Data throttling

[Poppintool]

Since you're an AT&T employee, explain to me how your company can justify suddenly punishing people for utilizing a service that you guys offered and we pay for. I'd rather have slightly slower but consistent data speeds with truly unlimited usage than this garbage. I can't even utilize any of my data based applications or surf the web, and now I have to worry about my usage every month just like someone paying for a finite usage plan. AT&T has successfully found a way to nullify its unlimited data use customers. Why would I want to stay with you guys? I've used Sprint 3G and it is only marginally slower. I'll take that AND a lower monthly bill over this. Looks like I'll be in the top 5% of people leaving your service.

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

---

Poppintool wrote:
Since you're an AT&T employee, explain to me how your company can justify suddenly punishing people for utilizing a service that you guys offered and we pay for. I'd rather have slightly slower but consistent data speeds with truly unlimited usage than this garbage. I can't even utilize any of my data based applications or surf the web, and now I have to worry about my usage every month just like someone paying for a finite usage plan. AT&T has successfully found a way to nullify its unlimited data use customers. Why would I want to stay with you guys? I've used Sprint 3G and it is only marginally slower. I'll take that AND a lower monthly bill over this. Looks like I'll be in the top 5% of people leaving your service.

---

guess your definition of "marginly" is differetn, this is the latest spped tests for mobile 3G, sprint is at the bottom of the pack and close to 50 percent slower then ATT, verizon would be the closet competitor for speed, but they don't have unlmited anymore and back in Septemeber they started throttling their unlimited users also - at teh top 5% rating also

[JFizDaWiz]

Mine in my area are greatly different

For normal 3G, no HSPA+ I get 800KB on AT&T and I got 50KB on Sprint. 200Kb On Verizon

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

---

JFizDaWiz wrote:
Mine in my area are greatly different

For normal 3G, no HSPA+ I get 800KB on AT&T and I got 50KB on Sprint. 200Kb On Verizon

---

you have to realize that came from a 5th estate new site, then problably ran 50 tests and took the best one out of it. Personal expierence, sprint mobile data performance is the pits in real life, a 300 baud modem is faster in most cases

[pearltt]

Not sure where the 5% came from. I got my text and email when i reached 2GB's... The funny thing is i have friends in 6 other states and they received the same txt/email at 2GB....

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

---

pearltt wrote:

Not sure where the 5% came from. I got my text and email when i reached 2GB's... The funny thing is i have friends in 6 other states and they received the same txt/email at 2GB....

---

Depends on how far into the billing cycle you are - if you are one week in and at 2GB you are on the way to 8GB+ by the end of your billing cycle. As a poster mentioned earlier int he thread, they hit 2GB got the text and they are only 1 week into their billing cycle. If you are at 2GB onthe 4th week, then they maybe a little over on the emails

[isurus]

Just got throttle at 2gb, half way through the billing cycle.

I normally use wifi at home and at work, guess you leave me no choice.  I just turned off wifi and is going to get as much 'unlimited' data as I can.

Since AT&T say that throttling speed is not breaking the contract since they are still giving you 'unlimited' data.  I'm going to nonstop download/upload for 24/7.

[brianm523]

I agree. I will stream Netflix as much as humanly possible to use my "unlimited" data that can only hit 14-15 GB/month at their throttled speeds. It's not unlimited when I'm used to using more than that and you put a limit on it.

[davidusr]

How can you stream Netflix if your throttled? Does it work at all on Edge?

[brianm523]

Barely but yes.

[isurus]

I average 4-5gb a month, now you have forced my hand. I"m on track to hit 15gb a month

[jtp84]

To the poster that said this is ATT's "Netflix moment", I couldn't agree with you more. The customer is ALWAYS "right", even when they're wrong. For those unaware of the situation, I'll explain: Netflix decided that in order to better they're service to customers they needed to separate the streaming side of the company from the DVD/Blu-Ray side. This in turn would end the bundled plan with free streaming. Now, if you wanted streaming you would have to pay the price. This meant that longtime, loyal customers would be forced to pay 60% more every month to receive the same service. The worst part about it was the overnight email sent to customers explaining this. Happy customers woke up to see this email and instantly became outraged. After it was all said and done, millions had cancelled service and took their money to competitors (red box, blockbuster, amazon prime, iTunes, Hulu plus, etc.) in hindsight, these options weren't much better, in fact Netflix still offered the best "value". But this didn't matter. The customers who felt wronged left in masses, bitter and disgusted. Even though Netflix might have had sincere intentions, and this was a necessary step to improve streaming content via more negotiating power, the loyal customers felt betrayed. Now here we are with AT&T. They may have sincere intentions and want to free up data bandwidth for the non "data-hogs", but the so called "data-hogs" have been around for a while (long enough to be grandfathered) and are feeling betrayed. True, Verizon et al. may have limited data by now, but that won't stop disgruntled customers from switching after they get that betrayed feeling in their gut. If AT&T is throttling at just over 2 GB as various posters have stated, then what good is their "unlimited data"? If ATT recommending to their throttled customers to drop to the metered plan, and pay additional prices for more data - when they currently have the "unlimited plan - then homestly, what is going to stop them from taking their business to a competitor? If the unlimited data is innevitable, as some att defenders have stated, then they really need to work on their PR. Be more up fromt about the 5% details, explain the selection process and for Heaven's sake, drop the "unlimited" title. Netflix stock price went from all time highs of $300s and within a few short months crashed to $60s. I'm going to keep an eye on "T" and follow this one closely, maybe shorting the stock.

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

---

jtp84 wrote:
To the poster that said this is ATT's "Netflix moment", I couldn't agree with you more. The customer is ALWAYS "right", even when they're wrong. For those unaware of the situation, I'll explain: Netflix decided that in order to better they're service to customers they needed to separate the streaming side of the company from the DVD/Blu-Ray side. This in turn would end the bundled plan with free streaming. Now, if you wanted streaming you would have to pay the price. This meant that longtime, loyal customers would be forced to pay 60% more every month to receive the same service. The worst part about it was the overnight email sent to customers explaining this. Happy customers woke up to see this email and instantly became outraged. After it was all said and done, millions had cancelled service and took their money to competitors (red box, blockbuster, amazon prime, iTunes, Hulu plus, etc.) in hindsight, these options weren't much better, in fact Netflix still offered the best "value". But this didn't matter. The customers who felt wronged left in masses, bitter and disgusted. Even though Netflix might have had sincere intentions, and this was a necessary step to improve streaming content via more negotiating power, the loyal customers felt betrayed. Now here we are with AT&T. They may have sincere intentions and want to free up data bandwidth for the non "data-hogs", but the so called "data-hogs" have been around for a while (long enough to be grandfathered) and are feeling betrayed. True, Verizon et al. may have limited data by now, but that won't stop disgruntled customers from switching after they get that betrayed feeling in their gut. If AT&T is throttling at just over 2 GB as various posters have stated, then what good is their "unlimited data"? If ATT recommending to their throttled customers to drop to the metered plan, and pay additional prices for more data - when they currently have the "unlimited plan - then homestly, what is going to stop them from taking their business to a competitor? If the unlimited data is innevitable, as some att defenders have stated, then they really need to work on their PR. Be more up fromt about the 5% details, explain the selection process and for Heaven's sake, drop the "unlimited" title. Netflix stock price went from all time highs of $300s and within a few short months crashed to $60s. I'm going to keep an eye on "T" and follow this one closely, maybe shorting the stock.

---

Sorry, no the "customer is always right" is an urban legend woth no basis in fact. As far as verizon, they are utilizing a forumula that is similiar to ATT for their throttling of grandfathered unlimited data plan users also.

Unlimited data is dead, one major provider left has it - and it is being reported that they will be dropping it soon also. Even home broadband providers are starting to cap internet data, the local provider here caps at 250 GB, exceed the cap 3 months in a row and they suspend your access for 6 months.

They do not need to drop the "unlimited data" title - you still have "unlimited data" just not at the speed you think you deserve if you exceed the fair use policy limits.

Look at this way - with 103 million subscriber's and the industries lowest churn rate, they must be doing something right.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Master]

---

wingrider01 wrote:
Unlimited data is dead, one major provider left has it - and it is being reported that they will be dropping it soon also. Even home broadband providers are starting to cap internet data, the local provider here caps at 250 GB, exceed the cap 3 months in a row and they suspend your access for 6 months.

They do not need to drop the "unlimited data" title - you still have "unlimited data" just not at the speed you think you deserve if you exceed the fair use policy limits.

---

Aren't you getting tired of having to repeat yourself so that people would understand? I give you credit.

[LTRwithFitChaser]

The sad part is cell companies and home Internet providers are looking for higher profits than they are already receiving, which was already enormous. 

They do not want to spend anymore money investing in updating the backbone so it can support higher data traffic. 

The truth is, bandwidth is very, very cheap!!  Matter of fact less than a penny per GB!!! 

They are making money double fisted now.  No investment in the backbone and charging out of sight fees for very little data that costs them same as nothing. 

People are not switching because there really is not any place to go and cell companies have basically got us trapped.  They know that a two contact keeps you stuck and then they know your expensive phone will not last that full two years.  They say to us when out expensivve phone breaks before the two years is up.  Hey we will give you a discount on that over priced phone if you stay another two years. 

Wake up folks, we are getting shaft any way you look at it and the cell company and ISP's are laughing all the way to the bank! 

Merry Christmas! 

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

---

LTRwithFitChaser wrote:

The sad part is cell companies and home Internet providers are looking for higher profits than they are already receiving, which was already enormous. 

They do not want to spend anymore money investing in updating the backbone so it can support higher data traffic. 

The truth is, bandwidth is very, very cheap!!  Matter of fact less than a penny per GB!!! 

They are making money double fisted now.  No investment in the backbone and charging out of sight fees for very little data that costs them same as nothing. 

People are not switching because there really is not any place to go and cell companies have basically got us trapped.  They know that a two contact keeps you stuck and then they know your expensive phone will not last that full two years.  They say to us when out expensivve phone breaks before the two years is up.  Hey we will give you a discount on that over priced phone if you stay another two years. 

Wake up folks, we are getting shaft any way you look at it and the cell company and ISP's are laughing all the way to the bank! 

Merry Christmas! 

---

Please, Please give me a major christmas present and tell me where I can call to get a OC48 / 10GigE for a penny per GB, that would cut my companies cost for dedicated service so much I could probably hire a bunch more people

[isurus]

It’s like a sushi buffet, advertising for all you can eat for $30. After your first plate, you are now only allowed to have one sushi per hour. Then don’t call a buffet! Then AT&T gives you a stupid excuse saying well it is still unlimited but we didn’t say how fast you can consume your data. We then, I and a few others will choose to consume your unlimited data by sitting in and having my one sushi per hour, every single hour, for every single day of the month.
Another analogy will be like traveling on a highway to work. Your ‘95%’commutes less than 20miles; well wake up! Some people do commute more than your ‘95%’. Now, your so call 5% can travel 55mph for the first 20 miles but then only 5mph regardless if there is traffic on the road or not. You promoted unlimited, customer paid your unlimited price. It’s not their fault that your network cannot handle the traffic. So instead of building more lanes on the highway, you’re punishing your customers.
Throttling seems logical and correct am I right?  so continue to be the coward that AT&T is, trying to find loopholes in the contracts/agreement.

[Per Guidelines:  Keep it Relevant and Appropriate]

[purplecow827]

What AT&T is doing is not right.

I'm glad that we can come to places like this and express how we feel.

I just did a google search for "at&t throttle unlimited" and this forum popped up #3 in the natural search result.  It was #5 in bing and #18 on yahoo.  I hope that at&t wakes up and changes their business practice because this is negetive exposure for them.  To make things worse, it on their own website.

[wingrider01 ACE - Expert]

---

purplecow827 wrote:

What AT&T is doing is not right.

I'm glad that we can come to places like this and express how we feel.

I just did a google search for "at&t throttle unlimited" and this forum popped up #3 in the natural search result.  It was #5 in bing and #18 on yahoo.  I hope that at&t wakes up and changes their business practice because this is negetive exposure for them.  To make things worse, it on their own website.

---

logical if you think about it, this is really the only place where forums members are concerend about it, anyone else ay any other carrier are more concerned about their carrier throttling their "unlimited data" and could care less about what ATT is doing. - even though it is the same situation - carrier forums are user specific

[BadBadLeroyBrown ACE - Guru]

That's your opinion....that at 75 cents will get you a soda. 

You do realize that Google searches (and probably Yahoo & Bing ones) are personalized based on what YOU search. The more searching for "purple monkey dishwasher" you do, the more likely those links are to appear at the top of YOUR search results. Even if you log out of Google, your local search preferences seem to be tailored to what users search on the computer in question.

Seriously, it doesn't matter. I don't think AT&T's going to reverse course on this, unless they're forced to by regulators. You can huff & puff all you want, but you're not going to blow this little piggy's house down.

---

purplecow827 wrote:

What AT&T is doing is not right.

I'm glad that we can come to places like this and express how we feel.

I just did a google search for "at&t throttle unlimited" and this forum popped up #3 in the natural search result.  It was #5 in bing and #18 on yahoo.  I hope that at&t wakes up and changes their business practice because this is negetive exposure for them.  To make things worse, it on their own website.

---

[LTRwithFitChaser]

Yeah, ATT is not going to be making any changes.  They don't care that they are the worst when it comes to customer satisfaction, as they have so many of us locked as I said in my last post. 

Just reading an CNet article from December 6 2011 and here is a little from the article...

AT&T rated worst cell phone carrier for second year in a row

December 6, 2011 7:46 AM PST

AT&T may be huge and generating boatloads of cash every quarter, but when it comes to service, the carrier has a lot of work to do.

For the second year in a row, AT&T was ranked last in Consumer Reports' annual customer satisfaction survey. The company was hit especially hard by complaints over poor voice service and phone-based customer care. Even worse for AT&T, the company's 2011 rating is slightly lower than last year's. 

[nas33]

When u have a unlimited data plans that the way it should be unlimited data you should get what u pay for wish is unlimited data without throttle speeds.If i pay for unlimited data for my smartphone that the way that it should be without throttle speed.or without data caps.Everybody thats has a unlimited data it should be unlimited data without throttle afther 2GB of data per month unlimited data plans cost alot of money so because of that everybody thats has unlimted data plan should have it without throttle or slow down speeds get your money worth out of it.At&t i don't know what u was thinking about when u start to throttle unlimited data users afther 2GB of data.If i pay for unlimited data then that the way that it should be unlimited data without slowing down speeds or throttle.Give pepole what they pay for wish is for unlimited data without throttle that is what they pay for unlimited data without throttle.The question is why limited the Iphone to 2GB of data?See im with Sprint and don't have to worry about throttle or data caps or slow down speeds so if u want a unlimited data plan without throttle than come to Sprint.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Master]

---

LTRwithFitChaser wrote:

Yeah, ATT is not going to be making any changes.  They don't care that they are the worst when it comes to customer satisfaction, as they have so many of us locked as I said in my last post. 

Just reading an CNet article from December 6 2011 and here is a little from the article...

AT&T rated worst cell phone carrier for second year in a row

December 6, 2011 7:46 AM PST

AT&T may be huge and generating boatloads of cash every quarter, but when it comes to service, the carrier has a lot of work to do.

For the second year in a row, AT&T was ranked last in Consumer Reports' annual customer satisfaction survey. The company was hit especially hard by complaints over poor voice service and phone-based customer care. Even worse for AT&T, the company's 2011 rating is slightly lower than last year's. 

---

Hmmm, where have I heard this before? Oh yeah, I remember - it was already mentioned numerous times on this Forum. We understand that AT&T is not perfect and could use some improvements, just like any other company could. But those Consumer Reports surveys are so biased...

[SeanOC]

This has nothing to do with fair use , keeping a reliable network or network congestion. It is a flat out money grab that is all. Forget that if you have unlimited that you are a long time customer, they don`t care. This may be the thing that drives me away from at@t 

[brianm523]

Since I'm in my "grace period" for data use on my "unlimited" data plan, I am on track to hit 40GB this cycle. I'm going to try for even more than that! And once I get throttled and mathematically am unable to hit more than about 16-17GB due to their slow speeds, I will stream whenever possible to achieve that goal. Take away my unlimited data, and I will hit the limit you impose as often as possible. It's not unlimited data when you throttle speeds to a level that is less than what I typically use. Don't like it? Too bad. It's my data to use. How's that for "fair use"?

[kdfederer ACE - Professor]

It may be you are paying for the data, but if you abuse the system, AT&T has the right to cancel your contract and account. Then you will not have unlimited anymore.
Go ahead. Abuse it all you want. I hope that AT&T, instead of throttling those who use WAY too much data, decide to terminate those that abuse.
It is within their rights in the contract in the fair use policy.

[brianm523]

Define abuse of unlimited data. Using too much? No such thing with unlimited. It's impossible to use too much of an unlimited thing.

[kdfederer ACE - Professor]

Talk to the Vonage customers. Vonage has a home unlimited monthly service. However, if you use too much, they put you on a higher cost monthly plan.
It too is "unlimited" according to the contract, BUT, there is a fair use policy that if you use too much, it is considered no longer a home line but a business line, at almost twice the cost, and it is legal according to the fair use policy, just like AT&T's unlimited plan. Although it is unlimited, they put a "cap" on it.

I think in reality, AT&T is trying to get more people to use wi-fi than the wireless data. There are many places to use wi-fi instead of wireless data. Some people don't care. They have unlimited so they will use it even if wi-fi is available. If more of the unlimited used wi-fi, like those of us on regular plans, it wouldn't be a problem.

[brianm523]

Unlimited -- not limited; unrestricted; unconfined; boundless; infinite; vast; without any qualification or exception; unconditional.
So, as you can see, unlimited has a clear and precise definition. If something is unlimited, how does one go about abusing it? That's like saying that some people breathe too much air, or that a star occupies too much space. If AT&T has a limited amount of data they can provide at any given time, then they never should have offered an unlimited plan to the public. Just because I use the amount of data allotted to me does make me an abuser, just a user.

[Wild Banchi ACE - Master]

---

brianm523 wrote:
Since I'm in my "grace period" for data use on my "unlimited" data plan, I am on track to hit 40GB this cycle. I'm going to try for even more than that! And once I get throttled and mathematically am unable to hit more than about 16-17GB due to their slow speeds, I will stream whenever possible to achieve that goal. Take away my unlimited data, and I will hit the limit you impose as often as possible. It's not unlimited data when you throttle speeds to a level that is less than what I typically use. Don't like it? Too bad. It's my data to use. How's that for "fair use"?

---

Why in the world would you try to intentionally consume even more data than you already use? I don't understand that at all. 40GB of data usage is such an unbelievable amount for words. And to do it purposely? Now that's just being ignorant...

Is using as much data as AT&T can provide you your way of rebelling, or are you trying to test out an experiment of some sort?