Unlimited data plans

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dirtyharry wrote:
AT&T are THIEFS & LIARS!!!! Stay away from them and you should all boycott ALL AT&Ts PRODUCTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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sorry you are mad!! maybe a different cell provider you will be happy with.

[mtoomb]

Dear AT&T,

I am a heavy-data customer who has been paying my "Unlimited Plan" bill for years in order to enjoy the convenience of an iPhone. I watch Netflix and listen to Pandora almost everyday over a 3G connenction. Now I have to worry about my data being throttled and my usage being capped after almost 3 years of loyalty?!

This comes after doubling the upgrade fee and severely upping the price of the early upgrade fee, thus making it nearly impossible to upgrade my 3GS after having it for over a year. 

Do you even want our business? Why shouldn't I just eat the early termination fee and go with another carrier who can not only give me a newer model iPhone for less money, but won't cap or throttle my data/usage? This account has been active and paid every month for years, and now I see absolutely no reason to give you my loyalty any longer. I feel disrespected, tricked, and left out to dry... as I'm sure many other people do.

Your bad planning is not your customers' fault, so stop passing the buck on to us and man up a little bit. It would seem to me that keep long-term customers happy would be a primary part of your business model, but I guess as long as you can lure new fish into your net it doesn't matter how badly you screw over those of us who have been here for years...

I used to like AT&T, now I can't wait to be rid of it. Looks like it's time to eat that early termination fee and go get a phone I don't have to worry about. Thanks guys.

-M. {personal content removed for safety}

[raisingthethrot…]

Verizon is evil ... AT&T is evilER

[JFizDaWiz]

No one expected streaming large videos and music daily when the unlimited plan came out. And it has to be managed or else it will just go down the toilet.

Not sure where you plan on young though as only sprint has unlimited and honestly have fun steaming Netflix over their 3g.

[aBenjamin]

No matter which carrier powers your iPhone, you'll be capped at 3-5GB per month. The whole industry is still working to bring their networks up to speed with the hardware. If you compair the top carriers, AT&T's been leading the way even allowing Unlimited Data users to keep their data plan with the condition that they don't over-use it. A friend of mine using another carrier just started getting billed for overages with no warning of data caps.

[OOSDHAH]

This is my data usage and i just got the text saying if i hit 3gigs next time i am going to be throttled .... 

[aristizzle]

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mtoomb wrote:

Dear AT&T,

I am a heavy-data customer who has been paying my "Unlimited Plan" bill for years in order to enjoy the convenience of an iPhone. I watch Netflix and listen to Pandora almost everyday over a 3G connenction. Now I have to worry about my data being throttled and my usage being capped after almost 3 years of loyalty?!

This comes after doubling the upgrade fee and severely upping the price of the early upgrade fee, thus making it nearly impossible to upgrade my 3GS after having it for over a year. 

Do you even want our business? Why shouldn't I just eat the early termination fee and go with another carrier who can not only give me a newer model iPhone for less money, but won't cap or throttle my data/usage? This account has been active and paid every month for years, and now I see absolutely no reason to give you my loyalty any longer. I feel disrespected, tricked, and left out to dry... as I'm sure many other people do.

Your bad planning is not your customers' fault, so stop passing the buck on to us and man up a little bit. It would seem to me that keep long-term customers happy would be a primary part of your business model, but I guess as long as you can lure new fish into your net it doesn't matter how badly you screw over those of us who have been here for years...

I used to like AT&T, now I can't wait to be rid of it. Looks like it's time to eat that early termination fee and go get a phone I don't have to worry about. Thanks guys.

-M. {personal content removed for safety}

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Sprint is your only option as they are the only carrier that offers unlimited data and has the Iphone, and sprint is horrible. I've also heard sprint is going to start throttling soon as well, Good luck though!

[4sskyrocket]

I stayed with AT&T unlimited, we have two iPhones. My daughter went with Sprint. She uses it all the time as we do and she is very happy with Sprint.

[4sskyrocket]

My niece was just given a new blackberry for free to get her updated to 3G. AT&T was very sly to restrict/throttle at a very low 2GB and the respond with 3GB. It painted a picture they were listening. Was a very good poker hand move. Sly like a fox!

[rockfly]

I recently got throttled or at least I think I did.  I got the warning a few days ago that I was approaching 3Gig but the lady on the phone said I was already at 3200 mb so I actually got throttled 1 day before my official warning according to her.  That's nice.  My question is, how do I know for sure that I am throttled?  the phone still says 3G in the corner.  should it say something else?  I did several speed tests using the speed test app and I am showing a download speed of .19mbps and sometimes as high as .98 mbps.  Forgive my ignorance, but is this a throttled speed? 

I figured that I was throttled and since i was I decided to just go for broke and see what I am able to do once this happens.  As it turns out, I can still stream audio and video which surprises me.  the video quality isn't great but I was expecting to get nothing.  Can someone set me straight please?

[Felixderkater]

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rockfly wrote:

I recently got throttled or at least I think I did.  I got the warning a few days ago that I was approaching 3Gig but the lady on the phone said I was already at 3200 mb so I actually got throttled 1 day before my official warning according to her.  That's nice.  My question is, how do I know for sure that I am throttled?  the phone still says 3G in the corner.  should it say something else?  I did several speed tests using the speed test app and I am showing a download speed of .19mbps and sometimes as high as .98 mbps.  Forgive my ignorance, but is this a throttled speed? 

I figured that I was throttled and since i was I decided to just go for broke and see what I am able to do once this happens.  As it turns out, I can still stream audio and video which surprises me.  the video quality isn't great but I was expecting to get nothing.  Can someone set me straight please?

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If your download speed is that much lower than the upload rate, I would imagine you are throttled. Download rate tends to be higher in almost all tests I have conducted, but reverses during throttling. In fact, that seems to be on par with my throttled rate last billing cycle.

At first they were giving a rate of around 0.02Mbps Down/1.00Up. Later, they seemed to have adjusted the "faucet" to allow 0.20Mbps to flow downstream.

[mtoomb]

My point is, we've been paying for UNLIMITED data. I don't know how much clearer that could possibly be. AT&T did a horrible job of planning for the future, and now those of us who have been loyal customers for years are getting screwed.

So why all the "support" for a greedy corporation? Why the heck would anyone (besides a paid employee) take AT&T's side on this issue?

Wireless Conglomerates have got us exactly where they want us, hooked and paying. There's no competition besides copycat corporations. A very few carriers have a monopoly of the entire market, and we're supposed to be grateful for the scraps the throw our way? We're supposed to take it when they decide we're not paying enough for the same service?

As loyal long-term customers, it's not completely insane to expect something in return for getting screwed. Waive my $250 early upgrade fee... Give us a slight raise in prices for "UNLIMITED" so we don't have to worry... Maybe just TALK TO YOUR CUSTOMERS instead of coming out and announcing data caps... SOMETHING.

Seriously, I thought Comcast was a catch-22 of epic proportions... Now we've got the shining beacon of capitalism AT&T... Way to become glorified crack dealers guys. Get people hooked on your product, then jack up the prices, screw with people, treat them like fodder, and only worry about getting new customers. AWESOME BUSINESS MODEL.

[Edited to comply with Guidelines]

[JFizDaWiz]

At&t did poor planning for the future? No one can predict the future. Even when the iPhone 3G came out no one thought that phones would be capable of what they do today

[golfgreg74]

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JFizDaWiz wrote:
At&t did poor planning for the future? No one can predict the future. Even when the iPhone 3G came out no one thought that phones would be capable of what they do today

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True, you can't predict the future, but you don't treat your clients with such disregard.

You don't cap their unlimited at the same GB that the tiered plans cost.  Give them 8-10GB prior to capping.  Why should the people that were told to get unlimited plans with the iPhone be punished (capped) for keeping them?  Why should I pay $30 for 3gigs (Samsung Infuse, originally had an iPhone) and then get limited "unlimited" data at a speeds that paralyze my smart phone features (that ATT touts).

This is my opinion.  I understand that, but it feels that ATT has no care or regard for it's customers loyalty.

[seajohn]

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JFizDaWiz wrote:
At&t did poor planning for the future? No one can predict the future. Even when the iPhone 3G came out no one thought that phones would be capable of what they do today

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"He who fails to plan is planning to fail" -- Winston Churchill

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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golfgreg74 wrote:

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JFizDaWiz wrote:
At&t did poor planning for the future? No one can predict the future. Even when the iPhone 3G came out no one thought that phones would be capable of what they do today

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True, you can't predict the future, but you don't treat your clients with such disregard.

You don't cap their unlimited at the same GB that the tiered plans cost.  Give them 8-10GB prior to capping.  Why should the people that were told to get unlimited plans with the iPhone be punished (capped) for keeping them?  Why should I pay $30 for 3gigs (Samsung Infuse, originally had an iPhone) and then get limited "unlimited" data at a speeds that paralyze my smart phone features (that ATT touts).

This is my opinion.  I understand that, but it feels that ATT has no care or regard for it's customers loyalty.

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thing is they are not "capping" it is throttling - two completely different things, they need to sunset the plan once and for all and move on

cap = hard stop, you get to the indicated amount and you get nothing more

throttle = you keep going after you hit the indicated amount albet slower then you you feel you deserve

[golfgreg74]

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wingrider01 wrote:

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golfgreg74 wrote:

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JFizDaWiz wrote:
At&t did poor planning for the future? No one can predict the future. Even when the iPhone 3G came out no one thought that phones would be capable of what they do today

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True, you can't predict the future, but you don't treat your clients with such disregard.

You don't cap their unlimited at the same GB that the tiered plans cost.  Give them 8-10GB prior to capping.  Why should the people that were told to get unlimited plans with the iPhone be punished (capped) for keeping them?  Why should I pay $30 for 3gigs (Samsung Infuse, originally had an iPhone) and then get limited "unlimited" data at a speeds that paralyze my smart phone features (that ATT touts).

This is my opinion.  I understand that, but it feels that ATT has no care or regard for it's customers loyalty.

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thing is they are not "capping" it is throttling - two completely different things, they need to sunset the plan once and for all and move on

cap = hard stop, you get to the indicated amount and you get nothing more

throttle = you keep going after you hit the indicated amount albet slower then you you feel you deserve

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Unlimited = 1. not limited; unrestricted; unconfined: unlimited trade.  2. boundless; infinite; vast: the unlimited skies.  3. without any qualification or exception; unconditional.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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golfgreg74 wrote:

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wingrider01 wrote:

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golfgreg74 wrote:

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JFizDaWiz wrote:
At&t did poor planning for the future? No one can predict the future. Even when the iPhone 3G came out no one thought that phones would be capable of what they do today

---

True, you can't predict the future, but you don't treat your clients with such disregard.

You don't cap their unlimited at the same GB that the tiered plans cost.  Give them 8-10GB prior to capping.  Why should the people that were told to get unlimited plans with the iPhone be punished (capped) for keeping them?  Why should I pay $30 for 3gigs (Samsung Infuse, originally had an iPhone) and then get limited "unlimited" data at a speeds that paralyze my smart phone features (that ATT touts).

This is my opinion.  I understand that, but it feels that ATT has no care or regard for it's customers loyalty.

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thing is they are not "capping" it is throttling - two completely different things, they need to sunset the plan once and for all and move on

cap = hard stop, you get to the indicated amount and you get nothing more

throttle = you keep going after you hit the indicated amount albet slower then you you feel you deserve

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Unlimited = 1. not limited; unrestricted; unconfined: unlimited trade.  2. boundless; infinite; vast: the unlimited skies.  3. without any qualification or exception; unconditional.

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Ad nauseum- you are getting unlimited data still....are you not?

you are not being capped as mentioned

[golfgreg74]

...am I receiving unrestricted unlimited data?

[seajohn]

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wingrider01 wrote:

Ad nauseum- you are getting unlimited data still....are you not?

you are not being capped as mentioned

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Several of the arteries to my grandfather's heart were 'throttled' a few years ago.  He was still receiving 'unlimited' blood, just not as fast as he needed.  

It didn't work out very well for him.

[youngjm ACE - Professor]

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slook76 wrote:

Im assuming you are a employee of att with that answer...I only say that because I was previously too.  While your right they are not related, and you are right on the DSL/Uverse usage limits you can't tell me that the idea to throttle customers, especially existing customers, is a good business decision.  They put too much into the hopes the Tmobile deal would go through, overloaded their towers data capabilities, and now have to back track.  [Edited to comply with Guidelines] yet still clear billions in straight profit and still think that throttling is a good idea.  Its really time to stop advertising the fact you can surf the web WHILE on calls considering once the throttling kicks in you can't even surf the web effectively whether your on a call or not.  Corporate greed isn't becoming of a national icon.

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Have you actually experienced being throttled?  I use a lot of data and did not ever trip it and am even less likely know that the y said it won't happen until after 3GB of data use in a month.  Unless you watch a lot of video while not on a wifi network, it should not be that common.  Yes it happens to some here but that is not the norm now that they upped the threshold.  What they were doing before sounded like a policy that was implemented with unintented consequences.

[4sskyrocket]

I have been throttled simply because I bought a new phone and was really enjoying it. I too, like you thought what they were doing was implemented with unintended consequences. In retrospect it was so severe intentionally to prepair 3G users to readily accept 3GB as something really great done on thier behalf. It was a setup. For 3G users.

[MJB0188]

I don't think the cap should be at 3GB.  They should make it at 10GB, that way the plan would feel like an "unlimited" plan, at least to me.  The lowest they should throttle is at 5GB.  3GB is just way too low.  Technically, this now makes unlimited users watch their usage which totally defeats the purpose of an "unlimited" plan.  

AT&T should just do away with them completely.  I see no reason to keep it at this point unless the throttled speeds are useable.  

[Moonbaseone]

I think the unlimited shouldn't be throttled until 5GB for 3G and 8GB for LTE. At the very least, 4GB for 3G and 6GB for LTE. Actually, I think they could keep the current level, but only throttle you if/when the tower/network is busy. There is no reason to throttle someone during non peak hours, such as midinight or 6 in the morning, when there's hardly anyone on the network.

[briq4]

apparently the huge amount is 3 GIG's not so huge huh?

[briq4]

Doubt anyone at att will read this but, I find it interesting that ATT's poor planning has become all the customers problem.  If they don't have the capacity, why do they keep taking on new business.  So because ATT can't plan appropriately, those of us who have an unlimited plan are no longer really unlimited.  Sounds like breach of contract.  While they don't guarantee speeds, wouldn't it no longer be unlimited if the speed they reduce us to, doesn't allow applications that previously worked, to continue to work?

I've been with ATT (then Cingular) then ATT then, I forget how many name changes there were, but since 1997.  And this is what you get for staying with the same compnay, if you go over a certain limit, you are throttled back to a useless speed and you have to wait until your next bill cycle.  Not that it was all that expensive but wish I hadn't gotten that Pandora subscription since that's what's making me go over the limit. 

Anyone been throttled back can say if pandora will stil stream? I've contacted ATT to ask what the exact speed is but all that can say is "substantially slower" Thanks for the vague response ATT. 

[sburt99]

I sit in my living room for 6 years using my AT&T cell phone service and suddenly receive an email that I am over the off network usage and the notice on my iPhone has now changed from E to OFF NETWORK..  I call AT&T and they tell me since March 1 I have used 100 MB of data off network and if I continue, they can choose to stop my data usage until my next billing cycle.  No explanations!  I push and push and say Come On - this is on your end.  For 6 years I've used AT&T from home without a problem and now suddenly I have a problem?   The phone rep put me on hold and then came back and said the Off Network was indeed from AT&T's end - he said the company had lost access to wireless lines of partner carriers.  So this is not my fault - suddenly I have no AT&T service anywhere near me and I may be penalized by having my emails cut off!  This is ridiculous. 

I said I want to end my contract immediately and that was refused.  How can a company suddenly do this kind of game playing?    Why was I stupid enough to renew my contract with them since Verizon now has iPhone?

[Per Guidelines:  Keep it Relevant and Appropriate].

[Raulj]

Well let me correct my self, it used to be unlimited data plan but know is unlimited slow speed data service! Lol! Telling u the true, they should be honest and just cancel the unlimited data service! My contract renewal is this coming month April and I'm definitely going to cancel it and go with Verizon. They offer know 4gig data for 30.00 dollars! If I'm gonna Have to be making sure i don't go over 3gig so they don't slowdown my data, i prefer to change over to Verizon! Anyways the only reason i was still with ATT was cuz the unlimited data plan but they just make it easy for me to make my decision to change carrier! Thank u!!!

[mtoomb]

Dear AT&T,

I love the product that I have to pay you to use... my 3GS has been a workhorse for over a year now- but it's time to upgrade. Due to the recent "throttling" of "unlimited" customers (me, for quite some time) and generally shady business practices, will you please waive the ridiculous $250 early upgrade fee?! I want to give you $199 for a new iPhone 4 -but I can't afford to give you $449.

I'll feel a little less betrayed, and might even be ok with having to constantly worry about throttling.

Thanks,

Me

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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mtoomb wrote:

Dear AT&T,

I love the product that I have to pay you to use... my 3GS has been a workhorse for over a year now- but it's time to upgrade. Due to the recent "throttling" of "unlimited" customers (me, for quite some time) and generally shady business practices, will you please waive the ridiculous $250 early upgrade fee?! I want to give you $199 for a new iPhone 4 -but I can't afford to give you $449.

I'll feel a little less betrayed, and might even be ok with having to constantly worry about throttling.

Thanks,

Me

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they will do that - when you are eligible for a upgrade, until then it will not happen