AT&T Throttling Bandwidth - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-I777

EDIT/UPDATE: File your complaint with the FCC over the bandwidth throttle;
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
Original Post:
Using AT&T and a new SGS2. I've had a grandfathered "unlimited" plan for 10 years @ $30/mo.
"Unlimited" by definition means 'without limitations, unrestricted'. I was getting over 700KB/sec download before the throttle, now I barely get 15KB/sec, it's effectively crippled my phone and certainly made GPS unusable. Calls to AT&T are pointless, they have a different definition of 'unlimited' and are telling me the throttle won't be lifted until my next billing cycle in January.
Two questions;
Does anyone else find this absurd? "Unlimited" is a very specific, non-ambiguous term.
And has anyone found a way around this?
Sent from my Galaxy II.

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of course its absurd but there's no way around it

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I'm not a lawyer but this seems like class-action material. It's false advertising, at the very least.
Sent from my Galaxy II.

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Just wondering, how much did you use per minutes of internet before hey started throttling you?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777

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There's a thread in the Vivid forum discussing this. People are being throttled after as little as 1 GB. Can't figure out what their use of measure is. Calendar month? 1 GB is unacceptable. I said over there top 5% is likely a lot lower than people probably think considering tons of people on grandfathered unlimited plans probably use hardly any of their data. Smartphones are no longer for the power user. My dad as an Android phone and he might have his email setup, but I'm sure that's all the data he uses.
edit: They did find a way to change the APN to where you weren't throttled anymore though, not sure if that applies here as well.

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rquinn19 said:
There's a thread in the Vivid forum discussing this. People are being throttled after as little as 1 GB. Can't figure out what their use of measure is. Calendar month? 1 GB is unacceptable. I said over there top 5% is likely a lot lower than people probably think considering tons of people on grandfathered unlimited plans probably use hardly any of their data. Smartphones are no longer for the power user. My dad as an Android phone and he might have his email setup, but I'm sure that's all the data he uses.
edit: They did find a way to change the APN to where you weren't throttled anymore though, not sure if that applies here as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not throttled yet. 10GB last month and about 3gb this month so far

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hyelton said:
Not throttled yet. 10GB last month and about 3gb this month so far
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That's the complaint there, can't figure out what's triggering the throttling.

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rquinn19 said:
edit: They did find a way to change the APN to where you weren't throttled anymore though, not sure if that applies here as well.
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That works only for LTE phones. They hit the Throttle on the LTE data, they can switch APNs to use HSPA+ data at full HSPA+ speeds. So they go from 30+ Mbps on LTE to like 0.25 Mbps, then switch to HSPA+ and get 6-8 Mbps.
In my area I get 2-3, at best on HSPA+. I use 6-8 GB on a normal month, as high at 10.5 one month. I have never been throttled.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

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quarlow said:
That works only for LTE phones. They hit the Throttle on the LTE data, they can switch APNs to use HSPA+ data at full HSPA+ speeds. So they go from 30+ Mbps on LTE to like 0.25 Mbps, then switch to HSPA+ and get 6-8 Mbps.
In my area I get 2-3, at best on HSPA+. I use 6-8 GB on a normal month, as high at 10.5 one month. I have never been throttled.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)
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I feel like I'm capped at 3 Mbps. No matter what it tops out at that. Kinda odd if I'm not capped.

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rquinn19 said:
I feel like I'm capped at 3 Mbps. No matter what it tops out at that. Kinda odd if I'm not capped.
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3G and Faug G data speeds vary greatly by market. I think LTE is fairly consistent market to market, and in those markets the HSPA+ data is generally 8-11 Mbps.
Some people complain when they are throttled down to 100KB/s, something that's a good day for me.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

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To answer those that asked, and yes, I admit this might seem ridiculous, but I did ~10.6GB in 14 days. Prior to that, I averaged 10-20GB a month with no hassles. With the new phone, the $0.10 Google market sale and a lot of experiementing, it was higher than expected with the new speeds. Still, "unlimited" is unlimited.
The notice I got came in the form a text, informing me that I should check their data plans (again, I have unlimited, why would I care?) and then a second notice that came in hours later - sometime around 4-5am that read:
"ATT Free Msg: Your data use is approaching the top 5% of users. Avoid reduced data speeds, use Wi-Fi where available. Visit att.com/dataplans or call 866-344-7584"
That's it. The warning came but I was already throttled and the "smart" part of my phone is effectively useless.

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Read this story it explains how AT$T determines who should get throttled.
In a nut shell if you live in a area that has high data usage then the threshold is a lot higher then if you live in a area that has low data usage.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/AT-T-iPhone-data-throttle-4G-2G,news-13445.html

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Dude 25GB is excessive!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777

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But the i777 doesn't have LTE.....right?

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Can't we sue at t for throttling since we never signed up for throttled plan.. It suppose to be unlimited and they are not throttling other data plans
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App

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It doesn't say anywhere in your agreement you are set to get certain speeds. It also says all over that att will do whatever they deem necessary if they feel your use can cause detrimental affects on other users.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)

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Made an update to my earlier post. My account on att.com reports that I did 10.6GB and was roughly half-way into my billing cycle.
Since their nerfbat hits entire neighborhoods (by design) it makes for some ridiculous scenarios. This **** was obviously derived by committee.
Question: Is it even possible to consume all of the data in your plan if you are restricted to 2G? No. It's not.
AT&T's plan caps can't even be consumed at 2G speeds, it would be fun to see a class-action against AT&T for failure to fulfill contract by deliberate act.
Scenario:
1) you use a bunch of data quickly to DL something in the beginning of the month.
2) AT&T flags you and demotes you to 2G for the remainder of the month.
3) At full 2G speed, you DL everything you can, but are only able to use up 2/3 of your paid data plan simply because it is not possible to use more than that with 2G in a month.
While you're stuck at 2G, your 3G-equipped neighbor is now in the top 5% and gets demoted to 2G, too.
Yes, I smell class-action.

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Tried once more to get a rep on the phone, it's pointless. This is a direct quote:
"Sir, I realize you have an unlimited plan but we've placed a limitation on it."
AT$T use a different dictionary to define 'unlimited'. Even if they wanted to, nobody can remove the throttle until the billing cylcle ends. Bastards.

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Captain Zero said:
Tried once more to get a rep on the phone, it's pointless. This is a direct quote:
"Sir, I realize you have an unlimited plan but we've placed a limitation on it."
AT$T use a different dictionary to define 'unlimited'. Even if they wanted to, nobody can remove the throttle until the billing cylcle ends. Bastards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically you are unlimited, they're not completely shutting down your data. You can still transfer all day long, just at a slow pace.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk

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Creative English at it's best. ATT: Oh we didn't mean unlimited we were saying "Hey, its uhh, limited. "
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium