AT&T has started cutting their data speeds as part of an attempt to man

[ogamawab]

http://news.yahoo.com/t-customers-surprised-unlimited-data-limit-080906861.html

Mike Trang likes to use his iPhone 4 as a GPS device, helping him get around in his job. Now and then, his younger cousins get ahold of it, and play some YouTube videos and games.

But in the past few weeks, there has been none of that, becauseAT&T Inc. put a virtual wheel clamp on his phone. Web pages wouldn't load and maps wouldn't render. Forget about YouTube videos ? Trang's data speeds were reduced to dial-up levels.

"It basically makes my phone useless," said Trang, an Orange County, Calif. property manager.

The reason: AT&T considers Trang to be among the top 5 percent of the heaviest cellular data users in his area. Under a new policy,AT&T has started cutting their data speeds as part of an attempt to manage data usage on its network.

So last month, AT&T "throttled" Trang's iPhone, slowing downloads by roughly 99 percent. That means a Web page that would normally take a second to load instead took almost two minutes.

AT&T has some 17 million customers with "unlimited data" plans that can be subject to throttling, representing just under half of its smartphone users. It stopped signing up new customers for those plans in 2010, and warned last year that it would start slowing speeds for people who consume the most data.

What's surprising people like Trang is how little data use it takes to reach that level ? sometimes less than AT&T gives people on its "limited" plans.

Trang's iPhone was throttled just two weeks into his billing cycle, after he'd consumed 2.3 gigabytes of data. He pays $30 per month for "unlimited" data. Meanwhile, Dallas-based AT&T now sells a limited, or "tiered," plan that provides 3 gigabytes of data for the same price. read more at the link...

time to switch over to T-Mobile...

I feel sorry for all you AT&T Iphone users...

[_neutrino Veteran]

I think it is rather stupid that they are able to do this. so long as you stay within the bounds of your policy (whatever amount you pay for) I do not see how they can justify throttling or whatnot.

[Gone]

And so, that would be when I switch wireless companies.

[cybertimber2008]

I think it is rather stupid that they are able to do this. so long as you stay within the bounds of your policy (whatever amount you pay for) I do not see how they can justify throttling or whatnot.

I don't agree with it either, however according to this article: http://wraltechwire....gpost/10721059/

Tallman sees few prospects for a lawsuit against AT&T. The company is still providing unlimited data usage to throttled customers, even if the speeds are so low as to make the phone useless for anything but phone calls and text messages. The company made no promises that "unlimited" data would always be coupled with high speeds, he notes.

"They just guaranteed the highway. They didn't guarantee the speed limit," he said.

Edit: I'd argue that I'm not receiving 3G speeds however.

[Rigby]

Solution, drop AT&T. When enough people do that they'll come crying on their knees trying to get people back.

[thealexweb]

I feel sorry for Americans :/ In the UK you can get truly unlimited data with no traffic shaping for ?10 a month :s

[Order_66]

Yet another example of why people need to abandon AT&T, sadly tho it seems like a lot of people don't mind being bullied and fleeced while using an unreliable wireless network.

[+Chsoriano Subscriber²]

I recently received a warning about my data usage- so I cheeked my usage and I've only used 2.2 GB. That's ridiculous!

The cutoff should not be "top 5%" because the "limit" would vary month to month. They should not be allowed to treat customers like this. The point at which they throttle "unlimited" customers should not be lower than the other plans.

[+Xinok Subscriber²]

Why anybody continues to use AT&T is beyond me. I jumped ship long ago and haven't looked back.

[shockz]

Now that I've found out about the Verizon mini tower thing I can put in my house, I'll be jumping ship with AT&T as soon as my contract is up.

[Miuku.]

"It makes my phone useless".

Damn and here I was thinking phones were mainly meant for SPEAKING.

[jnelsoninjax]

I never have had cell service from AT&T, but when I had Clear(wire) for an ISP, they did the same thing to me, if I simply just browsed and played a few games online, suddenly my speeds dropped to bellow dial-up speeds. The ever so unhelpful tech support blamed an automatic 'system' that basically created QOS rules for anyone who used more than average data... So I can completely relate to people who experience this stuff.

[Biotoxic_hazard_835]

That's why I sent AT&T to hell. They are just a bunch of crooks. I switched to Sprint with an all unlimited plan and I have not looked back ever.

[(Spork)]

never had no troubles with being cut off or my data being slowed but like others have said

why bitch and moan just jump to a new service