After Complaints, AT&T Solidifies, Increases Data Limit 211
New submitter rullywowr writes "After many users expressed anger, AT&T has moved the slowdown throttling bottleneck from 3GB of data to 5GB of data for users of 4G LTE smart phones. 'Previously, AT&T slowed speeds for subscribers who reached the top 5% of data users for that billing cycle and geographic location. Customers were outraged, arguing that the percentage method meant they had no way to know what the limit was — until AT&T informed them via text message that they were in danger of exceeding it.' AT&T still maintains the position that less than 5% of its users exceed the 3GB threshold each month."
Re:3G users? (Score:4, Informative)
it's a 3GB limit for 3G users and a 5GB limit for 4G LTE users
Need competition and regulation. (Score:5, Informative)
Bullshit, we're getting robbed blind by these people, costs should be nowhere near this high.
If they took one day of bonus away from the CEO, they'd probably be able to upgrade their infrastructure enough to handle all of the current users without breaking a sweat.
Oh, but no, CEO man has to have his 7 yachts and 5 mansions. We would be terrorists if we wanted him to go without just one yacht.
Re:Blazing fast LTE speeds (Score:2, Informative)
I've got bad news for you - nobody's LTE speeds are 100 MBit. That's the techincal (IEEE?) definition of 4G, however the carriers have co-oped 4G to mean "faster than 3G", or anywhere from 2Mb-6.5Mb (source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/221931/4g_wireless_speed_tests_which_is_really_the_fastest.html). So, yes, you could blow through your cap quickly - in as little as 2.5 hours of streaming at maximum current LTE speed - but not quite as fast as you think.
Re:"Unlimited data" (Score:2, Informative)
Too late.
AT&T and Comcrap are both "you get a warning and throttled if you exceed 250GB" shops now. Meanwhile, applications use more all the time. HD video from Hulu+ or Netflix or Amazon streaming? Whoops! Telecommute? Oh dear. Set up a backup pairing with your family or friends, over Crashplan [crashplan.com]? Oh my.
Re:"Unlimited data" (Score:3, Informative)
You can't say "Unlimited up until _____" ...
The "Up until ______" part is known as a LIMIT which makes it.... NOT UNLIMITED.
Re:Calm Down... A LITTLE (Score:4, Informative)
How sure of that app are you? Have you been comparing it with what AT&T says you're using? Try dialing *3282# and see what the text message you get says. I'm willing to bet it's a *lot* more than 200mb, especially if you've been uploading images (assuming they aren't tiny).
Furthermore, people were originally angry because this throttling wasn't being applied to people necessarily going over their limits, it was people in the "top 5% of data usage", whatever that means. And there isn't a way for an app to tell you that, hence the outrage.
You are paying for the last mile (Score:5, Informative)
Why would it matter where you connect to the Internet from - whether your phone or a Coffee Shop WiFi point?
Because it costs more to send bits over cellular last mile than over Wi-Fi to a wired last mile.
It all goes to the same internet
Over different last miles. Different last miles have different costs per bit. That's why Comcast can afford to charge the same for 250 GB that a cellular carrier charges for 5 GB.
Re:Calm Down... A LITTLE (Score:5, Informative)
I listen to pandora/spotify/etc during my commute, plus google maps+nav, youtube videos, random webpages. I'm 8 days into my billing cycle and I'm at 1241 megs, so probably about 4gigs/month. More like 6 or 7 gigs if I use google hangout or ustream for any serious amount of time.
You're using your phone like you are on dialup, so it isn't surprising your data usage matches that.
Re:Bandwidth Calculations (Score:4, Informative)
I'm older and hand held phones don't come in the large print edition
Actually they do, we got my grandmother a ZTE S302 [phonerpt.com] exactly because it had nice big letters.
It's probably a pain to read and write SMSes in, because only a couple of words fit in the screen.
Re:It still accomplishes their goal (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It still accomplishes their goal (Score:4, Informative)
AT&T is actually fairly reasonable when it comes to peering. You can see their terms here [att.com]. I would be shocked if AT&T spent anything network access in the US.
Uncap with Comcast Business Class (Score:4, Informative)
I pay for a higher end connection from Comcast
If you pay enough, you get into the "Comcast Business Class" tier, which has no such cap. Telecommuters should consider asking their employer to pay for it as a business expense.