Apps to fight back against greedy carriers? - Android Software/Hacking General [Developers Only]

Starting tomorrow Verizon is charging unreasonable rates for all new customers, i.e. only 2 GB a month for their $30 data plan and $10/gb over that. AT&T charges $35/month for 2GB. Combined with LTE/4G speeds, not to mention the growing popularity of Netflix and streaming music apps, I find it incredible that the carriers have the nerve to charge so much for so little.
The carriers claim these bandwidth quotas are based on "average" usage. So how about we fight back and help raise this average as much as possible? For now anyway, Verizon has grandfathered in existing customers with $30/mo "unlimited" data plans. I think it is the duty of every one of us with the unlimited plan to try and use as much bandwidth as possible. This will increase the averages that the carriers claim to look at when setting their quotas.
I came here asking for someone to make a "use tons of bandwidth" application that just downloads things at random and discards the data 24/7, with user-settable speed limits for upload and download speeds etc. Come to think of it though, we could just play streaming radio nonstop and it would probably seem like legitimate usage that way too. Too bad today's streaming radio apps probably don't let you open up multiple streams at once since that wouldn't really make sense under normal circumstances.
The bottom line is we as a community need to come up with a way to fight back against the greedy carriers before it's too late. 2GB a month quota is completely and utterly ridiculous when i.e. Verizon is making billions of profits each quarter. These carriers need a little help from us to realize there's more to life than being greedy and taxing customers at every possible opportunity!

I used 64 gb last month if that helps. I couldn't agree more with you about the bull**** data tiered plan. I am with Verizon for now but I can definitely see sprint gaining more customers in the next coming months.
Sent from my Droid using XDA App

This is exactly why I love sprint
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that's unbelievably stupid theses carrier services are getting wayyy out of control. Charges here and there that's why i like sprint. ****ty service at times, but they really love your business.

I'm from Kansas City (Sprint WHQ), up until now I've avoided them because it seems everyone in town has worked for them multiple times, and like many big companies they do constant layoffs... But for an honest unmetered plan I'm willing to look the other way I suppose ;-)

Another reason to say FU to those carriers...come over to Sprint, unlimited means unlimited and the CEO has even gone on TV recently and said ti will stay that way.

I have a prepaid tmobile account and last month i used 7gigs of data
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

Related

At&t unlimited data plan...

So I just signed up for at&t right after the unlimited data plan was retired.. But I heard the at&t unlimited data plan might be pulling a jay-z (comeback) ..
Does anyone know if this is true? Its all I need to be 100% happy/satisfied with my captivate..
Samsung captivate running d11igaf 5.5
francous said:
So I just signed up for at&t right after the unlimited data plan was retired.. But I heard the at&t unlimited data plan might be pulling a jay-z (comeback) ..
Does anyone know if this is true? Its all I need to be 100% happy/satisfied with my captivate..
Samsung captivate running d11igaf 5.5
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To add to this question: If it were to come back, would it cost more? That will be BS if it does! What sly corporation skills for taking away something people like, and then giving it back for a higher cost. D:
HERE ya go
bigsmitty64 said:
HERE ya go
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Thanks for the info...sucks "new users"like me who were never on a unlimited plan can't have the option tho :/hopefully some day.. I hate being limited!
Samsung captivate running d11igaf 5.5
francous said:
Thanks for the info...sucks "new users"like me who were never on a unlimited plan can't have the option tho :/hopefully some day.. I hate being limited!
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lol, I feel ya. Sort of...I have the unlimited plan
But you'd be surprise how many people don't even come close to the 2gb plan. I use the tethering moderately and stream pandora quite a bit, and there's only been a handful of times that I went over the 2gb mark. I'd say for the majority the 2gb is enough, plus they are offering another extra 2gb. I just don't like how they are charging extra for the tethering.
I also have the unlimited and I can admit I never come close to the 2GB.
There will be a day that even the grandfathered unlimited plan will be terminated one way or another. AT&T's network congestion means it should never offered unlimited plan to begin with.
Verizon actually made it clear, even though it offer unlimited for new iPhone users, top 5% of the data users will be throttled. I sense AT&T will soon follow suit.
If 2GB is not enough for you today, you're on the way to be throttled soon.
Lancered said:
I also have the unlimited and I can admit I never come close to the 2GB.
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Same here - never reachd 2gb... but I need it for peace of mind. I don't have even check what I've used on my phone. I have to worry constantly about my wife and daughter going over their limits. In fact, my wife accidently went over her 200mb limit by using DroidTV and not having it set for "Wifi Only", coupled with her WIFI settings still at the default setting of "Turn off WIFI when screen goes off" instead of "Never". Even if she was set at 2gb I could see an accident like this happening and costing extra money.
AT&T claims that they notify you when you reach 60%, 90% and 100% of your limit. This is bullsh*t. They don't. First, data use reporting is about 12 hours behind. You can blow your cap by quite a bit in 12 hours. Next, when she went over 200, they sold her another 200 for $15 without any text. I believe this can happen up to 5 times ($90 for 1.2gb). 12 hours later she got a text and I got an email saying she was nearing her limit - but the limit she was nearing was 400mb (the second set of 200mb). We were never informed as she blasted right past the first 200mb. Thank goodness she only had a couple movies set to download. If she had a series recording it would have cost a fortune.
I want to set a hard limit and then have data shut off at that point. Don't sell me extra data automatically. Maybe for technical reasons, they don't know for 12 hours... so they once they find out turn off my data and don't charge me for the overage. Until they can and will do this, I don't think they should be selling limited data plans. Until they can send you warnings in a timely manner, they shouldn't be selling limited data plans.
To AT&T's credit, I was able to retroactively change her data plan to the 2gb plan back to the beginning of my billing cycle - so the mistake cost me $10. Now out of piece of mind I will probably have to keep her at the 2gb plan even though in the past she's never even come close to the 200mb.
RE: Verizon "unlimited"... I can understand temporarily throttling back a heavy user maybe for few hours or days, but not for the rest of the billing cycle and definately not for the next billing cycle. Can you imagine you make one mistake like my wife did and have your speed crippled for up to 2 months? How can they even legally cripple service for a future billing period?
This is important for us to follow because AT&T is probably watching this approach closely and will eventually adopt it for us as well.
foxbat121 said:
There will be a day that even the grandfathered unlimited plan will be terminated one way or another. AT&T's network congestion means it should never offered unlimited plan to begin with.
Verizon actually made it clear, even though it offer unlimited for new iPhone users, top 5% of the data users will be throttled. I sense AT&T will soon follow suit.
If 2GB is not enough for you today, you're on the way to be throttled soon.
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5% is a huge number of customers - probably a lot of them being business customers. Once enough people get throttled back Verizon may have to rethink this approach. Consider what Comcast did. They went from unlimited to 250gb. That's a very reasonable limit that certainly doesn't catch 5% of their internet customers. Of course as time goes by they will have to adjust that 250 up or they will start catching more and more customers.
I don't think they've defined what they consider heavy users yet. It must be pretty low to include 5% of data users.
An even better option would be data buckets, where your unused data rollsover. I've gone near the 200mb cap quite a few times since the default settings cleverly turn off wifi when the phone sleeps :rollseyes:
Sent from my Captivate using XDA App
"Demographic Research" is why we have the 2gb plan in the first place.
That's why I believe the unlimited plan will be eventually phased out also. Yea, their offering the unlimited plan again, but to me that's mostly PR to get more customers because cases like this: http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/04/verizon-breaks-first-day-sales-record-with-iphone-4-pre-orders/ I don't really know how truthful that is, since corporate tend to inflate stats for the press.
But competition is good for the consumers, as long as both these billion dollar companies are in high competition, it should be easier on the wallet for us. Hoping...but still believe they are ripping us off as consumers (and I will keep the reasons why to myself, I've seen what it did to the other threads )
These are all opinions, and I take your posts as opinions. So...can we keep this civil. The other threads I've seen regarding this subject matter tend to get heated, which I do avoid (I have enough drama in my life
I believe that the limited plans were and still are a great idea. 2 gigs is a ton of data in my opinion.I rarely every go above 1 a month and I am on my phone a fair amount. It just all depends how much data people want. and lets face it the people who want and need the unlimited plan are the 1-5% of people that killed at &ts wireless network speed by streaming 1080p content for several hours a day
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crystalhand said:
I believe that the limited plans were and still are a great idea. 2 gigs is a ton of data in my opinion.I rarely every go above 1 a month and I am on my phone a fair amount. It just all depends how much data people want. and lets face it the people who want and need the unlimited plan are the 1-5% of people that killed at &ts wireless network speed by streaming 1080p content for several hours a day
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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I don't think the limited plan is a bad idea, but I do see the amount going up and up. Since mobile internet access will exceed home internet access in the future, in my opinion. Which in turn costing us more and more.
As richb500 said, it is important to follow this and see what AT$T does.
When I was following the Fuze/Tilt2 forums it was pointed out that the is no true unlimited plan. The plan is called unlimited but in the TOS it states that over 5G of data transfered ATT can terminate your service.
All carriers have that clause in their respective TOS.
I have the old unlimited plan and have gone ovef 5G once but repeated go over 4G and never got any warning messages about my use.
Just a word of caution.
Sprint seems to be very loose with enforcement. A co-worker has an EVO and uses upwards of 20G a month using it has a hotspot and has never been warned about abusive use which is again in the Sprint TOS.
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foxbat121 said:
There will be a day that even the grandfathered unlimited plan will be terminated one way or another. AT&T's network congestion means it should never offered unlimited plan to begin with.
Verizon actually made it clear, even though it offer unlimited for new iPhone users, top 5% of the data users will be throttled. I sense AT&T will soon follow suit.
If 2GB is not enough for you today, you're on the way to be throttled soon.
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shouldn't have to terminate it.
if they weren't greedy and shortsighted they could get most to move over voluntarily with the right incentives.
For Example - Anyone with unlimited who is willing to Renew a new 2 year contract on their voice and take a capped data plan gets to choose any At&t Phone @ no cost with the upgrade. Couple this with informing users that stay on the unlimited they will face throttling if it is abused....(soft cap of 5 or 6 gb).
75% or more would likely take advantage if they could get the latest phone for free (iphone, atrix, whatever else comes down the pike).
Couple it with a marketing campaign to the effect of TETHER AWAY. No charges for tether as we respect your right to use the full potential of your phone. Give 250mb data free to all smartphone users. Offer 2gb @ $25 and 4GB @ 45$ (same as tether pricing but removes the stigma and bad taste of being charged for something that costs them nothing and is a native capability of the OS/Device). Keep the $10 overage charge per every GB of data over the cap.
crystalhand said:
I believe that the limited plans were and still are a great idea. 2 gigs is a ton of data in my opinion.I rarely every go above 1 a month and I am on my phone a fair amount. It just all depends how much data people want. and lets face it the people who want and need the unlimited plan are the 1-5% of people that killed at &ts wireless network speed by streaming 1080p content for several hours a day
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Damn you guys are making me feel like I have a problem lol...
I go over 2 gigs almost every month and have to pay the additional 10$ for another gig..came to the point I have to turn off my data and use it only when I need to just to stay under.. (when I'm not home under wifi)
Il trade with you unlimited ppl any day!
Samsung captivate running d11igaf 5.5
francous said:
Damn you guys are making me feel like I have a problem lol...
I go over 2 gigs almost every month and have to pay the additional 10$ for another gig..came to the point I have to turn off my data and use it only when I need to just to stay under.. (when I'm not home under wifi)
Il trade with you unlimited ppl any day!
Samsung captivate running d11igaf 5.5
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Do you have your wifi set to never turn off? A lot of people think they're safe at home on their wifi... But as soon as the screen turns off, so does the wifi. They default this way to save battery.
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richb500 said:
Do you have your wifi set to never turn off? A lot of people think they're safe at home on their wifi... But as soon as the screen turns off, so does the wifi. They default this way to save battery.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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mine stays on all the time.. but i turn my Data Off while my wifi is on so if wifi were to cut out it wouldnt use my data anyway
UPDATE: i called AT&T just for kicks to see if there were a unlimited data plan no one knew about.. turns out there isnt for us smartphone customers but there is for NON Smartphone customers because they use less data.. wtf..
Can we LIE and say we are not a smartphone, say we're on some ol' school slidey phone or something and get that plan!? lol..
Good for us consumers, but anyone that is like me that uses 1GB a day with ease "when you are at work with nothing better to do then surf the net, and watch movies" it becomes a problem, lucky I have unlimited data though and I don't see why they don't sell it to more customers because most who have it don't use nearly that much so its extra money in the pocket
francous said:
mine stays on all the time.. but i turn my Data Off while my wifi is on so if wifi were to cut out it wouldnt use my data anyway
UPDATE: i called AT&T just for kicks to see if there were a unlimited data plan no one knew about.. turns out there isnt for us smartphone customers but there is for NON Smartphone customers because they use less data.. wtf..
Can we LIE and say we are not a smartphone, say we're on some ol' school slidey phone or something and get that plan!? lol..
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The unlimited data plan offering is not official, and I don't think customer service will know anything until Verizon iphone official launch date. What I've been reading (ex.) http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/at-t-quietly-matching-vzws-unlimited-data-plan-for-iphone/9317
But this is only a business move, in my opinion, since there are certain criteria you must meet to get back the unlimited plan.
And for your question: No you can't lie about not having a smartphone, when actually you are using a smartphone, they will know.

TIERED DATA JULY 7th

http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/2...-verizon-july-7-packages-start-at-30-for-2gb/
zax10 said:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/2...-verizon-july-7-packages-start-at-30-for-2gb/
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Data plans:
2GB – $30/month
5GB – $50/month
10GB – $80/month
God...so effing ridiculous. :/
I work for Verizon and the referenced post on Droid-life is confirmed. This is by far the most ridicolous thing I have had to deal with (well other than the 4g outages).... AT&T are you hiring???
zax10 said:
I work for Verizon and the referenced post on Droid-life is confirmed. This is by far the most ridicolous thing I have had to deal with (well other than the 4g outages).... AT&T are you hiring???
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AT&T prices are just $5 less, and they don't have LTE.
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DirgeExtinction said:
AT&T prices are just $5 less, and they don't have LTE.
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Agreed.... To this day I don't understand the uproar. It is no different then AT&T really and they have had tiered for a yr now almost. IE VZW & AT&T have the same pricing across the board with $5 of each other. I guess my thing is everyone talks about leaving VZW over this but where are you going to go and save that much money really. T-Mobile limits full data speed after 2Gb anyways. Sprint has terrible coverage on a whole. And hell they were stupid and went WiMax so what go is that going to do you over the long haul.
And I'm not going to even go into the fact TM and AT&T scam with there claiming of 4g service
I just signed up with Verizon for a two year plan. I should receive my Droid Charge later today. Naturally, I will activate the phone the moment I get it. So, how does the new pricing rules affect me? Will I have unlimited data at $30 for the next two years, or on July 7th will I have to suffer with the crazy tier pricing?
-Greymarch
I write about technology, especially android smartphones, at my website.
http://www.greymarch.com
According to the article I read on engadget, "These new plans wouldn't affect anyone currently under contract, though it's still unknown if customers can hang onto them when it's time to renew."
http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/20/verizon-tiered-data-plans-coming-july-7-starting-at-30/
I've always thought it was lame to force people into tiered data plans, regardless of the provider. This is going to place the providers in a wonderfully profitable position once we start getting applications that can truly start utilizing increased bandwidth, but it's going to cost a fortune for us to use those applications. So I understand why they're doing it, but I think it's messed up to charge that much from a user's perspective.
I think having tiered pricing for your low-need subscribers is great, so they have the option of not paying for full-on data, but having an unlimited choice for high-need subscribers is necessary to me.
$30/mth for 2GB is kind of mind-boggling to me. I got in on the unlimited for $30 plan, but I'll be none too happy when I have to switch over.
I called verizon and they said this only affects the tablets
If this causes them to ditch the MS Exchange data surcharge, then I am all for it.
greymarch said:
I just signed up with Verizon for a two year plan. I should receive my Droid Charge later today. Naturally, I will activate the phone the moment I get it. So, how does the new pricing rules affect me? Will I have unlimited data at $30 for the next two years, or on July 7th will I have to suffer with the crazy tier pricing?
-Greymarch
I write about technology, especially android smartphones, at my website.
http://www.greymarch.com
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you are find as long as you do not change your current plan. As an example until a couple of weeks ago when I upgraded to my Charge I had not bought a device threw VZW since 2005. That said for the past 4 years at least I have been using a smartphone on my line with the old school unlimited vPak. Mind you this included using my D1, D2, D2g, Driod Pro, Droid X, and Napoleon on the same account/line. The key is I never bought threw VZW I just left the line/account as it and swapped my phones out.
well I am just glad I got my phone before this happened...I worry though that at some point they will make us change....I know they are reporting they wont but I feel like they will do it anyways just to make that extra money
brandonaspencer said:
I called verizon and they said this only affects the tablets
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What the hell? Really?
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zax10 said:
I work for Verizon and the referenced post on Droid-life is confirmed. This is by far the most ridicolous thing I have had to deal with (well other than the 4g outages).... AT&T are you hiring???
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Trust me as a former employee of that company (worked there for 6 years) I left because their business practices are crud. They treat you like crud, don't care about the their employees and have very questionable ethics. Think twice about asking that question
brandonaspencer said:
I called verizon and they said this only affects the tablets
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Lol I work in a call center for Verizon Tech Support and you really cant trust much that you hear from them. I've heard reps telling customers information that is totally wrong(not on purpose) around me before. like someone telling you its just for tablets cause they probably don't even know what your talking about with tiered data coming soon and just told you about our current data plans for tablets to get you off the phone. We don't hear about stuff until you do. So you usually have just as much training as we have.
woohoo! lets hear it for being "grandfathered in" !!!!! unlimited all the way. and if they think they can make me change it and pay 80 bucks for 10gbs, im gonna put a brick through their store window with a big **** your tiered **** sticker on it mwahahahahahahaaaaaaa
Well you may be grandfathered in for unlimited data, but if you signed up after Feb 2011 Verizon reserves the right to throttle your speed once you go over a certain amount much like Tmobile does now once you go over 2gb.
I have read scattered reports of Verizon throttling back heavy uses between 5gb - 9gb, but to date I don't think they are implementing this that much until they get the 4g network a bit more stable and they implement the tiered pricing.
I would expect in a couple more months they will be enforcing throttling to a much greater extent. Below is a article from CNET explaining the change.
Verizon Wireless will begin throttling the data speeds of customers who use an "extraordinary amount" of data, according to a document posted on the company's Web site.
First reported by BGR.com, the PDF on the Verizon site says the new rules will not affect the majority of the company's customers. However, if you are a heavy data user, you should be aware that your speeds will drop.
"If you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5 percent of Verizon Wireless data users we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand," states the document.
Verizon said it is taking the steps "to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren't negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users."
The company doesn't say how much data constitutes an "extraordinary amount," only that the new rules will affect the top 5 percent. Theoretically, that means you could be affected one month, but not the next even though you consume the same amount of data.
hrdc69 said:
Well you may be grandfathered in for unlimited data, but if you signed up after Feb 2011 Verizon reserves the right to throttle your speed once you go over a certain amount much like Tmobile does now once you go over 2gb.
I have read scattered reports of Verizon throttling back heavy uses between 5gb - 9gb, but to date I don't think they are implementing this that much until they get the 4g network a bit more stable and they implement the tiered pricing.
I would expect in a couple more months they will be enforcing throttling to a much greater extent. Below is a article from CNET explaining the change.
Verizon Wireless will begin throttling the data speeds of customers who use an "extraordinary amount" of data, according to a document posted on the company's Web site.
First reported by BGR.com, the PDF on the Verizon site says the new rules will not affect the majority of the company's customers. However, if you are a heavy data user, you should be aware that your speeds will drop.
"If you use an extraordinary amount of data and fall within the top 5 percent of Verizon Wireless data users we may reduce your data throughput speeds periodically for the remainder of your then current and immediately following billing cycle to ensure high quality network performance for other users at locations and times of peak demand," states the document.
Verizon said it is taking the steps "to ensure that the remaining 95% of data customers aren't negatively affected by the inordinate data consumption of just a few users."
The company doesn't say how much data constitutes an "extraordinary amount," only that the new rules will affect the top 5 percent. Theoretically, that means you could be affected one month, but not the next even though you consume the same amount of data.
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Here are the numbers of how they base the choices on throttling. So unless you are using over 15Gb a month it is highly highly unlikely you'd ever get throttled.
1] 2gb+ average user
2] 7gb-15gb travel user
3] 15gb+ heavy user [monitored by vzw]
4] 20gb+ excessive user [monitored by vzw fraud]
I use 10+gb a month
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Tiered will kill me
I went through 1 GB yesterday using my Charge as a hotspot to run my computer playing DC Universe Online and doing my normal computer stuff all day.

Throttled data equals useless sensation

Lets be serious newer smart phones are becoming bandwidth hoggers and a lot of companies throttle at 5gb. I easily use 5gb a day on my home's network streaming, surfing and torrenting. The increase in bandwidth requirements for a smooth videochat conversation on skype requires a lot of bandwidth. Auto sync eats up bandwidth like crazy I had to turn mine off. Streaming a live event demands huge amount of data, and Theres netflix too.
Im currently paying $46mo on my home internet without any capped I use about 100-200gb mo of a total combine bandwidth. Im paying $20mo for 5gb data with unlimited dial up speed after 5gb. Technically $5 per gbit. Rip off much?
I'm using 5gb within 2 weeks 1/2 managing my data with watchdog in a week and 1/2 I'm throttle to dial up speed.. My data plan is from G1 era supposedly I've android data preferred plan? I doubt it. But I hear that its starting to get capped..
My rant is that its foolish for cellphone company to capped data at 5gh.. After they capped they lower it to dial up speed rendering your smartphone useless for the duration until the next cycle. Why can't they cap the speed at 1mbit down and 500 up instead of 30-60 down and 100 down? It's going to be worst after the merge.. Once the merge happens I'm leaving tmobile..
I use quite a lot of data also, but I have my acct set to 200MB Unlimited. It may sound silly but at work and home I'm on WiFi and in between I just have music playing from my SD card while I drive.
I do agree though that the throttled speed is extremely slow. Maybe 7 years ago it wouldn't have mattered but everything is large these days.
Well I have a 5gb data and also tether and use it as home connection and use a little over 5gb.
The problem is that u use ur phones data too much. I have no idea how anyone uses that much data on just their phone. If you have a home connection, use that at home.
And I like the prices they are cheap on tmobile. I'm getting throttle right now and don't mind it on my phone. But tethering it is bad.
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i got throttle 1 time cause my internet was down at home so i tetherd my phone with my pc and ate 5gb up in three days never again, my phone dookie slow. also if you got 200mb plan starting tomorrow if you go over its $10 a gb and they only let you go $30 over
Then pay more or switch to a different provider or move to another country, etc. Realistic or not, there are solutions. If you are unsatisfied with your service, then speak with your money. You have the choice to not pay for overpriced services and if enough people choose to follow you, maybe companies will change their policies. Until then, they are charging a lot for a mediocre amount of bandwidth because people are willing to pay for it.
I'm thankful TMO throttles you. It means I'll never experience what happens on AT&T with their iPhone hammering.
Dude? 5GB a month?
In germany normal data flats only have 1(!!!)GB included. And for 5 or even 10 ur paying ur ass off. I know it sucks, but do u really need to do skype calls or live streaming with ur mobile data?
I thought i am a heavy user and I am using exactly 1GB/month... Now i know im not
+1 to what lianw said.
I am running push facebook, twitter, and an exchange account and I only start getting throttled towards the very end of the billing cycle of my 200MB plan. Fact of the matter is, 200MB is enough for what a majority of users need to do with their phones. Carriers will not cater to a niche group that requires 5GB of data a day.
Nonetheless, tmobile actually does offer an unlimited plan through their loyalty program: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192020
Man, data plans are cheap there and you are throttled LATE. I live in Germany and pay 25€ for 1GB. (Worthless to mention that I just need ~800mb although I'm sometimes streaming webradio)
I completely agree with the OP. T-Mobile and the like sell these phones promising this.fantastic multimedia experience, and yet, because they are too blinded by the profit motive to innovate, take chances, and find new ways to make money, they dangle something pretty in front of you, promising an exceptional media experience, then treat you like a child and try to limit the very thing they sold you, in every way possible.
And the treatment I have received by T-Mobile is disgusting. Calling me an extreme user for using 5g a month, yet they INSTALL ON THESE PHONES AND MAKE IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE apps such as TMobile TV, rhapsody, slacker, Pandora, etc. If you stream music like I do, daily on my public transportation, you will hit 5 G VERY quickly.
And let me stress, these assholes at TMobile don't just "throttle" data to edge speeds as they claim, if only that were the case. Data becomes UNUSABLE when they throttle. Unusable.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
moh0 said:
Carriers will not cater to a niche group that requires 5GB of data a day http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1192020
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This kind of bull**** is exactly what these companies try to do- frame users like me as niche, extreme, whatever the euphemism you choose...its meant to degrade and put down my use.
I'm not out there hosting torrents and doing big video downloads or streaming. I never do. I stream music from apps T-Mobile embeds in their devices-thats it. Yet they have been able to paint data use as some sort of wrongdoers who are clogging networks.
Their lack of capital layout because Deutsche Telecom has them under discontinued operations since January, which BY LAW precludes the parent company from investing in them, is the reason_if there is any-of their need to throttle, NOT users using their phones as they were meant to be used.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
bqd37340 said:
I completely agree with the OP. T-Mobile and the like sell these phones promising this.fantastic multimedia experience, and yet, because they are too blinded by the profit motive to innovate, take chances, and find new ways to make money, they dangle something pretty in front of you, promising an exceptional media experience, then treat you like a child and try to limit the very thing they sold you, in every way possible.
And the treatment I have received by T-Mobile is disgusting. Calling me an extreme user for using 5g a month, yet they INSTALL ON THESE PHONES AND MAKE IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE apps such as TMobile TV, rhapsody, slacker, Pandora, etc. If you stream music like I do, daily on my public transportation, you will hit 5 G VERY quickly.
And let me stress, these assholes at TMobile don't just "throttle" data to edge speeds as they claim, if only that were the case. Data becomes UNUSABLE when they throttle. Unusable.
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Those are some great points. But in the end, you're the one who signed the contract and thus accepted the data cap. Also your hatred of tmobile is very surprising. They are the most supportive carrier I have ever dealt with. You should try getting the android preferred data plan before at&t steps in. Now I hate those guys with a passion.
You think tmobiles bad!!!!!! Try sprint!!!!!!
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e
bqd37340 said:
This kind of bull**** is exactly what these companies try to do- frame users like me as niche, extreme, whatever the euphemism you choose...its meant to degrade and put down my use.
I'm not out there hosting torrents and doing big video downloads or streaming. I never do. I stream music from apps T-Mobile embeds in their devices-thats it. Yet they have been able to paint data use as some sort of wrongdoers who are clogging networks.
Their lack of capital layout because Deutsche Telecom has them under discontinued operations since January, which BY LAW precludes the parent company from investing in them, is the reason_if there is any-of their need to throttle, NOT users using their phones as they were meant to be used.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
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http://blog.validas.com/index.php/2...erizon-wireless-smartphone-data-usage-up-150/
Sorry, you are in a niche group. That's from June 2010-June 2011.
EDIT: Actually the above link doesn't post total data used per month, this article however: http://blog.validas.com/index.php/2...-data-on-the-table-with-your-smartphone-plan/
I have unlimited unthrottled data. Even with my wifi broken on my n1, I never go over 2 gigs a month, not even when I was watching football on nfl network. Wtf are you doing that uses so much bandwidth when not at home?
Being throttle does suck.
The is pretty much useless unless I'm at home connected to my home network.
I am being throttle by mistake.
It has been almost 2 weeks.
They can easily turn the throttle on.
But to get it back on is little harder in my case.
It is supposed to be fixed today.
Well see.
I believe tmobile does have a 10gb plan.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
man this throttle thing is bad i got this phone on the 26 of july took me a five days to hit that cap and all i did was watch a couple of 5 min videos on youtube and when at home id use wifi or my tablet....
5gb is fine with me for now. My cable went out once a few months ago and I used 4gb watching movies over hotspot on Netflix. Other than that I never get close to 5gb cuz I use wifi most of the time. If I never was near a broadband connection it might bother me but then I would have to pay more for a higher throttle or try Sprint.
Yeah they're being dirty but not as dirty as Verizon or ATT. Don't blame them. Blame the idiots who live around you.
i used up my 5gb in the first 7 days of the month doing bittorrent on my phone
nah im joking ive never used my phone for that
i do like to watch justin.tv and about an hour of that is avg 360 mb on medium quality about 100 kilobytes per sec
id rather pay a little more for unlimited even though the cost for bandwidth isnt justified
*edit* my throttled speedwas under 9 kilobytes per second like 8.9 was the max i got and that isnt even 2g its like gprs or lower
I think it's exactly as others have posted. If you use 5gb in the first day you are a niche user. Whether or not that's fair, it's true. The carriers aren't going to cater to a very small percentage of the population. I also dislike the throttling, though, because I'm on a 2gb plan and almost always go over a few days before the end of the cycle and that's with me already restraining my use. I would love to be on that $20 5gb android preferred plan, but I have no access to my account because my parents do.
Personally, I think you should know what you need. If 5gb a month won't be enough for you, then don't sign a contract for only that much. Take the 10gb option, or go to a different carrier that offers more data.

Att/LTE observation

Ok so I have been reading different post on several message boards and forums about how Att is the Devil for throttling there grandfathered Unlimited customers. Now, you would think coming from Sprint only four months ago I would be siding with these customers but thats not the case.
I started with Spint in 2008 and for the first two years it was great. Then came Android. Now I love Android, but after people really started getting into android and mobile browsing, and then with the introduction of the HTC Hero and definetly after the Htc Evo data speeds dropped significanltly. I went from Youtube videos loading fast to them taking up to 30 seconds to load short videos. Wimax was an even bigger joke, my Iphone 4s which I returned for the Skyrocket yielded higher speed scores just on a Hspa+ network.
Now everyone wants to praise Verizon for allowing there customers keep their unlimited plans unthrottled. Now this is a good thing, but many speedtest that I have seen on YouTube and also today on Engadgets quick review of the new Nexus phone on Verizon, using a mifi device the Nexus got download speeds that my old Iphones 4s could easily double.
So whats the point of me writing this. Its written as a beware what you wish for story. Yes it would be nice to have anything unlimited but the truth is that many people abuse the system. I have read of people who have used up to 60 gbs of data in one month. What could you possibly be doing that would take up so much data. Im in a LTE area and last month I hit 1.4 gbs, I have wifi at home but not at work. Moreover, it really isnt fair that I am paying practically the same thing that an unlimited customer is but using far less data. An before anyone says that im just jealous not to have unlimited the fact is I really dont care who has it. But when your overendulgence of data slows down mine then we have a problem.
I get your complaint and in the same time I don't get your complaint. does it make sense?
I refuse to see it that way. As a whole we paid for the lines.. with lte its been documented the system is perfectly capable of handling all we throw at it at no additional cost.. Why penalize one who uses it more. 60gb is abuse for sure but the 5-10 range can be hit pretty easily)
It is going to be sad to see net neutrality come to an end ...its coming. We will see pay per use solely for the fact that they will make more
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA App
Im not really complaining. Really if I was At&t I would move all Unlimited customers to a 10gb plan so they still get a lot of data but they also wont abuse it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA App
Its not fair.. I use 100kb a month and I want it all for free.. Damn Att&t for not wanting to lose money!.. lol
I'm amazed they don't charge extra just for having hspa+ or lte. My Cox internet at home is tiered by speed. I would have thought they would have implemented a pricing system similar by now.
Yeah I think that's how most home internet providers do it. I'm on att uverse and I believe I have the 10 mbps plan. The problem with a cell phone company trying to do this is they can't always guarantee the speed your going to get because it varies by your location.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA App
I am just learning about/reading about net neutrality so I could be way off here ...but I "think" the FCC prevents them from billing wireless this way (by speed)
If and when that changes (lots of speculation it will) it is speculated we will see tiers based off usage AND speed
swedishcancerboi said:
I'm amazed they don't charge extra just for having hspa+ or lte. My Cox internet at home is tiered by speed. I would have thought they would have implemented a pricing system similar by now.
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Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using XDA App

Att unlimited data

Just a heads up for everyone who has unlimited data, a good freind of mine that works for att told me today that att is gonna get rid of everyones unlimited data within the next few months and put them on a data plan. She told me that there keeping it quiet so after they change everybodies plan itll be too late to go back to unlimited. Just a heads up for the people who havent heard about it since I havent seen anything about if myself
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
Here I come T-Mobile.
Who wants to be on the unlimited throttle plan anyways. I came off that throttle crap years ago.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app
they cant remove it without consent.
Tinag379 said:
they cant remove it without consent.
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You already gave them consent in the contract. You'd know this if you read the contract.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
toxicpaulution said:
You already gave them consent in the contract. You'd know this if you read the contract.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
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Yes. KIND OF. If "THEY" decide to change your plan from the unlimited data plan they are voiding your contract. So "IF" this is the case buy as many NEW phones as you have unlimited Data plans on asap. Then when "THEY" change your contract then you are free and clear of your commitment. Read the print.
So in my case I too will be saying BYE BYE ATT and Hello TMobile. I am just waiting for the chance to leave them over bs like this over the years. I was FORCED onto a Unlimited Data Plan with my first smartphone (really a dumb phone by today's standards). The ONLY reason I have stayed with them is call quality and data has been pretty good in my area. But now T-Mobile data and call quality in my area is just as good if not better. So eventually this will be my route.
Now IF they do not do this change I will NOT be buying the S5 from them anyways with locked bootloaders. So I was gonna have to buy either international or T-Mobile S5 anyways and then possibly stay with ATT until my contract runs out for all my lines. Which is about a year or less away anyways.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
RockRatt said:
Yes. KIND OF. If "THEY" decide to change your plan from the unlimited data plan they are voiding your contract. So "IF" this is the case buy as many NEW phones as you have unlimited Data plans on asap. Then when "THEY" change your contract then you are free and clear of your commitment. Read the print.
So in my case I too will be saying BYE BYE ATT and Hello TMobile. I am just waiting for the chance to leave them over bs like this over the years. I was FORCED onto a Unlimited Data Plan with my first smartphone (really a dumb phone by today's standards). The ONLY reason I have stayed with them is call quality and data has been pretty good in my area. But now T-Mobile data and call quality in my area is just as good if not better. So eventually this will be my route.
Now IF they do not do this change I will NOT be buying the S5 from them anyways with locked bootloaders. So I was gonna have to buy either international or T-Mobile S5 anyways and then possibly stay with ATT until my contract runs out for all my lines. Which is about a year or less away anyways.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
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not if within the contract it says they can chagne your plan to whatever whenever they feel like it.
i just reviewed my contract. nothing in it states they can change anything at any time.
toxicpaulution said:
not if within the contract it says they can chagne your plan to whatever whenever they feel like it.
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If that was the case they would have forced us all of it years ago when the decided to start throttling you as "in the top 5% of data users". They were trying VERY HARD to get us off of unlimited data. I have been through two phones since they implemented this. With the S2 and huspa+ plan you are throttled at 3Gb, on my S3 with LTE I am throttled at 5Gb, and same on the S4. So IF they were gonna attempt something like this they would have already.
Also if they want to keep losing customers to T-Mobile then go at it. I am not sure if you have seen all the commercials, but once Tmobile makes some cool changes to their service ATT/VERIZON didn't change anything. But as T-Mobile keeps chipping away at ATT/VERIZON customer base then these two companies are starting to play catch up and make some changes. Like T-Mobile being able to upgrade when you want, now ATT and Verizon have their own crappy versions of this. T-Mobile has unlimited data so ATT/Verizon are trying to fool people with unlimited text and call and raise the download limits with some of their newer plans. But they keep refusing to just five in and make a unlimited data plan, seems like out of spite at times. Because they cannot get rid of enough grandfathered Unlimited data plan users.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
RockRatt said:
If that was the case they would have forced us all of it years ago when the decided to start throttling you as "in the top 5% of data users". They were trying VERY HARD to get us off of unlimited data. I have been through two phones since they implemented this. With the S2 and huspa+ plan you are throttled at 3Gb, on my S3 with LTE I am throttled at 5Gb, and same on the S4. So IF they were gonna attempt something like this they would have already.
Also if they want to keep losing customers to T-Mobile then go at it. I am not sure if you have seen all the commercials, but once Tmobile makes some cool changes to their service ATT/VERIZON didn't change anything. But as T-Mobile keeps chipping away at ATT/VERIZON customer base then these two companies are starting to play catch up and make some changes. Like T-Mobile being able to upgrade when you want, now ATT and Verizon have their own crappy versions of this. T-Mobile has unlimited data so ATT/Verizon are trying to fool people with unlimited text and call and raise the download limits with some of their newer plans. But they keep refusing to just five in and make a unlimited data plan, seems like out of spite at times. Because they cannot get rid of enough grandfathered Unlimited data plan users.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
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People abusing "unlimited" by using exceptional amounts of data tethering is the reason the true "unlimited" plans went away and will not come back to the major carriers. Sure, there are people that use a lot of data on their phone alone and there are people that tether some, but not all of the times. They are actually a small part of the overall users. A little tethering from time to time or a month of high data use due to watching the play-offs on the phone is not an issue The problem is the people that tether all of the time using their phones as their main internet connection. Mobile data was not meant for this. Basically, a few people keep finding ways to screw the system so no one else can benefit from it.
Of course, the major carriers should be providing plans at a better price and, for now, that seems to be happening because of T-Mobile's changes. However, the unlimited demise is definitely the fault of the abusers.
@scott14719 I do know what you are saying and do believe this to be the case as well.
But as technology on these phones grow so will the demand for more data. With streaming being more and more capable (and i am not just talking about netflix, youtube, and such) then the providers need to upgrade their data networks to accommodate for the future. T-Mobile seems to be doing just that as of right now. So I am happy that T-Mobile is changing things and forcing the other networks to change a bit. I hope they keep pushing the issue.
I am totally cool with paying full price for unsubsidized phones and less for better/faster data.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
I dropped my unlimited for the new 10 GB shared plan. On three phones I will get more data than I have ever used in a month, no throttling, and I save $60 per month. If 10 is not enough I will go to 15 and still save $30 every month.
I thought about "BRIEFLY" doing the same but I usually do at least 10Gb a month on my S4 already. Let alone the three other smart phones on my plan.
Sent From My Spiderman,Ironman,Red,Dark Blue,Green, GreyedOut BadAss Themed I337
Capt said:
Here I come T-Mobile.
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Already there and I love it
Been thinking about switching. Never really use data though. Mainly I think because I have to live it and watch myself. I assume you find more use for it if it's more readily at your disposal.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I467 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Id like to see them try haha
They might make it mandatory for phone upgrades, etc.. but from last time they tried to do it they can't just change you. If they wanna break my contract I'm fine with that, I've been looking at cheaper carriers anyways. Even if they put it somewhere in the contract that they can break it my papers say "unlimited data" as the name so you can get the contract broken easily if it's no longer unlimited data.
Unlimited Data/Voice for a fee is the future anyways, they should stop trying to nickle and dime us as the change gets closer.
Only time I need my unlimited is when I travel and watch lots of movies but still it's the ONLY reason I am still with them as everyone has better prices, and signal with any carrier is not a issue in socal.
I am wondering what AT&T has up their sleeve.
Could it be that they will finally get rid of voice over cellular? That would mean that the unlimited text and talk comes out of your data.
scott14719 said:
People abusing "unlimited" by using exceptional amounts of data tethering is the reason the true "unlimited" plans went away and will not come back to the major carriers. Sure, there are people that use a lot of data on their phone alone and there are people that tether some, but not all of the times. They are actually a small part of the overall users. A little tethering from time to time or a month of high data use due to watching the play-offs on the phone is not an issue The problem is the people that tether all of the time using their phones as their main internet connection. Mobile data was not meant for this. Basically, a few people keep finding ways to screw the system so no one else can benefit from it.
Of course, the major carriers should be providing plans at a better price and, for now, that seems to be happening because of T-Mobile's changes. However, the unlimited demise is definitely the fault of the abusers.
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I am not trying to start a flame war, so don't take this the wrong way. I do get where you are coming from. But if you think about it, if you pay for unlimited data, shouldn't you receive "Unlimited data"? Yes, it puts that much more stress on carriers trying to provide users with reliable data, but it also pushes them to become more efficient, and improve towers, resulting in a better user experience. It makes sense to want to cut the extra expenses from a carriers perspective. That said, It's still sad to see unlimited data go, whatever the reason.
willblake13 said:
I am not trying to start a flame war, so don't take this the wrong way. I do get where you are coming from. But if you think about it, if you pay for unlimited data, shouldn't you receive "Unlimited data"? Yes, it puts that much more stress on carriers trying to provide users with reliable data, but it also pushes them to become more efficient, and improve towers, resulting in a better user experience. It makes sense to want to cut the extra expenses from a carriers perspective. That said, It's still sad to see unlimited data go, whatever the reason.
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Click to collapse
Unlimited data for your phone, not for your household internet provider. There is a difference. If you use 50 gigs a month on pure phone usage...it should be ok, but if you tether and use 50 gigs for your entire house, it is not. And that is where the problem is.
I love hearing those say "I'll just switch to T-Mobile."
What's the point in having unlimited data if it only works in certain spots?
I'd recommend some hands-on coverage experimentation, and you'll realize why AT&T and Verizon get away with some of the crap that they pull.
Sent from my Hyperdriven S4

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