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DSLReports: Verizon purges most unlimited plans, begins throttling remaining

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openwheel said:
There are still ways to upgrade phone without losing unlimited data. Check Howard Forum or Android Central. Lots of threads on this.
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That doesn't renew your unlimited contract. The unlimited line goes off contract, you're just paying for the phone on the line you transferred the phone from.
 
NikolaeVarius said:
That doesn't renew your unlimited contract. The unlimited line goes off contract, you're just paying for the phone on the line you transferred the phone from.
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No you are thinking about the method that transfers upgrade from another line. I did a straight upgrade, kept and renewed the unlimited data plan. Two year contract.
 
The FCC rule for block C state:

Block, degrade, or interfere with the ability of end users to download and utilize applications of their choosing on the licensee’s Block C network, subject to reasonable network management. Wireless service providers subject to this requirement will not be allowed to disable features or functionality in handsets where such action is not related to reasonable network management and protection, or compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. For example, providers may not “lock” handsets to prevent their transfer from one system to another.
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Undoubtedly, someone will file a lawsuit. However, Verizon will argue that this is reasonable network management. They'll probably win since they're only doing it on towers congested at the time of usage.

Verizon acquiring more spectrum and shifting to it has always been a bad thing for the Block C requirements. If Verizon can get AWS and 800/1900mhz shifted over to LTE and begin using those exclusively, then they're not beholden to those requirements that are on the 700mhz block.
 
openwheel said:
So people on unlimited data but still under contract are not affected? Sounds odd but I guess I won't be affected then since I still got 1.5 year left on my contract.
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If they change the terms of the service, while under contract, then you are no longer held to the terms. Those of us off contract are basically paying month to month so the terms can change once the period ends. They would not terminate contracts until the unlimited base is well under a fraction of a percent. They try to keep churn down so abandoning that many paying customers would be hell on their financials.
 
I will be getting another phone soon. Any gsm att or tmobile phone that I can use on an mvno carrier since unlimited will be throttled now.

I'm leaning towards the one plus but if I can get an att m8 that would be good too.

What sucks is I have a group of devs I work with when I'm not at my day job and we've been putting together roms and such for pretty much all the HTC Verizon phones. So I won't be able to run their stuff anymore.

But I've been off contract with Verizon unlimited for about a year now since I was grandfathered in a long time ago. So paying $83 for 450 min, unlimited text, and data has no point if it's going to be throttled and I'll get the same thing from an Mvno for about $45 a month.
 
sze5003 said:
I will be getting another phone soon. Any gsm att or tmobile phone that I can use on an mvno carrier since unlimited will be throttled now.

I'm leaning towards the one plus but if I can get an att m8 that would be good too.

What sucks is I have a group of devs I work with when I'm not at my day job and we've been putting together roms and such for pretty much all the HTC Verizon phones. So I won't be able to run their stuff anymore.

But I've been off contract with Verizon unlimited for about a year now since I was grandfathered in a long time ago. So paying $83 for 450 min, unlimited text, and data has no point if it's going to be throttled and I'll get the same thing from an Mvno for about $45 a month.
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Why don't you wait to see if the throttling has an actual impact on you?
 
KentState said:
Why don't you wait to see if the throttling has an actual impact on you?
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I might but this month I'm at 8gb. Last month was 6 and the month before that 5gb. I stream a lot of music at work, can't use WiFi since they block it, email, fb, atot, some Netflix.
 
sze5003 said:
I might but this month I'm at 8gb. Last month was 6 and the month before that 5gb. I stream a lot of music at work, can't use WiFi since they block it, email, fb, atot, some Netflix.
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Just saying that even though you are over the current 5% average, the towers may not be over crowded or you may not be throttled noticeably. May even mean that you are reduced from 20Mbps down to 5Mbps which is still plenty for streaming music or watching Netflix. I think this would mostly impact people who are sucking large amounts of bandwidth in a short period. My backup phone is on unlimited also and only used for USB tethering so I'm in the same boat. I will wait to see if it has a meaningful impact on me and then switch.
 
Yea I'll see how it goes but I'll be looking out for another phone. Would like to try the one plus if I ever find an invite. I knew eventully they would do this it was just a matter of time.
 
KentState said:
Just saying that even though you are over the current 5% average, the towers may not be over crowded or you may not be throttled noticeably. May even mean that you are reduced from 20Mbps down to 5Mbps which is still plenty for streaming music or watching Netflix. I think this would mostly impact people who are sucking large amounts of bandwidth in a short period. My backup phone is on unlimited also and only used for USB tethering so I'm in the same boat. I will wait to see if it has a meaningful impact on me and then switch.
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Absolutely this. Apparently I'm in the minority here, but there are areas around Chicago where I get LTE coverage and can't even get a website to load because the towers are so slammed. If thats because some tool is illegally torrenting half the internet over an LTE connection, please go ahead and cap their maximum bandwidth per second. It doesn't' impact your overall bandwidth monthly limit, and when you aren't in those very few spots where its getting slammed, then you can have your uncapped everything.
 
i can't believe you have to root to tether on your phones!

i've had that since day one with a gnex and nexus 5...

wowo american cell providers are evil in every possible way.
 
sze5003 said:
I will be getting another phone soon. Any gsm att or tmobile phone that I can use on an mvno carrier since unlimited will be throttled now.

I'm leaning towards the one plus but if I can get an att m8 that would be good too.

What sucks is I have a group of devs I work with when I'm not at my day job and we've been putting together roms and such for pretty much all the HTC Verizon phones. So I won't be able to run their stuff anymore.

But I've been off contract with Verizon unlimited for about a year now since I was grandfathered in a long time ago. So paying $83 for 450 min, unlimited text, and data has no point if it's going to be throttled and I'll get the same thing from an Mvno for about $45 a month.
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I wouldn't jump ship so fast. There will be ways to minimize impact if history is any indication.
 
My phone as a hotspot is the only internet I can get at my house since Comcast has service in all the surrounding subdivisions but not mine and ATT (the most worthless company ever) "offers" 1.5mbs dsl but never has any lines available. And this is not an old neighborhood- built in 03-04. Fortunately, there is probably not much network congestion this far outside Atlanta but I'd bet Verizon will continue to turn the screws in to force people off of unlimited...
 
I wasn't able to get an invite to buy a one plus phone. So I'm going to keep my htc one on Verizon for now. I'll see how the data throttle affects me. I've been flashing multiple Roms which accounts for all my downloads this month on the data.

But I know usually with Pandora steaming , posts, email, fb, and other data use at work I can easily run up to 4-5 gb or more before the end of the billing cycle.

That and I'd like to pay less per month but the only reason I justified $84 a month for my plan was due to the truly unlimited data.
 
jpiniero said:
You have to root because tethering on unlimited is against the TOS.
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I called them and asked if I could tether on my unlimited plan, as is, without any extra tethering service. They reluctantly said I could.

Just to be sure, I went online to chat and asked the same question and saved the chat/id for reference in case I ever got slapped with some sort of penalty for tethering on my unlimited data plan.
 
I can easily go past the 4.7gb limit they have set before throttling.

In other news, my gnex's screen finally cracked, after taking many falls.
 
Isn't the title flamebait?

The criteria is already reasonable: Have to be in the top 5% of users...have to have already used atleast 4.7GB that billing cycle, have to be on a cell site that is experience a peak load...

No one knows what reduced speeds even means; is it just half of what a person normally would have received --> 7Mbps instead of 14 Mbps? 15 Mbps instead of 30 Mbps? 2.5 Mbps instead of 5 Mbps? Maybe its dynamically going to determine how much slower it will be based upon the load of tower?

I'm not sure how this is Verizon purging an unlimited plan - wasn't the end game expectation to have LTE speeds around a consistent 3-5Mbps?

Like another user pointed out: They can reasonably manage the network, and if 10 idiots are torrenting at Megabytes per second because they tether to their phone 24/7, and it slows everything down for everyone else trying to watch a netflix program on their phone, it makes sense to throttle those people. If those driving 20+GB/month really want to leave, they should feel free to do so because they aren't on contract anymore. 100/month for wireless internet with the best provider, that lets you tether, is an amazing deal as it is. If you switch to Tmobile and pay 50/month, I promise you that you won't get Verizon Performance; welcome to the lands of inconsistent ping.
 
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I was using 50-90gb a month when I was using my phone as my sole source of internet until Verizon's service in my neighborhood took a dive.

I sold my unlimited LTE line since. This would have been bad news for me lol.
 
I avoid using WiFi on principle on our unlimited lines. For me it's more about principle than need. Stupid I know but whatever 🙂
 
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