• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

200mb is just a rippoff for 15$ a month

K

kyrax12

Platinum Member
I know I am just ranting but seriously in this time and day 200mb can be used in probably a week just by normal web browsing and sending emails; and I am factoring conservative usage.


For me, I much rather they decrease the speed and increase the bandwidth amount for 15$ a month data users.


I don't need freaking HSPA+ speed because I know that web browsing after a certain amount of mbit/sec stays constant and all that matters really is the hardware/software of the phone itself.

I am talking about AT&T by the way.
 
The faster your connection, the more you'll want to use it, the more MBs you'll eat up, the more you'll have to pay.

It's the carrier way. :|
 
I'm on the 200mb plan and I'd much rather have LTE speeds and my same limit vs a slightly higher limit and worse speeds. I have wifi at home and work so I only use 3g for push emails and occasional web browsing.
 
Puddle Jumper said:
I'm on the 200mb plan and I'd much rather have LTE speeds and my same limit vs a slightly higher limit and worse speeds. I have wifi at home and work so I only use 3g for push emails and occasional web browsing.
Click to expand...

LTE speed for 200MB?

Why would you need LTE speed for a 200mb limit on your plan?

I doubt you would be using your phone to stream videos or use any other intensive data usage apps on your phone with just 200mb a month.

I really don't how LTE is beneficial to users that only do casual web browsing and sending emails. 50 mbit/sec? Come on........ That is just a waste for just web browsing/ instant messaging/emails..
 
The 200mb for $15 is a bad deal. Upgrade to 2gb's for $25 isn't great but comparing the two it's a hot deal. 10x more data for $10 🙂

Depending on where you work you may be able to get a discount on your service. It never hurts to check. I just got 23% discount on mine. I'm also on ATT but have the grandfathered unlimited data plan.
 
kyrax12 said:
LTE speed for 200MB?

Why would you need LTE speed for a 200mb limit on your plan?

I doubt you would be using your phone to stream videos or use any other intensive data usage apps on your phone with just 200mb a month.

I really don't how LTE is beneficial to users that only do casual web browsing and sending emails. 50 mbit/sec? Come on........ That is just a waste for just web browsing/ instant messaging/emails..
Click to expand...

Because whenever I do use 3g it is a massive downgrade from wifi.
 
I think you can opt for unlimited data on a feature phone. Problem is, its not a smartphone.
 
I'm on the $15/month plan with my smart phone. I sync my email from three accounts including my Exchange account which has attachments, sync my calendar and contacts, and use my phone for basic web searching and I find that I use about 180MB a month. I have WiFi at home though. As long as one isn't streaming music or video, I think 200MB is fine, and I'll happily pocket that extra $10/month.

I find that most people dramatically overestimate their usage - not everyone, but most people. My mother was really worried about losing her $30 unlimited iPhone plan and when I checked on AT&T's website, she was using 40MB/month. And I have other examples that are similar from co-workers and neighbors. When someone at work was raning about losing their unlimited plan, we checked out usage one day at the cafeteria table her at work, only two of the twelve of us had used 1GB in one month. And he was still at about 1.2GB.

I'm not saying that this is true of everyone, but one thing that frequently hits me is that Anandtech is not the real world and people here are not typical. And in my opinion, typical people can often fit in 200MB a month with plenty left over.

Besides you can switch back and forth between 200MB and 2GB instantly online or using an app. And you can set up SMS alerts if you are close to going over and then decide if you want to spend the extra $10 for more space for that month. And if you are on the 200MB plan and run over, you can bump to 2GB even after you've gone over. I'd prefer more tiers, but the fact that I can ping-pong back and forth between 200MB and 2GB is much better than the old $30 "unlimited" plan when I was using ~150MB/month.
 
Last edited:
pm said:
I'm on the $15/month plan with my smart phone. I sync my email from three accounts including my Exchange account which has attachments, sync my calendar and contacts, and use my phone for basic web searching and I find that I use about 180MB a month. I have WiFi at home though. As long as one isn't streaming music or video, I think 200MB is fine, and I'll happily pocket that extra $10/month.

I find that most people dramatically overestimate their usage - not everyone, but most people. My mother was really worried about losing her $30 unlimited iPhone plan and when I checked on AT&T's website, she was using 40MB/month.
Click to expand...

What does your mother usually do on her phone?
 
kyrax12 said:
What does your mother usually do on her phone?
Click to expand...

She has her gmail forwarded and reads that, plays a whole lot of online "Words with Friends" and checks the weather.... and that's about it.

But my point is that for people over the age of 30, I think this limited light usage is actually fairly typical. And coupled with SMS alerts telling you if you are going to go over and AT&T letting you flip back and forth between 200MB and 2GB any time you want during a billing cycle, I think the 200MB plan is awesome. If I can fit, it's like free money.
 
Wish I could get 200mb for $15. Using my iphone as a gophone it's either 100mb for $15 or 500mb for $25. I really need something in between for light usage at work (no wifi here). Only time I needed the full 500 was during the last week when I had no power for 6 days and thus no wifi at home.
 
Can't wait for the pentaband Galaxy Nexus to use it on tmobile's $30 unlimited data/text/100 minute plan.
 
i know people rant about how per mb the low tier plans are awful on att/verizon/ tmobile etc.

think about it as $12 cover charge to get into mobile data at all and $3 for 200mb and it sounds better.

its like, ifi buy a drink at a club for $8, it would sound a lot more if i paid $20 cover and $8 for that first drink, but i wouldnt say that $28 for a drink was ridiculous.


granted i'm on verizon's unlimited plan. but the only time i've ever gone really over 1GB was when i was rooting my phone and trying out LTE for the first few times and just downloaded the roms for it direclty on the phone instead of using another computer.

and i coudl have easily just used another computer. i've had various android phones for years now, and i think generally going back to the G1 i've probably averaged 400mb a month , and i am constantly on my phone surfing the web etc at this point.

i suppose if i streamed netflix / sirius radio or soemthing then it would be an issue, but even with audio streaming 5GB or so i would have to think woudl be more than enough (currently verizon has 4gb for $30 which seems like it would be reasonalbe most of the time, i just wisht hey didnt charge for overage right away, and would just make it throttle after you hit your cap or charge you for the next highest cap for 1 month)
 
Last edited:
I only use data when wifi isn't available, and have my phone configured thusly. So, while $15 for 200MB does seem costly, it's the least I could pay and have a smartphone (from the hated AT&T). I just make sure I don't go over, and when I get to 95% usage, my phone shuts it off.
 
for a long time my wife was under 100MB per month. she's now at 1GB but only because her gmail is like 50000 unread emails
 
Agree it is a complete rip off. That is what happens when there are only 2 real competitors. Basically both sides are colluding to rip off the consumer. The 200MB plan should be 9.99 or less and a 500mb for 14.99 would be a lot more reasonable. Its a shame it will only get worse because they can charge what ever they want since there is no real alternative for now.
 
I think the most amusing things are the cell phone commercials where they show a guy watching a movie on his cellphone. Leaving aside how entertaining staring at that tiny phone would be wouldn't the show be over for the month after he finished watching that?
 
quest55720 said:
Agree it is a complete rip off. That is what happens when there are only 2 real competitors. Basically both sides are colluding to rip off the consumer. The 200MB plan should be 9.99 or less and a 500mb for 14.99 would be a lot more reasonable. Its a shame it will only get worse because they can charge what ever they want since there is no real alternative for now.
Click to expand...
I agree, pricing should be more along the lines you have there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top