my unlimited 3G data plan is capped at a specific number? Did the meaning of the word "unlimited" change overnight and I wasn't told? Correct me if I am wrong, but a meaning of the word "unlimited" is "without limit". So I should be able to consume all I want, correct?

Throttling back users' speeds is just a way of limiting an unlimited plan.

Lets go what a reasonable person considers all you can generally means all you can eat at 1 meal. That would be 60 mins max really. When you start hitting the 2 hour + market something are clearly wrong and hit a 2nd meal I do not think anyone would think it is unreasonable for you to be kicked out.

It is all models.

In this sense AT&T is still proving you with exactly what they promised. Unlimited data. No where did they promise you a speed. If you want to argue with me reason your contract and the advertising. You will find no where a promised speed or unlimited related to said speed. Sprint is the only carrier making said claim on their unlimited on max speed.

I though AT&T should of done this on day one when this came up. Throttle the worse offenders.

Also you can threaten to leave AT&T and they will tell you not to let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. You cost them money. They are not making profit off you. Instead they will make you someone else problem. T-Mobile honestly have the best model I feel. You pay for 3G speeds for the first X amount of data.

Does anybody know what speeds they throttle you down to?

My guess is edge speeds. That is just fine for surfing the web and checking email but not so good for streaming internet. Heck I would not be opposed to them dumping them all into 1 group of abusers that get say 1% of the towers max speed but it is shared among that group so the more abusers there are on a given tower the slower they hurt each other. They are all trapped in that 1-2% area and do not effect everyone else using the tower correctly.

 

[Peace]

Out of curiosity are there any android device users in here that are being throttled ?

 

[bgro]

Lets go what a reasonable person considers all you can generally means all you can eat at 1 meal. That would be 60 mins max really. When you start hitting the 2 hour + market something are clearly wrong and hit a 2nd meal I do not think anyone would think it is unreasonable for you to be kicked out.

It is all models.

In this sense AT&T is still proving you with exactly what they promised. Unlimited data. No where did they promise you a speed. If you want to argue with me reason your contract and the advertising. You will find no where a promised speed or unlimited related to said speed. Sprint is the only carrier making said claim on their unlimited on max speed.

I think the problem with this argument is that there is a lot of subjectiveness is what "reasonable" data usage is.

Do you think it's reasonable to stream 4 hours of music and 50 minutes of video (at lunch) a day if you're working a desk job? That doesn't seem so unreasonable to me. That usage in itself is almost 6.5GB of data according to the AT&T data calculator. Throw in all the other normal monthly usage (email, social networking, web browsing, downloading apps, etc) and you can easily hit 8-10GB of data.

I'm not saying that this usage is reasonable or unreasonable. i'm just saying that 10GB can be EASILY hit just by doing a few hours of streaming service a day (which is not unreasonable imo). It's not just people tethering as only internet connection or downloading insane amounts of movies, torrents, etc that are being "unreasonable".

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Out of curiosity are there any android device users in here that are being throttled ?

Think the throttling starts 10/1 for all AT&T Wireless customers not just iPhone users.

 

[Rodimus Prime]

I think the problem with this argument is that there is a lot of subjectiveness is what "reasonable" data usage is.

Do you think it's reasonable to stream 4 hours of music and 50 minutes of video (at lunch) a day if you're working a desk job? That doesn't seem so unreasonable to me. That usage in itself is almost 6.5GB of data according to the AT&T data calculator. Throw in all the other normal monthly usage (email, social networking, web browsing, downloading apps, etc) and you can easily hit 8-10GB of data.

I'm not saying that this usage is reasonable or unreasonable. i'm just saying that 10GB can be EASILY hit just by doing a few hours of streaming service a day (which is not unreasonable imo). It's not just people tethering as only internet connection or downloading insane amounts of movies, torrents, etc that are being "unreasonable".

The video is what is draining everything. In terms of music the speed they will throttling people down to will be just fine for music. For you lunch video an easy and good solution to that problem is prepare the stuff the night before and save it on your phone. Not that hard to convert a video file for lunch.

Music at 128kbit (typical streaming max) works out to be say 13kb/s That is 780 kb/min 47 megs an hour and work it out to 20 work days a month you have 3.7 gigs and that is assuming the 128 kbit rate. Often times it is low so the music I would saw would easily be under 2 gigs.
Edge speed is around 400 kbit so for music you are fine. Really the throttling only really kills what is the biggest data hogging activities (video)

Out of curiosity are there any android device users in here that are being throttled ?

This cover all AT&T smart phones. The only difference right now is AT&T is not able to catch the Android Phone tethering s easy as they can the iPhone

 

[cyks]

Think the throttling starts 10/1 for all AT&T Wireless customers not just iPhone users.

Read AT&T's release statement here.

Starting October 1, smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users. These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle. Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a grace period.

Something tells me that they'll be throttling ALL users who go over the top 5%, not just smartphone users.... and being a non-smartphone user who generally averages between 2-5GB, I fully expect to be on that list at some point soon.

 

[TC25]

Totally agree. The tech isn't quite there yet, but it's improving. Problem is, AT&T still owns a lot of spectrum that they're not even using. I know they say it's tough to put in towers because of all the regulatory crap they have to go through, but honestly, if you look at AT&T's BILLIONS of profit, there's no way they couldn't be doing more. The buying T-Mobile because of the spectrum crunch line is mostly ********. They just are lazy.

Rant, whine and stamp your feet because you don't think you're getting what you're paying for, but post your class envy, socialist drivel somewhere else and leave economics to the grown ups who understand why companies make the decisions they do.

ATT is far from perfect, but one thing no company does, unlike people, is make business decisions because 'they are just lazy'. They make them for financial reasons. Acquiring TMobile would give them this network access and capacity now, not 5 or 10 years from now if ATT built out their own network. That's one reason they'd pay a premium for TMobile. ATT was also going to bring a call center currently overseas back to the US, i.e., more jobs in the states.

 

[rmitchell248]

lazy is sitting on your butt long enough to stream 22gb of webcasts a month on a phone and 10gb on your computer in a day.....

but I suppose we all have our own definition of lazy

 

[goosnarrggh]

There are also a lot of unanswered questions about this. How slow are the reduced speeds? Is it as slow or slower than Edge? What exactly is the data cap to meet for me to get reduced speeds? Will I be compensated for not getting the unlimited 3G data that I am paying for?

How do you quantify the amount of data you, personally, were not able to access as a consequence of this policy? We'd have to work out that figure before we could begin to talk about what sort of compensation you might have coming to you. (Hint: My guess is that your compensation would probably work out to approximately ZERO.)

Even if they were to throttle you down to conservative EDGE speeds (say, around 300 kbps), starting on the very first day of the month, you would still be theoretically capable of downloading over 90 GB of data over the course of a 30 day billing cycle -- more than quadruple the 22 GB of data that you estimated you've been able to manage without any throttling at all. (And they will not be throttling you on day one of the month, so your actual capacity to consume data will be greater.)

So in terms of the absolute volume of data that could possibly be consumed, you personally would still have access to more than 4 times the amount of data that you've managed to achieve while deliberately trying to "stick it" to the man. It's just that you'd have to spread it out more evenly in order to achieve such volumes of data.