bandwidth caps. Thoughts?

[LargePrime]

http://thepbxblog.com/2012/02/05/ban...lous/#more-508

Some of our users have suggested that unlimited data is unsustainable. Not the case?

[gotanmp3]

What I get from that article:

1. Bad car analogy.
2. AT&T is greedy. (duh)
3. Anyone with a non-LTE phone who uses less than the cap/throttle point per month, will actually benefit by increased throughput, without the carrier needing to spend any money. (Facebook/Twitter/e-mail loads faster, etc.)
4. LTE users get screwed. (See #2)

This doesn't have anything to do with Boost, really. We're getting throttled because Sprint's postpaid customers coughing up twice as much per month are getting crappy EVDO speeds. That's all there really is to it.

[LargePrime]

1) I liked the car analogy. "Our data is so fast you can use a months worth in 8 hours!!!"
2) The point is that all the carriers that are limiting data are doing so to make EVEN MORE MONEY, not due to any actual limiting factor.
3) ?? The point about LTE also applies to 3g. The only issues in data is backhaul, and greed
4) ?? All capped users get screwed...

[gotanmp3]

The car analogy is completely bass ackwards. The limiting factor is the gas stations being greedy, not the size of the tank in the car. And you know what people do when gas goes up in price? They drive less. And unlike a car, a smartphone can get more "gas" over WiFi.

It goes without saying that the point of a business is to make money. If you've looked at Sprint's stock price, they're presently not doing too well at that goal.

3G does have its limits. Even Verizon has noticed iPhone users hammering the heck out of their EVDO network. They'd prefer you buy an LTE phone. The fact is, there's a lot of people still on 3G networks and they have to be forced to play nice.

LTE users are the ones getting the short end of the stick. They're still subject to the same caps/throttle points that were intended to improve network performance for 3G users, but they're not on the 3G network. Sprint isn't guilty of this - they allow unlimited on their EVDO and WiMax (and presumably, LTE) networks. The downside of this, though is that unless you're on WiMax or LTE, your speeds have a pretty high likelihood of being awful.

[billm261]

LTE users are the ones getting the short end of the stick. They're still subject to the same caps/throttle points that were intended to improve network performance for 3G users, but they're not on the 3G network.

Huh???

Which carrier are you referring to?

Verizon is currently offering 4GB of data when you have an LTE device.




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[gotanmp3]

Which carrier are you referring to?

Verizon is currently offering 4GB of data when you have an LTE device.

The article the OP linked to is about AT&T. I just checked AT&T's site to be sure, and their "DataPro 3GB" add-on is 3GB regardless of whether you're using 3G or LTE.

I'm not sure how Verizon plays into all this. 4GB is still a cap (or more accurately, an overage point), and it's quite low too, when you consider how quickly you can blow through it on their LTE network.

[billm261]

The article the OP linked to is about AT&T. I just checked AT&T's site to be sure, and their "DataPro 3GB" add-on is 3GB regardless of whether you're using 3G or LTE.

I'm not sure how Verizon plays into all this. 4GB is still a cap (or more accurately, an overage point), and it's quite low too, when you consider how quickly you can blow through it on their LTE network.

I didn't read the article till just now.

Seems like the carriers would rather milk the existing legacy networks rather than making the needed investments.

I may be in the minority but I didn't go over my data @ 2GB. Once I hit 3.5GB while tethering for 3 weeks on vacation.

All my cars have built in navigation and satellite radio. I tried but can't watch anything other than a short news clip on my phone before my eyes bug out.



Sent from my DROID BIONIC using HowardForums

[Tyler Cameron]

I'm not sure if this would be feasable currently, due to LTE's lack of evdo-like coverage; but data limits make no sense, you know why?
1. If 95% of customers don't go over 2GB per month, what does it solve to put a cap at 2GB? The same amount of data is going to be used, therefore doing nothing to make the network faster.
2. This plan works on the principal that when one gets close to their cap, they disable their data, and that this one customer somehow affects the whole network, or they go over and pay extra, and HOPEFULLY, that money goes toward Verizon adding more capacity.
3. The network is slowed down simply by users being CONNECTED to it.
4. What good does it do when EVERYONE still has access to full-speed data, they're using the same amount of bandwidth. Caps are not a solution for network management.

So what is the solution? Speed tiers.
$15 for 2mbps down/.5 up
$20 for 5mbps down/1.5 up
$25 for 10mbps down/3 up
$40 for 20mbps down/10 up
$60 for 35mbps down/15 up
$80 for 45mbps down/15 up

With plans like this, MOST people would for sure go with the cheapest plan, which leaves plenty of high-speed data available for the higher-tier customers. Since all customers would have a speed limit, the network would literally manage itself that way. The data-hungry power-users will pay for high speed data as long as it's unlimited. And everyone's happy because they get consistent data speeds that they pay for. Win-win for all, even Verizon Wireless.