data throttling

[ruxpin810]

the last couple billing cycles, i've gotten text message saying i'm in the top 5% of data users. the first time i got the message, i didn't feel like i experienced any slow down in my data connection but i'm currently experiencing a huge slow down in my connection and i'm wondering if this is caused by the throttling or if it's my device. to those that have experienced the slow down, what sort of speeds were you getting after the slow down. i was getting about 2 to 3 Mbps before the slow down and right now, i'm getting about 0.13 to 0.16 Mbps, so you can see this is a huge difference. i just want to know if this is the normal drop in speeds with this new at&t policy or if it's my device that's causing the slow down. thanks.

[Evandela ACE - Warrior]

Indeed, you will be receive EDGE speeds after the throttle. You are allowed 2GB more or less before the throttle occurs. This is due to the Fair Use Policy and Terms of Service you agreed to in your contract.

~ Evandela ~

[jet0910]

Everyone that hits that 2 gigabyte benchmark is the top 5%. If you are grandfathered into the unlimited data plan you will get this message until you switch to a tiered data plan. This is so for every time you go over 2 gigabytes they can charge you $10 per gigabyte. So if you get 2.01 gigabytes then it's an extra $10 on your next bill. The rich trying to get richer while they pay their employees next to nothing.

[BINMAM]

AT$T may have justified throttling their grandfathered unlimited data users in the "fair use policy" but this is an absolute customer service mistake. I have always averaged 5-6gb of data, pulling over 10gb at times. In December I started receiving the texts. I call CS and they stated I hadn't been throttled yet. This month, data has sucked. Absolutely sucked! SpeedTest showed .015mb down and .25mb up. WT F!?!?

I'm on 3g not LTE.

I will drop this service in a heartbeat if this continues. Over 20 years as a customer, I stayed because my plan was grandfathered and they seemed to be poised to eliminate that option all together. You slow me down, I go elsewhere.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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BINMAM wrote:

AT$T may have justified throttling their grandfathered unlimited data users in the "fair use policy" but this is an absolute customer service mistake. I have always averaged 5-6gb of data, pulling over 10gb at times. In December I started receiving the texts. I call CS and they stated I hadn't been throttled yet. This month, data has sucked. Absolutely sucked! SpeedTest showed .015mb down and .25mb up. WT F!?!?

I'm on 3g not LTE.

I will drop this service in a heartbeat if this continues. Over 20 years as a customer, I stayed because my plan was grandfathered and they seemed to be poised to eliminate that option all together. You slow me down, I go elsewhere.

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you have one choice left in the top 3 carriers - sprint, they are the last remaining carrier that offers unlimted data - and it is reported they are considering dropping it (they also have a fair use policy in effect). Verizon dropped back when they got the iphone. You might be able to find a regional carrier that has unlimited, but suspect that they will have a fair use policy also. The unlimited mobile data plans are going the way of the DoDo bird, even cricket throttles their unlimited packages, even broadband providers are putting caps on their service.

[ruxpin810]

i was also thinking about switching to sprint but i love the iphone and i read that data speeds with the sprint iphone are just as horrible as the throttled speeds with at&t.

[dh36]

I just had my data throttled and it's to the point where any internet app/browser etc on my phone is completely unusable. I talked to customer support at length about this yesterday and have concluded that at&t does flat out not care about its customers. I can understand a slow down in speed, but to the point I no longer can use the service I pay for should be illegal. Needless to say I'm leaving At&t since even if I wanted to continue giving them my money, they don't even offer a decent sized tired data plan. I urge anyone considering canceling their service to do so. I have been a customer for over 8 years and dealing with this company has always been one of the absolute worst experiences imaginable.

[TJ989]

I've been throttled after using 1.5 gigs and I am on the unlimited plan as well. How about instead of lieing to the customers, AT&T clearly outlines in the text the exact cap you have before you become throttled? Then again, making public only what customers would notice would be bad PR I imagine.

1546.58 MB of Unlimited is what my bill says, and it says current as of 1/23/12. I got the text yesterday.

[augidog]

just like last month AT&T software told me i'd reached my 4GB limit, so i stopped...and later i learned i'd actually used only 3.1GB.

this cellular data stuff is the scam of the century...all the carriers are working together to keep prices as high as the market will bear...and sometimes they might lie to do it.

[seajohn]

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augidog wrote:

just like last month AT&T software told me i'd reached my 4GB limit, so i stopped...and later i learned i'd actually used only 3.1GB.

this cellular data stuff is the scam of the century...all the carriers are working together to keep prices as high as the market will bear...and sometimes they might lie to do it.

---

Not all the carriers are lying ... The one I switched to from AT&T a few months ago at least provides accurate, nearly up to the minute accounting of data usage.  The other day I downloaded a 300MB file; I checked the data counter before and after, and it had increased by just over 300MB within 15 minutes!

[augidog]

i'm way jealous. in rural washington state i'm STUCK with AT&T at the moment. but, as soon as i move to an area where there's competition, i'll happily pay the ETF and take my cool blackberry elsewhere.

today, i felt forced to reduce my services to the barest minimum, because i cannot afford an unexpected $10 whenever AT&T feels like it. i got me this very nice device and don't dare use any of the many things it can do.

for the lovers of "FAIR USE"

ha! here's "fair use" for ya...

looking at it your way, you're expecting existing customers pay more for less of a FAIR share with every new data customer you sign on. you keep increasing the number of slices, but the size of the pie remains the same.

[Sardos]

I have been a loyal AT&T customer for about 8 years and have been happy until now. My phone is pretty much useless once I reach the 3GB limit. This is just poor customer service and I won't stand for it. I will be changing over to Sprint as soon as I my contract ends or as soon as I am fed up enough with this cap that I am willing to pay the early termination fee. AT&T, this is not a way to get additional revenue, though I am sure that is the goal behind it. Instead, you are just alienating your customers. This is going to backfire and you are going to lose more customers than you make in additional fees.

[lirm35]

I have just about had it with AT&T.  I've been a customer for years also with an unlimited plan and now I find out that my grandfathered unlimited data - which I never came close to capping out at - will be limited to 2 GB of data should I ever need it on the road.

I just purchased a Galaxy Note and was considering staying with with them another two years but forget that.

Customer service - which I''m willing to pay a premium for - is non existent.  Hands down AT&T has the largest collection of know nothing worthless cretins I've encountered in my life.

I am having nothing but problems and issues with the Note since I got it and am finding zero support from AT&T and thread after thread of unending problems from people who are AT&T customers with problems similar to mine.  These are not individuals either - they are in many cases corporate accounts.

If AT&T doesn't care about them and resovling their problems there is zero to no chance they will work to solve mine. 

As some small consulation I will enjoy watching the parade of millions who leave AT&T in the coming 6 months as their 2 year contracts expire on their iPhone 4s and come to realize the same thing I am realizing - that paying over twice as much to the corporate monster isn't gaining them a thing at all.  In fact, AT&T is so large not only do they not care about customers they simply cannot support them.  They just want the money, honey.

I can go out and buy this same phone for 550 dollars - get unlimited service for 45 a month instead of the 130 I pay AT&T.  Yeah, I'll lose my unlimited data but who cares - it doesn't mean a thing anymore.  Over two years I'll save about $1200 bucks - and sip on an umbelled beverage somewhere in the sun and say "Thanks AT&T for paying for at least a portion of my vacation - hope your fat cat CEOs are enjoying watching their stock plummet and numbers drop into the toilet - I am happay to have helped do my part you greedy *****.

.......drooling over a money pit they think will never run dry.

Well not my money anymore.  There is lots of competition out there.

They are the epitome of what is wrong with this country.

I can hardly wait to watch them rot from the inside in the coming years.

[Inappropriate content removed]

[zxctypo]

I have experienced the same thing- taking an "unlimited" data plan and capping it at 30kbps isn't at all unlimited, it's a scam and only a matter of time before AT&T is hit with FCC inquiries for violating net neutrality.

My billing cycle ended a day ago, but I'm still capped for some reason and I can't check my usage by text or online (it says it's "unavailable"). So basically AT&T arbitrarily gets to do whatever they want with my account and money? Good luck with that.

Do you know why google gave everyone in kansas city today free fiber internet? To underscore just how much of a lie it is when telcos say that they don't have "capacity", and that people who download over 2gb are "ruining it for everyone". Really? And me paying 10$ per gigabyte somehow alleviates this "issue" and creates more bandwidth for everyone to share?

I've been a customer with at&t my entire life- but not anymore. 30kbps? What is this, 1998? When your service provider in 2012 is slower than America online was in 2000- something is wrong with the picture.

In Taiwan, I used data excesively for 3 months straight, along with frequent, multi-hour long calls home- I paid 150$- not per month, but TOTAL- and this was considered to be a lot there! So why is the situation so different here in the US? Because some companies try to dominate their competition by providing the best service they can, and some companies like at&t would rather try to dominate their customers with bait and switch tactics, heavily one sided incomprehensible legal agreements, and awful soul crushing customer service.

I like that there hasn't been a moderator who's tried to explain any of this- I'm guessing because they can't: there's no explanation other than greed. I'd even Pay a moderator to try to explain the situation logically and with rationale behind their arguments. I'd even bet good money on it that no one would- or could.

[Per Guidelines: Keep it Relevant and Appropriate]