Does AT&T throttle unlimited plans now? I thought these were the only plans left untouched, but my LTE speed has been crawling for the past couple of days. I tried googling, but couldn't find a concrete answer.
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.
Carrier Unlimited AT&T data throttling
- Thread starter qpid360
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
LTE is throttled typically at 5gb/mo. If you go over, they usually send out a text warning you before you go over that you should switch to WIFI.
The 5gb isn't 100% guaranteed to get throttled, however. For example, one month I didn't get throttled until 6.5gb of use.
----------
If you don't know how to check. Go to "phone" and dial *DATA#
Then you'll get a text showing you your usage for the current billing period.
The 5gb isn't 100% guaranteed to get throttled, however. For example, one month I didn't get throttled until 6.5gb of use.
----------
If you don't know how to check. Go to "phone" and dial *DATA#
Then you'll get a text showing you your usage for the current billing period.
Oops, I didn't make it clear in my original post. I'm talking about grandfathered unlimited data plans for the iPad. I thought these were exempt from throttling, or at least it has been for years. I actually left all summer for Army basic combat training and it was never throttled prior to my departure. Of course, as soon as I got it back, I went a little data crazy. I'm pretty sure I blew through 5 gigs, but the stats aren't accurate.
So if AT&T started throttling these plans, did it happen recently?
So if AT&T started throttling these plans, did it happen recently?
I can't speak for grandfathered iPad plans. I have a grandfathered phone plan and just tether it to my iPad for data use on my pad.
I have the same plan and my usage right now is 7GB, I've not been throttled, and current speeds are 40mb down and 10mb up right now
I don't have the iphone unlimited data plan, I have the ipad unlimited data plan and I've never been throttled with this plan, like I stated earlier, my usage is at 7GB with no throttling
What is the maximum amount of data that could theoretically be downloaded in a month at LTE speeds? How could you possible abuse a network? Is someone capable of overcoming the maximum hardware speed?
Theoretically, at 72Mbps, ~22TB in 30 days. Realistically, I get ~10-15Mbps throughput on LTE so based on that, ~3.1-4.6TB in 30 days. At 10Mbps, you can use up a 5GB allocation in a little over an hour of continuous use.
Thanks for the examples and your comments.
A couple of comments and questions to expand in the topics:
1- the unlimited data plans started with EDGE and 3G, right? The carriers practice of keeping you under a contract by renewing it drove us up to LTE. For EDGE we were paying $20/month, then for 3G they bumped the price to $30/month.
What are the max. amounts of data that can be downloaded at those speeds?
2- It is my impression based on what I have seen over the years in other threads that the US carriers plans are a better deal when compared to other countries except others in Europe and Asia. They are use to overcharge us, similarly to cable operators and home ISP.
3- It is 2013, and we are almost in 2014, the amount of data should not be considered such as big, the data hog paradigm should be obsolete. Back in the 80s a modem connection of 300bps was the standard and a 3.5" floppy with 800K was enough to boot your Mac and do some quality stuff. There were no data cellphones. Over time things evolve to bigger faster better and should be lower cost (this have not changed much).
4- HD video is evolving into UHD and 4K, Retina Displays and so forth are already here. But the big size of the market is still texting and tweeting and updating Facebook status, and doing simple things that even when they are paying for 2GB of data they are not fully using them, and the carrier doesn't give you a roll over service: it is use it or loose it, but if you use a little bit more than your quota you pay a bigger price.
5- Roaming charges are ridiculous. Hopefully T-Mobile move could help to adjust that market.
A couple of comments and questions to expand in the topics:
1- the unlimited data plans started with EDGE and 3G, right? The carriers practice of keeping you under a contract by renewing it drove us up to LTE. For EDGE we were paying $20/month, then for 3G they bumped the price to $30/month.
What are the max. amounts of data that can be downloaded at those speeds?
2- It is my impression based on what I have seen over the years in other threads that the US carriers plans are a better deal when compared to other countries except others in Europe and Asia. They are use to overcharge us, similarly to cable operators and home ISP.
3- It is 2013, and we are almost in 2014, the amount of data should not be considered such as big, the data hog paradigm should be obsolete. Back in the 80s a modem connection of 300bps was the standard and a 3.5" floppy with 800K was enough to boot your Mac and do some quality stuff. There were no data cellphones. Over time things evolve to bigger faster better and should be lower cost (this have not changed much).
4- HD video is evolving into UHD and 4K, Retina Displays and so forth are already here. But the big size of the market is still texting and tweeting and updating Facebook status, and doing simple things that even when they are paying for 2GB of data they are not fully using them, and the carrier doesn't give you a roll over service: it is use it or loose it, but if you use a little bit more than your quota you pay a bigger price.
5- Roaming charges are ridiculous. Hopefully T-Mobile move could help to adjust that market.
In areas where the network is not as "robust" it can be serioulsy degraded by lack of bandwidth. AT&T will take steps to throttle those who abuse the system where resources are limited.
I think any expectation to stream video over cellular is unrealistic, especially with metered plans. It doesn't matter how it is done in other countries. The US is huge and the cost of installing and maintaining cellular networks is enormous. So no, we don't have unlimited streaming. It's about $10 per GB. So if you want to stream video, be prepared to pay. Streaming music is a little better, but if you insist on listening to hours and hours and hours of Pandora every day, also be prepared to pay. The state of the cellular networks in the US is such that they are not designed to replace wifi or wired connections. Will they ever? Maybe. But given the vast geographic distances plus all the competing demands on the spectrum, unlikely. So for those wanting to do a LOT of video and music over cellular, save yourself the grief and get a 128GB iPad. My $0.02.
Not the iPad unlimited plans they don't. The iPhone unlimited plans they do. My guess is that there are very few unlimited iPad data plans left, and those left are not serial abusers.
I have several unlimited iPad data plans in my family and have never been throttled.
On EDGE, I remember getting around 500Kbps so ~5GB/day or ~154GB/month. On 3G/HSPA, I was getting around 5Mbps so ~53GB/day or ~1.5TB/month.
AT&T DOES NOT throttle the iPad unlimited data plan. The iPhone and iPad unlimited data terms of service agreements are different.
The iPad plan is NEVER throttled.
----------
Indeed!
pretty incredible that they dont throttle the ipad unlimited plan, that plan is golden
$30/mo for internet anywhere, **** I would use that for my home internet. ATT LTE is faster than my current cable service. Latency is good enough too.. what a deal!
$30/mo for internet anywhere, **** I would use that for my home internet. ATT LTE is faster than my current cable service. Latency is good enough too.. what a deal!