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AT&T starts throttling unlimited data users after 2GB of monthly usage

Sunday, February 5, 2012 · 11:01 am · 45 Comments

“In October, AT&T announced that they would start throttling data usage amongst mobile Unlimited Data Plan users,” Arnold Kim reports for MacRumors. “While AT&T no longer offers an Unlimited Data plan to new customers, many of the original iPhone purchasers are still grandfathered into that plan. Those iPhone users have been able to retain these Unlimited plans, even though AT&T has since moved to a tiered data plan structure.”

“When AT&T announced their plan to start throttling users, the company said that they would only be throttling the top 5% of users,” Kim reports. “Early reports of affected users had pointed to 10GB-12GB per month users as the initially affected.

Kim reports, “It seems that ceiling has decreased significantly over the past few months, at least for some regions. John Cozen reports that he received his top 5% data usage warning after reaching only 2.1GB of data for January.”

Read more in the full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Lynn Weiler" for the heads up.]

Categories: News

Tags: AT&T Mobility, data throttling, iPad, iphone, throttling, unlimited data

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Comment Feed

45 Comments

1 2 Next »

Undertrader

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:11 am · Reply

Is that a class action lawsuit I hear coming? You can’t throttle unlimiteds who pay $30 when you don’t throttle the 3gb users who pay $30. Can’t wait to switch to Verizon.
- Handsome Smitty
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:21 am · Reply
  
  Me too. Or to T-Mobile. My notice came January 28 with the caveat that it would start throttling the next time it happened. I noticed I go a little over 2 gigs each month and thought it odd I was suddenly in the 2%. Now I know I was right that something was wrong.
  
  Sadly, like with gasoline and many other products, there is no real competition. All the carriers charge about the same once they figure out what people are willing to pay. I’ve been fine with AT&T although there are coverage issues at times. When the 5 comes out, I will switch.
- Starrynight
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 1:23 pm · Reply
  
  I completely agree! We are paying $30 for unlimited for a reason… We’ve been loyal for years and this is how they repay us?! If they HAVE to throttle my data usage do it after I pass the 3gb mark so it’s more fair to me and I don’t feel like you’re punishing me for being loyal. Bad move AT&T!
An Optimist

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:27 am · Reply

If AT&T keeps slashing away at the “top 5%” month after month, where does it end? They can eventually drive data consumption to zero with that policy.

The consumers are getting ripped-off on the phony “unlimited” plan. The Federal Trade Commission and the state Attorneys General should have a look at this.
- twilightmoon
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 1:02 pm · Reply
  
  They need a huge epic fine that will hurt badly and stop this corrupt behavior.
  - mossman
    
    Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 3:24 pm · Reply
    
    Which they’ll promptly pass on to all their “customers” as some sort of cost-recovery fee.
    - dinjin201
      
      Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 7:35 pm · Reply
      
      Instead, they should end up having to lose spectrum.
      
      Create a system where cell phone companies have to bid for spectrum every 2 years. If they are being d*cks to their customers, slash their spectrums in half. let them suck on that for 2 years, and they will rectify their behavior.
      
      Slashing spectrum in such a competitive market is a boot up the ass for most cell carriers.
Turd

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:36 am · Reply

I don’t know what APPLE HAS DONE to their software offerings. I can NOT get iPhoto to work worth a SHIT on my latest gen of mac mini. A TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL PIECE OF FSCKING SHITE. Come on Apple MFs. Don’t start letting the quality slip like this. The Mac Mini is a COMPLETE POS!!!!!!!!!!!! Ruining my day!! I have been a APPLE fan for 30+ years and this newest piece of hardware is SHIT SHIT SHIT. I am starting to doubt that APPLE has the focus to keep all of their stuff up to date. They get the iPad and iPhone feeding them now they think they don’t have to try??? FUSKING garbage is the new MAC MINI. Never have I been so disappointed in a piece of shit like this. Even Winblows is starting to sound appealing over this. WFT Apple, WTF?? Steve would have fired the WHOLE mac mini team if he had the POS I have been trying to make work. It basically isn’t capable of computing and chewing gum at the same time. I have to shut everything else down to run 1 program. Wifes iMac is awesome and works great the MAC MINI SUX SUX SUX. I hate that POS. It is a MF POS!!!!!!! Arghhhhh Apple WTF??
- Cubert
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:39 am · Reply
  
  Cut back on the speed, dude.
- Joe
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:49 am · Reply
  
  Nah, he is right. The mac mini is a SEVERELY underpowered machine. With a SLOW harddrive, and they cripple the amount of ram it would need to compensate for the slow drive and integrated graphics. Turd, I’d recommend you upgrade it to the max amount of memory it can take. That is a bare minimum necessary to make the machine somewhat usable. Integrated graphics were the dumbest thing Apple EVER did on the mini.
- Chris Rose
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:52 am · Reply
  
  Mr. Turd (fitting alias considering the content of your posts in not only this thread but others as well) – are you a 45+ year old troll – or are you only stupid?
- h2a
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:54 am · Reply
  
  Actually I agree the current iPhoto is a slow peice of bloated crap. Pinwheel of death every few seconds. 8GB RAM, 2.4Ghz mid-2010 MacBook Pro.
  - Seamus
    
    Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 12:34 pm · Reply
    
    Yes, you agree… But you only wrote two sentences, used the word “crap” only once, used no caps except where grammatically appropriate, and gave a couple of actual facts!
    - Nate
      
      Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 1:19 pm · Reply
      
      Want to get rid of the beachball, install a SSD. You will no longer have any programs lag regardless of the amount of ram you have. My MBA with a I5 and 4gb of ram and a SSD screams with iphoto and apature.
      - iggyb
        
        Monday, February 6, 2012 - 1:54 pm · Reply
        
        Yeah, but Apple used to be the company that worked to keep their software running smoothly without needing the fastest/most expensive hardware.
        
        iPhoto is getting bloated and buggy.
- Jean Poole
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:57 am · Reply
  
  Turd – you are a piece of —-. Go back to Best Buy and HP. Hahahahaha. My mini is great.
- Ballmer's left nut
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 12:13 pm · Reply
  
  I’m afraid the bean counters have taken over at Apple, making unnecessary cuts to boost the bottom line. Take the iPhone 4S for example. Not even a memory boost, the same form factor, the same amount of memory as the 4. That coming after a full 16 months after the release of the original 4.
  
  Apple is taking the view that acceptable performance is not the norm and that you have to continually upgrade to the next iteration to get the best performance out of the hardware when in fact they should have given you the best to begin with.
  
  Steve-O would have flogged the Mac mini team to death as he did publicly crucify the MobileMe team for releasing the piece of sh*t that it was.
  - Rorschach
    
    Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 1:20 pm · Reply
    
    Same amount of memory? Since when is 64Gb the same as 32Gb?
    Fuckwit.
    - Truth
      
      Monday, February 6, 2012 - 1:42 pm · Reply
      
      There is a difference between “Storage” and “Memory” learn it.
      
      BLN was talking memory, you were talking storage.
      
      Who is the fuckwit now?
- Donald
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 1:47 pm · Reply
  
  I have the new i5 Mac mini with discrete graphics…went to 8 gb of ram and it soars…best computer I’ve ever owned
- Peter Blood
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 6:32 pm · Reply
  
  Don’t blame the Mac Mini for something YOU are doing wrong. Even if the unit is malfunctioning there is no technology in the world, including Windows, that doesn’t have the occasional issue. Take a stress pill and get some help.
  - dinjin201
    
    Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 7:38 pm · Reply
    
    Then call the genius bar and get some more help.
qka

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 12:16 pm · Reply

Apple – under promise and over deliver
AT&T – over promise and under deliver

It seems AT&T learned nothing in their 5 year association with Apple.
Kathleen

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 12:45 pm · Reply

Ballmer’s the expert on EVERYTHING.
Jubei

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 12:55 pm · Reply

AT&T = SUCKS
- silverhawk1
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 3:58 pm · Reply
  
  Works great where I live!
Loosecannon

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 1:28 pm · Reply

So does this mean that the majority of users are paying for 3gb a month but only the top 5% of users are using even close to that? Sounds like they are fleecing their customers to me and force us unlimited plan users into the 3gb plan so we are not throttled. They knew they were going to do this that is why the created the 3gb plan so unlimiteds could have something to switch to. Jerks.
chefpastry

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 1:30 pm · Reply

Why bother with 4G?
Msav

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 3:23 pm · Reply

iPhone user since 2007. Not jail broken, don’t tether.
Got the warning message in week 3 of the billing period at 2.3gb.
Filed a complaint with FCC.

The funny thing is that my usage was as “high” as it was because I was using iTunes match to put music on my phone.

Currently looking at the options from other carriers for the first time.
- Powersjohnson
  
  Monday, February 6, 2012 - 7:56 am · Reply
  
  Can you send that FCC info I need to file also
The Other Steve

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 4:27 pm · Reply

My friend showed me the multiple emails he received from AT&T saying his iPhone’s unlimited data was being throttled, and he was no where near 2 GB’s!

Yea, I’m one of AT&T’s biggest defenders around here, but I think it’s now class action lawsuit time.
Ezzyme

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 4:37 pm · Reply

Did about 4 gigs last month with no notice…….yet. I guess there are bigger hogs in my area they need to cut down first.
Ubermac

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 5:05 pm · Reply

Ballmer is just a troll with a broken record …

… I want my iPhone 5 as big as my ego and as shitty as my Android… Rinse and repeat ….

Waaahhhhhh!
AAPLsaur

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 5:06 pm · Reply

Just what does AT&T mean by “throttling”. Is it a 5% reduction in maximum speed or 75%? If it’s just a modest reduction in bandwidth (which is typically pretty good where I am) then Netflix will still work, just perhaps with a little less quality on a mobile. It doesn’t take much bandwidth for email or most websurfing.

Does anyone know what the throttle level is?
- dinjin201
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 7:41 pm · Reply
  
  Throttling is basically a reduction to Edge speeds. There are several videos showing a throttled iPhone beside a non-throttled iPhone, both running speed test.
  
  The procedure is repeated after swapping the SIM cards to prove that this is NOT an internal issue, but actual carrier throttling.
  
  It effectively renders the iPhone useless as a mobile internet device, and severely cripples most apps.
Jarexx Suvexx

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 7:19 pm · Reply

Letter about at&t throttling data
plans

AT&T’s Unlimited data plan was nothing but a huge bait and switch scheme. One can only wonder why the government as not passed a law
prohibitng cell phone companies from denying sales of smart phones or service to potential customers if they dont purchase a data plan. At the very most a law like this should be applicable to customers who purchase unlocked phone.

AT&T have restrictions in place for Data usage. Forcing the user onto WIFi for anything over 20mb. They claimed that their network is strained due to high data usage by unlimited users while at the same time they put in place tiered data plans charging the customers outrageous prices.

Our law makers must be sleeping in bed with these crooks not to be able to see through this transparent BS.

If AT&T had started to lose significant amount of their customers to a rival due to that customers preference for an unlimited data plan you would be amazed at how fast they would have returned to the unlimited data plan service. After all, they had done this very thing. Before and after Verizon had started selling the iphone.
This probably proves how disingenuous they are.

Once they realize that they weren’t going to lose significant customers
to verizon they went right back to business as usual. (WITH A BIG SMIRK ON THEIR FACES)

CONSPIRACY THEORY
Is it possible AT&T had intentionally degraded the performance of their network in a premeditated way to bring about legitimacy to an secretly planned announcement that the iphoned unlimited data users were responsible for the poor performance of the network.
- Predrag
  
  Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 9:24 pm · Reply
  
  You can always go to other carriers. T-Mobile is selling smartphones with no contract and no plan, starting with crappy $100 Samsung Dart, up to $350 Galaxy S and the new Nokia Lumia (Those are unsubsidized, full prices, no contract shackles). Once you get your phone, you can activate ANY plan you wish, starting with $15 per month (unlimited text and nothing else), or $30 (1500s text or voice minutes, plus 30MB data), to $50 (unlimited all with throttling beyond 100MB), etc.
  
  AT&T is certainly NOT the only carrier around, and if anyone here doesn’t believe they’re getting their fair share for their $30 (plus voice plan) per month, there’s others out there.
  
  If I’m not mistaken, the contracts that you all signed clearly state that AT&T reserves the right to reduce bandwidth. You are still getting UNLIMITED data; it is just not at maximum possible speeds. If EDGE speeds were good for iPhone (you know, the original one), it is not like the data pipe is suddenly completely cut off.
kingmel

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 8:35 pm · Reply

I have publicly stated my dislike of AT&T on this forum. The bait and switch with the iPad unlimited plan only a month after its release followed by the current emasculation of the grandfathered unlimited plans through arbitrary and dropping throttling caps is indefensible. AT&T is the major reason that I do not own an iPhone. The other reason is that I have a fairly large family and I would rather not spend a couple of grand or more a year on data service when WiFi takes care of most internet needs.

Apple, just put GPS on the iPod touch and add some battery capacity and I will be happy. And if you choose to start up an Apple wireless service to support iOS devices, I will be one of the first to sign up.
Avraham

Sunday, February 5, 2012 - 11:21 pm · Reply

AT&T: if you’re reading this, know this: if you keep this up I will defect to another carrier. I pay for unlimited and get slowed down tremendously!
IPerk

Monday, February 6, 2012 - 12:30 am · Reply

Been with AT&T since iPhone. Suffered through their weak network footprint and the rest. Guess its time to go carrier shopping. May not be greener on the other side of the fence, but can’t get worse at this point.

Dumb move, AT&T.
Philanthropist

Monday, February 6, 2012 - 12:33 am · Reply

That’s the problem with AT&T’s 5% rule; they don’t have to prove that you’re in the top 5% of data users, we’re stuck taking there word for it.

My opinion is that this part of AT&T’s sour grapes strategy. They want us to complain to the FCC, and they’ll turn around and say that the decision to block the T-Mobile acquisition forced them to throttle their loyal customers’ usage.
Powersjohnson

Monday, February 6, 2012 - 7:37 am · Reply

Yes I’m switching I don’t care if the other tubes throttle or not at least they won’t steal my money like AT&T … I’m so upset I just signed new two year contract
Powersjohnson

Monday, February 6, 2012 - 8:34 am · Reply

And everyone with a current ” unlimited plan ” lol leave your iPhone turned on shout cast radio 24/7 and before you go to bed to be sure you get every dime of what you paid for. I got my 5% text when I hit 1 GB and when I called AT&T the rep told me that every month as soon a I hit 1 GB I can expect my data to slow down which I have noticed it only really affects our viewing videos such as Netflix YouTube etc… I can stream music and old time radio while surfing checking email just fine but you won’t be using up any Netflix on current plan now I would hope AT&T would at least hold off until we hit three or five gB shoot I would even pay extra to make that happen but in the meantime I am at 7 gb right now because Im streaming 24/7 pandora and shout cast and once my contract is up I’m gone my new home will be sprint or Verizon but not AT&T who I’ve been loyal to for five years and now feel cheated but they will soon learn loyalty is a two way street when millions leave for although not greener pastures but maybe more welcome