Starting October 1, Verizon Will Include Unlimited 4G LTE Customers in “Network Optimization”

[GoBigRed79]

Previously they were only throttling 3G customers.  I thought as a condition of getting the A block spectrum they could not do this ( I could be wrong), but I also know they have already broke other conditions of the A block like allowing all devices and the FCC has not done anything about it. 

 

http://www.droid-life.com/2014/07/24/verizon-network-optimization-throttling-unlimited-lte/

 

Laughing at the comments with people showing screenshots of their 100GB of monthly usage and saying they are off to T-Mobile now.  The data hogs are going to crush that network if they all go there. 

[jamisonshaw125]

Ahem,....

 

[GoBigRed79]

Ahem,....

 

I agree, but Sprint up until then heavily marketed the fact they still offered unlimited data (and to some effect still does).  Verizon has been actively trying to ditch unlimited for at least a couple of years now. And it is no secret that recently their LTE network has gone to crap in many markets. 

 

But I don't have an issue with it.  Network operators do need to deal with abusers when their abuse has an impact on all users service.

[jgore43]

The plans really arent unreasonable.

[jamisonshaw125]

I agree, but Sprint up until then heavily marketed the fact they still offered unlimited data (and to some effect still does).  Verizon has been actively trying to ditch unlimited for at least a couple of years now. And it is no secret that recently their LTE network has gone to crap in many markets. 

 

But I don't have an issue with it.  Network operators do need to deal with abusers when their abuse has an impact on all users service.

That's the thing though...Unlimited is still readily available...But when there is congestion and you happen to be connected to a congested site in which you MOST LIKELY are not getting high speeds anyhow, you may or may not be throttled depending on which of the 3 LTE bands you are on, and if you are in the top 5% that month (which also changes every single month). The outcry over sprint doing the same "network optimization" was absurd. 

[Nickel]

I didn't read it all the way through but it sounds like their just protecting themselves from people using them as ISPs. 

[lynyrd65]

This is still a way better deal than AT&T's unlimited plans. Unloaded cell sites are still open season.

[bigsnake49]

I don't get it. If there are no unlimited users in the top 5%, they will not throttle anybody? Or let's say there's only one. Will that solve their congestion problem? What does total consumption over the previous month have to do with the immediate problem which is one of capacity. Throttle everybody equally and be done with it.

[travismheim]

I don't see the problem with this. I was surprised to find out they weren't already doing this.

[JosefTor]

This is positive news for Verizon.

[jamisonshaw125]

[emoji33] It happened.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[caspar347]

Still not sure why

A. There is no outrage, or at least not nearly at the level of Sprint's announcement, and

B. That people find it cool to use as much mobile data as possible, and that the tech news sites see it as perfectly fine to do so.

 

The tech media is portraying this as some sort of evil measure to screw over customers, when it's being done to protect average customers from unreasonable ones. I think it's weird that out of the major outlets, none have ever posted stories on why overuse of mobile data is irresponsible and why unlimited is gone on AT&T/VZW and neutered on Sprint/T-Mob. It seems that nobody in the tech news sphere knows anything about the technical side of wireless networks.

[Nickel]

Still not sure why

A. There is no outrage, or at least not nearly at the level of Sprint's announcement, and

B. That people find it cool to use as much mobile data as possible, and that the tech news sites see it as perfectly fine to do so.

 

The tech media is portraying this as some sort of evil measure to screw over customers, when it's being done to protect average customers from unreasonable ones. I think it's weird that out of the major outlets, none have ever posted stories on why overuse of mobile data is irresponsible and why unlimited is gone on AT&T/VZW and neutered on Sprint/T-Mob. It seems that nobody in the tech news sphere knows anything about the technical side of wireless networks.

Are you new to Tech media? because it's been like this for a while. Tech media is basically:

[caspar347]

Are you new to Tech media? because it's been like this for a while. Tech media is basically:

I'm not really new, but I'm occasionally reminded of just how had it is. 

[caspar347]

Wow. There's a guy in the Verge comments that thinks that network congestion is a myth, but that it's only true for calls, and thinks that wireless bandwidth is theoretically infinite.

[Nickel]

Wow. There's a guy in the Verge comments that thinks that network congestion is a myth, but that it's only true for calls, and thinks that wireless bandwidth is theoretically infinite.

I hate to double GIF a page but I don't think I have a choice.

[Paynefanbro]

Still not sure why

A. There is no outrage, or at least not nearly at the level of Sprint's announcement, and

B. That people find it cool to use as much mobile data as possible, and that the tech news sites see it as perfectly fine to do so.

 

The tech media is portraying this as some sort of evil measure to screw over customers, when it's being done to protect average customers from unreasonable ones. I think it's weird that out of the major outlets, none have ever posted stories on why overuse of mobile data is irresponsible and why unlimited is gone on AT&T/VZW and neutered on Sprint/T-Mob. It seems that nobody in the tech news sphere knows anything about the technical side of wireless networks.

That reminds of me of a post by Andrew Martonik, an author from one of those tech sites, on Google+. Read the comments: https://plus.google.com/103177848017853261390/posts/Yq6mbKsNBYX

[WiWavelength]

That reminds of me of a post by Andrew Martonik, an author from one of those tech sites, on Google+. Read the comments: https://plus.google.com/103177848017853261390/posts/Yq6mbKsNBYX

 

No, I do not want to read the comments.  Please summarize what has been said.  If I read the comments and they say what I expect they say, then I might just jump out the window -- like the animated GIF above -- even though my house is only two stories tall.

 

AJ

[caspar347]

Damn. I read the comments. They're mostly what you expect, AJ, but not really from ordinary consumers. Shame the guy got defensive when corrected. It doesn't help that Sprint doesn't distinguish between 25 and 41, but come on. If you're a tech reporter, you've got to know these things.

[Paynefanbro]

No, I do not want to read the comments.  Please summarize what has been said.  If I read the comments and they say what I expect they say, then I might just jump out the window -- like the animated GIF above -- even though my house is only two stories tall.

 

AJ

 

Basically, I corrected him and told him he wasn't on Spark. He got all defensive and thought that I was trying to make him sound stupid. All in all, he refuses to be educated on the subject that he is writing about.

 

I told him he lacks a bit of the technical knowledge to know whether he is on sPark or not, so I explained it to him and he responded with: 

 

I'm only mildly offended that you make the assumption that I don't know how networks work.

 

My entire point is that I, as a general consumer, should never be required to know what band or spectrum or bullshit marketing term my phone is using to receive data. It should never be an excuse for why my speeds are slower than another person on another carrier.

[jwang]

It's true. Most users don't test speed every day. I don't even do that every week. What could make them upset is lack of voice signal and usable data speed like 1-2m per second. Just my opinion sprint should price data half price as Verizon and give a plan with 6 gig and a much more expensive plan of unlimited data. Those non-business users with usage like 10gig a month are not the customers current sprint should gain. They are not profitable for sprint.

[bigsnake49]

It's true. Most users don't test speed every day. I don't even do that every week. What could make them upset is lack of voice signal and usable data speed like 1-2m per second. Just my opinion sprint should price data half price as Verizon and give a plan with 6 gig and a much more expensive plan of unlimited data. Those non-business users with usage like 10gig a month are not the customers current sprint should gain. They are not profitable for sprint.

I am sure that Sprint has a good handle on who is and is not profitable for them and they are trying to maximize their profit. Plus what profit does Sprint get from having a completely unused channel because they made everybody afraid to use their phones.

[jwang]

And you can't count on Joes on street to understand which band their phones are using. Verizon is doing right thing to market they have a network with engineers and tech workers serve customers everywhere. Look at their commercials from 5 years ago and those old sprint commercials, have to say it's so good sofybank fired the marketing company sprint used before.

[Rawvega]

That reminds of me of a post by Andrew Martonik, an author from one of those tech sites, on Google+. Read the comments: https://plus.google.com/103177848017853261390/posts/Yq6mbKsNBYX

 

Ya gotta love that. Sprint announced Spark is in Seattle ergo his speed test is definitely on Spark  . I guess in theory that's how it should be, but that's not the reality of the situation since no carrier lights up all of their cell sites when launching a major market. That's the exact reason why that stupid Spark icon shouldn't be used for any and every flavor of LTE. That kind of confusion is indeed Sprint's fault. 

 

Granted even on Band 25 his speeds should be faster, however here we are again with this pervasive mentality that the speed test app is the end all determination of whether or not your phone or network is performing properly. If I fire up Pandora or Youtube HD or a video chat and it works without a hiccup that seems more of a valid barometer of how my service is working regardless of what a speed test app says. We all have different needs though and I suppose some people do find running speed tests all day a more productive use of their phones 

[Nickel]

Basically, I corrected him and told him he wasn't on Spark. He got all defensive and thought that I was trying to make him sound stupid. All in all, he refuses to be educated on the subject that he is writing about.

 

I told him he lacks a bit of the technical knowledge to know whether he is on sPark or not, so I explained it to him and he responded with: 

So basically he's saying that he knows more than the average consumer but pretends to be an average consumer when presenting anecdotal evidence to the average consumer?  I'm calling bullshit, either he didn't know or he shouldn't write for a popular tech site.