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.
Verizon Reserving Right to Throttle Data Speeds for Top 5% of Users
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Verizon and AT&T have somewhat different priorities in terms of mobile service. Verizon, first and foremost, seems to be willing do whatever it has to do to ensure that call reliability is top notch.
AT&T, on the other hand, seems more interested in balancing both voice and data performance and is more willing to tolerate some hiccups (to put it nicely).
In the end, my guess is AT&T will lose a decent amount of customers in the big markets to Verizon which in turn will probably improve AT&T's network performance.
AT&T, on the other hand, seems more interested in balancing both voice and data performance and is more willing to tolerate some hiccups (to put it nicely).
In the end, my guess is AT&T will lose a decent amount of customers in the big markets to Verizon which in turn will probably improve AT&T's network performance.
Brilliant. Thank god they are finally doing something sensible about heavy data users. I hope ATT does the same. Let them pay for using the kind of data that hurts the rest of the network.
this is BULL. This is how they are going to screw people. Give you a device that consumes a lot of data and then make it pointless by throttling said data.
This is how it starts.
Wanna bet any services offered by Verizon won't be compressed?
Thanks for the Net Neutrality, Google.
They're only talking about web pages and the like, not your personal email images and videos. Your email communications are encrypted if you use any decent email provider so no cell company is going to touch that.
... but I thought Verizon's network could handle ANYTHING. It just keeps getting worse for Verizon fans. Years of whining and complaining and I bet most Americans will stick with AT&T due to all the cons of Verison.
Basically unless you use your iPhone more for talking than you do data, (I don't, and don't know anyone who does), then AT&T is the better choice.
It just keeps getting worse for Verizon fans. Years of whining and complaining and I bet most Americans will stick with AT&T due to all the cons of Verison. Basically unless you use your iPhone more for talking than you do data, (I don't, and don't know anyone who does), then AT&T is the better choice.
I don't like this, is a clear violation of the Net Neutrality....
This is the norm in Europe, the majority of European providers use these dirty tricks....
This is the norm in Europe, the majority of European providers use these dirty tricks....
This kind of policy doesn't bother me, as long as it's publicly known. Their goal is clear. But if a carrier has secret policies to limit data, throttle speed, or cancel accounts of high bandwidth consumers then I'd consider it dishonest and a poor business practice.
... but I thought Verizon's network could handle ANYTHING.
It can...with the restrictions they chose to impose on it.
Grass was greener....for a day
File compression = data modification
LEAVE MY DATA ALONE! I need to send high quality pictures that are unmodified!
File compression = data modification
LEAVE MY DATA ALONE! I need to send high quality pictures that are unmodified!
Ummm, no. Android users use more data than iPhone users.
So this could impact them more.
But someone brought up a good point. It says they "MAY" throttle. Doesn't mean they "WILL". And if you're in that top 5% then you're using way more resources than the other 95% and should be throttled any ways. It's not like there's unlimited spectrum and VZW has a network reputation to defend.
after reading the initial reviews of speed and data dropping (which was already known) and now this, I'm no longer even considering switching to verizon. Pass!
Assuming you have coverage in your area that is a very smart move.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)
Yeah, the next month should be a clean slate.
wolfshades said:
Yeah, the next month should be a clean slate.
So?
What about web streaming?
What if Verizon compresses Netflix and Hulu Plus, but not VCast, giving them a competitive advantage?
Last edited:
It's Comcast all over again. Yeah, it's "still unlimited", but let's face it: That means nothing if it takes - what? - four, five times as long?
Instead of throttling down speeds for the sake of a marketing slogan, these carriers ought to set an upper limit sufficient for most users, and a 'power user' limit, with an extra charge, above that.
I know WHY they do what they do, of course. They want a breezy marketing line. 'Unlimited' sounds better than, well, limited. And most average users don't know (or care) how much data they actually consume, so if you put a limit on it, they'll say 'why can't I have an unlimited plan, like your competitor has'?
So what happens is, the average user pays more for his data use than he would with a 'limited' plan. And the 'power user', who knows when he's being sandbagged (and will squawk about it), gets frustrated. He'd probably pay for the extra speed, but he has no option to do so. He's already 'unlimited'.
And the power user is also in the minority. Most Verizon users won't have a problem with it, despite the fact that data limits could save them money. Alas, they don't quite understand such things.
BINGO!
What would be the worst possible outcome for them not paying attention to their network quality? Their entire brand would be blown apart. As most people have stated in regards to the iPhone on AT&T vs. VZW: "I'll take reliable coverage over no coverage any day".
