4G pricing. Weak!

[LrdElderon]

I think people are taking this conversation into two completely different things.

First does everyone agree or disagree that data through just the phone itself (no tether) should be capped or uncapped? personally I feel phone only should stay uncapped as it is.

secondly in regards to using 4g as internet service for computers and laptops and whatnot, caps are a tricky subject. you can be quite surprised how much data you actually go through. If you were to buy an unlimited data plan for a computer (not a smartphone plan) then I hope they go with a rather large cap of 100GB+ maybe like comcast with the 250GB cap.

Look at game demos now as an example... quite a few are 2-6GB's just for the demo... boom theres your cap!

Also this really all depends on how large of a 4g rollout they do and how quickly they do it. If they did it relatively quickly than I don't see congestion being that much of an issue as it seems to be with ATT and 3g.

 

[amb4582]

It isn't like the Droid can use a 4G network anyway, and I am stuck with this phone for atleast 2 more years.

 

[cereal killer]

I think it's a good thing. Why should I be subsidizing people that use a huge amount of bandwith?

I don't use gigs/month yet I'm paying for it.

Either they pay more or I pay less. I'm good with that.

I don't know. I think they should just keep it like they have it now. Unlimited as long as it's through the phone and 5gb or whatever cap if you try and tether to a computer.

But I don't like the whole they pay more or I pay less thing... that's a bit of a slippery slope and if the did implement that it could bite a lot of people in the ass. Especially smartphone folks.

edit: additional posts made while I was thinking clarified it anyways.

Not sure I'm following you on this one. How is it a slippery slope?

For example:

People that use 0-2gigs pay X amount
People that use 0-2 + gigs pay Y amount

Like cable packages essentially. Why should the guy next door get premium cable while only paying for basic?

 

[LrdElderon]

I think it's a good thing. Why should I be subsidizing people that use a huge amount of bandwith?

I don't use gigs/month yet I'm paying for it.

Either they pay more or I pay less. I'm good with that.

I don't know. I think they should just keep it like they have it now. Unlimited as long as it's through the phone and 5gb or whatever cap if you try and tether to a computer.

But I don't like the whole they pay more or I pay less thing... that's a bit of a slippery slope and if the did implement that it could bite a lot of people in the ass. Especially smartphone folks.

edit: additional posts made while I was thinking clarified it anyways.

Not sure I'm following you on this one. How is it a slippery slope?

For example:

People that use 0-2gigs pay X amount
People that use 0-2 + gigs pay Y amount

Like cable packages essentially. Why should the guy next door get premium cable while only paying for basic?

that's kind of a bad example. You pay for the extra channels per month... you don't get billed on how many hours per day you watch those channels... it's like apples and oranges. Tiered internet was tried back in dial up and it failed horribly, that's why everything is basically unlimited with a fairly high monthly price.

Though I wouldn't mind them giving folks such as you a 1-5 gb allotment for cheaper, but tiered structures for bandwidth usage makes me feel sick. Especially if you are a heavy gamer (we're talking about computer not just smartphones here anyways) download a few demos or linux isos and you are way way waaaaay over most phone wireless limits.

otherwise if you don''t like paying for unlimted data don't get a smartphone... i don't mean to be an ass about it, but .... i mean you buy a phone places an emphasis on internet connectivity just about as much as making voice calls. I'd figure you'd be gung ho for a unlimited data.

PS: please don't hate me =) I can be blunt and sound like im a jerk but I'm a nice guy. hope i don't offend you. I seem to come off that way though =(

also to clarify i guess it also depends on what I started out saying... basically if you are referring to phone usage only or usage via tether or cable card?

 

[FireDroid]

The average user has no clue how many MB or GiG's things are and it would deter them from buying a smartphone!

Keep it like it is now, less confusion!

 

[JamesX]

Especially if you are a heavy gamer (we're talking about computer not just smartphones here anyways) download a few demos or linux isos and you are way way waaaaay over most phone wireless limits.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what we are talking about Smartphones and not Internet for Computers.

I have unlimited bandwidth on my FiOs and I download gigs and gigs monthly. But that is the expectation the Company had when they give me 25mbps.

To apply the same standard to a smartphone which is not designed for BitTorrenting or act as Media Server, or as ISO Distribution Hub, is unrealistic.

We are talking about Smartphones. The Broadband access is an entirely different service. I think it is 59.99 right now for 5 Gig cap for Mobile Broadband. The Data plan for smartphone is an entirely different schema.

 

[tktouch12]

Either they pay more or I pay less. I'm good with that.

i agree, except that it should be i pay less, they dont go up, because $30 should be the top price, and you can drop DOWN if you use less

 

[aacanela73]

The limits that they put on the Mobil Broadband is exactly to keep gamers and such from "sucking the system dry". Any regular joe isn't going to suffer with a 5g limit on his internet usage anyway. Unlimited on smartphones is needed but the smartphones only pull the data when needed where as a computer can be left online by its user all day and they pull away from what other people use. If they uncapp the internet use for computers the rest of us would suffer greatly. More so in the rural areas like where I am at. There are places around here where there is no cable nor dsl access so the only option is mobil or satellite internet and the sat internets cap thier usage also so its the same thing.

 

[cereal killer]

I don't know. I think they should just keep it like they have it now. Unlimited as long as it's through the phone and 5gb or whatever cap if you try and tether to a computer.

But I don't like the whole they pay more or I pay less thing... that's a bit of a slippery slope and if the did implement that it could bite a lot of people in the ass. Especially smartphone folks.

edit: additional posts made while I was thinking clarified it anyways.

Not sure I'm following you on this one. How is it a slippery slope?

For example:

People that use 0-2gigs pay X amount
People that use 0-2 + gigs pay Y amount

Like cable packages essentially. Why should the guy next door get premium cable while only paying for basic?

that's kind of a bad example. You pay for the extra channels per month... you don't get billed on how many hours per day you watch those channels... it's like apples and oranges. Tiered internet was tried back in dial up and it failed horribly, that's why everything is basically unlimited with a fairly high monthly price.

Though I wouldn't mind them giving folks such as you a 1-5 gb allotment for cheaper, but tiered structures for bandwidth usage makes me feel sick. Especially if you are a heavy gamer (we're talking about computer not just smartphones here anyways) download a few demos or linux isos and you are way way waaaaay over most phone wireless limits.

otherwise if you don''t like paying for unlimted data don't get a smartphone... i don't mean to be an ass about it, but .... i mean you buy a phone places an emphasis on internet connectivity just about as much as making voice calls. I'd figure you'd be gung ho for a unlimited data.

PS: please don't hate me =) I can be blunt and sound like im a jerk but I'm a nice guy. hope i don't offend you. I seem to come off that way though =(

also to clarify i guess it also depends on what I started out saying... basically if you are referring to phone usage only or usage via tether or cable card?

lol you don't come off as a jerk at all : )

I was speaking phone usage only by the by.

I just feel a tiered structure would be better for everyone. Certainly would be fair.

 

[aacanela73]

Either they pay more or I pay less. I'm good with that.

i agree, except that it should be i pay less, they dont go up, because $30 should be the top price, and you can drop DOWN if you use less

no way that will ever happen. everything is data right now and Verizon prides itself on its data service. The pricing will probably never go down.

 

[thatguyryan]

I have the Motorola Droid on Verizon. (I bought it the day it was released.) I have had two bills since then - one was 20 GB and the other was 15 GB. I was not charged extra. I would not be surprised if in the future they put a cap though and charged overages. I would not be happy of course. :-(

 

[dylanthecat]

20Gb? Wow, is that music DL or streaming or what? I have had a smartphone for 6 years and never used more than 500 MB in a month. And I use it every day.

 

[Zer0Beast]

It isn't like the Droid can use a 4G network anyway, and I am stuck with this phone for atleast 2 more years.

I agree....The Droid is only capable of 3G, so it really doesn't matter to current Droid Users.

And, the 5GB cap is only for when you tether your phone to use. The phone itself gets unlimited data usage.

 

[thatguyryan]

20Gb? Wow, is that music DL or streaming or what? I have had a smartphone for 6 years and never used more than 500 MB in a month. And I use it every day.

It includes the usual email, G-Talk, fair amount of surfing, a bit of youtube and a lot of streaming audio.

 

[LrdElderon]

Don't mean to resurrect a dead post, I think i got my signals crossed somewhere. I think there will always be a few that abuse the unlimited aspect to phone data plans and I agree that people that tether should pay fines, or extra fees...whatever. I hope though, that data usage for just phone normal usage will remain unlimited.

I mean prices are bad enough as it is for cell phones, how much are we supposed to pay for unlimited phone only data usage? With 4g/lte rolling out sometime this year and into the future I don't think bandwidth will be much of a problem so if we have unlimited now, it should be even easier to supply unlimited then.

Caps would really hurt streaming audio people. I use mine half the day. figure streaming 128k/s music stream... 1mb a minute right? 3-4 mins song is usually 3-5mbs in mp3. that's 60mb's per hour. if i listened to music at work streaming for just 5 hours a day i get 300mb's in just one day and over the month that adds up to over 9GB's. I know a lot of people like to stream audio while they fall asleep so some people prob have even higher.

anyways I know it's currently really really unlimited for phone usage and apologize for bringing up an older post.