Gbcue Premium Member join:2001-09-30 Santa Rosa, CA |
Gbcue
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 4:40 pm
Clamping DownJust another greedy money grab.
They already pay for the data, let the customer use it as they wish. | |
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2 recommendations |
Re: Clamping Downand that is why i use my computer at home and i use my phone as a dumb phone while millions of you run to your iphones and smart phones and then i watch you get hosed.
until i see unlimited plans for life with no bullshit charges i will stick to my dumb phone and not give these companies anymore of my money that i have to give. | |
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Lower charges for the rest of us!Because of all of the money AT&T is going to save by kicking all of the freeloaders off of the unlimited plan in the interest of fairness.. One can only assume the rest of the customer base will see significantly lower data charges! Good news.
Yeah, sarcasm. | |
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| | cork1958Cork Premium Member join:2000-02-26 |
to gorehound
Re: Clamping Downsaid by gorehound:and that is why i use my computer at home and i use my phone as a dumb phone while millions of you run to your iphones and smart phones and then i watch you get hosed.
until i see unlimited plans for life with no bullshit charges i will stick to my dumb phone and not give these companies anymore of my money that i have to give. Not on AT&T and never will be, but I couldn't agree more with your assessment! People have gotten so ridiculously addicted to their little electronic gadgets, it's insane, but most of them will be dumb enough to keep feeding these money hungry, uncaring companies. | |
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to Gbcue
at&t's motto (to paraphrase Queen): "We will, we will... screw you!" | |
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Screavics Premium Member join:2011-06-23 Pearcy, AR |
Small PercentsEverything at AT&T is small percentages including the wireless & wire-line footprint for high speed reliable services.
All joking aside I see no real difference in the "two data plans". Data is data whether it is from a smartphone or a attached PC. Yeah PC data users use more data than smartphone but you shouldn't have to buy a separate plan, and if you are "forced to" like in this case, you should get more data than what is allotted to the smartphone.
You want to treat PC / Smartphone data separate, how about making separate plans for each rather than a carbon copy. Make it worthwhile to upgrade to tether. | |
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| r81984Fair and Balanced Premium Member join:2001-11-14 Katy, TX |
r81984
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 9:29 pm
Re: Small Percentssaid by Screavics:PC data users use more data than smartphone That is not true. Some people use more data on their smartphones than on PCs and others use more data on a PC. Everyone uses their devices differently. ATT sells service to a GSM device, how you use that device is not for ATT to dictate or limit. ATTs control ends at your antenna on the device that you 100% own. If ATT wanted to limit you they would have built their own proprietary network and leased you phones and not used GSM where you can use a phone that you 100% paid for. | |
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Explain this At&t.So, you can do anything you want with an iPhone on the unlimited plan as long as you aren't tethering. Or tether, use the same amount of data (say 10 gigs for this example both tethered and not). What difference does it make? Why the hell should you get money for tethering? You deliver the bits from point A to B regardless of whether or not it's tethered. You did nothing to make the tethering capability possible, so if anything shouldn't Apple get the $20 since they made it?
MMMMMONEYYYYY GRABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
If anyone gets the letter, start downloading everything possible from the interwebz. Rack up terabytes of usage. | |
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| TCub Premium Member join:2008-09-03 Olmsted Falls, OH |
TCub
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 5:03 pm
Re: Explain this At&t.Because the odds of you using 10GB of data on an iPhone are slim... Those odds sound much better when you're on a computer. Believe me - I don't condone this behavior and I HATE AT&T with a passion. Yes. Literally hate.. Pure, scathing, dark hatred. They are criminals. My solution? I use Verizon... it's nearly impossible to download even 2GB of data in a month with their 3G network! Really though I use WiFi mostly. I was hoping to see if I could keep it under 250MB and see if I could switch plans but alas... If only Verizons 2GB plan actually cost less... sheesh... Or if they had a 1GB plan for like $15.. I'd totally do it. Not happily but it's cheaper and it fits my needs better. That is, as long as they continue to have the slowest 3G network ever. | |
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| Duramax08To The Moon Premium Member join:2008-08-03 San Antonio, TX |
to tman852
When i got the letter back then, I downloaded about 50gb in a week or so just downloading steam games over and over again. 2 days before the deadline I called in and told them i stopped tethering. Good times.......... | |
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Just frickin' silly....Yeah this just about does it for me. I think I'm ready to leave AT&T as this is ridiculous. Networks just don't work the way these idiots want to charge me for the service.
I'm already paying for the data connection, unlimited or not. What difference does it make which device generates the traffic? I'M STILL PAYING FOR IT! | |
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| ArrayListDevOps Premium Member join:2005-03-19 Mullica Hill, NJ |
Re: Just frickin' silly....AT&T tried this back when they were ma bell and required you to use AT&T equipment to use the service. if you didn't it was illegal. | |
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Duramax08To The Moon Premium Member join:2008-08-03 San Antonio, TX |
soeither way if they catch you tethering they are going to put you on a lower GB plan. So the only difference is that they wont notify you anymore? | |
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| Duramax08 |
Re: soAnd to the people that think they can tether alittle like 200 mb or less, they know. My sister use to tether to her laptop just to do emails and such and she got the email. So yeah, watch out. Now excuse me while I replay lord of the rings over and over again with my awesome unlimited plan. | |
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Sperkowitz Premium Member join:2002-03-30 Valencia, CA |
And yet they keep gaining customers.Unless customers leave in masses, nothing will change. With all the talk about how bad these caps are, why are people not leaving? Because of the phone they have? Contract (which are not forever, they do expire)? Sprint still has truly unlimited, but they are not gaining hordes of customers (I'm a Sprint customer, by the way). So I don't know if this really is a big deal to people. Or is this like complaining about government, and not even trying to vote? | |
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Re: And yet they keep gaining customers.Long term contracts, ETFs, exclusive handset deals and limited competition (limited companies with quality coverage) go a long, long way in determining what people will and won't tolerate. | |
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| | RRedlineRated R Premium Member join:2002-05-15 USA |
RRedline
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 8:30 pm
Re: And yet they keep gaining customers.People fall for marketing tricks as well. Excellent marketing can do wonders, even when you are selling an inferior product or service.
OMG, I can video chat with my friends with an AT&T iPhone?
"Yes...just not with AT&T's service." -- the small print at the bottom | |
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to Sperkowitz
Check Sprint's coverage map and you will find out why people are not running to Sprint in masses. It does no good to switch to them if you can't get service. Most of us out of the reach os thier network are hoping that enough people in the more urban areas that can get service will switch to them and furnish them with enough money to expand their coverage so the rest of us can switch someday but ala, they will prolly do away with unlimited data as well long before that happens. | |
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Matt3All noise, no signal. Premium Member join:2003-07-20 Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 4:52 pm
Also ...They also sent a notice to business customers today that if you don't perform a device wipe/reload, they will not honor your phone warranty.
Here is their exact wording:
1) Ensure that they have the mobile device in hand for full troubleshooting with the AT&T agent. (or you can bridge with the end user, since you do not allow them to process warranty exchanges alone) 2) Update or reload software to the device in most cases 3) Save data prior to the reload if a wipe and reload is required 4) If callers do not want to, or are not able to perform the above requirements, they should seek another resolution to their issue other than a warranty exchange. | |
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| sivranVive Vivaldi Premium Member join:2003-09-15 Irving, TX |
sivran
Premium Member
2011-Aug-5 4:52 pm
Re: Also ...And the problem with that is....what, exactly? | |
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EdrickI aspire to tell the story of a lifetime Premium Member join:2004-09-11 San Diego, CA |
Edrick
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 4:52 pm
Makes SenseThe likely hood you are going to be using 5+ GB a month just via the iPhone is highly unlikely it's also unlikely you'll be downloading for extended periods of time. However you add a computer into the mix or sharing with multiple computers now you're saturating up that pipe and causing issues for the users who a) pay for the tethering or b) don't use tethering but now are suffering poor network performance cause of the few greedy people.
Also the argument that you can use 10 GB on the iPhone but not via a PC and they should be treated equally makes no sense. As they're not equals. In fact if you're using 10 gigs of data on your phone alone i can't imagine how much more you're going to use on a PC tethered to it.
Don't like it cancel your service and stick it to them. | |
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| KearnstdSpace Elf Premium Member join:2002-01-22 Mullica Hill, NJ |
Kearnstd
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 6:47 pm
Re: Makes Sensedata is data. if I watch Netflix on the phone its no different than if its watched on a tethered laptop.
the only reason they charge extra for the official tether is to make more raw profits. | |
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| djdanskaRudie32 Premium Member join:2001-04-21 San Diego, CA |
to Edrick
I can watch netflix on my android phone or i can watch netflix on my laptop tethered. Both use insane amount of data. Without netflix, i can use 5-7Gb of data between everything i do, not including tethering. Not very hard. | |
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| KearnstdSpace Elf Premium Member join:2002-01-22 Mullica Hill, NJ |
to Edrick
id almost compare better to state, why is it ok if a user consumes 5gb watching netflix on the phone but somehow I cause more network stress if I root and tether a phone and play WoW. which uses almost no bandwidth. | |
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1 recommendation |
to Edrick
Do some research into findings by independant researchers and you will soon learn that your accusations are largely false. So called network congestion problems called that by the companies are exposed as faulty, outdated and neglected equipment. AT&T is famous country wide for having junk equipment just look at thier landlines. I have one and every time the road grader grades the road the phone service is gone and every time it rains we either have static so bad you cant hear or the service will go out and the AT&T tech that comes out just flat says that almost all of thier rural equipment in this part of the state is 30 years out of date causing the rain problem and they wont spend the money to get the cable down into the bedrock below the graders reach to stop that problem. He says untill someone sues them from this area it is cheaper just to send him out to fix it every time or so they think. AT&T has a long history of putting things off as long as they can get away with it. It is just that now they can blame customers and get away with it and people will buy into it. Do some research. | |
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| | djdanskaRudie32 Premium Member join:2001-04-21 San Diego, CA |
djdanska
Premium Member
2011-Aug-5 2:13 am
Re: Makes Sensesaid by zeddlar:Do some research into findings by independant researchers and you will soon learn that your accusations are largely false. So called network congestion problems called that by the companies are exposed as faulty, outdated and neglected equipment. AT&T is famous country wide for having junk equipment just look at thier landlines. I have one and every time the road grader grades the road the phone service is gone and every time it rains we either have static so bad you cant hear or the service will go out and the AT&T tech that comes out just flat says that almost all of thier rural equipment in this part of the state is 30 years out of date causing the rain problem and they wont spend the money to get the cable down into the bedrock below the graders reach to stop that problem. He says untill someone sues them from this area it is cheaper just to send him out to fix it every time or so they think. AT&T has a long history of putting things off as long as they can get away with it. It is just that now they can blame customers and get away with it and people will buy into it. Do some research. FINALLY!! Someone who actually understands what's really going on! That's what im going to miss with t-mobile. I love my 5-7Mb/s down 1.8Mb/ up on 3g.. Once at&t gets a hold of it, i expect it to go to at&t 3g speeds.. A fraction of the speed.. | |
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to zeddlar
said by zeddlar: So called network congestion problems called that by the companies are exposed as faulty, outdated and neglected equipment.... Do some research. It would probably be more appropriate for your to back up you claim with a citation or reference to the research you are quoting btw...as an AT&T subscriber, I find it particularly annoying that they want to charge me to tether but I knew this going into the contract and I signed and accepted their terms sadly, it was the best option available I am hopeful that competition from emerging wireless providers will continue to put pressure on larger, more established companies to make their data plans more flexible and amenable but I am not holding my breath because I don't see it happening soon The good news is that the availability of wireless data is much better than it was even a few short years ago. While the plans aren't exactly cheap, it is pretty amazing that we are even arguing about whether we should be able to download gigabytes of data via our cell phones | |
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innoman- Premium Member join:2002-05-07 Seattle, WA |
innoman
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 4:54 pm
How can they know?I didn't think they could tell. This is really starting to get old. It's my data plan, I should be able to use it as I please. I think the most data I have used in the past year in a given month is 4GB, usually much less than 2GB most months. | |
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| ArrayListDevOps Premium Member join:2005-03-19 Mullica Hill, NJ |
Re: How can they know?they can read your packets and see what you are doing. it's pretty easy to tell what web browser you are using when you break apart http packets.
solution: secured vpn. | |
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| | innoman- Premium Member join:2002-05-07 Seattle, WA |
innoman
Premium Member
2011-Aug-5 2:50 pm
Re: How can they know?Well yeah, they could totally do that but it's going a bit far. I do have secure VPN setup but it's flaky, I need to do some work on it. | |
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| KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little Guy Premium Member join:2000-01-17 Tulsa, OK |
to innoman
said by innoman:I didn't think they could tell. I'm sure the phone reports you. | |
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| | innoman- Premium Member join:2002-05-07 Seattle, WA |
innoman
Premium Member
2011-Aug-5 2:50 pm
Re: How can they know?I don't think it works quite like that. But anything is possible. It is all going over the same APN. | |
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| flbas1 join:2010-02-03 Fort Lauderdale, FL |
to innoman
background windows updates (for windows or windows-only programs)
browser packet sniffing - specifically looking at user agent string - maybe get Safari on your PC and change the string to claim it is an iPhone? | |
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quantitious
Anon
2011-Aug-4 4:56 pm
Can they tell for sure?Can they actually tell when you're using tethering or are they (like before) simply looking for the people using way more data than the rest and assuming they're tethering? Back then, I heard that some targeted customers could call them up and say that they streamed Pandora all day at work, and were let off the hook.
My iPhone is jailbroken, and I tether on occasion when necessary, but I don't replace my home Internet connection with it or anything, and I rarely go above 3 GB of data a month (5 once). Wondering if they've discovered a way to tell that you're using MyWi or if it's just a guessing game still. | |
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aximr Premium Member join:2001-09-28 Wood Ridge, NJ
1 recommendation |
aximr
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 5:08 pm
This is why the T-Moble deal should not be allowed.As we go from 4 carries to 3, so does the competition. What AT&T does to get more revenue from its customers, Verizon will follow shortly thereafter. And what Verizon does AT&T will follow. Sprint is becoming more and more irreverent, and we are left with 200 million users on Verizon and AT&T. Anyone one who thinks the AT&T T-Mobile deal will not screw us all is just kidding themselves. | |
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NetFixerFrom My Cold Dead Hands Premium Member join:2004-06-24 The Boro Netgear CM500 Pace 5268AC TRENDnet TEW-829DRU
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NetFixer
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 5:17 pm
One reason that I don't use an iAnything!Sorry, iFolks, but my not so smart Samsung phones have unlimited internet access, and tethering is actually officially allowed (AT&T did after all supply the USB cables and the tethering software with the phones). Sure, AT&T's TOS allows them to change anything they want anytime they want, but if they should arbitrarily change the rules, that will invalidate the ETF, and bye-bye AT&T. Please don't throw me into the brier patch, AT&T... | |
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| Duramax08To The Moon Premium Member join:2008-08-03 San Antonio, TX |
Re: One reason that I don't use an iAnything!"Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but arent on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers. (This impacts a only small percentage of our smartphone customer base.)"
Its not just about iphones, all smartphones in general. Maybe you are a lucky one and got tethering grandfathered in. | |
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| | NetFixerFrom My Cold Dead Hands Premium Member join:2004-06-24 The Boro Netgear CM500 Pace 5268AC TRENDnet TEW-829DRU
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NetFixer
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 11:16 pm
Re: One reason that I don't use an iAnything!said by Duramax08:Its not just about iphones, all smartphones in general. Maybe you are a lucky one and got tethering grandfathered in. No, I just don't have "smart" phones, and tethering is/was officially part of the package since AT&T included both the USB cables and the software to allow local and internet tethering with the phones. AT&T has always clearly stated that "smart" phones required a special (more expensive) tethering plan, but "not so smart" and even just plain dumb cell phones have generally been overlooked (although I suspect that if I started racking up 50 GB+ per month, it might get their attention). I have been tethering "not so smart" AT&T/BellSouth/Cingular phones since I used a Motorola MicroTAC flip phone with a Motorola Montana PCMCIA modem back in the late 90's on BellSouth Mobility (and I purchased the Motorola Montana modem and the cell phone interface cable from BellSouth when I bought the Motorola MicroTAC). There was no separate data usage charge at that time, the dialup connections were just part of the used call minutes. Previously posted pics here --> » Re: Your first cell phone? | |
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jjeffeoryjjeffeory join:2002-12-04 Bloomington, IN |
BrazenThat's a pretty brazen thing to do for a company that wants to merge with another one. It seems VERY anti consumer! Maybe someone approving the merger should look at this? | |
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Catch-22Their logic is circular. Heavy smart phone users kept their unlimited data plans at $5 extra to be able to use more than 2 GB without facing overages. Target users of data >2GB which have been shown to be a small percentage of the population. Accuse them of tethering and force them into 2 GB or more expensive plans.
Essentially there is no unlimited data anymore, AT&T has put the final nail in the coffin. Might as well just deactivate the grandfathered plans if they don't plan on honoring them anymore. | |
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Why can't you at least match verizonAT&T should at least match Verizon by allowing you to pay the $20 fee for 2gb of tethering data. I would do that but AT&T doesn't give me the choice. Offer me the choice before you crack down on me tethering by other means. They should allow you to keep unlimited data and pay the fee to obtain tethering but limit the tethering 2gb. | |
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koolman2 Premium Member join:2002-10-01 Anchorage, AK |
koolman2
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 6:19 pm
Tethering plan is 4 GBIt's worth noting that sometime around when the iPhone got the personal hotspot functionality, the tethering plan started giving an extra 2 GB for no additional charge. So you get 4 GB now for $45 instead of 2 as before. | |
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KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little Guy Premium Member join:2000-01-17 Tulsa, OK |
KrK
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 6:31 pm
Just goes to show how competition in our "free market" ........ doesn't exist and companies can do whatever they want and know it. | |
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BiggA Premium Member join:2005-11-23 Central CT |
BiggA
Premium Member
2011-Aug-4 8:59 pm
GoodThey should just kill unlimited already. It's dead. However, they should also allow you to tether on a 2GB plan, and give you the option to not have overages, but throttling on the 2GB plan, so that you just pay for what you use. | |
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1 recommendation |
I really don't get why Karl continues to lie in storiesHe knows very well that the $20 is not a "tethering fee", imposed "because they can". The tethering plan is 4GB for $45. The non-tethering plan is 2GB for $25. The extra $20 is for the extra 2GB, and is at the standard $10/GB rate. Tethering is free, but you have to have a minimum 4GB plan.
Seriously, I am wasting too much time here for this kind of ridiculously biased reporting. It's actually worse than ridiculously biased. It's intentionally deceptive, and pandering to a stupid audience who laps it up and doesn't bother checking the actual facts.
Either that, or Karl is the laziest reporter ever.
I've tried over months to politely point out the obvious bad reporting. It clearly is being ignored.
I think I'm out. The information I get here is not worth the load of crap "reporting" I have to wade through. | |
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