Verizon beings unlimited data throttle - Your response?

[zomnomnombie]

Know how the majority of use their phones (texting/angry birds), I could see 5% being pretty accurate. The issue is our frame of reference. 5% of the general population on VZW goes over the 2gb threshold, but I would guess that if you narrow your sample to the people who spend any amount of time on these forums, it would be closer to 50% of users.

This.

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[sb1831]

If they start throttling me for going over 2GB (I typically do about 2 - 3 GB per billing cycle), then I'll definitely be going to Sprint when my contract is up. Sprint coverage happens to be decent in my area and 3G on Verizon is plenty fast for me so 4G on Sprint should suffice.

And I refuse to believe that 2GB represents what the "top 5%" uses. I'm willing to bet that far more than 5% of Verizon users hit 2GB or more.

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/average-u-s-smartphone-data-usage-up-89-as-cost-per-mb-goes-down-46/

It's true.

 

[Jungle King 76]

Sorry but I just couldnt stay away.

"Optimizing" is just a marketing buzz word for throttling. Read between the lines: if youre breaking the 2gb barrier then you run the risk of being throttled even if youre not on a congested tower. With this, Verizon has ground to stand on and throttle anybody who is a >2gb user regardless of how congested the tower is. They can call a line working at 25% "congested" and throttle whoever. This way they can keep over selling their services, keep old equipment, and charge the same price.

Or, perhaps they are actually going to do what they say and there is no need for paranoid customers to "read between the lines".

I easily go over 5 GB every month and I never tether. It is all legit use. But I have no issues with them optimizing. Before anyone gets angry and accuses them of shady practice, why not wait and see how your speeds are as you go up in data?


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[Jungle King 76]

Think of buying a new car every year and everytime you buy a new car it is faster and has more features than the old one. The catch is that everytime you buy a new car you are limited by the manufacturer to driving it less than the previous car. Eventually you have a badass car but you can only drive it 5 miles per hour.

This quote is a little misguided. Perhaps a better analogy is the fact that Ferrari makes a car that is capable of going 200mph, but you will never get to see that because sperd limits range from 55 to 75 mph on highways. You don't go out and buy a car and then complain when you can't use it to its fullest capabilities.

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[Trusstopher]

This quote is a little misguided. Perhaps a better analogy is the fact that Ferrari makes a car that is capable of going 200mph, but you will never get to see that because sperd limits range from 55 to 75 mph on highways. You don't go out and buy a car and then complain when you can't use it to its fullest capabilities.

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Meh, I would say still a little off... The Company sells you the Ferrari and tells you that it will drive as far as you could possibly go within a month and at an estimated 100 mph. But then you find out that after you drive 20 miles, that car is restricted to 35 mph for the next 2 months.

 

[OneTenderRebel]

These analogies are all of, let me give you a perfect analogy. This is exactly like a wireless carrier telling you that if you go over a certain amount of data they have the right to throttle the data connection speed as they see fit........

 

[OneTenderRebel]

These analogies are all of, let me give you a perfect analogy. This is exactly like a wireless carrier telling you that if you go over a certain amount of data they have the right to throttle the data connection speed as they see fit........

These analogies are all off - it should have said

 

[czerdrill]

These analogies are all of, let me give you a perfect analogy. This is exactly like a wireless carrier telling you that if you go over a certain amount of data they have the right to throttle the data connection speed as they see fit........

haha I was literally going to say the exact thing but then thought why bother. but glad you said it.

 

[Trusstopher]

These analogies are all of, let me give you a perfect analogy. This is exactly like a wireless carrier telling you that if you go over a certain amount of data they have the right to throttle the data connection speed as they see fit........

HHmmmm, no no no, OTR, sorry man, but you are way off, that "hypothetical situation" is nothing like this "real world case", sorry.

 

[jroc]

Also guilyt of not reading everything but had to search when i saw the 2Gb number come up.

I was gonna post in here yesterday and say I didnt mind cuz it wouldnt effect me. Checking my usage over the past 5 months, its went from 600MB to 2GB-5GB. This is from me using Netflix and Youtube alot more lately.

I had questions about these few things but its in the link : Network Optimization

Will I be affected by Network Optimization?
Only a small percent of customers will be affected. To be affected, you must be:

• A data customer on an unlimited data plan;
• Have a 3G Verizon Wireless device (if you have a 4G LTE device you will not be impacted); and
• Among the top 5% of data users in a given month.

How will I know if I’m in the top 5% of data users?
As of August 2011, the top 5% of data users were using 2 GB or more of data each month.

How long will 2GB of data be the threshold?
We will update this number as the amount of data used by our customers changes over time. At that time, we will also update information on this website.

What I quoted answered some questions I had about the 2GB number. But...

• Among the top 5% of data users in a given month.

Does this mean they throttle you the following month based on the current month? How are they gonna know you are in the top 5% in the month before the month ends? I mean some folks could jump on the 2nd, 3rd week of the month and start using 25GB. By the time they find out the top 5%, it could be the end of the month. I dont think this part is clear.

 

[jroc]

Also want to add I only watch 1-3 movies on Netflix a week, if that. Total movies I may have watched in a month is 5-6. Netflix + Youtube = going over 2GB easy. Now that the Radio Time/Tune In radio app is working better, streaming radio may push my usage up even more.

Time for me to get an LTE phone...lol

 

[Trusstopher]

I wonder if you are going to see that top 5% threshold drop to 1.75% over the next couple of months. It seems like there are a lot of people hovering around the 2-5 gb range monthly, and I know I'd rather cut back my usage a bit and keep my speed if I were one of thsoe 2-3 gb users, so what happens when everyone that was just falling into the category of top 5% pulls back their usage and drops the threshold? It would seem like as the data points begin to cluster around 1.9gb/month area, the determining factor of who get's throttled could be a matter of mb's or even kb's.



That or having people under 2 gb makes VZW happy because they got what they wanted and just don't throttle anyone but the heavy abusers.

 

[Trusstopher]

oops, I mean top 5% drop to 1.75 gb's....

 

[JoeyJ]

Checked the my Verizon app and says I'm at 2.77gb so far. I don't tether and watch a couple videos here and there

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[Arkbird]

Anyone else thinking the other 95% probably use over 2gb too? I just don't understand throttling when you reach 2gb when I bet a lot of people get that high. I'm on 1gb of data and I've still got 3 weeks left before mine resets but I guess I'm in a different boat since I'm using 4G.