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.
Top five percent of AT&T smartphone usage and Bandwidth throttling
- Thread starter boredandlonely
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
My month rolled over today, but I was happy that my unlimited plan was not throttled despite being at around 3.1 GB for the month. I'm not sure why I wasn't throttled, but I suspect it was because I've never been near that level before (I streamed some Ricky Gervais podcasts in the car and realized they were video podcasts, presumably sending me HD video despite my iPhone being plugged into an Alpine radio that doesn't show video while the phone tried to push the video to the Alpine screen anyway). For me, I'm good with that. I want unlimited so that I don't have to worry about hitting some sort of artificial barrier, but if I consistently use tons of data, I'm prepared to pay for that.
That being said, I think ATT's policy is ridiculous. If I'd known what they would do, I would have dropped my unlimited plans a year or more ago on a couple of the family lines and saved $5 to $15 per month.
That being said, I think ATT's policy is ridiculous. If I'd known what they would do, I would have dropped my unlimited plans a year or more ago on a couple of the family lines and saved $5 to $15 per month.
You're asking what happened to it... inside it.
The dozens of throttling threads have all been condensed so everyone can complain, threaten lawsuits that will never happen, share ideas of how to actually abuse the system, and provide links to petitions that only a few people will sign in only one spot.
No most of the other threads have been closed due to people trolling and reporting people/post they do not like.
Exactly, he has 15 posts in this thread, all of which add nothing to the debate, he's just trolling, the mods must be on vacation as it clearly violates the forum rules.
All the pro-ATT crowd does is insult and belittle anyone who has an opinion that differs from them. And then they wonder why people think they work for AT&T or something like that. I mean, who the hell has the time to make dozens of posts all day long in every thread about throttling, especially when they admittingly don't care about it???? If you don't care, gtfo and leave the debate to the adults that do. I've been working 12-15 hours shifts all week, I haven't even had time to read all the new posts in this thread, and I do care about this issue. I wouldn't waste a nano second of my life, reading or actually posting in a thread that doesn't interest me. So there is good reason so many people are questioning the motives of the ATT fan club.
And I've noticed every pro-ATT post is up-voted asnd vice versa..
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)
That sounds like sensorship to me
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)
I meant the other thread entitled "AT&T Bandwidth Throttling" that discussed how and where to file an FCC complaint against AT&T.
Is this sensorship against anyone who posts a complaint against AT&T? WOW.
www.fcc.gov/complaints
That sounds like sensorship to me
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)
cyks said:
I meant the other thread entitled "AT&T Bandwidth Throttling" that discussed how and where to file an FCC complaint against AT&T.
Is this sensorship against anyone who posts a complaint against AT&T? WOW.
www.fcc.gov/complaints
Last edited by a moderator:
I honestly see both sides of this issue.
Any reasonable person knew the Unlimited program was going to end at some point. Expecting unlimited data for $30 for life wasn't realistic.
But AT&T dropped the ball on the heavy handed/slightly deceptive way they handled this. Rather than playing a 5% shell game, they should've just required a new contract when someone moved to the iPhone 5.
People would still bit@h. But at least it would be transparent and people would have a choice (stick with the old phone plan/move on.)
Any reasonable person knew the Unlimited program was going to end at some point. Expecting unlimited data for $30 for life wasn't realistic.
But AT&T dropped the ball on the heavy handed/slightly deceptive way they handled this. Rather than playing a 5% shell game, they should've just required a new contract when someone moved to the iPhone 5.
People would still bit@h. But at least it would be transparent and people would have a choice (stick with the old phone plan/move on.)
MOD NOTE: That thread and several others like it have been integrated with this one: (Lead post is now #181 here https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14192095/).
If you look in the forum there is also a redirect from that thread to this one.
B
I have been following this thread for awhile, and finally had to post. It is very simple what AT&T is going to do. They have a clause in your contract that says they can change the terms any time they want (as do ALL providers), so all they will do is notify everyone on the unlimited data plan that they are ending unlimited data, and you will be switched to the 3gb plan at some point in the future. The price is the same, and users will probably not have any legal recourse, since there is no change in your monthly bill. Why do you think they came up with that? Their lawyers probably told them that as long as the price that people pay remains the same, they can change the agreement, and people would still be liable for the ETF if they decide to leave, and the only choice will be to switch providers. Legally, there is nothing anyone can do about it. All this talk about a class action lawsuit can go nowhere, since AT&T is not technically breaking any laws. Though I will say that their actions are not very moral, and certainly not customer service oriented, but when have ANY cell phone companies (big 3 anyway) cared about customer service?
I am NOT defending AT&T's actions. They are actually acting in a very underhanded fashion to get people off the unlimited data plans. I'm just surprised that they haven't completely done away with them, as they can do so anytime they wish.
I am NOT defending AT&T's actions. They are actually acting in a very underhanded fashion to get people off the unlimited data plans. I'm just surprised that they haven't completely done away with them, as they can do so anytime they wish.
[This is] the big thread about bandwidth throttling. It's easy to find. And if you do a search on FCC it's the first thing that shows up. Don't accuse people of censorship just because it's title isn't what you think it should be. The title perfectly describes the content. If you have a serious concern with it, you might want to use the Contact Us button and deal with it in private, as one of them requested you to do in your other thread.
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm surprised that they didn't just end the unlimited plan when the 4s came out. And I'll be even more surprised if they don't do it when the next iPhone is released.
It would be one thing if AT&T was throttling every plan at 2gigs. But the fact 5gig tiered plans don't get throttled is crap. Simple fix, throttle everyone at 5gigs, problem solved.
But thats not crap, if someone actually pays for 5GB, why should they be throttled, theyre coughing up more money than unlimited users, and they're paying for a specific amount of data? Is it that hard to understand?
They don't get throttled because they get charged for the extra use to the tune of $10/gig. And that's after paying a premium for the 5 gig plan.
I completely understand why tiered plans aren't throttled.
The one thing that bothers me even more about being throttled because I'm in the top "5 percent" in my area is that I travel a lot for work. I'm gone a good 6 months out of the year and I rely on my iphone for Navigon, Yelp, Netflix and other streaming apps quite a bit. So how does it work for someone like me who is in a different city constantly throughout the year? I do get throttled one month because I happen to be in NYC on the day my I reach my cap and because of the high data usage in that city? Or what if I'm in El Paso where someone can probably exceed 3 gigs and not come close to the top 5%. At that point, I'm really not getting what I've paid for. If anything ATT should be a bit more lenient with customers who have enterprise accounts with them.
Explain to me HOW they know we are tethering without going in the direction about how much physical data we consume
Cause we all know, at least most of us know that an iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 or 4S is capable to consuming 10 gb in one month's time alone by itself
I have no problem paying more for data (currently on the unlimited plan at $30). That said in year 1 of the iPhone AT&T gouged me because I used so little data. They had no problem with the unlimited plan at $30 then because they made a killing on it.
Also for paying more for data I expect AT&T to cut their insanely high text message plans (that use almost zero data on the network) and offer calling plans with less than 200 minutes. AT&T is a typical greedy company that puts profits above all else (doubling the activation fee, etc). They only complain when it impacts their profits.
Made my complaint with FCC, other than that I am going to sit it out and wait until at&t gets their **** together.
If they decide to somehow raise the throttle limit to at least 3 or 4gb, then I would be happy. I do use around 1.5-2gb per month so I'd like to have the security of an extra gb or so for the months I go over.
If they force me to upgrade my plan if I get an iPhone 5, then I will get with the program and pray I dont use more than 3gb on a 4G LTE device (if it even has that!)
To be honest, I have nowhere else to go. Sprint sucks, Verizon does not offer anything better. I have a pretty good family plan that consists of "unlimited data", unlimited text/mms, unlimited mobile to mobile, tons of rollover minutes, for 3 iphones that costs 225/mo after all taxes. The same plan on Verizon would cost me over $350/mo.
If they decide to somehow raise the throttle limit to at least 3 or 4gb, then I would be happy. I do use around 1.5-2gb per month so I'd like to have the security of an extra gb or so for the months I go over.
If they force me to upgrade my plan if I get an iPhone 5, then I will get with the program and pray I dont use more than 3gb on a 4G LTE device (if it even has that!)
To be honest, I have nowhere else to go. Sprint sucks, Verizon does not offer anything better. I have a pretty good family plan that consists of "unlimited data", unlimited text/mms, unlimited mobile to mobile, tons of rollover minutes, for 3 iphones that costs 225/mo after all taxes. The same plan on Verizon would cost me over $350/mo.
BGR is talking about it also.
AT&T declares war on unlimited data users
http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/14/att-declares-war-on-unlimited-data-users/
Ha, Now ATT fires back saying its our fault.
http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/15/att-on-data-throttling-blame-yourselves/
Hold on a minute, they are the ones selling it, if they dont have enough bandwidth to support the customers they have, how can they sign up new people. Isnt that fraud. kind of? to sell something you dont have?
Before you pay = Im selling x, its $100. a month and I will give you x.
After you pay your $100. = I dont have enough x to go around, you will have to do without.
ATT= Hey its not our fault, we just sell, we don't support the network.
AT&T declares war on unlimited data users
http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/14/att-declares-war-on-unlimited-data-users/
Ha, Now ATT fires back saying its our fault.
http://www.bgr.com/2012/02/15/att-on-data-throttling-blame-yourselves/
Hold on a minute, they are the ones selling it, if they dont have enough bandwidth to support the customers they have, how can they sign up new people. Isnt that fraud. kind of? to sell something you dont have?
Before you pay = Im selling x, its $100. a month and I will give you x.
After you pay your $100. = I dont have enough x to go around, you will have to do without.
ATT= Hey its not our fault, we just sell, we don't support the network.
Last edited:
I called AT&T and complained. I switched to the 5GB w/tethering and got her to lower my texting charge by $10 and lowered my voice minute to the 300 anytime 500 night and weekend(I use about 25% of that), a $10 difference. This makes my bill the exact same price but now have 5GB unthrottledw/tethering.
I have over 6,000 rollover minutes so I think I'm good.
PS. sold my iPad 2(16g wifi) w/ smartcover, box, cable, charger, incase lounge case. on craigslist for $450. I'm ready for iPad 3!!
I have over 6,000 rollover minutes so I think I'm good.
PS. sold my iPad 2(16g wifi) w/ smartcover, box, cable, charger, incase lounge case. on craigslist for $450. I'm ready for iPad 3!!
Again, this is where AT&T is getting an F for handling a legitimate business issue.
Their message isn't that 'you're using too much data'....we want people to start paying for the data they use.
Again, the writing has been on the wall this day would eventually come. But AT&T should have manned up and just announced they were ending unlimited on the next upgrade. People would be unhappy, but they'd deal with it to get the next phone. But giving the dog and pony show about 'heavy users' last fall, then dropping that threshold down a few months later to 2G just pi$$es off a lot of your best customers. And then to insult them and act like it's their fault....wow, just wow.
[MOD NOTE]
Lets stay on topic, if any member has questions regarding moderation, the proper procedure is to use the contact us link.
Lets stay on topic, if any member has questions regarding moderation, the proper procedure is to use the contact us link.
I don't think they will take it away as long as your 3G. They may say its not LTE unlimited. But either way they are going to do something stupid (like always). All cell companies piss off people one way or another. Just the way they play the game. Either deal with it or take your business else where. But I know it's hard since that particular company provides good signal in your area.
- Status