Verizon old unlimited plan change

[Big5er]

12 hours ago, JimK said:

.  Many of us went to PDA net to circumvent the restrictions.  With or without PDA net, Verizon track data usage and throttled back service somewhere around 20 gigs.  Now the smart phones come with tethering built in so PDA net is no longer useful and may not work at all.  Verizon continues to throttle service around 20 gigs.  I have heard the number is actually 22 gigs but I have not seen confirmation of that.  

Less than 2 years ago I was running a verizon tablet and PDANet as my sole internet connection. I frequently went over 200g a month and saw no network throttling, so I have to disagree with you. 

[JimK]

You can disagree all you want.  I had my service throttled with and without PDA .  That typically started somewhere around 20 gigs or so.  Perhaps your plan is different.  For a long time I had unlimited service that truly seemed unlimited.  When my old phone had to be replaced that plan ended and for a while I did not have unlimited.  Verizon was happy to charge me a hefty amount if I had high usage.  At this point I don't remember the details.  Later I got the unlimited plan I now have which is throttled with excess use.  They also seem really prone to throttle when they are buying coverage for an area where they do not have cell towers.

[Jinx & Wayne]

On 9/18/2020 at 7:49 PM, Big5er said:

I frequently went over 200g a month and saw no network throttling, so I have to disagree with you. 

If you look at Verizon's website FAQ's you will see that all "unlimited" plans are throttled back after certain data limits are exceeded.  We were dismayed to find that our unlimited plan's limit was 15G per line plus additional 15G for tethering on each phone.

[Smitty77_7]

Buy my new phones via Swapa, and never ever ask Verizon for help if I can avoid it. And then I do it only in a Verizon store, and with clear communication that I do not want anything on my plan changed. (Had to go in for a new SIM, two phone changes ago.). 

The term Unlimited goods used on many plans on many carriers... 

Specifically on my Verizon account, I have what I call 'Grandfathered Unlimited Data'. (Started it on 3G a I recall, on a Motorola Droid.) In those days, used PDA Net, and all was well. When PDA net was closed off. I waited until after one of the courts intervention on Verizon, and when I saw I could activate Hotspot again, without losing the 'Grandfathered Unlimited Data', I added it. 

Due to equipment, and the locations we've been traveling the last few years - probably 85%+ of our streaming and internet has been via ATT (Mobly with SIM in Nighthawk MR1100, with MIMO roof top Mobile Mark antenna feeds.). However the last three weeks, my Samsung S8 on Hotspot, has been our primary connection device. 164+G usage so far. With no signs of De-prioritization, which is appropriate - as my plan is not subject to such... 

Unlimited, does not always truly mean 'unlimited'. But sometimes 'unlimited' is unlimited:)!

We'll see what happens with 5G rolling out:)! 

Best to all,

Smitty

 

[Dutch_12078]

I hope no one is confusing "throttling" where your speed is drastically reduced for the balance of the pay period with "deprioritizing" where your speed is somewhat reduced temporarily on congested towers only for the period of the congestion. Our Visible and AT&T data services are both deprioritized, but if/when it happens, it hasn't interfered with streaming to any noticeable degree. The slowdowns are typically more like what we've always seen on busy towers even when not deprioritized and usually clears up after prime hours. 

[Big5er]

5 hours ago, Jinx & Wayne said:

If you look at Verizon's website FAQ's you will see that all "unlimited" plans are throttled back after certain data limits are exceeded.  We were dismayed to find that our unlimited plan's limit was 15G per line plus additional 15G for tethering on each phone.

Read Dutch's explanation above.  
If you read the details on Verizons sight it plainly says: " In times of congestion, your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic after exceeding 50GB/mo/line."
That is NOT throttling. 

[Big5er]

5 hours ago, JimK said:

You can disagree all you want.  

Thanks, I believe I did. You stated "Verizon continues to throttle service around 20 gigs.  I have heard the number is actually 22 gigs but I have not seen confirmation of that".  Period. You didn't claim that it applied to "your" plan or "some plans". Well, not on the plan I had. So obviously they do not throttle "at 22gigs". 

[bigjim]

2 hours ago, Dutch_12078 said:

I hope no one is confusing "throttling" where your speed is drastically reduced for the balance of the pay period with "deprioritizing" where your speed is somewhat reduced temporarily on congested towers only for the period of the congestion. Our Visible and AT&T data services are both deprioritized, but if/when it happens, it hasn't interfered with streaming to any noticeable degree. The slowdowns are typically more like what we've always seen on busy towers even when not deprioritized and usually clears up after prime hours. 

I liked the way you explained this. Simple enough for even me to understand.

[JimK]

I am not sure if "deprioritizing" is something the providers do or it just happens when towers are overloaded.  I have encountered this frequently in the National Parks.  The Old Faithful geyser area at Yellowstone is a good example.  The last few times I was there the cell tower was so loaded that internet access was impossible even with a strong connection signal.  That usually eases up late in the evening.

[Dutch_12078]

When your cell device connects to a tower, the carrier's control system is told what class of subscriber your connection is controlled by. Business subscribers may have the highest priority for instance, with postpaid contract, prepaid direct, and MVNO, etc. subscribers each dropping down in priority level. Most of the time those priority levels are relatively meaningless on light or moderately loaded towers. On a heavily congested tower though, with many subscribers all trying to get through, the lower your plans priority the longer it takes for your data to get passed along to the Internet backhaul system, resulting in slower speeds. One of my daughters happens to have a good way of seeing this effect. She has two identical phones, one on her employer's business plan and the other on her personal prepaid plan. During non-prime time hours, both phones will speed test at very similar speeds, but during prime time hours, her personal phone is repeatably slower than the business phone. Not drastically slower, but definitely slower well outside the normal variations between two tests on the same phone.

My description of the priority system ignores the various nuances from carrier to carrier, but I think I hit the fundamentals. Maybe one of the Technomadia folks will drop in to provide a little more body to my work, and correct any errors I might have made.

[docj]

38 minutes ago, Dutch_12078 said:

One of my daughters happens to have a good way of seeing this effect. She has two identical phones, one on her employer's business plan and the other on her personal prepaid plan. During non-prime time hours, both phones will speed test at very similar speeds, but during prime time hours, her personal phone is repeatably slower than the business phone. Not drastically slower, but definitely slower well outside the normal variations between two tests on the same phone.

Irrespective of whether or not the business vs personal issue is significant, it's well established that "postpaid" accounts have higher priority than do "prepaid" ones.  So your daughter is possibly seeing the confluence of two different factors.

[Dutch_12078]

8 hours ago, docj said:

Irrespective of whether or not the business vs personal issue is significant, it's well established that "postpaid" accounts have higher priority than do "prepaid" ones.  So your daughter is possibly seeing the confluence of two different factors.

I agree that's a significant difference. My point was more related to the differing priority levels between postpaid and prepaid than business versus personal. I should have made that clearer though...

[justRich]

On 9/21/2020 at 6:03 AM, JimK said:

I am not sure if "deprioritizing" is something the providers do or it just happens when towers are overloaded.  

Same thing happens in Quartzite during January when thousands of RV'ers wake up and get on the internet - Verizon simply does not have enough bandwidth to accommodate that much traffic.

[Technomadia]

Network management and throttling is an often confusing subjects. 

Here's our full guide to "unlimited" plans and what is currently out there:

http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/unlimited 

[Jinx & Wayne]

On 9/20/2020 at 8:48 PM, Big5er said:

If you read the details on Verizons sight it plainly says: " In times of congestion, your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic after exceeding 50GB/mo/line."
That is NOT throttling. 

I'm sorry.  We seem to be having a semantic issue. Whatever you call it, it is slowing down the flow of data to the point where streaming is not feasible.  Maybe that's not "throttling" but it sure ain't unlimited data.

[docj]

27 minutes ago, Jinx & Wayne said:

I'm sorry.  We seem to be having a semantic issue. Whatever you call it, it is slowing down the flow of data to the point where streaming is not feasible.  Maybe that's not "throttling" but it sure ain't unlimited data.

With all due respect there's a big difference between the two.  The slowdowns caused by network management can vary on literally a minute basis.  Throttling, on the other hand, is something that gets imposed and you could be stuck with it until the next billing cycle,

Sure, on any given day the effects of the two may appear to be similar but the underlying causes are very different.

Edited September 23, 2020 by docj

[Dutch_12078]

44 minutes ago, Jinx & Wayne said:

I'm sorry.  We seem to be having a semantic issue. Whatever you call it, it is slowing down the flow of data to the point where streaming is not feasible.  Maybe that's not "throttling" but it sure ain't unlimited data.

"Unlimited data" is not the same as "unlimited speed". Even slowed down you're still allowed to use data with no limits on the quantity. As said, "network management" may only slow your speed for a few minutes or maybe a couple of hours, but "throttling" can slow your speed for days or weeks depending on where you are in your billing cycle when it kicks in.

[vermilye]

Another difference  between "throttling" and "deprioritizing" is you will usually get notices from your provider as you approach the throttling limit, with the opportunity to buy more blocks of data.  That doesn't happen with deprioritizing.

For what it is worth, on the Mobly service on AT&T, I have never been throttled, but have been deprioritized after 22 GB a couple of times.  Only lasted a short time & the speeds went back up later in the evening.

[Dutch_12078]

Whether it's throttling, deprioritizing, or just a congested tower, having service with at least two carriers often works pretty well in those situations. As long as both carriers have a decent signal, when one slows unacceptably, switching to the other usually takes care of the problem.