Verizon LTE Can Use the Monthly Data Allotment In 32 Minutes 273
adeelarshad82 writes "Verizon's new 4G LTE network is so fast that you can use up your entire 5GB in as little as 32 minutes. The 2010-era speeds are soured by the 2005-era thinking on data plans. Verizon has priced LTE pretty much like 3G to encourage data sipping, not guzzling. As soon as you start using the latest high-bandwidth Internet services, your whole month's allotment can evaporate in no time. According to a test, the network's speed maxed out at 21Mbps, which means that it takes only 32 minutes to smoke up the 5GB monthly data cap on the plan. While the 21Mbps speed was hit on a low traffic network, Verizon estimates you'll be able to get around 8.5Mbps with a loaded network which still means that the cap can be exhausted in about an hour and a half."
Always able to find something negative (Score:2, Interesting)
Grandfathered unlimited 3G mobile broadband (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a grandfathered unlimited 3G data plan for Verizon Mobile Broadband. I use it for my primary internet access method (3 the Mifi). I exceed 15 Gb monthly on a routine basis. If it wasn't grandfathered, they'd want to charge me in excess of $100 for the overage. Now that I know about the deal with LTE, they can kiss my upgrade from 3G goodbye.
Re:That's a good thing. (Score:5, Interesting)
You're not trying. Where I work there is NO guest-wifi (the wifi that exists requires you to VPN from the wifi to the actual network and the VPN requires an RSA SecurID).
I listen to Pandora when at work, in order to drown out the conversations all around me + the noisy (she has to be the noisiest [sober] drinker I've ever heard) Russian woman who sits behind me.
I hit 2GB easily... I had ~3900MB last month. And the 5260MB the month before. 2000 MB in september. 1200 in August. Ever since I started working here.
bandwidth used (Score:5, Interesting)
If a user wants to guzzle gigabytes, Verizon wants that person to sign up for DSL or FiOS.
TFA gives the above as a reason Verizon caps the LTE service. That's stupid as Verizon has no presence in many locations like mine. In those locations I bet many people would pay more for mobile wireless broadband. What Verizon could do also is bundle that 5GB LTE with DSL or FiOS.
Falcon
Re:Any user-defined throttles? (Score:2, Interesting)
In addition to many other things, I track the bills and keep tabs on about 65 USB/pcmcia aircards that our traveling users have.
I can count the overages we've had on the 5GB plan over the last two years on one hand.
Now most of them are using the aircards supplementary to a regular connection. They typically have cable/dsl available at home, and are also occasionally in branch offices.
5GB is a sh*tload of data if you are working with text, PDF, email, or normal documents. Audio, video, and pictures are what eat large amounts of bandwidth. Unless the person is in a marketing role, or the firm is a media firm, generally you do not have much legitimate business traffic comprised of those types of media.
Re:Always able to find something negative (Score:1, Interesting)
For that matter, even the unlimited smart phone plans are being phased out rather rapidly in favor of capped plans, but that's another issue.
Verizon just revamped their 3G plans and kept unlimited data plans for smart phones. I think they enjoy beating AT&T over the head with it and in all reality the number of smart phone users that exceed 5GB are so few in number as to be meaningless in the grand scheme.
The only way I can blow past 5GB with my Droid-X (and I use it a lot, including screaming Pandora for hours a day) is to tether and that of course is against the TOS.