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[/COLOR]Its not imaginary. There's infrastructure there that's not unlimited and just magical, it has actual bandwidth and speed limits that factor into it all. Just because you can't see it and because you have a hard time imagining it doesn't mean it's just out there everywhere magically and for free.

That's cute, but that's a one-time investment until it needs to be upgraded. They aren't buying bits and selling them at a markup. Stop with your nonsense.
 
Doesnt really sound that there really was a problem there.

The problem both of them had was mainly with Netflix and YouTube being throttled before the Netflix/Comcast deal was signed, my sis told me that the soft cap was the last straw. My friend and I tried watching Netflix in S.D. one night and it was so bad we just played cards all night - he used to b*tch about it and now he doesn't since he switched ISPs.
 
Sorry, I was only talking about the home accounts. I have a pretty rock solid connection with my home account. I run VNC and test a social network off of it.



Must be nice to not live within a local monopoly. Comcast is my only option for TV and internet (well, I can get Dish for TV, but no one else will provide internet, and Comcast's TV prices are cheaper after bundling with internet.) They're also my only option for a land-line, but I've been cellular only without an issue since moving out of my parents house.

No worries. I had a residential connection at my last house, now business at my new home office. At my last house, Comcast (as an ISP - I had Dish for TV) would drop out for 2-4 hours a few times each month, and all of the nodes were full (the box was on a pole in my yard), and I was on the 16th and last node. My only other option for internet was CenturyLink - which I terminated after a 10-day-long phone and DSL outage. :mad:

I have tall trees on the south side of my new residence, so Dish and DirecTV are out, and CenturyLink is my only other option for an ISP - no frickin' way will I sign up for them. I asked around my new neighborhood before I signed up for an ISP and all of them told me about the constant outages on the residential accounts, but all of the small business owners told me they were happy with Comcast Business Class for service - so that's what I signed up for. I didn't have TV at the time, until I had two clients from out of town hint that they wanted to hang out during college football season.

So, I'm stuck with Comcast as the lesser of two evils here. I'm looking forward to Google Fiber if Google and the Portland City Council can come to terms - I'll bet that Comcast bumps its speeds and drops its prices big time. We'll know more come late November!
 
Abusing it, you mean, using it as it it were... unlimited?



Now what ever could have given people the idea they could do that?


Abusing it.. How many people really don't have any access to wifi and need to watch 20 streamed HD movies every day? Not many.

Remember, we're only talking about the top 5% of those using significant amounts of data. People who use their device heavily but responsibly probably couldn't make the top 20% if they tried.

Top 5%.. I'd wager majority of those throttled are running torrents off their data plan because their ISP at home or work would shut them down quickly.
 
So first the cell phone companies all start announcing their intents on merging with other companies so that you have no other choices to switch to other networks anymore and then they tell you they're going to throttle your data, invade your privacy for ad purposes and then sell it to the NSA for the hell of it while the law says their free speech cannot be denied, but YOURS CAN. Yes, "unlimited" apparently doesn't mean "fast", folks. It means 14kbps if they want. You should have read the fine print. You should have read the 200 page legal agreement you clicked OK on when you updated your browser yesterday too that says you agree to sell them your next born child for a cookie (and not the kind you can eat, but the kind that tracks you). ;)
 
That's cute, but that's a one-time investment until it needs to be upgraded. They aren't buying bits and selling them at a markup. Stop with your nonsense.
Yeah upkeep of infrastructure is free. Upgrades and continuous investment in expansions and new infrastructure is also free. Talk about nonsense.
 
Abusing it.. How many people really don't have any access to wifi and need to watch 20 streamed HD movies every day? Not many.

Remember, we're only talking about the top 5% of those using significant amounts of data. People who use their device heavily but responsibly probably couldn't make the top 20% if they tried.

Top 5%.. I'd wager majority of those throttled are running torrents off their data plan because their ISP at home or work would shut them down quickly.

Unlimited. I'll look up the definition for you if you'd like. You can't really abuse your data connection if it's unlimited. :|
 
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Does this mean I have used 163GB of data this month.

I know I have done a lot of tethering and streaming music and video, but this seems like its probably a glitch...

I am on verizon
 
Oh wonderful...I've been using 3-5gb a month lately and while I'm in a small area, the vast amount of smartphone users in my area are verizon members. But, when I'm on a family plan and I'm only paying ~$50 a month, I don't have much room to complain yet.
 
So what am I paying them $120/mo for then?
Sure at least a part of what everyone pays goes for that. Same goes for many services out there.

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Unlimited. I'll look up the definition for you if you'd like. You can't really abuse your data connection if it's unlimited. :|
You can if what you are using is also shared with others.
 
I have a grandfathered Verizon unlimited data plan, but I don't think throttling is going to affect me much. I must be in the bottom 1 percent as I just checked my data usage for the period ending 8/3 and I've only used 110 MB. I primarily use my iPad for web surfing away from home, but by far most of my usage is on wifi at home. Regardless of my personal usage, I would support throttling for the top 5 percent when necessary. It's a fair way to deal with limited resources like bandwidth. People with unlimited data plans are getting a good deal that may not last forever. I have heard that reduced cost phone upgrades every 2 years are soon to be a thing of the past with Verizon.
 
So the record profits by cell carriers are going where then? Nice try Lowell McAdam.
Sure there is money to be made as well. Welcome to capitalism. Is this a surprise or some new concept when it comes to any business?
 
Sure there is money to be made as well. Welcome to capitalism. Is this a surprise or some new concept when it comes to any business?

When that business makes a promise and then proceeds to **** their customers, it's no surprise. it just pisses me off.
 
When that business makes a promise and then proceeds to **** their customers, it's no surprise. it just pisses me off.
Promise was for no overage charges on data use, that still seems to apply for those on those plans.
 
I am surprised they even offer the unlimited data plans anymore, since they eliminated them a long time ago, and unless you found a loophole, nobody on an existing contract or a recent upgrade is still on unlimited. They will let you keep the old limited minute plans and the 250 text plans, but not unlimited data. Of course a lot of people have chosen to buy their own devices at full price to keep their grandfathered unlimited plans.

I upgraded a few weeks ago to finally get a new phone. They do offer some large GB plans if you stick with the Nationwide talk and text plans (Verizon Max). I went with a 5GB plan, and I've used 31% of it in 10 days of my billing cycle. I never used more than 3GB in a cycle on my old phone with unlimited data. And I don't even know where all this data usage is going, it's frustrating.

I think Verizon needs to be a lot more realistic with their tiered data plans and the pricing. Data usage is only going to increase with the newer and faster phones with more data hungry apps. But their More Everything single line plans starts with 250mb of data? Come on.
 
Doesn't mean it's not BS.
Sure, why not. But also doesn't mean that it's against some terms or illegal or something like that.

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I am surprised they even offer the unlimited data plans anymore, since they eliminated them a long time ago, and unless you found a loophole, nobody on an existing contract or a recent upgrade is still on unlimited. They will let you keep the old limited minute plans and the 250 text plans, but not unlimited data. Of course a lot of people have chosen to buy their own devices at full price to keep their grandfathered unlimited plans.

I upgraded a few weeks ago to finally get a new phone. They do offer some large GB plans if you stick with the Nationwide talk and text plans (Verizon Max). I went with a 5GB plan, and I've used 31% of it in 10 days of my billing cycle. I never used more than 3GB in a cycle on my old phone with unlimited data. And I don't even know where all this data usage is going, it's frustrating.

I think Verizon needs to be a lot more realistic with their tiered data plans and the pricing. Data usage is only going to increase with the newer and faster phones with more data hungry apps. But their More Everything single line plans starts with 250mb of data? Come on.
So they shouldn't offer smaller plans for those that might want that? Plenty complain that they want smaller plans. Don't need it, don't use it and go for a larger one, but it doesn't mean that smaller plans shouldn't be offered.
 
The article said using 4.7GB or more per month (per phone I'd imagine) puts you in the top 5% of users. Therefore they're paying $30/mo for using what should cost them between $70 and $80.

When I went to VZW they said I never ever use more than like... 1.5GB's per month so even switching to a 2GB/mo plan would still be like having unlimited data because I never ever went over 1.5GB. Ever. Essentially 2GB is more than enough for me. So If you use 4.7GBs a month and have never gone over, you should be paying $80/mo for 6GB.

That's about 5 Netflix HD movies... it's practically nothing for a month.
There's people whose only internet access is through a mobile device, so this shouldn't be considered abuse. Maybe 5 years ago, but not today.

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Oh please. So is toggling an iPhone to a computer and sharing torrents. The most common activity of the "top 5%".

Really??? I would say it's more movie watching than anything else. Just a handful of movies, and that's it, it reaches the stupid limit.

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Throttling data should be made illegal. It's probably the most frustrating thing about the current digital age.

Yeah, it's the scapegoat for the Unlimited Internet promise
 
I support this. If you want more you should be forced to pay more.

What? Hilariously. We are talking about companies that make more than 5 billion dollars each quarter because they do not give a **** about updating the network to give a better experience.

They do not give a **** about you.

They shouldn't be allowed to make something like this and call their service "unlimited". That's misleading and on most countries it would be illegal. The same happened here but now carriers won't be allowed to call it "unlimited".

If you watch an HD movie, with decent quality, there it goes the 4.7GB. What about the rest of the family? What about the other 29 days of the month? Maybe 800 GB was a decent limit, it would stop the seeders.

Theres absolutely no reason for this.
 
I don't know where these bloggers got the idea, that if you are in a contract you won't be throttled.

"Anyone on an unlimited data plan and in the top 5% of data users is subject to Network Optimization. If you think this will impact your business, contact your sales representative or go into your local Verizon Wireless Communications Store to discuss other service plans to meet your needs." -Verizon

The only exception is for Business and Government Users
"Network Optimization of 4G LTE devices does not apply to government customers or business customers who have signed a major account agreement."


http://www.verizonwireless.com/support/information/data_disclosure.html

It's complete BS.
 
These carriers can't keep calling these plans "unlimited" if they're not actually unlimited.

Its still unlimited as you are not charged extra fees for using data above a certain amount. What it isn't, is unlimited data at the fastest possible speed anymore.
 
I have a grandfathered Verizon unlimited data plan, but I don't think throttling is going to affect me much.

I have grandfathered Verizon unlimited data, too. I'm doubtful that any of the anti-throttling posters have the plan.

I have no problem with the idea of being throttled while in a congested cell. It's going to happen anyway because of the congestion. The only difference is that Verizon wants to guarantee that other users get their fair share of decent service, even if they only use tiny bits of data.

I think this targets those who are using their smartphone as their entire internet access point.

I am surprised they even offer the unlimited data plans anymore, since they eliminated them a long time ago, ...

Yep, they could easily have said "Unlimited was only for 3G, not for future LTE". It was a very pleasant surprise when they allowed the unlimited plan to work on LTE as well. So I have no complaints there.

I don't know where these bloggers got the idea, that if you are in a contract you won't be throttled.

You're viewing the old 3G throttling page.

Here's the original article in Droid Life that discovered the LTE version that was up for a while.

These carriers can't keep calling these plans "unlimited" if they're not actually unlimited.

As others have pointed out, unlimited means no overage charges. It never meant guaranteeing a specific speed. Ever.

Car and motorcycle manufacturers advertise their vehicles to go 120 mph, but if you're in a congested area sharing the road with others, your potential top speed is meaningless.

Like road capacity, air bandwidth is limited. That's a fact of life. Verizon has no problems with someone streaming 24/7 UNTIL others need to share that limited bandwidth. Then it's time to give them a fair shake. Only children think that they should not have to share with others.
 
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