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Top five percent of AT&T smartphone usage and Bandwidth throttling

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cyks said:
I suggest you reread the OP since filing a complaint with AT&T and the FCC is exactly what this thread was created for.
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Yeah, this is how we get attention. Are you getting it yet?

Sorry to ninja edit but it should also be pointed out that the FCC would probably be on our side here. They're proponents of network neutrality and probably have the power to make the changes we want.
 
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Restrictions apply even on "truly unlimited" data :rolleyes:
 

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mrsir2009 said:
Restrictions apply even on "truly unlimited" data :rolleyes:
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Correct. Sprint even has the following stating that they can limit your data access at any time if it affects it's network:

To protect our networks and Services or for other reasons, we may place restrictions on accessing certain Data Content (such as certain websites, applications, etc.); impose separate charges; limit throughput or the amount of data that you can transfer; or otherwise limit or terminate Services.
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No such thing as unlimited anywhere.
 
chakraj said:
I fired AT&T last month, and now enjoy Verizon lte speeds.
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Not on an iPhone you don't. Although I look forward to an LTE-enabled iPhone 5.

I switched to Verizon as well and am generally happier, but I've never been a big data user. But the last straw for me was when AT&T forced me into a tethering plan claiming that streaming Pandora to external speakers constituted "tethering" to them.
 
Vaughn Logan said:
This Is False Advertising. Pure And Simple.
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They do not advertise any unlimited data plans at all right now, so it is simply impossible for there to be such a thing as a false advertisement about it.

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chakraj said:
This was the part I found interesting.
AND YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT WITHOUT PAYING AN EARLY TERMINATION FEE OR RETURNING OR PAYING FOR ANY PROMOTIONAL ITEMS
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The question, then, is whether their policy change satisfies the definition of "...increas(ing) the price of any of the services to which you subscribe...". I suppose a court or small claims arbitrator would ultimately have to make that decision. If the arbitrator decided that it does fit the definition, then the opt-out option with waived ETF would apply. If the arbitrator decided that is does not fit the definition, then you'd have to consider the question of whether the new policy is in direct contradiction with any other language somewhere else in your service agreement.

Anyway... When you received notice that this change was coming (they gave notice 6 months ago), did you file to terminate your service and successfully argue that your ETF should by waived?

If you did attempt to terminate your service, then you are no longer under AT&T's dictatorial thumb. So what basis do you have to complain now?
If you did not attempt to terminate your service, then you formally agreed to the change and the policy you quoted simply doesn't apply anyway. So what basis do you have to complain now?
 
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Everyone has the right to complain to the FCC. however, nothing will likely happen. What I find odd is everyone complains about throttling but have yet to show screen captures show the new speed or even what usage was. I think too many people are jumping on the band wagon. Clearly AT&T has to have a specific usage before throttling. Attached is my last several months of usage. Two are over 2GB and no throttling.
 

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Big Dawg 23 said:
Everyone has the right to complain to the FCC. however, nothing will likely happen. What I find odd is everyone complains about throttling but have yet to show screen captures show the new speed or even what usage was. I think too many people are jumping on the band wagon. Clearly AT&T has to have a specific usage before throttling. Attached is my last several months of usage. Two are over 2GB and no throttling.
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I am a heavy user. Consistantly between 6 and 14 gig a month. But that is what unlimited means. We decided not to install cable or internet in our home in NH (we curtrently live in CT) because with the unlimited data we could stream music and netflix to the tv. But not now. Here is a screenshot of my current speeds.
photo.PNG

Unthrottled my download speeds are between 2-3MBPS.
 
goosnarrggh said:
They do not advertise any unlimited data plans at all right now, so it is simply impossible for there to be such a thing as a false advertisement about it.
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They did when they roped in tens of millions of contracts before gimping the service and not doing what they said they'd do. Which was provide unlimited data connections to these people for two years. I am aware that the contract says they can make changes and they are within their legal rights to do so, but that doesn't make it OK and it doesn't make it the right thing to do.

goosnarrggh said:
The question, then, is whether their policy change satisfies the definition of "...increas(ing) the price of any of the services to which you subscribe...". I suppose a court or small claims arbitrator would ultimately have to make that decision. If the arbitrator decided that it does fit the definition, then the opt-out option with waived ETF would apply. If the arbitrator decided that is does not fit the definition, then you'd have to consider the question of whether the new policy is in direct contradiction with any other language somewhere else in your service agreement.

Anyway... When you received notice that this change was coming (they gave notice 6 months ago), did you file to terminate your service and successfully argue that your ETF should by waived?
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I explained in detail why we don't want to change carriers in one of my previous posts. So why would we terminate our service or any of that? We want change in AT&T, we don't want to change carriers.

goosnarrggh said:
If you did attempt to terminate your service, then you are no longer under AT&T's dictatorial thumb. So what basis do you have to complain now?
If you did not attempt to terminate your service, then you formally agreed to the change and the policy you quoted simply doesn't apply anyway. So what basis do you have to complain now?
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Whether or not someone uses AT&T is irrelevant. If they feel AT&T is doing something wrong, they may complain about it. Why is it so important to people like you that we stop complaining about it? What difference does it really make to you? Can't you just stop using this forum and find one where people aren't complaining? I mean, using your switch carriers logic, you'd just switch forums, right?
 
pooleman said:
I am a heavy user. Consistantly between 6 and 14 gig a month. But that is what unlimited means. We decided not to install cable or internet in our home in NH (we curtrently live in CT) because with the unlimited data we could stream music and netflix to the tv. But not now. Here is a screenshot of my current speeds.
View attachment 321173

Unthrottled my download speeds are between 2-3MBPS.
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Using your phone data plan as a replacement for cable TV?

Now I understand why AT&T does this stuff.
 
pooleman said:
I am a heavy user. Consistantly between 6 and 14 gig a month. But that is what unlimited means. We decided not to install cable or internet in our home in NH (we curtrently live in CT) because with the unlimited data we could stream music and netflix to the tv. But not now. Here is a screenshot of my current speeds.
View attachment 321173

Unthrottled my download speeds are between 2-3MBPS.
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If you've been doing this for years... well let me be the first to say THANK YOU!!!! This is EXACTLY why AT&T throttles and eliminated the unlimited plan. All because your cheap a$$ didn't want to pay for home internet... WOW!
 
I don't understand why so many people are arguing in this thread. Let the people, who feel the need to do so, file a complaint with the FCC. If they succeed, it's better for all those with unlimited plans (ATT will likely just let you drop contracts OR just let the contract run its course and not allow upgrades to keep the unlimited plan). If they fail, it's just another thread on the internet that will be of no consequence to anyone. The whole point of an FCC complaint is to have the proper third party examine the situation and rule on whether it is legal or illegal. I see nothing wrong with that.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A406 Safari/7534.48.3)

Well Stated ... Thank You !!!
 
lordofthereef said:
I don't understand why so many people are arguing in this thread. Let the people, who feel the need to do so, file a complaint with the FCC. If they succeed, it's better for all those with unlimited plans (ATT will likely just let you drop contracts OR just let the contract run its course and not allow upgrades to keep the unlimited plan). If they fail, it's just another thread on the internet that will be of no consequence to anyone. The whole point of an FCC complaint is to have the proper third party examine the situation and rule on whether it is legal or illegal. I see nothing wrong with that.
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Someone better let the real lord of the reef know that someone reasonable has been posting under his name.

No I kid :)
 
MattMJB0188 said:
If you've been doing this for years... well let me be the first to say THANK YOU!!!! This is EXACTLY why AT&T throttles and eliminated the unlimited plan. All because your cheap a$$ didn't want to pay for home internet... WOW!
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Excuse me, I have a second home that I am fixing up that I visit once a month in the summer. We use the tv very little when we are up there. I pay for home internet down here in CT. When you are offered unlimited ANYTHING it can change how you proceed in the future. If you were offered UNLIMITED gasoline for $30 a month you may end up driving more miles than usual, you may buy a Mustang instead of a Prius, the logic being that "hey, I don't have to consider fuel prices when making this choice. I'll go with the Mustang".

I was offered UNLIMITED data for a set price/month, thus my choices become different from others who are not on a limited plan. So your argument is that even though I was offered unlimited data I should have limited myself? Get real.

Hey, maybe I shouldn't make love to my wife everyday like we do, I should limit myself because not everyone has the unlimited access to intamacy like my wife and I share with each other.
 
Yes!

YAY!!! I finally got to top 5% :D:rolleyes:

So for the past week, for some reason my connection seems to have slowed down to the point that I'm not connecting to the internet from my iPhone 4 at 3G, I thought something wrong with my iPhone and then only yesterday did I finally get a text telling me that I've won :rolleyes: and got in the top 5% of AT&T's heaviest data users for the billing cycle.

I checked my usage and on my 23rd day of my billing cycle, we have used 2.2 GB of data combined on my family plan with unlimited data.

I knew this was coming but disappointed the way they throttle my data, my AT&T network signal in San Diego, California is already so bad at 1.00 MBps download speed test when it's not being throttled and now that it's being throttled, I only get .50 MBps, but in real life application, my email is now not being pushed, internet not loading, facebook app not connecting, maps not being able to find my connection and I still have 7 days to wait till my connection comes back to the normal slow connection. :mad:

So with the way I used my data, is it really more practical to get tiered plans? What are my alternatives? Hot spot? I cannot find any free wifi where I work :( Please advise. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
pooleman said:
...Hey, maybe I shouldn't make love to my wife everyday like we do, I should limit myself because not everyone has the unlimited access to intamacy like my wife and I share with each other.
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If she suddenly cuts you off because you're in the top 5%, be concerned... ;)
 
edtorious said:
YAY!!! I finally got to top 5% :D:rolleyes:

...

I knew this was coming but disappointed the way they throttle my data, my AT&T network signal in San Diego, California is already so bad at 1.00 MBps download speed test when it's not being throttled and now that it's being throttled, I only get .50 MBps, but in real life application, my email is now not being pushed, internet not loading, facebook app not connecting, maps not being able to find my connection and I still have 7 days to wait till my connection comes back to the normal slow connection. :mad:
...
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That's not being throttled yet. Just bad signal. When you're throttled, you'll be down to 10-15Kbps which is just as slow as 2g speeds. Every single test I ran when I was throttled last month, it would start at 50-60kb for a second and then drop to 10-15kb. They give you a warning text first about being in the top 5% and then you'll receive a text that you are actually being throttled.
 
I think it's ridiculous ATT doesnt offer any "hard evidence" what that "magical top 5% of the heaviest users is" Honestly I think ATT doesn't really even know what's it's doing.

From reports, it appears to be location based throttling. So someone in Wash DC's top 5% of usage may not be the same as someone in Los Angeles.

ATT should just come out and say "10GB" and after that we are throttling but you get to keep "unlimited" like T-mobile USA does. Or 5GB or whatever they want.

But to keep users guessing. Some people report throtting at 2GB, some at 5GB, some at 7GB don't get throttled. It can become a very dangerous game especially if you need google maps to guide you and if they throttle you to a level less than EDGE, the phone can't keep up with the data navigation.

Personally I don't use more than 500-800MB of data each month because I have wifi access most of the time but other's don't.
 
edtorious said:
So with the way I used my data, is it really more practical to get tiered plans? What are my alternatives? Hot spot? I cannot find any free wifi where I work :( Please advise. Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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COMPLAIN to the FCC first, look for other options 2nd.

Orlandu said:
That's not being throttled yet. Just bad signal. When you're throttled, you'll be down to 10-15Kbps which is just as slow as 2g speeds.
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Welcome to #ATTfail. It's only going to get worse.
 
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