T-Mobile to Restrict Unlimited Customers Using Up to 2,000 GB of Data Per Month

[westgorge]

T-Mobile CEO John Legere has announced that the U.S. carrier will begin taking action against customers with unlimited 4G LTE data plans that deliberately violate the company's terms and conditions by masking excessive tethering usage as smartphone data.

T-Mobile notes that less than 1% of customers are using apps or other methods to blow past their Smartphone Mobile HotSpot allotment, which is included free with every Simple Choice plan but capped at up to 7GB per month. The carrier says that, in some cases, these customers are using up to 2TB (2,000 GB) of data per month.T-Mobile says that customers who continue to have excessive tethering usage will first be warned, and then lose access to their unlimited 4G LTE smartphone data plan and be moved to an entry-level Simple Choice plan if they do not comply. T-Mobile began informing customers about the crackdown on network abusers today and has posted a detailed FAQ on its support forum.

T-Mobile prepaid and MetroPCS customers are not affected at this time.

Article Link: T-Mobile to Restrict Unlimited Customers Using Up to 2,000 GB of Data Per Month

There's always someone who goes to the movies, walks in to the theater and opens the back door to let all their friends in for free. Or, goes to the all you can eat buffet, sits down to eat while their friends come join them and eat off of the "paid" plate for free. Even using your cell data to watch Netflix, if you're using 2TB of data every month.....either you have nothing else better to do (which is ok) than to sit and watch movies 24/7 or your inviting your buddies to join you in a tether marathon. Unlimited may be close to limited for some. But, for the majority of us, I don't have to worry about the limitations of unlimited because we would never come close to needing to worry about it.

 

[tigres]

Unlimited means without limits. As soon as they say *but with exceptions depending on how you use it… blah blah… then it isn't unlimited, it's limited, by definition! If there are limits when tethering, or anything, then calling it 'unlimited' is meaningless. They should just spell out data caps and throttling policies and then they can put in all the ifs, buts and maybes they like.

I agree if one signed up to the plan without reading the tethering limit then you bear responsibility for that, but it doesn't change the concurrent wrongness of companies using the term 'unlimited' when it is in fact limited.

Your lucky they even give you tethering, AT&T won't on unlimited. Hell, ATT wants everyone off it.

Reading comprehension FTW.

Your plan is unlimited on your phone. Your tethering (spiff/bonus/act of goodwill) is.

Want to play with words, your phone can stream to its hearts content, no limits, knock yourself out. Want that cell data on your computer, 7gb is your reasonable limit, period.

 

[sirghost]

Unlimited means without limits. As soon as they say *but with exceptions depending on how you use it… blah blah… then it isn't unlimited, it's limited, by definition! If there are limits when tethering, or anything, then calling it 'unlimited' is meaningless. They should just spell out data caps and throttling policies and then they can put in all the ifs, buts and maybes they like.

I agree if one signed up to the plan without reading the tethering limit then you bear responsibility for that, but it doesn't change the concurrent wrongness of companies using the term 'unlimited' when it is in fact limited.

It says unlimited mobile, not unlited hotspot. Real simple, not easy to miss and not a hard concept to grasp.

 

[definitive]

I think some of the people in this thread are confused with what's actually "unlimited" here. What Legere is referring to is their HotSpot (tethering) service. Unlike their Unlimited Data plan, the HotSpot plan (which T-Mobile offers to Unlimited Data subscribers) is capped at 7GB. They allow their subscribers to use the Unlimited Data plan all they want. That's not the issue. The issue is that some subscribers are using ways to bypass the 7GB cap that T-Mobile puts on the HotSpot feature.

 

[mariusignorello]

That's what's nice about T-Mobile. They don't cap their customers. You go over by a bit, and they'll let it slide. I doubt they'd do much to anyone that consistently hits 10GB. But when you're into the hundreds (and even thousands) of GBs, you don't deserve much credit from T-Mo. Also, unlike ATT/Verizon, they don't bill you a few thousand dollars and tell you to deal with it. They just cut you off, which again is only for those that excessively exceed the limits. You don't 'accidentally' go over your tether plan by hundres/thousands of gigs.

Maybe they had full diagnostic logging enabled in iOS 9 beta...

 

[Porco]

Your lucky they even give you tethering, AT&T won't on unlimited. Hell, ATT wants everyone off it.

Reading comprehension FTW.

Your plan is unlimited on your phone. Your tethering (spiff/bonus/act of goodwill) is.

Want to play with words, your phone can stream to its hearts content, no limits, knock yourself out. Want that cell data on your computer, 7gb is your reasonable limit, period.

It says unlimited mobile, not unlited hotspot. Real simple, not easy to miss and not a hard concept to grasp.

I understand the concept and the difference… but limiting the 'unlimited' use of data is clearly limiting it! It doesn't matter how they want to slice up the limits, if they place limitations on 'unlimited' then it isn't unlimited, it's limited.

I'm not saying they didn't make it clear, I'm saying they made it clearly nonsensical. Placing a limit upon what is described as unlimited, is not unlimited. It's like when things say 'ABSOLUTELY FREE X!* (*but only when you buy Y). Most of us know what they mean, sure, but it's still wrong IMHO.

 

[jybrick]

It's not abuse if they don't put limits on your usage.

That said, 2TB of tethering is a lot of tethering. I'm surprised their device didn't melt. That works out to around 2.84GB/day.

Actually it's about 2.8GB/HOUR

 

[McGiord]

How can you "abuse" a network? There is maximum speed for the connection limited to the hardware capability, so how these "professionals" magically overcome the physical limitations of the network? Unlimited BS is what it is.

 

[4jasontv]

Do you agree at least with T-Mobile having a right to enforce the 7GB tethering limit? Or is your argument that one person in the US would pay T-Mobile for an unlimited data plan and the rest of the country tether on that connection? (I am trying to bring your argument to its absurd conclusion).

Data is not just data, the same way that electricity is not just electricity in the sense that it is not viable for a business to have one person pay a flat rate for electricity and have a small town feed for free from that. Something like this is done in some developing countries which unavoidably leads to bad reliability and power outages. Anyway, the tethering policy is fairly clearly spelled out by T-Mobile, not just in terms of service, but usually in foot notes on their webpages.

No, I don't think they have a "right". They don't own the spectrum. We do. Do you support bars being allowed to do cavity searches because they want to protect other patrons? Just because a carrier says this data is different then that data because of the intent of use, doesn't mean anyone should listen to them. Companies can put whatever they want in their TOS, but it doesn't make it legal or right.

 

[4jasontv]

Even using your cell data to watch Netflix, if you're using 2TB of data every month.....either you have nothing else better to do (which is ok) than to sit and watch movies 24/7 or your inviting your buddies to join you in a tether marathon.

I don't get your point. Are you saying I can't watch Neflix with a friend unless they pay too? I decide how I use my data. If I want to share some of the bandwidth so a friend can get online, that s my decision, not the Carriers.

 

[McGiord]

There's always someone who goes to the movies, walks in to the theater and opens the back door to let all their friends in for free. Or, goes to the all you can eat buffet, sits down to eat while their friends come join them and eat off of the "paid" plate for free. Even using your cell data to watch Netflix, if you're using 2TB of data every month.....either you have nothing else better to do (which is ok) than to sit and watch movies 24/7 or your inviting your buddies to join you in a tether marathon. Unlimited may be close to limited for some. But, for the majority of us, I don't have to worry about the limitations of unlimited because we would never come close to needing to worry about it.

There are physical limitations to all of them. You cannot eat more food than what your body can ingest, you cannot get more people than what the movie theater can fit in, you cannot download more data than what the network can provide, you cannot consume more electrical power than what the power distribution system can provide.

 

[Art0fLife]

Imagine your home router. If one member of your family was abusing that connection, it would have a direct impact on other users of the same network, slowing the connection down for everyone else. Well, the same is true for the networks upstream from your house, as well. Bandwidth needs to be managed so that everyone has equal access to it. Equal is relative to what they are willing to pay for that access. Pay more and get a bigger allotment. Just like paying more for a better home router would get you a better experience.

Bandwidth is not a free commodity. It costs companies money for network management, equipment, data centres, etc.

I get that. But why does that equal a cap each month? Why wouldn't that just mean slower speeds at peak times with an "up to _____ mbps" rather than a "you get exactly ______ mbps and a ____ GB limit and every GB over costs a ridiculous sum"? It's probably something simple, I'm just genuinely curious. I mean, if everyone in town turned the water on at once, the pressure would drop like a rock and we'd all get a trickle. But that still doesn't make them limit you to x amount of gallons per month. It just means if everyone uses their water at the same time it slows down. Seems that would be the case with or without a monthly cap.

Edit: I realize in some places there is a max on water usage. I just couldn't think of another example to say what I meant. Unless like water, there's actually a GB per month (or TB) that the city could hit before an internet company literally ran out of TB to give out, which I can't imagine.

 

[furi0usbee]

They don't advertise unlimited tethering which is what these people are doing. They're tethering and hiding that fact with apps. So quit yer TROLLING!

Trolling and being misinformed are two, distinct things. I however admit to neither.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Unlimited means without limits. As soon as they say *but with exceptions depending on how you use it… blah blah… then it isn't unlimited, it's limited, by definition! If there are limits when tethering, or anything, then calling it 'unlimited' is meaningless. They should just spell out data caps and throttling policies and then they can put in all the ifs, buts and maybes they like.

I agree if one signed up to the plan without reading the tethering limit then you bear responsibility for that, but it doesn't change the concurrent wrongness of companies using the term 'unlimited' when it is in fact limited.

You can read the TOS. They are there listed for you and have been for sometime. Unlimited is just a name for the type of plan you have with T-Mobile nothing more.

 

[McGiord]

I get that. But why does that equal a cap each month? Why wouldn't that just mean slower speeds at peak times with an "up to _____ mbps" rather than a "you get exactly ______ mbps and a ____ GB limit and every GB over costs a ridiculous sum"? It's probably something simple, I'm just genuinely curious. I mean, if everyone in town turned the water on at once, the pressure would drop like a rock and we'd all get a trickle. But that still doesn't make them limit you to x amount of gallons per month. It just means if everyone uses their water at the same time it slows down. Seems that would be the case with or without a monthly cap.

Edit: I realize in some places there is a max on water usage. I just couldn't think of another example to say what I meant. Unless like water, there's actually a GB per month (or TB) that the city could hit before an internet company literally ran out of TB to give out, which I can't imagine.

Water distribution is limited by the size and length of the piping and the pumps capacity, pressure and flow. When all water "valves" are open there will be a pressure drop in the system and the system control will kick in additional pumps to run in parallel to increase the water flow or in series to increase the pressure, and/or increase the pumps speed to compensate. Hydro pneumatic boosters can be used to compensate too. There is a limit to the system as it was designed, so you cannot abuse it by consuming more water, simply that there are limitations in the city water system that when it was designed were already defined. You have a meter that measures the amount of water each household is consuming, and if well connected to the city system in closed loop there will be some adjustments made. There is limit in the amount of water that will flow to your house if you keep the main water pipe continuously running water, let's say you disconnect it from the rest of the house and you leave it dumping all the water it can. The bill will be huge though, and there may be some city codes or ordinances to manage a situation like that, but the amount of water that you will pump out of the system is limited by its design.
Internet data flow is limited by the hardware speed, there is maximum speed and there is no way you can abuse it, you cannot consume more than what the hardware you have plus the provider giving you the service can offer, they put a cap on what you receive and there is no way you can make you connection faster unless you increase the speed of your hardware plus increase the speed of the connection the service.
The real issue is that these companies advertise connection speeds that are not guarantee and has been successful at convincing people (it seems to be plenty in MR) that you have to pay for "extras" even they advertised unlimited services, or that the user can abuse the system, all BS.

 

[ipadded]

I manage 840 lines for my company. While we have unlimited data plans and we ask that staff use their devices per company policy, I still see users hitting 50Gb to 100Gb of usage per month.

 

[_Refurbished_]

Double post

 

[_Refurbished_]

When I got the plan a few months ago their signs said 5GB tethering. For some reason they upgraded it and my bills each month now mention 7GB. I didn't complain. I'll keep an eye out though if I get a 5GB warning...

They upped the data a while back from 5GB to 7GB. That's the way T-Mobile rolls.

Also, you don't need to read the TOS. They tell you, without confusion, that the unlimited plan comes with 7GB personal hot spot data.

Additionally, reading furi0usbee's posts make me face palm.

 

[Porco]

You can read the TOS. They are there listed for you and have been for sometime. Unlimited is just a name for the type of plan you have with T-Mobile nothing more.

I don't have a plan with T-Mobile. I don't even live in the U.S.. The only reason I even commented in this thread is I'm mildly annoyed by companies calling things 'unlimited' when they're not. T-Mobile are far from being the first or only company to be disingenuous with this word, and I'm sure they won't be the last. I think it's totally reasonable of them to place (and enforce) a cap on data for tethering too, I just dislike the use of the word 'unlimited' followed by explicitly defined limits, all in the same service. It just seems so obviously silly and unnecessary.

 

[4jasontv]

You can read the TOS. They are there listed for you and have been for sometime. Unlimited is just a name for the type of plan you have with T-Mobile nothing more.

I can see why companies do this. It's a great way to get paid for simply existing. Let us try it out:

"You shouldn't have expected us to remove you appendix Mr Brown, it clearly states that Surgery is the name of the room you will be sitting in."

"The plow-for-the-whole-season plan doesn't mean we will plow your driveway every time it snows. If everyone expected that then we wouldn't have enough staff for those that pay the most."

"Its fair to assume consumers understand the difference between foods that are peanut-free and those that are free-of-peanut."

 

[darkknight14]

I like this CEO but the industry need to change the meaning of word UNLIMITED as most customers will think its all you can eat, all month long - when in fact its limited up to 7GB / 20GB ETC..

 

[617aircav]

T-Mobile never advertised unlimited tethering.

 

[zhenya]

I really, really, really get tired of this wildly inaccurate comparison of the cost differences between foreign and U.S. carriers. In your case, the land mass of Finland is 29 times smaller than the United States and has a population of less than 6 million versus 318 million. When you're dealing with covering such large populated areas, the cost disparities will always be greater.

While I'm not in love with the price of my current wireless provider (AT&T), I do understand the relationship between the cost and level of service (coverage, etc.) provided.

Also, while living in the U.S. can sometimes incur higher costs of services versus other countries, the reverse also holds true as well:

http://www.mylifeelsewhere.com/compare/united-states/finland
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-livin...t.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=Finland

This is the common response to these comparisons, but I'm no longer sure I buy it. So what if Finland is smaller? If there are companies there that can find it economically viable to build out a network under those conditions, what is stopping companies from doing so in the US where the potential profits are much greater? What if you split up the US territory into 29 smaller ones? Do you not think that companies would step in to serve those territories? Should it not be much more efficient to serve them as a single entity (let's call this the 'United States' or something...)

The reality is that our economy allows companies to demand much greater profits than an economy like Finland's. There are plenty of positives to that, but great services is not generally one of them.

 

[zhenya]

Unlimited means without limits. As soon as they say *but with exceptions depending on how you use it… blah blah… then it isn't unlimited, it's limited, by definition! If there are limits when tethering, or anything, then calling it 'unlimited' is meaningless. They should just spell out data caps and throttling policies and then they can put in all the ifs, buts and maybes they like.

I agree if one signed up to the plan without reading the tethering limit then you bear responsibility for that, but it doesn't change the concurrent wrongness of companies using the term 'unlimited' when it is in fact limited.

Just because a company advertises 'unlimited' does not mean that they have to give you unlimited EVERYTHING. What you are saying is effectively that T-Mobile must give you unlimited bread, unlimited car washes because they use the word unlimited.

The clearly state unlimited SMART PHONE DATA.

This is not a difficult concept folks.

 

[McGiord]

T-Mobile never advertised unlimited tethering.

It's data and how it is used is the user's right.
If give my neighbor water I'm still paying for it.
Why tethering should be different?
Only because the carriers want everyone to have their own line, doesn't mean the user is abusing the system, you cannot consume more data than what the network can handle, there are technical limitations to each device connected to the network, you cannot consume data faster.