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Verizon is throttling my data

Crude

Crude

Android Expert
Here are the facts.
I use around 30GB a month.
I do spend a lot of time watching YouTube between 11pm cst and 2am cst.
This accounts for 2/3rds of my data.
I am rooted.
I have never used a tether app.

How do I know I'm being throttled?
YouTube videos only play for 15 seconds before needing to buffer. My wife has the nexus with the same firmware and sitting side by side hers loads an entire 5min video by the time I had almost loaded the first minute.

On a side note it might be a coincidence but I've been fine with my usage since jan. And this month I got Verizon's update to 4.0.4....also interesting is that 17 days into this billing cycle I've only used 8GB then I noticed the throttling.
.
This is all 4g. I wouldn't be surprised if it was on 3G
 
Dunno where that puts me. As I understood it 4g was not subject to throttling?

Also, isn't there always going to be a top 5%?
 
Hey crude, just letting you know, I merged the two threads you had into the Verizon one, thanks for understanding :)

On a related note, I do believe Verizon is supposed to be prohibited from throttling 4G by FCC regulations. You might want to call Verizon and ask them, I believe that your account will be noted as being throttled if it is true, and the CSR can tell you that. If they deny that it is being throttled, explain the difference with your wife's phone, and you may want to start a warranty replacement.

P.S. (If they do say it is being throttled, you may want to file an FCC complaint.)
 
My understanding as well was that they would only be throttling 3G and not 4G...maybe they ninja changed their policy.
 
They can't throttle users on 4g, but they can apply "network optimization", that is reduce bandwidth to heavy data users when the network is under heavy load (read: "not at 1am"). This is limited to the to 5% of users in your particular area. Oh, and fyi the top 5% starts at about 2GB, so you are way over that. You honestly might be one of the largest individual data users on your area.

How do you know you're being throttled, and not just getting crappy bandwidth right now?
 
agreed with the above posts. also youtube is not a good site to test bandwidth... go download a large file and see what speed you get.
 
euph_22 said:
Oh, and fyi the top 5% starts at about 2GB, so you are way over that. You honestly might be one of the largest individual data users on your area.
Click to expand...


so that puts me and everyone else i know that DOESNT use wifi in the top 5%.

on my x i averaged 4-6gb a month with no tethering. it seems im going to be 6-8 on 4g.


using 30 gb is rediculous.



personally i feel the 2GB and higher being the "top 5%" is just line for them to sell the data packs.
 
30GBs a month? Jesus dude. Not to be rude but its because of people like you that we keep getting screwed on data prices and packages. Even tethering to my iPad I still only use like 2-3GB a month
 
Hey, don't knock on the guy who clearly has too much time on his hands to watch so many YouTube videos on his phone..
 
Think of how many people just use their phones for calls, Facebook, and some streaming of music/YouTube here and there. Yep, that's right, the vast majority of people.
 
mrbutters said:
30GBs a month? Jesus dude. Not to be rude but its because of people like you that we keep getting screwed on data prices and packages. Even tethering to my iPad I still only use like 2-3GB a month
Click to expand...

I see, well here's my side of the story. I live in rural Iowa, for whatever reason I have 4g in my house. I can't get broadband of any kind and so obviously if I want to get something done I have no choice but use my phone which thankfully has 5Mpbs up and down.....in rural Iowa oddly enough.

Now, 30GB might seem like a lot, but compare that to your monthly usage on all your devices combined. Until Obama makes a law that demands all Americans have access to something faster then 56K I'm sol.
If you notice my location, rural Iowa, you'll be able to guess how many people use a smartphone out here....I think the one tower that serves all 4000 people in the 50 mile radius around here is not going to flinch at the fact that I watch youtube at 2 am

I guess what I'm saying is, unless you are one of those 4000 people there's a 0% chance my usage has any effect on you and even if you are, you and 200 others would need to be watching youtube at 2 am for it to even register.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...there may be a problem with my radio. Youtube is still buffering all the time, while everything else seems to work fine. With the exception of my timezone. For some reason the network is placing me in MST. Which is weird since I'm at least 8h away from that line. It takes me a full on reboot for it to correct itself only to switch back 5 min later. On a side note how many Galaxy nexus have had issues with the radio since the update?
This topic should probably be moved back to the nexus Forum?
 
for the love of God leave the "you use too much data" argument alone. The guy said he didn't tether, he pays for UNLIMITED DATA. ITS LIKE everyone fails to understand that Verizon is upping the prices to make more money, if you honestly think "people like you are screwing everyone else" you may need to reevaluate your understanding of how businesses operate.
 
Crude said:
I see, well here's my side of the story. I live in rural Iowa, for whatever reason I have 4g in my house. I can't get broadband of any kind and so obviously if I want to get something done I have no choice but use my phone which thankfully has 5Mpbs up and down.....in rural Iowa oddly enough.

Now, 30GB might seem like a lot, but compare that to your monthly usage on all your devices combined. Until Obama makes a law that demands all Americans have access to something faster then 56K I'm sol.
If you notice my location, rural Iowa, you'll be able to guess how many people use a smartphone out here....I think the one tower that serves all 4000 people in the 50 mile radius around here is not going to flinch at the fact that I watch youtube at 2 am

I guess what I'm saying is, unless you are one of those 4000 people there's a 0% chance my usage has any effect on you and even if you are, you and 200 others would need to be watching youtube at 2 am for it to even register.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand...there may be a problem with my radio. Youtube is still buffering all the time, while everything else seems to work fine. With the exception of my timezone. For some reason the network is placing me in MST. Which is weird since I'm at least 8h away from that line. It takes me a full on reboot for it to correct itself only to switch back 5 min later. On a side note how many Galaxy nexus have had issues with the radio since the update?
This topic should probably be moved back to the nexus Forum?
Click to expand...

I will be honest, I am having issues with mine as well, since I updated to the IMM76K ROM. Hand-offs are horrible, and it seems to get stuck waiting to load when using certain apps. I find hitting back and reloading usually causes it to go through...

Regarding the thread move... I think it has gone too far into the throttling discussion at this point to go back into the GNex thread. However feel free to make a new thread with the issues you are seeing. :)
 
I love how verizon has successfully pitted users against each other. Data hikes would have happened anyways. Quit being Verizon lap dogs and bashing fellow enthusiests because they use the phone for what it was built to do.

Clarification. I'm talking about people that feel the need to chime in with nothing better to do than bash someone whom uses their phone and eats a lot of data. Judge not and ye shall not be judged! For every judgmement one makes on another, there's something that the judge can be judged on. Live and let live.
 
I watch a lot of youtube vids at night too, of course i have home internet, otherwise they would throttle my slow as shit 3g. :P. That is the reason i use my WIFI for now, of course when they introduce data plans. For my home internet, then i march to VZW headquarters and burn it down while strangling its CEO. :P. Sorry bout ur throtllin bro
 
euph_22 said:
They can't throttle users on 4g, but they can apply "network optimization", that is reduce bandwidth to heavy data users when the network is under heavy load (read: "not at 1am"). This is limited to the to 5% of users in your particular area. Oh, and fyi the top 5% starts at about 2GB, so you are way over that. You honestly might be one of the largest individual data users on your area.

How do you know you're being throttled, and not just getting crappy bandwidth right now?
Click to expand...


My wife uses 2 GB a month on her DX and she only does email, facebook, posts photos, and a few videos.

I watch an occasional netflix program...maybe 4 or 5 a month, use navigation all the time, browse the web for 30 minutes a day and I easily blow through 4 or 5 GB a month. I'm definately not a heavy user. Both of us are on 3g. When we go to 4g S3s, I'm sure our data usage will increase.
 
sorka said:
My wife uses 2 GB a month on her DX and she only does email, facebook, posts photos, and a few videos.
Click to expand...
then she must be do alot of those activities. 2Gb corresponds to 10,000 1-page emails or 1000-2000 pictures.
I watch an occasional netflix program...maybe 4 or 5 a month, use navigation all the time, browse the web for 30 minutes a day and I easily blow through 4 or 5 GB a month. I'm definately not a heavy user. Both of us are on 3g. When we go to 4g S3s, I'm sure our data usage will increase.
Click to expand...


Yes you are. As far as data usage goes, you certainly are a heavy user. As of last year the lowest 98% of smartphone data customers were using less than 2gb (this is not just a Verizon puff piece, a Nielsen study also confirms this). That means you are in fact a heavy data user. Is your data usage excessive? Absolutely not.

EDIT: Here's a link to that study.
 
Satires said:
I love how verizon has successfully pitted users against each other. Data hikes would have happened anyways. Quit being Verizon lap dogs and bashing fellow enthusiests because they use the phone for what it was built to do.

Clarification. I'm talking about people that feel the need to chime in with nothing better to do than bash someone whom uses their phone and eats a lot of data. Judge not and ye shall not be judged! For every judgmement one makes on another, there's something that the judge can be judged on. Live and let live.
Click to expand...
Network bandwidth is a finite resource. If somebody on my tower is constantly pulling down data, that hurts my network speed and that is a fact. Think of it like the hot water in an apartment. The water heater only holds so much, so if i keep my shower running constantly, you don't get any. Legally i have access to all the hot water i want, but using it excessively at peak times hurts other consumers.

That said, i agree that the critics are being ridiculous in this case. This is only an issue when other people want to use the bandwidth too. Bandwidth is fair game at 1am.
 
The person in charge of my account was told i used extraordinary amounts of data @ 3-4 gigs by a rep, so I imagine they see yalls and would cringe :P Unlimited ftw.
 
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