Verizon Comes Up With Crafty New Way to Entice Folks Out of Unlimited Plans

[PereDroid]

Of course that article is like 16 months old.

 

[mountainbikermark]

I buy the argument, but not sure about the conclusion. I was under the impression (though we haven't heard anything in a LONG time) that Verizon was throttling heavy users:

Did you know Verizon also throttles unlimited data service? | Signal Strength - CNET News

If only we could see what throughput on an average tower looks like, and more importantly, how many of those users are the heavy, unlimited types. My gut feeling is that they/we are a very, very small percentage of total bandwidth these days.

-Matt

I don't know if there's a correlation or not but myself and everyone I know, unlimited data or not, saw a sudden speed change by around 50% drop in late November 2012 throughout Virginia and upper North Carolina that has remained so ever since. I used to show off speed test screen shots in excess of 45mbps from all over but now I'm lucky to see 22mbps anywhere.

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[gadgetrants]

Of course that article is like 16 months old.

...though we haven't heard anything in a LONG time

-Matt

 

[kodiak799]

I used to show off speed test screen shots in excess of 45mbps from all over but now I'm lucky to see 22mbps anywhere.

It's called network congestion. VZW never promoted speeds consistently in excess of 8-12mbps. Around November 2012 is also the same time VZW got several new LTE phones and many OG Droid owners were coming up for upgrades.

And I thought the throttling was supposed to be 3G, anyway.

 

[gadgetrants]

And I thought the throttling was supposed to be 3G, anyway.

Thanks, you are correct (as always).

Found a newer article (I think I love Maggie):

Unlimited Verizon data customers beware: Make sure your next phone is 4G | Mobile - CNET News

Keep in mind this policy only applies to customers with unlimited data plans on the 3G network. Verizon doesn't slow down data for 4G customers. This means that if you have an iPhone 5 with 4G and you live in an area where Verizon offers 4G LTE service, you should never have your data throttled or slowed down even if you use more than 2GB of data per month.

Why is there a distinction? The 3G wireless network as you note in your question is much slower. It's also much more crowded than the new 4G network. Since Verizon services more customers on a network that doesn't have as much capacity, there is more opportunity for congestion.

Verizon's 4G LTE network offers much more capacity than the 3G network. Think of the two networks as highways. The 3G network is a four-lane dual highway where traffic moves just fine during off-peak hours. But during rush hour, it may turn into a parking lot as too many cars crowd the roadway. The 4G LTE network may be an eight-lane highway with four lanes in each direction. Because the road is wider it can handle twice as many cars. So during rush hour, cars are able to still move freely.

In other words, Verizon still has plenty of capacity on its 4G LTE network. The road is bigger and there are actually fewer drivers on it. Although that is quickly changing. In October, the company said that in September its 4G LTE network handled 35 percent of its mobile data traffic. And that figure was expected to cross the 50 percent mark by the end of the year.

-Matt

 

[SallyC]

I have Unlimited and my phone is up for renewal. I purchased a new in box Galaxy S4 on eBay for less than what it would cost me to pay VZW for the subsidized phone + 24 months of increased fees (moving to 2gb individual instead of my Unlimited). I even told them I'd be willing to go to a contract deal if they'd drop me back to the 4gb (double your data) plan for $30 I had before Unlimited, but they said no.

So they can't be trying too hard to "ease [customers] concerns" about losing Unlimited data. It's unclear to me if you get this deal and then, after two years, try to buy a subsidized contract phone, you get to keep this plan. If not, you're really locked into buying a full price phone from them forever or going back to some skimpy plan.

 

[liftedplane]

Verizon wants money and they are trying to limit the amount of usage on their towers by putting lower data caps. By doing so their towers will stay fast but with unlimited customers hogging up all the bandwidth its slow and it can't compete with at&t

You can't be serious?

Have you ever heard of QoS I'm pretty sure these towers have something like that. Unlimited users can't possibly hog "all the bandwidth" because like everyone on the tower their speed, and therefore bandwidth, is limited by congestion.

All unlimited data means is just that unlimited data. It doesn't mean unlimited speed and everyone else suffers.

The bandwidth argument is absolutely ridiculous as that's not even remotely how it works.

Vzw knew unlimited lost them money because of users like me who use 8gb - 10gb a month and only paid 29.99 when with limited caps I'd be paying over 90 for data. It's all about that almighty dollar and them making more money. Not the experience of their users.

 

[tech_head]

This plan offer no advantage if you are willing to either save up for the phone you want or pay for it outright.
The cost is the same, if you want to trade in your phone every 6 months, you must fork over 50% of the retail every 6 months.
But the catch is you need to give up the phone *AND* you are under contract. If I just buy my flipping phone, I don't really pay any more than that guy. I have no contract, and I get to keep the old phone. In this scenario, you only get to keep the last phone and you pay full retail, no matter how many other phones you have "leased".

It's a phone leasing plan.

 

[cybertec69]

I don't know if there's a correlation or not but myself and everyone I know, unlimited data or not, saw a sudden speed change by around 50% drop in late November 2012 throughout Virginia and upper North Carolina that has remained so ever since. I used to show off speed test screen shots in excess of 45mbps from all over but now I'm lucky to see 22mbps anywhere.

Support Our Troops!!!
<><

Same here in nyc, it's been real slow for quite some time, they are saying once they light up their AWS, speeds should go back up, but I will believe it when I see it.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Preach2k]

I don't know if there's a correlation or not but myself and everyone I know, unlimited data or not, saw a sudden speed change by around 50% drop in late November 2012 throughout Virginia and upper North Carolina that has remained so ever since. I used to show off speed test screen shots in excess of 45mbps from all over but now I'm lucky to see 22mbps anywhere.

Support Our Troops!!!
<><

I live 30 Minutes from Raleigh and live right next to a Tower. When I first got the Gnex 2 years ago it was blazing fast. then around November of last year i noticed that it slowed down a lot. I wiped my phone with a factory reset and there was no difference. My brother has a Razor Maxx and noticed the same thing.

 

[acousticshade]

Ran a Speedtest at 11:45 pm on a Tuesday night & got 6.8 mbps on reds 4g network. And that's one of the best scores I've seen lately. Considering that we live in a very rural area with an overall population of leas than 20,000, these numbers are pretty bad. Usually in the 3 mbps range.

I'm guessing the nearby university probably has most of the pipe reserved just for them. Wish I could either prove or disprove that theory. Either way, kind of makes me mad & feeling like Verizon has false advertising.

 

[cybertec69]

Just ran a speed test, half the speed I used to get, and it is 12:30 AM during a weekday, most folk sleeping at this time.


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[sb1831]

yet another thread ruined by the whole "tethering is evil..." debate the devolved into some other stuff