Re: AT&T to throttle unlimited data plan users...

ryanthomaswoods · ‎11-12-2011

From looking at XDA if you get a LTE phone, when you hit 4-6GB they cap you to 100kb. Kind of a joke when people are hitting 30-40,000kb a sec and want to actually use their unlimited.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

Jamus75 wrote:
Again you speak of things that have no revelance here. We don't care about what you do with your data. This post is about people who are getting throttled for using their phone the way we have always done. And FYI the reason my voicemail doesn't work was caused by the data cap. Go back and read my post again slowly and maybe you can understand it. The CSR at AT&T told me this was the reason I didn't make it up. So before you speak carelessly again make sure u know what you speak of. Also nobody cares about your Shelby mustang, my f150 costs more than it did. I have a job making good money for doing basically nothing, so I can watch Netflix nearly all day. Sorry you actually have to work while at Walmart and can't use your phone while putting out the produce.

the only thing that is of relevance here is the carrier has decided to enforce the long standing fair use policy, all perfectly within their rights, they decided to make it a sliding scale rather then a hard limit and handle it as a soft cap instead of a hard cap, the limit could have been 5GB and no date transfer until next billing cycle instead.

Funny, visual voicemail is like mms trasnfer, it does not count against data cap. Y

atechstl · ‎11-20-2011

AT&T last night limited my data usage when I hit 5GB. Is 5 GB the standard shut off or is it the top 5 percentage? And how do they discover the top 5 percentage. The AT&T Rep said I could downgrade to the 2gb per limit plan and pay $10 per extra GB without any restrictions. They also stated I could go to McDonalds and loiter to get free WIFI. Isn't loitering illegal.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

atechstl wrote:
AT&T last night limited my data usage when I hit 5GB. Is 5 GB the standard shut off or is it the top 5 percentage? And how do they discover the top 5 percentage. The AT&T Rep said I could downgrade to the 2gb per limit plan and pay $10 per extra GB without any restrictions. They also stated I could go to McDonalds and loiter to get free WIFI. Isn't loitering illegal.

the only do the top 5 percent, so the target is variable unlike the other carroers that hard lock at 5GB, they have equipment that monitors the bandwidth used by the mac address or phone number of the device

They said you could go to mcdonalds to use the wifi - which is true, but when you get there you have to adhere to mcdonalds rules for using it - which means buying something from the store

atechstl · ‎11-20-2011

According to AT&T, I can downgrade to the 2GB plan and pay $10 per 1GB overage. This would have allowed me to go over the 5GB I was just blocked at. So why should I have to downgrade my data plan in order to use more data then my Unlimited plan?

How do they determine the top 5%? I am in the St. Louis market and have a hard time understanding that 5GB falls in the top 5% category.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

atechstl wrote:

According to AT&T, I can downgrade to the 2GB plan and pay $10 per 1GB overage. This would have allowed me to go over the 5GB I was just blocked at. So why should I have to downgrade my data plan in order to use more data then my Unlimited plan?

How do they determine the top 5%? I am in the St. Louis market and have a hard time understanding that 5GB falls in the top 5% category.

you where not hard blocked you where throttled (although the upper bandwidth limit is so low that may appear you are bloked), it is not a hard capped at all. it is determined by the top 5 percent of the users, so if last month you used 10 GB then you where probablyt in the top 5 Percent and your connection was throttled, this month you use 6 GB you may not have made the top 5 percent so the connection is not throttled.

The majoroty of carriers that enforce their fair use policy utilize the 5GB limit before they throttle or shut down functionality, att decided to use a sliding scale for some reason. Know of at least one carrier that if you exceed the 5GB limit in a billing cycle they turn off all data access except for messaging and email delivery until the billing cycle is finished.

Even broadband users are feeling the pinch on "unlimited data" , one carrier has the rules that if you exceed a 250GB limit more then a decoumented set of times they terminate your connection and flag your address / name for no reconnect for 6 months.

Unfortunatley the days of the all you can eat data packages are gone and the restrictions will get tighter as time goes on

goducksgo · ‎11-21-2011

I just got the text this morning "Your data usage this month is in the top 5%..." I checked my usage, for the last three months it averaged 2.5-4.6, all since I bought the new Samsung Infuse, which they taunted such a fast processor, adobe flash, lightening speeds. What's the point of selling us these phones(with high$$$ pricetag) if we can't use them to their full ability?? I'm under the 5GB and I was still targeted. It's all about the dollar, I am under the old unlimited plans which is less expensive than their tiered plans, this is how they repay customers for sticking with them through all their changes, buying their hype on all the new fast phones, buying the lies about 4G. Grrrrrrrrrrr I have two lines I haven't renewed, this seems a good time to dump ATT

tken · ‎11-21-2011

Throttled at 4.5gb... Was watching netflix and then...

Nope, AT&T Throttle.

Really lets change the naming of the unlimited plan. Maybe something like "Unlimited!! until you hit 5% of user usage then we'll reduce your speeds to 2g speeds and you'll like it becase we told you to."

tken · ‎11-21-2011

Seems sprint doesn't have any issue giving there customers TRUE unlimited data. Failure jesus at at&t

spd2demun · ‎07-28-2007

For the Regulars here, how accurate do you feel ATTs meter is for measuring?

I notice a difference from what ATTs shows vs. Cell Tracker (by PageOnce).

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

tken wrote:

Seems sprint doesn't have any issue giving there customers TRUE unlimited data. Failure ******* at at&t

try reading the fair use policy for sprint, that ain;t so such thing as "unlimited data"

tken · ‎11-21-2011

So, if my bandwidth is throttled today because I'm in the top 5% of users what happens if other users exceed what I'm currently using? Does that open up my connection again and if not then how does anyone exceed 5gb?

This is only my first month of LTE (not to mention on the skyrocket where amazon is selling it for $.01 now and I paid $250. Still other areas are receiving the device for $150, thanks) and I expect to be using about 4gb a month with netflix and music with no way of knowing I'm close to the 5% naughty crowd.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

tken wrote:

So, if my bandwidth is throttled today because I'm in the top 5% of users what happens if other users exceed what I'm currently using? Does that open up my connection again and if not then how does anyone exceed 5gb?

This is only my first month of LTE (not to mention on the skyrocket where amazon is selling it for $.01 now and I paid $250. Still other areas are receiving the device for $150, thanks) and I expect to be using about 4gb a month with netflix and music with no way of knowing I'm close to the 5% naughty crowd.

pretty sure the answer is no - you are throttled to the end of you billing cycle, the throttling is to prevent you from continueing on with the habit

tken · ‎11-21-2011

wingrider01 wrote:
tken wrote:
So, if my bandwidth is throttled today because I'm in the top 5% of users what happens if other users exceed what I'm currently using? Does that open up my connection again and if not then how does anyone exceed 5gb?

This is only my first month of LTE (not to mention on the skyrocket where amazon is selling it for $.01 now and I paid $250. Still other areas are receiving the device for $150, thanks) and I expect to be using about 4gb a month with netflix and music with no way of knowing I'm close to the 5% naughty crowd.

pretty sure the answer is no - you are throttled to the end of you billing cycle, the throttling is to prevent you from continueing on with the habit

I'm sure my speed won't be increased until the 27th (end of my cycle). It's a "habit" to use our phones as they were intended, 4gb of data isn't that much when streaming video/music.

So moving on to the next question: When is the 5% calculated? If daily then how does anyone go over 5gb of data? Seems you would execute your "Throttle Unlimited Customers" script daily then go from there. Might be a good idea to have more transparency on how your throttleing customers.

Side Note: Throttled internet on 4g lte isn't too bad because its still fast when browsing stardard websites. Even flash sites are loading faster than a coworkers iPhone 4s, HAHA...

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

tken wrote:

wingrider01 wrote:

tken wrote:

So, if my bandwidth is throttled today because I'm in the top 5% of users what happens if other users exceed what I'm currently using? Does that open up my connection again and if not then how does anyone exceed 5gb?

This is only my first month of LTE (not to mention on the skyrocket where amazon is selling it for $.01 now and I paid $250. Still other areas are receiving the device for $150, thanks) and I expect to be using about 4gb a month with netflix and music with no way of knowing I'm close to the 5% naughty crowd.

pretty sure the answer is no - you are throttled to the end of you billing cycle, the throttling is to prevent you from continueing on with the habit

I'm sure my speed won't be increased until the 27th (end of my cycle). It's a "habit" to use our phones as they were intended, 4gb of data isn't that much when streaming video/music.

So moving on to the next question: When is the 5% calculated? If daily then how does anyone go over 5gb of data? Seems you would execute your "Throttle Unlimited Customers" script daily then go from there. Might be a good idea to have more transparency on how your throttleing customers.

Side Note: Throttled internet on 4g lte isn't too bad because its still fast when browsing stardard websites. Even flash sites are loading faster than a coworkers iPhone 4s, HAHA...

Rarely exceed 3GB on both my personal and business smartphones, I use the devices as business tools. The only time I view video is when I fly (and that is very often) and then I use a high resolution tablet that has all the video that I want to watch pre-loaded to the device

If you read some of the other threads you see that there are people "claiming" 30GB data transfer. suspect that the top 5 percent is a rolling total as the billing cycle progresses, when it is exceeded the throttling is turned on and is not turned off. Bet you the Iphone 4s people get better throughput in a lot more locations then the 6 markets that lte is turned on at though , as far as flash goes - expect to see it go away for mobile devices, adobe is pulling out of the mobile market for flash in favor of HTML 5

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/adobe-delivers-a-blow-to-google-tv-by-pulling-flash/

http://www.theledger.com/article/20111109/news/111109302

so the pretty soon you will have seen the last release of mobile flash.

You need to realize that mobile carriers are not the only ones that are starting to cap "unlimited data" broadband providers are heading in the same direction, there is a cable provider that warns you at 250GB, exceed that limit in a set number of months - 6 I belueve and they suspend your internet access for 6 months and they will not open a new account to you until after the suspension period is over with. Period

blahze9 · ‎11-22-2011

I'm not sure why everyone is talking about 5 GB. I just received the text (and phone call) about being throttled while my data usage is at 2.3 GB currently. What exactly is "Fair Use"? I'm sorry, this should be more clear. I am in the NYC market if that helps. The rep I spoke to said that 2.3 GB is in their top 5%. I HIGHLY doubt this to be true.

BTW, T-Mobile is offering (at least business accounts) 5 GB of data for $30.00. Since I never touch 5 GB of data, I just may leave AT&T Wireless after at least 15 years of service. (If you count the switchover to Cingular and back again)

davidusr · ‎01-19-2007

4.5Gig, now 2.3gig... Its getting ridiculous! Im seeing a pattern. With the threat of being throttled, everyone with "unlimited data" plans are running scared, and watching their usage, hoping to not get throttled. Basically getting to where if we go over 2GB, we get throttled, hoping to force us to the limited plans, and paying the extra $10 per gig. Nice plan!

tken · ‎11-21-2011

blahze9 wrote:
I'm not sure why everyone is talking about 5 GB. I just received the text (and phone call) about being throttled while my data usage is at 2.3 GB currently. What exactly is "Fair Use"? I'm sorry, this should be more clear. I am in the NYC market if that helps. The rep I spoke to said that 2.3 GB is in their top 5%. I HIGHLY doubt this to be true.

BTW, T-Mobile is offering (at least business accounts) 5 GB of data for $30.00. Since I never touch 5 GB of data, I just may leave AT&T Wireless after at least 15 years of service. (If you count the switchover to Cingular and back again)

I want a phone call explaining my data usage. My wife only uses 100-200mb per month and I still pay for the unlimited, worth it!!

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

davidusr wrote:
4.5Gig, now 2.3gig... Its getting ridiculous! Im seeing a pattern. With the threat of being throttled, everyone with "unlimited data" plans are running scared, and watching their usage, hoping to not get throttled. Basically getting to where if we go over 2GB, we get throttled, hoping to force us to the limited plans, and paying the extra $10 per gig. Nice plan!

Sorry no, average use here is 3GB a month on the unlimited plan for my buisness and personally smartphones, less for the verizon and sprint ones since they don't have the abiity to do voice and data at the same time., never have recieved the "email on throttling". Cannot comprehend how you get it at 2.3gb when there are people here bragging of 20-30GB a month consistant.

Please don;t make assumptions tht "everyone is running scared" - I am not, I use my smartphone for it';s basic tenets - email, web conference calls and text messaging and I think I have exceed 3gb one month, so I am not running scared.

There is no "threat" of being throttle it is being done so it is more then a threat

grkmaster · ‎11-23-2011

davidusr wrote:
4.5Gig, now 2.3gig... Its getting ridiculous! Im seeing a pattern. With the threat of being throttled, everyone with "unlimited data" plans are running scared, and watching their usage, hoping to not get throttled. Basically getting to where if we go over 2GB, we get throttled, hoping to force us to the limited plans, and paying the extra $10 per gig. Nice plan!

I received the email this morning that I am in the 5% as well as a text message. This got me pretty upset because I have actually used only 2.2 gigs this month and I have about a week left in my cycle... In no way is 2.2 gigs in the 5 percent, when I see people putting over 10 a month. I bet everyone who is unlimited and passed the 2 gig mark, got the email.

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

grkmaster wrote:

davidusr wrote:
4.5Gig, now 2.3gig... Its getting ridiculous! Im seeing a pattern. With the threat of being throttled, everyone with "unlimited data" plans are running scared, and watching their usage, hoping to not get throttled. Basically getting to where if we go over 2GB, we get throttled, hoping to force us to the limited plans, and paying the extra $10 per gig. Nice plan!

I received the email this morning that I am in the 5% as well as a text message. This got me pretty upset because I have actually used only 2.2 gigs this month and I have about a week left in my cycle... In no way is 2.2 gigs in the 5 percent, when I see people putting over 10 a month. I bet everyone who is unlimited and passed the 2 gig mark, got the email.

you do realize that if you are looking at the olam for data usage three is a big disclaimers that the numbers are 5 to 7 days behind right?

grkmaster · ‎11-23-2011

wingrider01 wrote:
grkmaster wrote:
I received the email this morning that I am in the 5% as well as a text message. This got me pretty upset because I have actually used only 2.2 gigs this month and I have about a week left in my cycle... In no way is 2.2 gigs in the 5 percent, when I see people putting over 10 a month. I bet everyone who is unlimited and passed the 2 gig mark, got the email.
you do realize that if you are looking at the olam for data usage three is a big disclaimers that the numbers are 5 to 7 days behind right?

i dont know what olam is? ... and I know for sure that I was even surprised I used 2 gb this month. I barely remember even streaming anything. But both my att app and att wireless website show the same thing and says as of November 23.. and whatever it is your saying that the numbers are 5-7 days behind doesnt make sense because of the people who keep an eye on their data usage , will easily go over and not realize.

davidusr · ‎01-19-2007

Wingrider... Im not making assumptions. "running scared" is a figurative term. I use 2-5 gigs a month, and expect "the text" anyday. Hence the "threat".
My point is, they are inconsistent. One person throttled at 2.3, at 4.5. Im at 4.2 with 5 days left in my cycle. Wheres the consistency?

atechstl · ‎11-20-2011

If AT&T is throttleing users at 2.3GB on their unlimited plan..[Edited to comply with Guidelines]

They claim it's to free up bandwidth but users with 2GB plans are allowed to pay extra and get more bandwidth. Users with unlimited data plans are left dead in the water.

My phone is used for work. LTE isn't available in the St. Louis market. My phone got throttled down at just under 5GB 2 days before the end of my billing cycle. Not too big of a deal until my voicemail and other apps refused to work after timing out. My speeds were beyond slow and compairable to dial up speeds. Upload speeds weren't capped though.

I demand to read their process of how they determine the top 5%. The top 5% is such a broad statement and can be determined at anypoint within a month or within a billing cycle. There is no guideline stating how much the top 5% is allowed to use. If throttled down you can expect other users would soon join the top 5%. Does this bump you out of the 5% because the more users that get throttled the less likely you are to be in the 5%?

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

atechstl wrote:

If AT&T is throttleing users at 2.3GB on their unlimited plan ... [Edited to comply with Guidelines]

They claim it's to free up bandwidth but users with 2GB plans are allowed to pay extra and get more bandwidth. Users with unlimited data plans are left dead in the water.

My phone is used for work. LTE isn't available in the St. Louis market. My phone got throttled down at just under 5GB 2 days before the end of my billing cycle. Not too big of a deal until my voicemail and other apps refused to work after timing out. My speeds were beyond slow and compairable to dial up speeds. Upload speeds weren't capped though.

I demand to read their process of how they determine the top 5%. The top 5% is such a broad statement and can be determined at anypoint within a month or within a billing cycle. There is no guideline stating how much the top 5% is allowed to use. If throttled down you can expect other users would soon join the top 5%. Does this bump you out of the 5% because the more users that get throttled the less likely you are to be in the 5%?

No - covered by the Fair Use policy

atechstl · ‎11-20-2011

Please provide a link to this Fair Use Policy

wingrider01 · ‎05-26-2008

atechstl wrote:

If AT&T is throttleing users at 2.3GB on their unlimited plan..[Edited to comply with Guidelines]

They claim it's to free up bandwidth but users with 2GB plans are allowed to pay extra and get more bandwidth. Users with unlimited data plans are left dead in the water.

My phone is used for work. LTE isn't available in the St. Louis market. My phone got throttled down at just under 5GB 2 days before the end of my billing cycle. Not too big of a deal until my voicemail and other apps refused to work after timing out. My speeds were beyond slow and compairable to dial up speeds. Upload speeds weren't capped though.

I demand to read their process of how they determine the top 5%. The top 5% is such a broad statement and can be determined at anypoint within a month or within a billing cycle. There is no guideline stating how much the top 5% is allowed to use. If throttled down you can expect other users would soon join the top 5%. Does this bump you out of the 5% because the more users that get throttled the less likely you are to be in the 5%?

Have not seen any provable documentation on throttling at the low levels that are being claimed - unless you have something that is 100 percent documented and validated? Sorry need more proof for anything like this before I will accept it - for any business.

I average a solid 3GB a month for data use on my unlimited plan, rarely will boost to 4-5GB and have never recieved a text or email.

Suspec that once you are throttled you are throttled to the end of the billing cycle.

atechstl · ‎11-20-2011

If they are going to throttle their users they need documentation on how and why they are throttleing them. Shouldn't this documentation be available to the public? With users claiming to be throttled at 2.3GB, the so called unlimited plan is no better then the 2 GB data plan. At least you can go over 2GB and maintain your internet speeds with the 2GB package.

On other news Verizon doubled all of their data plans for FREE to boost their LTE Network! Go figure!

tken · ‎11-21-2011

wingrider01 wrote:
No - covered by the Fair Use policy

Link us to this mysterious policy you speak of.

atechstl · ‎11-20-2011

I have yet to find this policy. Customer support can't even point me to it. Should our services be throttled if the policy change but yet no one can show us the policy? Is that legal??