Did Verizon just cap all 3G customers?

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Just read a post on Droidforums.net that Verizon just announced a cap on all 3G customers regardless of their "grandfathering in"

Link

 

[zerocool84]

That's not a cap, they throttle you if you use a ton of data at peak times. Still retarded but not any new data cap as there's always been a data cap on Verizon.

 

[Thegonagle]

Well, sort of. It's not a cap, it's a QOS throttle. Nobody seems to know yet how much they'll slow you down.

First, it's only supposed to happen if the specific cell site you're on is heavily loaded. "Heavily loaded" is a vague term, but it sounds fair enough so far.

Second, it doesn't happen to all 3G users. You have to be a grandfathered unlimited data customer with a 3G phone (4G LTE users are apparently exempt at this time, even when using 3G[???]), and be identified in their billing system as one of the top 5% unlimited data users.

What puts you past that threshold is not specified, but the number 2GB comes up a lot in discussion, probably because one of the cellular companies stated that 95% of data customers use less than 2GB per month. Of course, that was a couple of years ago, so it's probably higher than 2GB today.

It's also been speculated that one "bad" month won't put you in the "to be throttled" category, but 2 or 3 probably will.

I admit that I need to research this further, so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies above.

 

[Bateluer]

Eww. Those regional carriers are looking more and more attractive every day. 🙁

 

[her209]

Pay lots of money for smartphone data plan. Capped.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

lol, as the guy was making the post, he was on his way to drop Verizon... he later posted that he had a Samsung Galaxy II which im assuming is AT&T, lol

 

[Thegonagle]

From Verizon:

Will I be affected by Network Optimization?

Only a small percent of customers will be affected. To be affected, you must be:

A data customer on an unlimited data plan;
Have a 3G Verizon Wireless device (if you have a 4G LTE device you will not be impacted); and
Among the top 5% of data users in a given month.​

Then, you will only be affected:

When you are on the 3G network; and
When you are connected to a congested cell site.​

How will I know if I’m in the top 5% of data users?

As of August 2011, the top 5% of data users were using 2 GB or more of data each month.​

http://support.vzw.com/information/data_disclosure.html

 

[Red Storm]

From Verizon:

Will I be affected by Network Optimization?

Only a small percent of customers will be affected. To be affected, you must be:

A data customer on an unlimited data plan;
Have a 3G Verizon Wireless device (if you have a 4G LTE device you will not be impacted); and
Among the top 5% of data users in a given month.​

Then, you will only be affected:

When you are on the 3G network; and
When you are connected to a congested cell site.​

How will I know if I’m in the top 5% of data users?

As of August 2011, the top 5% of data users were using 2 GB or more of data each month.​

http://support.vzw.com/information/data_disclosure.html

Huh, I didn't realize it doesn't affect 4G phones. Looks like I need to get back on the LTE bandwagon.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Apparently I'm in the top 5% of data users. I average 3-4 gb's/month. Last month was a bad one though as I did almost 6 gb's. Granted I also streamed Netflix for a bit on my laptop haha.

But, I guess it's time to really work on getting LTE then.

 

[Thegonagle]

If you're on Verizon with unlimited data on a 3G smartphone, they let you stay on unlimited when you upgrade to LTE. I believe they have this in writing as official current policy.

So upgrade as soon as feasible--you won't look back (unless you're a iPhone fan, and nothing else will do).

One thing that they barely advertise at all is that on 4G devices with unlimited data, you can upgrade to unlimited portable hotspot on top of the smartphone data for another $30 a month. (Sure you can root and circumvent the fee, but that's against TOS. I'd rather feel free to use it liberally, and not tussle with The Corporation over something that's already a sweet deal for me.)

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

If you're on Verizon with unlimited data on a 3G smartphone, they let you stay on unlimited when you upgrade to LTE. I believe they have this in writing as official current policy.

So upgrade as soon as feasible--you won't look back (unless you're a iPhone fan, and nothing else will do).

One thing that they barely advertise at all is that on 4G devices with unlimited data, you can upgrade to unlimited portable hotspot on top of the smartphone data for another $30 a month. (Sure you can root and circumvent the fee, but that's against TOS. I'd rather feel free to use it liberally, and not tussle with The Corporation over something that's already a sweet deal for me.)

😵 $60/mo is a sweet deal to do something that the phone is completely capable of but the carrier decided to get more money out of it? Yeah, and $30/mo for unlimited texting is a sweet deal too... until you realize that it costs the carrier next to nothing to send them.

 

[Bateluer]

😵 $60/mo is a sweet deal to do something that the phone is completely capable of but the carrier decided to get more money out of it? Yeah, and $30/mo for unlimited texting is a sweet deal too... until you realize that it costs the carrier next to nothing to send them.

Second. Smartphone users should be using IMs though, not SMS. Pity I cannot convince other smartphone users of this. :/

Also, anyone using 2GB or more . . . seems a little broad for a Top 5% definition?

 

[Bman123]

Everyone I know with a data plan goes over 2gb a month except for my mom, I got a thunderbolt when it released and I think I used 10gb in like 19 days lol, I literally downloaded everything because I was getting over 16mbps on my couch. I also tethered it to my pc since it was almost 10 times dater then my home internet. They never throttled my speed either

 

[Thegonagle]

😵 $60/mo is a sweet deal to do something that the phone is completely capable of but the carrier decided to get more money out of it? Yeah, and $30/mo for unlimited texting is a sweet deal too... until you realize that it costs the carrier next to nothing to send them.

They kind of have us by the nuts, don't they?

While texting charges are getting ridiculous on contract plans (and are actually becomming more reasonable on prepaid), it hardly costs them "next to nothing" to wirelessly deliver substantial amounts of data faster than most people's wired connections can.

I used 12 GB last month (phone and tethering combined), so at $60 with no risk of overage fees, it's a relative bargain compared to what those adding a data plan today will pay.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I can't fathom how people can use so much data on a phone. I use my phone a lot for surfing ect, My GF that's on the same plan with me, uses hers a lot and she streams music, does facebook, ect and combined we don't go over 2GBs. When at home we use the wifi connection because it's faster and easier on battery life it seems.

 

[Anubis]

I can't fathom how people can use so much data on a phone. I use my phone a lot for surfing ect, My GF that's on the same plan with me, uses hers a lot and she streams music, does facebook, ect and combined we don't go over 2GBs. When at home we use the wifi connection because it's faster and easier on battery life it seems.

if i stream music for 6 hours a day 5 days a week its over 4GB of data a month, which is generally what i do

all the streaming sites are blocked at work
there is no wifi

 

[Oyeve]

Second. Smartphone users should be using IMs though, not SMS. Pity I cannot convince other smartphone users of this. :/

Also, anyone using 2GB or more . . . seems a little broad for a Top 5% definition?

True. I use yahoo messenger app and do 95% of my texting through it. And if I do have to text I use textplus+ for free texting. I hate the data cap on TMO but its still the cheapest family plan. For now.

 

[Skott]

It wouldn't surprise me if somewhere down the road Verizon forces those 'grandfathered in' into a cap or at least some serious throttling which isn't much better than being capped. ATT and Verizon seem hell bent on restricting heavy data usage in this country.

 

[postmortemIA]

i always wanted to make an android app that does nothing but downloads images from google image search and eats (verizons) bandwidth.

 

[Dulanic]

if i stream music for 6 hours a day 5 days a week its over 4GB of data a month, which is generally what i do

all the streaming sites are blocked at work
there is no wifi

This... they blocked my streaming at work around a year ago. Have had to use phone since.

 

[Skott]

This... they blocked my streaming at work around a year ago. Have had to use phone since.

Same. Not allowed to use the network where I work and we're no where near any wifi. Its one of the main reasons why I switched to Sprint and their unlimited data plan. I can even use my Evo 3D as a hotspot and allow 8 devices to run off of it. Its a nice feature.

 

[zerocool84]

I can't fathom how people can use so much data on a phone. I use my phone a lot for surfing ect, My GF that's on the same plan with me, uses hers a lot and she streams music, does facebook, ect and combined we don't go over 2GBs. When at home we use the wifi connection because it's faster and easier on battery life it seems.

Streaming Pandora, plus I'll watch some Netflix and some Slingbox to watch football games while I'm out. I'm using my smartphone as it's intended to be used.

 

[Fire&Blood]

It's not just the cap size that's an issue.

Based on your (and mine) TOS, if the monthly bandwidth allowance you are signing up for is 2GB, it shall remain that for the duration of the contract.
Carriers aren't bound to increase the cap despite the growing bandwidth consumption.

Even if one was to maintain exactly same data habits since 2007, the bandwidth usage has increased gradually and significantly, web is constantly evolving, sties are more complex, new data consuming services are constantly popping up, and phones and internal hardware are capable of even more bandwidth consuming tasks than before.

Just to prove a point, let's say watching 100 minutes of youtube videos per month eats up 15% of your monthly bandwidth allowance.
When 1280x720 displays becomes mainstream, watching 100 minutes of youtube video, at 720p will consume 25% of your monthly bandwidth. Sure, you can go into settings and lower the res but that defeats the purpose.

I'm a big soccer fan. I used to stream World Cup games at work and got throttled. I got around that by forcing EDGE but then they started throttling EDGE too. Even if you knowingly disable the ability to do data and voice at the same time, they still decided to throttle, I thought that was funny.

Given that example, what do you think are the odds of carriers increasing caps in a timely manner, if at all? Next gen phones all but guarantee a spike in average smartphone data usage while carriers will sit back, collect overage fees and point to some out of date "average data usage" chart and tell you that you pay extra charges because you are abusing their network.

LTE is cool, HSPA+ is cool, but those speeds only mean that in theory, one could hit the cap in 12 hours. How important is a 20Mbps download speed if you are facing overage charges? Not arguing against speed, just arguing that it's not the only thing that matters. But the average customer is easily sucked into the speed hype.

There is a consistent push in the industry to meet/beat DSL speeds yet stay at ~3% of the land line's allowance. Speaking of which, I believe FIOS is the only uncapped service left, everything else is capped.

 

[alent1234]

It's not just the cap size that's an issue.

Based on your (and mine) TOS, if the monthly bandwidth allowance you are signing up for is 2GB, it shall remain that for the duration of the contract.
Carriers aren't bound to increase the cap despite the growing bandwidth consumption.

Even if one was to maintain exactly same data habits since 2007, the bandwidth usage has increased gradually and significantly, web is constantly evolving, sties are more complex, new data consuming services are constantly popping up, and phones and internal hardware are capable of even more bandwidth consuming tasks than before.

Just to prove a point, let's say watching 100 minutes of youtube videos per month eats up 15% of your monthly bandwidth allowance.
When 1280x720 displays becomes mainstream, watching 100 minutes of youtube video, at 720p will consume 25% of your monthly bandwidth. Sure, you can go into settings and lower the res but that defeats the purpose.

I'm a big soccer fan. I used to stream World Cup games at work and got throttled. I got around that by forcing EDGE but then they started throttling EDGE too. Even if you knowingly disable the ability to do data and voice at the same time, they still decided to throttle, I thought that was funny.

Given that example, what do you think are the odds of carriers increasing caps in a timely manner, if at all? Next gen phones all but guarantee a spike in average smartphone data usage while carriers will sit back, collect overage fees and point to some out of date "average data usage" chart and tell you that you pay extra charges because you are abusing their network.

LTE is cool, HSPA+ is cool, but those speeds only mean that in theory, one could hit the cap in 12 hours. How important is a 20Mbps download speed if you are facing overage charges? Not arguing against speed, just arguing that it's not the only thing that matters. But the average customer is easily sucked into the speed hype.

There is a consistent push in the industry to meet/beat DSL speeds yet stay at ~3% of the land line's allowance. Speaking of which, I believe FIOS is the only uncapped service left, everything else is capped.

the minutes per dollar ratio has sky rocketed over the last 10 years, so i expect the data/dollar ratio to as well