AT&T: Using more than 2GB/month on your phone = abusing service

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bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
CZroe said:
Not true at all. I could have easily gone with another phone or carrier. My choice was PURELY based on my intended use.
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I don't want to keep beating a dead horse, so I'll just say I disagree with your reasoning. If you had chosen a different smartphone on AT&T, you would have still paid the $30/mo for unlimited data (unless you cheated the system with the dumb phone data plan, but I'm assuming everything above board). If you had went with another carrier, TMobile, Sprint and Verizon were all unlimited data plans for $20-30 a month then. There were no throttling, no hard limits on data with regards to smart device plans.

The only thing that I really want to know about AT&T's throttling of the top 5% of users is how often that 5% is redefined. If you throttle the top 5% and then the next month throttle the top 5% from that month, now you're effectively throttling the top 10%. Then it just continues and because you redefine what your top 5% is every month, the data usage will continue to go down an encompass more people in the top 5%. I'm kind of afraid that's what's happening and why more people are being affected.
 
God Mode

God Mode

Platinum Member
Jul 2, 2005
2,903
0
71
ATT should allow only preapproved apps and text browsers on their phones with their stingy plans.
 
AznAnarchy99

AznAnarchy99

Lifer
Dec 6, 2004
14,695
117
106
zerocool84 said:
This is why I'm on Sprint. I don't have to worry about overages but it seems like they might be capping as well. It's not like AT&T and Verizon don't have the money to expand, they've had record profits every year, they just want to charge us more and more for what we use. When Verizon hikes prices, so does AT&T and vise versa. I think congress should really look into those two and see if they are colluding with each other to keep prices high for what we get.
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With the Verizon loophole I dont have any overages either and my speeds are actually fast enough to exceed cap. Sprint's cell service was fine when I had it, but data speeds were like trying to drag a turtle. I know you're in the LA area too, I dont know how you put up with it.
 
zerocool84

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
AznAnarchy99 said:
With the Verizon loophole I dont have any overages either and my speeds are actually fast enough to exceed cap. Sprint's cell service was fine when I had it, but data speeds were like trying to drag a turtle. I know you're in the LA area too, I dont know how you put up with it.
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Their speeds really do suck but I put up with it. I just really need that unlimited data.
 
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Anonemous

Diamond Member
May 19, 2003
7,361
1
71
zerocool84 said:
This is why I'm on Sprint. I don't have to worry about overages but it seems like they might be capping as well. It's not like AT&T and Verizon don't have the money to expand, they've had record profits every year, they just want to charge us more and more for what we use. When Verizon hikes prices, so does AT&T and vise versa. I think congress should really look into those two and see if they are colluding with each other to keep prices high for what we get.
Click to expand...

I'm on Sprint as well (SERO) but the speeds around my area have been sucking since the Iphone 4 came out, I used to get consistent 89-100KBps now I'm getting anywhere from 0-20Kbps :(
 
OILFIELDTRASH

OILFIELDTRASH

Lifer
May 13, 2009
12,333
612
126
Looks like AT&T has went from .1 Mbps to .25 Mbps on my throttled speed after all the recent bad press. Much more usable now. Makes Netflix at least usable now. Anyone else getting the higher speed now while throttled?
 
Ichinisan

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
OILFIELDTRASH said:
Looks like AT&T has went from .1 Mbps to .25 Mbps on my throttled speed after all the recent bad press. Much more usable now. Makes Netflix at least usable now. Anyone else getting the higher speed now while throttled?
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Netflix is usable with 1/4 of a megabit?! o_O
 
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bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
I had edge here until like a year and a alf ago and Netflix worked fine at like 250Kb. Don't really notice the artifacting on a phones screen.
 
HumblePie

HumblePie

Lifer
Oct 30, 2000
14,665
440
126
Here is what I don't get.

Phones are cheaper and newer in Russia. Plans are cheaper and there are more plan options for purchasing what you want. Russia is also the largest square mileage country in the world right now. It's more than double the size of the USA. It is also far less densely populated than the USA. Yet the carriers there don't seem to have the same BS answers as to why their service sucks, which it doesn't, unlike USA carriers. Carriers in the USA keep spouting... the USA is too late and to costly to put lines everywhere. That's why we charge more than any other country in the world. That's why we cap data rates. That's why we screw over every customers as much as we can.
 
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bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
81
Just a shot in the dark, but I'd imagine that Russia's airwaves are a lot clearer, possibly opening the possibility for higher powered systems which cover more area. Less population utilizing data services will also mean less congestion in populated areas. I also haven't seen a coverage map of Russia's 3G coverage so it might be possible that the effective covered square mileage is less than the US. I would also wonder if the Russian government is subsidizing the network deployment.

But that's just what I have off the top of my head. Don't know if any of it's correct because I can't understand MTS and BeeLine's websites :p.
 
rh71

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
2gb a month? You've gotta be shittin' me. I am now on unlimited but haven't broken 500mb yet. But 2gb is easily attainable if you never have wifi.
 
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Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
25
91
HumblePie said:
That article is completely bogus bullshit.

Limited airwaves? If you believe that crap I got some beachfront property in Kansas to sell to you.
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How about showing some proof instead of just spouting typical fucktard forum nonsense. :rolleyes:
 
Ichinisan

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
Minerva said:
This problem isn't going away, it's going to worsen!
Enjoy fast ethernet LTE speeds if you're in the area why you can!

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/21/technology/spectrum_crunch/
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Trying to think big here...

If it's possible to narrow the range of the towers we currently use, then you could double the number of towers to double the capacity.

It seems like such a waste that two GSM networks with different slices of spectrum have over-lapping service area. They really need to come up with an agreement that allows providers to mutually benefit from shared load.
 
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thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
4-5 GB a month on Verizon grandfathered 3G here. I do Google Music in the car, stream 1-2 episodes of Netflix TV shows, use Google Maps once in a while, and play basic Words with Friends games. I don't see how it is possible to have a smartphone and NOT use over 2 GB a month.
 
Baked

Baked

Lifer
Dec 28, 2004
36,052
17
81
I have unlimited data w/ verizon wireless. Just upgraded to Motorola Droid Razr on the 4G LTE. I'm trying very hard to use the network for streaming whenever.
 
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spacejamz

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
10,960
1,657
126
Not sure if this is an appropriate analogy or not...

Let's say you open an all you can eat buffet restaurant. You have done some research to figure how how much the 'average' person eats so you can figure out how much to charge. (just to pull some numbers out of my azz, say the average person stays 30 minutes and eats 2 plates of food so they decide to charge $12)

You notice there is a group that comes in every week and stays 4 hours and consumes 8 plates of the food.

If you were the business owner, what do you do? Do you tell them not to come back? Do you put a sign on the front that limits a person's visits to 1 hour and 3 plates? Do you raise the price on the buffet to $15 so now everyone pays a higher price to cover the cost to feed that group that eats more?
 
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alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
a few sushi places in NYC do a sushi buffet but the terms are you have to eat everything, including the rice. otherwise they charge you the a la carte price for the whole meal
 
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alent1234

Diamond Member
Dec 15, 2002
3,915
0
0
thomsbrain said:
4-5 GB a month on Verizon grandfathered 3G here. I do Google Music in the car, stream 1-2 episodes of Netflix TV shows, use Google Maps once in a while, and play basic Words with Friends games. I don't see how it is possible to have a smartphone and NOT use over 2 GB a month.
Click to expand...

i have an iphone 4s

i rarely listen to music
rarely stream netflix
rarely watch youtube



i mostly play stupid time killer games and use some other apps i have. most months i'm under 1GB

my wife is the same way, for months she barely hit 200MB and lately she's around 600MB for some reason. if att comes out with family data in the 3GB range to start i'll be the first to sign up if it cuts the bill
 
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Anubis

Anubis

No Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
78,712
427
126
tbqhwy.com
thomsbrain said:
4-5 GB a month on Verizon grandfathered 3G here. I do Google Music in the car, stream 1-2 episodes of Netflix TV shows, use Google Maps once in a while, and play basic Words with Friends games. I don't see how it is possible to have a smartphone and NOT use over 2 GB a month.
Click to expand...

i agree with you, my useage is similar and its ONLY from music, i dont stream any TV shows or movies

gmusic/slacker streaming + maps+games+web browsing = 4-6 GB a month
 
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