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Comments on news posted 2014-04-11 08:33:08: T-Mobile is the only one of the big four major carriers not to disable new functionality in the Galaxy S5 that helps speed up downloads. ..


Mike
Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA

1 recommendation

Mike

Mod

It's almost if....

...in the United States carriers dictate service and not hardware manufacturers.
existenz
join:2014-02-12

1 edit

existenz

Member

Re: It's almost if....

I just picked up the SG5 a couple hours ago. What a great week - got Google Fiber last weekend, SG5 this weekend.

I have the Sprint Spark version and it really can do nearly 60Mbps in some areas. Most other areas like home is about 15-20Mbps, which is still great. Also much better voice thanks to 800Mhz, do not lose call at bottom level of underground garages.

Edit: So if in a Spark market, it doesn't really matter if Sprint turned it off on SG5.

wizardry
@ohio-state.edu

1 recommendation

wizardry

Anon

Your carrier knows best

Cellular operators are such a drag on hardware, software, and third party service innovation.

Mr Guy
@charter.com

1 recommendation

Mr Guy

Anon

Re: Your carrier knows best

Actually they do. If Verizon enabled this no doubt people would use this then complain about overages by saying "I only use wi-fi. Why am I over my cap?" because yes customers are that stupid.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

I've been on the other end of that phone line in a previous life, and yes, they are. They'd use Download Booster and then pitch a huge fit when they realized it's using cellular data. It doesn't matter if you warned them; some people wouldn't understand the warning, but, when their bill comes, they'd go through the roof.

Reminds me of an incident that happened right after I started working in tech support. The ISP I worked for was retiring a very old mail server and transitioning the relatively small number of people still on it to one of our current servers. Customers had been getting messages for weeks on end telling them to change their server settings to point to the new server and, if they were using IMAP, to download the mail they had on the old one, and we even told them that, if they didn't know how, they could call in, and we'd walk them through it. Well, this guy calls in, mad as a hornet, because he can't get to his mail. When I mentioned that we'd been sending out notices for weeks, both by e-mail and in bill inserts, asking people to transition to the new server, he flatly denied we'd sent him anything. I can't remember if we were able to retrieve his old mail (I think it got sent to the server admins and they did), but that's the type of customer who'd use Download Booster and then blame the carrier for how it works.

buddahbless
join:2005-03-21
Premium

buddahbless

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

I agree that people are as you say "stupid" however people can be taught. As the article states that the big three are disabling the feature there is no mention that you can turn the feature on and off at will. So the discussion is moot if the later is not the case. Why disable it fully, I do believe having the unit default to disable is a good idea but dont fully disable the option.

Give the user the option if there too as you say "stupid" to figure out how to turn the feature on then off well let them get bill shock and they will lean real quick how to use said feature, It happened in the past when people had long distance bill shock, people learned about LD plans, it happened when people started receiving roaming bill shock people learned how to call there carrier and disable roaming or plain out prevent it by changing there setting in the phones. this should be treated no differently. However it should be off on default and the user must opt in to use said feature, maybe then people will see how much there being screwed by shared bucket o data plans.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

Oh, I agree that it should be an option, and I think most folks would "get it". I'm just pointing out how dense some customers are, and, by and large, these are the ones who really pitch a fit. And, let me tell you, there are people out there who get angry to the point of flying into a rage, even though it's their fault.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

2 recommendations

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

So it's not that data costs way too much. Instead, we have to protect customers from themselves.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

Yes, data costs way too much. You'll get no argument from me. I'm not defending what they did; I'm just saying that there are going to be people who won't be able to understand how this works, will use it when they shouldn't, and will then pitch a fit when they get the bill.

One thought, though. If the carriers wanted to extract money from customers by having them go over their caps, wouldn't it make more sense to leave this feature intact? I mean, I spend most of my time on wi-fi, so I don't even come close to hitting my cap, so wouldn't the carrier want to get me to use more cellular data by giving me the chance to use a feature like this? Either I'd go over, or I'd up my plan. From a financial standpoint, turning it off gains them nothing.

Guy12345
@cox.net

Guy12345 to IPPlanMan

Anon

to IPPlanMan
Honestly this isn't so bad. I'm sure they're doing it because most people who see the WiFi signal will assume they aren't using their quota. I wish it were some kind of advanced option we could enable or disable but considering I have 50mbps internet at home, I don't see why I'd ever enable it.

wheresmydata
@cox.net

1 recommendation

wheresmydata to ISurfTooMuch

Anon

to ISurfTooMuch
Well or if the carriers didn't blatantly extort money out of you with crazy low caps this wouldn't be an issue. How come with LTE we now have networks with many times the capacity and around the same data caps.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK to ISurfTooMuch

Premium Member

to ISurfTooMuch
Ah, the solution: Proper capacity and not hugely punishing caps. NM. Block that feature!
theboz1419
join:2003-02-12
Puyallup, WA

theboz1419 to Mr Guy

Member

to Mr Guy
That would not be a problem on sprint, Unlimited data. I can understand that for ATT and Verizon
existenz
join:2014-02-12

2 edits

existenz

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

I just picked up with Sprint SG5 today. Spark network surprised me. It really can do near 60Mbps in some places (though typically 10-35) and with 800Mhz, no dropped calls deep in underground garages.

Edit: So it doesn't matter if Sprint turned off SG5 downloader if in a Spark market.

»dl.dropboxusercontent.co ··· 0SG5.png

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

That's a big "IF"... Saw on a Sprint community post that barely over 50% of towers in DC have been upgraded for LTE. Given how long this has been in the works, this is pathetic.

»community.sprint.com/baw ··· 8#769138
IPPlanMan

IPPlanMan to Mr Guy

Member

to Mr Guy
Heaven forbid "bill shock" should get in the way of actual good service and coverage.

Cost inflation in wireless is ridiculous. Carriers don't want customers to fully appreciate how they are being gouged.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

Or get the idea they're being screwed on the cost versus VIRTUALLY FREE WIFI...
Plenty of the reserve frequencies are now coming online in the 4g/lte networks but for every mhz, they want to make several million dollars more revenue per quarter.. much harder to get to that goal at $40 a pop. Now, $140.. that's more like what they want.

PlusOne
@google.com

PlusOne to Mr Guy

Anon

to Mr Guy
said by Mr Guy :

Actually they do. If Verizon enabled this no doubt people would use this then complain about overages by saying "I only use wi-fi. Why am I over my cap?" because yes customers are that stupid.

+1

Yes, people ARE that stupid.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

1 edit

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

No. It's because the data service is that expensive. $15/GB for overages alone... Who are we kidding here?
stridr69
join:2003-05-19
San Luis Obispo, CA

stridr69

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

Actually VZW charges $10/GB for overages.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

1 edit

IPPlanMan

Member

Re: Your carrier knows best

Nope... Look at the fine print...
For the Verizon More Everything Plan....
»www.verizonwireless.com/ ··· ing.html

For plans 1GB and above, data overage is $15 per 1GB of data if you go over your plan allowance.
For the 250 MB plan, data overage is $15 per 200 MB.
For the 500 MB plan, data overage is $15 per 500 MB.

Slagish
@myvzw.com

Slagish to Mr Guy

Anon

to Mr Guy
+1
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz to wizardry

Member

to wizardry
Here is my GS5 on Google Fiber (top 3 results) and Sprint Spark at home (lower 3).

»dl.dropboxusercontent.co ··· 0SG5.png

Given that smartphone apps don't need more than a few Mbps anyway, I sure don't need the combined bandwidth.

aaronwt
Premium Member
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA
Asus RT-AX89

aaronwt

Premium Member

Why would I want to combine the two...

If I'm on 4G, which is at least 95% of the time. I've seen download speeds up to 30 Mb/s with my Droid DNA. If I'm at home on WiFi, I have a 150 Mb/s internet connection. The phone won't even max that out. Now if I'm at public WiFi, that would not add much to the download speed of my 4G connection so it would be worthless. And if I'm home, it's already downloading quick. So I don't see why I would need both connections combined for downloads.

Plus on Verizon I'm on unlimited data. So if I bought an S5 I would still be on unlimited data since I would buy an unsubsidized S5. I rarely use Wifi except when at home. But when I'm at home I'm not even using my cell phone. It's on the wireless charger and I'll use my tablet when at home for things I might use my cellphone for while away from home.

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy

Anon

Re: Why would I want to combine the two...

and for people on tiered data( most Verizon customers )this is even more stupid. If you're using wi-fi because you're trying to save your cap for when you are not in a wi-fi area why waste precious cap space just so a large file can download just a tiny bit faster?
sandman_1
join:2011-04-23
11111

sandman_1 to aaronwt

Member

to aaronwt
You are overthinking it. If you have 150Mbps Internet then yes you don't really need to do this. However for other people not so lucky to have that kind of connection, I would assume any little bit would help barring data caps and such.

I have a 30Mbps home connection and this would be nice to do with my Tmobile 4G, which would add another ~20Mbps with my unlimited plan.

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy

Anon

Re: Why would I want to combine the two...

said by sandman_1:

You are overthinking it. If you have 150Mbps Internet then yes you don't really need to do this. However for other people not so lucky to have that kind of connection, I would assume any little bit would help barring data caps and such.

I have a 30Mbps home connection and this would be nice to do with my Tmobile 4G, which would add another ~20Mbps with my unlimited plan.

And T-Mobile isn't blocking this. And as you say you have unlimited data. Most Verizon customers do NOT have unlimited data. If there is some file so large you need both wi-fi and 4G to download it "fast enough"( however you want to define that ) then you are probably going to exceed your cap.
Synbios
join:2002-05-18
Arlington, VA

Synbios to aaronwt

Member

to aaronwt
After reading this conversation I realized it's probably disabled for ease of use. Someone could have wifi enabled and think they are not using any of their cellular data.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

But but congestion....

Ridiculous. And this is with tiered data on AT&T/Verizon too. Congestion my @$$.

Mr Guy
@charter.com

Mr Guy

Anon

Re: But but congestion....

You would NOT want to use this with tiered data. Congestion or not. And yes if you new how mobile data worked you would see why they have tiered data. You could argue about the size of the caps but unlimited data is not sustainable. Try going to the Verizon messagebaord and see how many complaints about congestion there are. Plenty. But it's not real? Are all the angry customers complaining about it are just imagining it?
Expand your moderator at work

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan to Mr Guy

Member

to Mr Guy

Re: But but congestion....

Tiered data is a farce. The markup is huge. I'm in DC. Congestion isn't an issue here and never was.

••••••••••••
IPPlanMan

IPPlanMan

Member

Pulled from the iPhone too...

»www.tuaw.com/2012/09/25/ ··· ure-mia/

Pulled from iOS 6....

EricT
@verizon.net

EricT

Anon

Re: Pulled from the iPhone too...

Not sure you are talking about the same thing, but Multipath TCP is still enabled on iOS:
»support.apple.com/kb/HT5977

Of course the server need to support the protocol.
YDC
join:2007-11-13
Hewlett, NY

1 recommendation

YDC

Member

It would show you how much you really do not get

For those who have not checked both their 3G and 4G data along side of their WIFI usage, perhaps you should do that.

If you saw how little data they are really giving you at that incredibly high price, this discussion would have never happened.

WIFI is carrying a hundred MB of data to you every day just to maintain updates to the apps on your phone. Now when you actually use them, even more than that.

Do the math and see why this crippled data model will come back to bite you very soon. Sorry, but the word sheep comes to mind here gents!

•••

TuxRaiderPen2
Make America Great Again
join:2009-09-19

TuxRaiderPen2

Member

Q from the Luddite section....here....

Ummm.... ok... so from those of us who use the cell phone, for a cell phone, oh the horror of it!

Could you please explain what you could need to download on a phone over 30mB to trigger this if it wre available? ? ? ? ?

Now if you were tethering a laptop and needed to get something or transfer something I could see.. but a phone? ? ? ?

Your right I don't use my phone, which is an Android for much other than a phone! Makes a great hotspot via FoxFi (quick and dirty before VZW notices too much) when I need something in a spot with a borq'd network. as a last resort, out of options sort of thing.... but something tells me this is not what this feature is aimed at.. And if SMS messages had not replaced my Advisor, the real big honking one or a CP1250 I would still use them.. and emails can't trigger that unless your trying to do something on a phone that a laptop is better suited for...

OK..I've got my popcorn and drink.. hit me!
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Useless anyways

In the US, this is a stupid feature. Not only would it cause a support nightmare, but it's just stupid. If you have fast Wifi, USE IT. If you don't, like on AT&T's 1.5mbps Wifi, then the Wifi would add so little to the 50mbps LTE that it's also pointless.
tabernak4
join:2013-08-10

tabernak4

Member

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

If they would have left it on by default on plans with data limits you'd just be reading an article about disgruntled customers with overages instead.

They could have it be disabled by default and popup obvious warnings when enabling it. Even then, you're still going to have cases where people get overages and have no idea why. I'm going to come down in favor of protecting people from their own stupidity on this one. Seems like a bit of a niche feature that most people wouldn't find too useful anyway.
Synbios
join:2002-05-18
Arlington, VA

Synbios

Member

Not that big of a deal IMO

For years carriers have been hindering hardware potential. I have full faith in the modding community to bring the feature back via custom ROMs and patches.

Regardless, I don't see why this feature should really be that useful in the first place. Wifi is usually significantly faster than cellular for most people, and downloading a 30 MB file on a phone seems pretty rare.

Pris0ner
@199.133.43.x

Pris0ner

Anon

T-Mobile still sells the S5 with Download Boost

So would it be possible jut to buy a no contract S5 from T-Mobile and use it on the AT&T network?