Thought on AT&T's throttling

[ihaveworms]

Long time lurker here and thought I would finally register. I was reading about how AT&T was going to throttle the top 5% of data usage people. That got me wondering, what if it plays out like this:

Lets say the top 5% of people use 20gb a month. They get a warning, and the next month they drop their usage down. Now, the top 5% of users are the people that use 16gb of a month. They get a warning, and the next month they drop their usage down. Now, the top 5% of users are the people that use 14gb of a month. And so on and so on until your top 5% usage people are using a mere 3gb a month.

 

[wordoflife]

I doubt the high abusers patterns of usage change very much. I'm pretty sure the cap will be the same for each month because of this. 16GB vs 20GB probably isn't enough to make a difference. Btw, I think the throttling starts at 10GB

 

[Invincibilizer]

Agreed, big users are clogging up the bandwidth for smaller users than use less than 1GB per month

 

[EricNau]

Had to delete a few comments for general lack of civility. Please, be nice.

 

[AIP5]

Had to delete a few comments for general lack of civility. Please, be nice.

I second that. Some people on here can be awfully pretentious or generally mean/sarcastic with their posts.

As for the topic on hand, that's a very nice point that you raise. I hadn't thought about that, but this is indeed true: the "top 5%" will drastically change once AT&T starts throttling in full blast. I'm just hoping that no matter what, they don't start throttling immediately after 2GB. I use about 3 to 4GB a month on my unlimited plan, and I hope that I can use what I paid and signed up for (within the completely reasonable amount of 4GB of course).

 

[EricNau]

It does seem wrong to me that AT&T will always be throttling 5% of their customers in this category, regardless of usage.

 

[Young Spade]

It does seem wrong to me that AT&T will always be throttling 5% of their customers in this category, regardless of usage.

Especially when you compare the prices we are paying for the throttled service we get. 2 year contract here that cost x amount as opposed to buying a SIM alone and putting what YOU want on it in Europe, with unlimited Data and whatnot.

But anyway, I think the people who use an exponential amount will continue to use that exponential amount. I think ATT says "5%" to give us a range, something we can mull over and talk about.

In reality, if x people use X gb, they'll be throttled and warned regardless of what percent they are. If you think about it, lets say 100 people use 20gbs. The top 5 use 19+ and the rest ALL use 18.

See where I'm going? It wouldn't make sense to just throttle the top 5, as the 6th percent could use virtually the same and still not get throttled.

There's a hard number cap somewhere, they just didn't tell us because that number is going to fluctuate depending on what people are doing and at what time.

 

[stikman]

the AT$T numbers don't and up !!

AT&T says that only 2% use more than 2gb a month. then they say, they will penalize the top 5% !!?!

I'm grandfathered in on the (now limited) "UnLimited" Plan.
since data use varies hour to hour day to day week to week.
at what point am I tagged top 5%?
if I don't know that, I can't adjust my data use accordingly.
The email at&t sent said I would be penalized for the remainder
of that billing cycle.

...AT$T is playing with a stacked deck!

So as soon as the new iPhone comes out I gotta have it
anyway. lol

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I was reading about how AT&T was going to throttle the top 5% of data usage people.

Keep in mind, they are throttling the top 5% of their unlimited plan users, not all users. They are trying to encourage people to drop the Unlimited plan and go to a tiered plan.

Not sure why they are using these tactics rather than outright dropping the Unlimited plan and forcing people to choose a tier... I'm sure they have their reasons though.

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

AT&T says that only 2% use more than 2gb a month. then they say, they will penalize the top 5% !!?!

I was going to post the same thing. So some people are going to be under 2gb and their going to have their data throttled

 

[ap3604]

AT&T says that only 2% use more than 2gb a month. then they say, they will penalize the top 5% !!?!

I was going to post the same thing. So some people are going to be under 2gb and their going to have their data throttled

What better way to get people off of unlimited data and onto the 2gb tiered data plans than to throttle people with unlimited even if they are under 2gb?

 

[Spectrum Abuser]

Lets give AT&T some credit here. We don't know what the limit is and the throttling just started today if you already received a warning text back in September like that one user. Keep in mind he was pumping 10-13GB a month so that is beyond 'fair usage'. I'm currently at 2.4GB and have not received a text message so although it could happen I would say the text would of been here by now.

 

[utl768]

everytime they throttle me thatll be less money theyll get each month on my contract

i pay for unlimited data and ill get unlimited data at a acceptable speed

ill take a lower speed but i wont be paying full price for it

 

[Applejuiced]

I guess we gotta wait and see at what amount of data users start getting hit with snail speeds.
I really hope its not just 2GB's but with AT&T I wouldnt be surprised.

 

[Spectrum Abuser]

I guess we gotta wait and see at what amount of data users start getting hit with snail speeds.
I really hope its not just 2GB's but with AT&T I wouldnt be surprised.

I'm betting a fair usage cut off point would be at or around 5GB. After that they might flag your account and if your usage goes up even further they will send a warning text.

 

[AIP5]

I'm betting a fair usage cut off point would be at or around 5GB. After that they might flag your account and if your usage goes up even further they will send a warning text.

Not sure about the flagging thing, but I've used 3-4 gb/month routinely, and I haven't gotten any text message. I'm optimistic that their throttling will start only after 3 or even 4 GB.