AT&T Unlimited Data

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Hogan773

Senior member
Nov 2, 2010
599
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I'm probably talking to the wrong crowd on this forum (more power users rather than casual) but just wondering what you would do?

My wife is on iPhone unlimited plan w/ AT&T. She uses 100-200mb data per month consistently and never more.

Assuming they'd still let us do it, would you trade down to 2GB plan to save $5/month, $60 per year? (they've now changed it so you get 3 GB for $30 but as I'm an existing customer I'd think we could be grandfathered into the choice of 2GB, but not sure).

I originally held off moving her down because I thought I might be able to somehow move that Unlimited over to my smartphone, but apparently they won't do it.

I just don't envision that she'll ever use more than 2GB per month so even though its "ONLY" 5 dollars it still feels like I'm paying 5 dollars extra for no reason.
 
Red Storm

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
It's up to you. Personally I would keep it. Unlimited plans are gone, and as technology gets faster and better, data caps will be the chief bottleneck.

My unlimited data plan on Verizon is the only thing that has me committed to staying with them.
 
podspi

podspi

Golden Member
Jan 11, 2011
1,982
102
106
Red Storm said:
It's up to you. Personally I would keep it. Unlimited plans are gone, and as technology gets faster and better, data caps will be the chief bottleneck.

My unlimited data plan on Verizon is the only thing that has me committed to staying with them.
Click to expand...

Yep. I am going to do my best to make sure they honor that till the day I die...
 
Ns1

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
i'd drop it.

been holding onto grandfathered unlimited for the GF, she has never exceeded 1gb. Even after iCloud.
 
Red Storm

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
Ravynmagi said:
It seems AT&T is starting to throttle grandfathered "unlimited" users after 2GB of usage.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-5...t-so-subtle-hint-to-ditch-the-unlimited-plan/

Seems like AT&T is trying to make the "unlimited" plan less attractive. Because for the same price you could get 3GB of unthrottled data.
Click to expand...

That sucks. I know Verizon will throttle you on 3G, but LTE really is unlimited from what I've experienced (was just shy of 20GB after a month with the Nexus).
 
M

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
13,589
4,239
136
For $5, I'd keep it but I wouldn't be surprised if you eventually dropped AT&T if they continue giving customers less for more money.

Ravynmagi said:
It seems AT&T is starting to throttle grandfathered "unlimited" users after 2GB of usage.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-5...t-so-subtle-hint-to-ditch-the-unlimited-plan/

Seems like AT&T is trying to make the "unlimited" plan less attractive. Because for the same price you could get 3GB of unthrottled data.
Click to expand...
If their business model is severely hurt by the top 5%, I can understand but it just happens to coincide with 2 GB, which was their middle data tier until recently? Seems more likely they picked a convenient number to try to force long-time subscribers to self-ration. Doesn't surprise any of us, but still crappy of them.
 
H

Hogan773

Senior member
Nov 2, 2010
599
0
0
manly said:
For $5, I'd keep it but I wouldn't be surprised if you eventually dropped AT&T if they continue giving customers less for more money.


If their business model is severely hurt by the top 5%, I can understand but it just happens to coincide with 2 GB, which was their middle data tier until recently? Seems more likely they picked a convenient number to try to force long-time subscribers to self-ration. Doesn't surprise any of us, but still crappy of them.
Click to expand...

Most customers (aside from the 100 GIGABYTE(???) users on Anandtech, probably struggle to use 500 megs let alone 2 gigs. I'm not defending AT&T - far from it as I think their move to $20 only option for texting is grossly greedy and upping the tiers to $30 is really useless to most people (who again, probably don't use anywhere near 2 gigs). But 1) they are matching Verizon's price point if I'm not mistaken and 2) this is the Cheesecake Factory in effect......I'll get 4 chicken breasts for "only $18.99" what a value! problem is I can only eat one or 1.5. Or it is the Costco effect - the "unit price" of data is a better "value" per GB at $30/3 vs $25/2, but who cares because if you don't use it its meaningless.

Granted I don't watch streaming video all day long but seriously how does one use 100 gigabytes in a month. Around home I'm on Wifi (helps my battery life too). Seems like you're almost just trying to see how much data you can consume. You should go to Cheesecake Factory - you can get a great deal on 4 chicken breasts!


Anyway - the super-users on Anandtech are such a small part of AT&T's subscriber base that I doubt they truly care about you. You're the ones who are constantly bugging their associates about when the G Nex will be coming out and then you go and root your phone and tether like a mutha&&ker and slow down the network for everyone else.
 
J

JeffreyLebowski

Lifer
Aug 23, 2000
15,509
1
81
Hogan773 said:
Most customers (aside from the 100 GIGABYTE(???) users on Anandtech, probably struggle to use 500 megs let alone 2 gigs. I'm not defending AT&T - far from it as I think their move to $20 only option for texting is grossly greedy and upping the tiers to $30 is really useless to most people (who again, probably don't use anywhere near 2 gigs). But 1) they are matching Verizon's price point if I'm not mistaken and 2) this is the Cheesecake Factory in effect......I'll get 4 chicken breasts for "only $18.99" what a value! problem is I can only eat one or 1.5. Or it is the Costco effect - the "unit price" of data is a better "value" per GB at $30/3 vs $25/2, but who cares because if you don't use it its meaningless.

Granted I don't watch streaming video all day long but seriously how does one use 100 gigabytes in a month. Around home I'm on Wifi (helps my battery life too). Seems like you're almost just trying to see how much data you can consume. You should go to Cheesecake Factory - you can get a great deal on 4 chicken breasts!


Anyway - the super-users on Anandtech are such a small part of AT&T's subscriber base that I doubt they truly care about you. You're the ones who are constantly bugging their associates about when the G Nex will be coming out and then you go and root your phone and tether like a mutha&&ker and slow down the network for everyone else.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to figure this out. How can you use so much data? Most people don't use that much at home? Are these people using thier phone as their home ISP and streaming Netflix/Hulu, and torrenting?
Honestly, it's those people that ruin it for everyone else.
 
H

Hogan773

Senior member
Nov 2, 2010
599
0
0
JeffreyLebowski said:
I'm trying to figure this out. How can you use so much data? Most people don't use that much at home? Are these people using thier phone as their home ISP and streaming Netflix/Hulu, and torrenting?
Honestly, it's those people that ruin it for everyone else.
Click to expand...

I dont know because I am a 200-300 MB guy myself

Mr 100 GIGS - how do you do it? (that's an awful lot of pron by the way)
 
I

ImDonly1

Platinum Member
Dec 17, 2004
2,359
0
76
M

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
13,589
4,239
136
JeffreyLebowski said:
I'm trying to figure this out. How can you use so much data? Most people don't use that much at home? Are these people using thier phone as their home ISP and streaming Netflix/Hulu, and torrenting?
Honestly, it's those people that ruin it for everyone else.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's safe to believe a lot of the heaviest users are probably tethering their PC.

But my point is that if top 5% happens to fall right at 2 GB (which I doubt), then doesn't AT&T Wireless also have a business problem with the 2 GB for $25 tier? There is no doubt some level where the heaviest users "ruin it for everyone else" but I'm dubious it's precisely at 2 GB.

Now to get into some specifics, you can push 100 GB if you regularly (but not excessively) stream Netflix. I know nobody is defending AT&T here and the big-2 no doubt make significant investments in CapEx to support growth. The beef is their somewhat antagonistic view towards the 5-percenters, and also that today's "abusers" are really just tomorrow's power users and within a few years within the mainstream. I understand caps and throttles to maximize current profit, but it's a backwards-facing way of looking at mobility.
 
B

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
I don't think you can get the $25/2GB anymore. I think you have to get the $30/3GB.

If that's the case then keep the Unlimited plan. But if she really doesn't use that much, I'd really consider switching it down to the $20/300MB plan. That way she'd even have a little bit extra over her normal 100-200MB/mo and you'd save $120 a year.
 
B

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
manly said:
Now to get into some specifics, you can push 100 GB if you regularly (but not excessively) stream Netflix.
Click to expand...

I don't think you can. I streamed an episode of BSG to and from work everyday for three weeks and my total usage at the end of the month was still under 5GB. Maybe if you use 3G unrestrictor or something...
 
M

manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
13,589
4,239
136
bearxor said:
I don't think you can. I streamed an episode of BSG to and from work everyday for three weeks and my total usage at the end of the month was still under 5GB. Maybe if you use 3G unrestrictor or something...
Click to expand...
Sorry I was unclear but I meant streaming HD content at home. On average, I probably stream about 10 hours a week of 720p video on Netflix. I think my connection is too slow for their 1080p streams. That's how I came up with 100 GB of aggregate real world usage; I tend to agree that it's currently almost impossible to consume that much data on a smartphone if you aren't tethering a PC.
 
zsdersw

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
For the year that I was with Sprint and an unlimited data plan the most I used in any one month was 1.4GB. Since the things I do with my phone that consume data haven't really changed, I'm fine with the $25/2GB plan I have with AT&T.
 
Red Storm

Red Storm

Lifer
Oct 2, 2005
14,233
234
106
I stream music, movies, TV shows, Youtube, sports games via the browser, and I use Dropbox pretty regularly. Also I do a lot of remote support/RDP for work. That's how I use as much data as I do every month.
 
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airdata

airdata

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2010
4,987
0
0
Ravynmagi said:
It seems AT&T is starting to throttle grandfathered "unlimited" users after 2GB of usage.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-5...t-so-subtle-hint-to-ditch-the-unlimited-plan/

Seems like AT&T is trying to make the "unlimited" plan less attractive. Because for the same price you could get 3GB of unthrottled data.
Click to expand...

Yes.

I made a thread in OT about this... It looks like they're sending people text messages as they pass 2GB that they're approaching the top 5% of data usage.

It appears that the top 5% begins cooincidentally at 3GB which is the current $30 data plan. Once you're there they basically slow your internet upwards of 50 times less than normal speeds for the remainder of that billing cycle.

The current data plans are structured so that the next tier is always the more attractive option so as to avoid the expensive overages.


Why would you get the 300MB plan for $20 and then inevidibly be forced to not use your data, or end up paying $30+ per month anyhow.. .so, you'd be better off w\ the 3GB.

For the people w\ the $30 unlimited plan, they want to throttle you and get you to switch to another plan.. .but which plan?

If you're passing 3GB, then the 3GB $30 plan wouldn't make sense because you're going to have overages if you're using that much data already.


So they want people w\ unlimited to ultimately pay $20-30 more per month than they're paying now.
 
B

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
Ill just chime in here and say that I used 6.5GB of data last month and have received no such text or throttling.

So I'm not sure exactly where people say that 2-3GB is the cutoff point for the top 5%.
 
H

Hogan773

Senior member
Nov 2, 2010
599
0
0
bearxor said:
I don't think you can get the $25/2GB anymore. I think you have to get the $30/3GB.

If that's the case then keep the Unlimited plan. But if she really doesn't use that much, I'd really consider switching it down to the $20/300MB plan. That way she'd even have a little bit extra over her normal 100-200MB/mo and you'd save $120 a year.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's an option but boy I hate the prospect of paying another 20 bucks if she goes over a little
 
B

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
Hogan773 said:
Yeah that's an option but boy I hate the prospect of paying another 20 bucks if she goes over a little
Click to expand...

But even if she goes over twice a year, you're still saving $80/yr

But, you said:
"My wife is on iPhone unlimited plan w/ AT&T. She uses 100-200mb data per month consistently and never more."
 
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