T-Mobile going after data 'thieves' who abuse unlimited data

[SirNumbers]

Guys. Here's the math on this again. If someone could correct me please do. On a cell phone, what your 32GB Storage explain to me how you could use 2TB of data. So no you cant download enough shit to do it. 

 

Next. Video Streaming. If you could possibly keep your phone on, streaming 24 hours a day for 31 days your use 250GB of data (1080p)

 

If someone can tell me how else you could use 2 TB of data in one month please amuse me. 

 

Again no. 

 

They never offered Unlimited data you fucking alliterate shits. They say UNLIMITED ON YOUR PHONE and go on to say theres a limit on tethering like 200 times on the same page. 

 

So please dont defend yourselves tmobile is in the clear. Theyve done nothing that there customers havnt agreed to 

 

Edit -Fuck it i give up. Also tmobile can tell if your pulling up all desktops sites and that your using all desktop app. Also having different IP address for each device. So im pretty sure they could tell if your on your phone or on 10 devices

[RH00D]

From a technical systems standpoint, it makes complete sense to differentiate between Mobile and Tethered use. Granted, that difference is slowly becoming smaller. 

 

A SINGLE mobile phone is still less prone to data usage as much as a MULTIPLE devices, or a laptop, larger tablet, or a desktop is. Sites are still mobile optimized as is video and other forms of media. Therefore, offering "Unlimited with de-prioritization at 21GB" for Phone use is a "Safe" thing to do. As the number of users going to hit 21GB or more on a single smartphone is very small, compared to those on a desktop or laptop. 

 

Now, tethering is designed to be used with Multiple devices and devices prone to large data usage (Proper PCs etc). Giving Unlimited access to this, is very risky. As even a noobish family could rack up tons of bandwidth in the evening as they all start streaming netflix from their tablets while connected to someone's hotspot. 

 

So, in my opinion, as much as it may be marketing, it is also technical as well. 

 

Then by your very explanation, there is zero need to call the on-phone data "unlimited" because it cannot or will not reach levels that would be considered "unlimited-tier".

 

If what you say is correct about 21 GB then they should just sell it as 25 GB or something.

 

Point being, if they aren't going to offer unlimited then they shouldn't call it unlimited.

 

But it still is possible to rack up huge amounts of data. Phones are coming with 4K screens now, and we have 4K YouTube and Netflix to stream on them. It doesn't matter if its practical or not. They can't say "We're offering unlimited data, but don't do anything of these things that would actually rack up a ton of data." Its not unlimited then.

[Snaeb_aka_Beans]

No I understand what you are saying, I just disagree with it completely. Personally I think data caps should be completely illegal.

 

You want unlimited data caps so you can get cheaper internet and not have to pay for home services.  A test was done and even Verizon Wireless who has the best network in the US would have a 35% downtime if they allowed unlimited data and each phone used 20gb+/month.  And they invest 6-7 billion a year on their network.

[d3sl91]

Then by your very explanation, there is zero need to call the on-phone data "unlimited" because it cannot or will not reach levels that would be considered "unlimited-tier".

 

If what you say is correct about 21 GB then they should just sell it as 25 GB or something.

 

Point being, if they aren't going to offer unlimited then they shouldn't call it unlimited.

 

But it still is possible to rack up huge amounts of data. Phones are coming with 4K screens now, and we have 4K YouTube and Netflix to stream on them. It doesn't matter if its practical or not. They can't say "We're offering unlimited data, but don't do anything of these things that would actually rack up a ton of data." Its not unlimited then.

 

Yes, what I say about 21GB is correct, as they tell you that on their ordering page. They tell you that Unlimited will get de-prioritized after 21GB if you are in a busy place/time. 

 

I guess it depends on what you mean by unlimited. I consider never getting cut off and never getting extra bills for overages "unlimited". Some have come to expect that to mean never getting de-prioritized. That is perfectly fine, and thankfully T-Mobile tells you about that on their ordering page so you can make the decision to go with Sprint instead. 

 

Because yes, you can get a OTG cable and plug in a huge hard drive and then successfully watch a 4K movie on your 5" screen. Its just, if you are in a busy place, you will get throttled at some point if that 4k file ends up being over 21GB. 

[CaliJL]

As they should, it's UNLIMITED data to the specific device you're paying for. They'll even give you 5+gb free to use on your other devices, and if you want more upgrade your plan or go subscribe to an ISP. Some people just want to get out of paying an ISP for internet service.

[Trik'Stari]

You want unlimited data caps so you can get cheaper internet and not have to pay for home services.  A test was done and even Verizon Wireless who has the best network in the US would have a 35% downtime if they allowed unlimited data and each phone used 20gb+/month.  And they invest 6-7 billion a year on their network.

They don't invest nearly that much in their own networks. The fact that they would have 35% downtime with true unlimited, is evidence of that alone.

[ttam]

Guys. Here's the math on this again. If someone could correct me please do. On a cell phone, what your 32GB Storage explain to me how you could use 2TB of data. So no you cant download enough shit to do it. 

 

Next. Video Streaming. If you could possibly keep your phone on, streaming 24 hours a day for 31 days your use 250GB of data (1080p)

 

If someone can tell me how else you could use 2 TB of data in one month please amuse me. 

 

Again no. 

 

They never offered Unlimited data you fucking alliterate shits. They say UNLIMITED ON YOUR PHONE and go on to say theres a limit on tethering like 200 times on the same page. 

 

So please dont defend yourselves tmobile is in the clear. Theyve done nothing that there customers havnt agreed to 

 

Edit -Fuck it i give up. Also tmobile can tell if your pulling up all desktops sites and that your using all desktop app. Also having different IP address for each device. So im pretty sure they could tell if your on your phone or on 10 devices

My unlimited tmobile data plan says absolutely nothing about tethering data. Meaning, it should be unlimited.

[SirNumbers]

My unlimited tmobile data plan says absolutely nothing about tethering data. Meaning, it should be unlimited.

Are you kidding go back a few pages and read the rest of the replies

[ttam]

Are you kidding go back a few pages and read the rest of the replies

I'm looking at my data plan contract which states absolutely nothing about a cap. I am also grandfathered in with the original day 1 unlimited data plan. Often using upwards of 500GB per month for work (mobile use for fixing computers) and have never seen a drop in speed. Often get ranges of 100Mbps speeds

[QueenDemetria]

Are you kidding go back a few pages and read the rest of the replies

Very few people have an unlimited everything(and I mean everything) plan, it was offered wayyyyyy back in the day and it was for a limited time. Either whoever your quoting is a long time T-Mobile user(like over 10 years) or didn't read the plan properly.

[e29gr8t]

Who uses 2TB a month?...How is that even possible?

[QueenDemetria]

Who uses 2TB a month?...How is that even possible?

I ran some quick numbers: If you stream(watch) Twitch at source quality it can use up to 1GB per hour(this all depends on the streamers bit rate, so this is all assumption, after calculating 1GB x 24hours x 7 days(per week) x 4 (weeks per month, roughly) you get something around 688GB per month. Now, this doesn't fully saturate the network either, so technically you could be downloading stuff while streaming twitch. The best part is that all of this can be done on a smartphone.

[SirNumbers]

I ran some quick numbers: If you stream(watch) Twitch at source quality it can use up to 1GB per hour(this all depends on the streamers bit rate, so this is all assumption, after calculating 1GB x 24hours x 7 days(per week) x 4 (weeks per month, roughly) you get something around 688GB per month. Now, this doesn't fully saturate the network either, so technically you could be downloading stuff while streaming twitch. The best part is that all of this can be done on a smartphone.

Yea its true, but by all of it can be done on a cellphone meaning it has to be on plugged in for 31 days straight without melting the battery and setting your house on fire. 

Then I guess yes you could

[QueenDemetria]

Yea its true, but by all of it can be done on a cellphone meaning it has to be on plugged in for 31 days straight without melting the battery and setting your house on fire. 

Then I guess yes you could

Leaving a phone plugged in for 31(or even more) days won't make it catch on fire, just reduce the battery integrity(reduce life, capacity, etc). And, the phone doesn't necessarily need to be plugged in the whole time, just the screen has to be on...

[SirNumbers]

Leaving a phone plugged in for 31(or even more) days won't make it catch on fire, just reduce the battery integrity(reduce life, capacity, etc). And, the phone doesn't necessarily need to be plugged in the whole time, just the screen has to be on...

Im willing to bet something catches on fire. 

 

But also the TOS says not to misuse, I dont think anyone would actually watch twitch to 31 days straight without just wanting to do something malicious

[QueenDemetria]

Im willing to bet something catches on fire. 

 

But also the TOS says not to misuse, I dont think anyone would actually watch twitch to 31 days straight without just wanting to do something malicious

I'm an engineer(for the most part), I know they have so many protection methods put in place, there will be no fires with smartphones in these scenarios(if there were, there would be tons of lawsuits and it would be all over the news, phones wouldn't be allowed on planes, schools, etc.). Once a battery reaches a full charge, it "trickle" charges afterwards to prevent overcharging, and there are many themal sensors put in place to make sure fires don't start. There might be the rare case of the Lithium being "unstable" in someones phone because these batteries are holding a lot of energy, but thats a rare case, it could happen at any time at this point(this is for the few news articles of phones catching on fire or exploding).

 

And again with it being misuse. Sure its not the best use of internet, and you are using it a lot, but is unlimited not unlimited? Should carriers get away with being "ISP's that don't have to follow ISP rules"? Should these "carriers" be allowed to twist words  like "unlimited" for false advertisement? This is like saying "Hey, we offer "Unlimited*" internet, talk, and text!

 

*Unlimited: the idea of being more than out competitors but not 'all you can eat'. Limitations include caps, throttling, and/or additional charges. Thank you for being on the limited unlimited plan."

 

 

If I started a phone call between two phones and just left them sitting for a full month, I could guarantee T-Mobile wouldn't complain about it, since anymore now nobody cares about "calling", but they want to squeeze out every dime with charging for data(this is why Big Red and orange team no longer offer unlimited data, because when phones became "smarter" they saw an opportunity to charge more for less because people actually started using data. Unlimited data on a feature phone just makes the user feel good inside, on a smartphone you're actually getting a killer value at that point).

[Ekpyrosis]

*Unlimited: the idea of being more than out competitors but not 'all you can eat'. Limitations include caps, throttling, and/or additional charges. Thank you for being on the limited unlimited plan."

It is like 'all you can eat', there are no caps for untethered data. But if you go to an restaurant and order 'all you can eat', you are allowed to eat as much as you want, but you can't bring 3 friends and share your food with them, while paying only for one person. That's what this is about.

[QueenDemetria]

It is like 'all you can eat', there are no caps for untethered data. But if you go to an restaurant and order 'all you can eat', you are allowed to eat as much as you want, but you can't bring 3 friends and share your food with them, while paying only for one person. That's what this is about.

I know, but I mentioned "what if somebody uses 2TB on their phone, genuinely" would T-Mobile still complain and terminate contracts? Then I mentioned how with watching twitch and downloading things simultaneously that its actually possible to use over 1TB of data per month, so it really just makes me wonder...

 

And now using your analogy "I went to an all you can eat buffet and got kicked out after the fith plate, because most people only eat two plates".

[LAwLz]

Ahaha that's hilarious.

Oh no, people are "stealing" data by using the unlimited data plan they are paying for.

 

I think I have found the solution for this issue. I might sound really weird but hear me out.

DON'T OFFER UNLIMITED PLANS IF YOU DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO USE IT!

 

 

I don't get why they even have these bullshit "tethering" offers which uses another data limit. On my plan I got a 3GB data cap. That's 3GB of data I can use however I want. Why does it matter if I download a song on my phone or if I tether it to my tablet first before downloading the song? It's still the same amount of data for the carrier to send.

And what's this crap about throttling people who has "unlimited" data plans after they have used 7GB? Surely you can't call it unlimited if you got limits in place after points.

 

 

The comments on Android Central also brings up a good point. Doesn't this whole thing with "no tethering allowed" break net neutrality rules? If it doesn't then it opens up a whole gaping loop hole in the entire thing.

[Agent181]

FUCK JUST USED 40GB in an hour.....

[Ekpyrosis]

I know, but I mentioned "what if somebody uses 2TB on their phone, genuinely" would T-Mobile still complain and terminate contracts? Then I mentioned how with watching twitch and downloading things simultaneously that its actually possible to use over 1TB of data per month, so it really just makes me wonder...

 

And now using your analogy "I went to an all you can eat buffet and got kicked out after the fith plate, because most people only eat two plates".

You would certainly catch their attention, but if you explain to them that your usage is legit, they would accept it.

Read the press statement and their FAQ regarding this matter, they're only talking about people who bypass tethering limits.

The fact that they use 2TB to illustrate the abuse does not mean that they'll take action against someone who is using that much legitimately.

[warmmilk]

the problem I see here is that they have to go through these work arounds to get unlimited data.

 

2TB of data is ridiculous.  However, if you call it unlimited, let it be unlimited...  wasn't t mobile the ones that were running that ad campaign a while ago that their "unlimited" data is actually unlimited? or was that sprint?

[TroubleKlef]

While 2TB is extremely excessive, unlimited data should be unlimited data.

[BuckGup]

I would sue T-moblie if they came after me

[dalekphalm]

I would sue T-moblie if they came after me

If you did, you'd have literally no leg to stand on, unless you happened to be one of the extremely few that are Grandfathered into the "Unlimited Mobile + Tethering" plans they offered for a very very short amount of time.

 

When you order the Unlimited plan, it's literally pasted like 7 different times on the order page how Tethering has a 7GB limit (before speed reductions). It's quite impossible to order Unlimited without seeing the Tethering limitations, unless you wilfully try not to look at the screen.

 

The order page is quite clear. There's no ambiguity - no fine print (It says the 7GB Tethering limit in large, clear font).