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What do you do when you get throttled?
- Thread starter MatIzKool
- Start date
Rukbat
Extreme Android User
Throttling is just another term for "not unlimited data". Sure, you can download as much data as you want, but at 3kbps, even downloading 24/7 is only a few hundred megs.
There's nothing you can do - they throttle at the office, not at the phone, so nothing you do in the phone changes the setting in the office. (They're just inserting huge holes in the data they send you [to have space for others], so the speed of the data is the same, but the amount you cn get [or upload] in a given amount of time is almost nothing.)
Read your contract. It says "X amount of data at full speed ..." Consider that a data limit - you're going to die of old age after you reach that if you're waiting for anything more than email. Even the home page of this site would probably take a few minutes to load.
(A few of the smaller companies are still throttling at the phone, but "getting around" that is theft. Or violation of your contract, at best.)
There's nothing you can do - they throttle at the office, not at the phone, so nothing you do in the phone changes the setting in the office. (They're just inserting huge holes in the data they send you [to have space for others], so the speed of the data is the same, but the amount you cn get [or upload] in a given amount of time is almost nothing.)
Read your contract. It says "X amount of data at full speed ..." Consider that a data limit - you're going to die of old age after you reach that if you're waiting for anything more than email. Even the home page of this site would probably take a few minutes to load.
(A few of the smaller companies are still throttling at the phone, but "getting around" that is theft. Or violation of your contract, at best.)
Medion
Android Expert
I will not detail how, as I'm firmly against it, but T-Mobile US doesn't throttle on the carrier end (or at least didn't a few months ago). It didn't make sense to me, but some people on XDA found a way to use a rooted phone to get around the throttling.
Again, it doesn't make sense to me as I thought that the throttling had to be done on the carrier's end, but apparently it works.
As for me and this question, I used to just deal with it. On T-Mobile, being on LTE yet throttled, I'd average about 220kbps, peaking around 256, which was enough for regular browsing and even Pandora. On my 500MB package, I'd typically use 3-5GB/month. Of course, I've since cleared up some financial obligations and upgraded to the unlimited (just before their $10 price bump a few months back). No more throttling and 20-25GB/month now.
chanchan05
The Doctor
I deal with it. My unlimited data cycle is 1GB/day before being throttled. Besides, gettinh throttled still gets me 150-300kbps on EDGE, which is still good enough for Google searches, browsing and stuff. Heck if you're patient enough to let the video load for a few minutes, you can still watch YouTube on HD with that.
Throttling is overrated IMO. Lol. A lot of people stop using their phones when throttled, and when there's hardly anyone on the EDGE network, you'll get near max speeds for EDGE (350kbps I think). Good enough for most purposes.
Throttling is overrated IMO. Lol. A lot of people stop using their phones when throttled, and when there's hardly anyone on the EDGE network, you'll get near max speeds for EDGE (350kbps I think). Good enough for most purposes.
It is I'm sure. That's still plenty enough bandwidth to stream music or do VOIP, etc. I don't get throttled myself, I pay for a certain amount of wireless data up front, and once it's used it goes dead.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
i thought Throttling happened only on so-called 'unlimited data' plans? i never heard of it happening on capped data plans. i can use as much as i like, as fast as i like until i hit that 12GB cap then i just get charged overages. there is no incentive for throttling on such a plan. you might be a victim of something similar like 'traffic shaping' at certain hours though...
chanchan05
The Doctor
Not sure if you are referring to me, but reading back it seems you might be. My data plan isn't capped. I can download 100GB/mo if I could. However, I only get 3G or 4G/LTE speeds until I hit a download limit of 1GB, after which my internet speed is throttled. This has a 24hr cycle for the 1GB speed limit thing.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
oh, well that's sadly the reality of all so-called 'unlimited' data plans. that's why i prefer caps. that way i can set aside the amount i know i'd use, and not worry about throttling. with your option, i wouldn't be able to stream Netflix at all. it'd throttle about halfway through one movie. online gaming would also be no good.
Medion
Android Expert
The re-branded Cricket Wireless finally offers a plan that I like. They offer a data cap where the user has a choice: pay a per-GB overage, or pay nothing and be throttled to 128kbps after they exceed the cap. That is exactly how a carrier should offer a capped plan - user's choice.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
except i pay less with Verizon. it only costs me like $50 to get the 12GB 4G LTE, which is not any more expensive than i was already paying for the lousy WISP that only gave me 512Mbps download and could barely use Netflix with. i hardly go over and my use often is no more than 10-11GB even with heavy Netflix and downloads
Medion
Android Expert
You'l have to explain this plan and how the math works for you. Verizon doesn't offer a 12GB plan for $50.
I'll detail my plan, for example.
Through T-Mobile, I pay $50 for the first line, $30 for the second line (2-line family plan), and then an additional $20 per line for unlimited data (grandfathered, this is now $30/line for new customers). My total is $120. Taxes and my government discount are nearly a wash, bringing the total to $122 and some cents. So, I could stretch the truth and say that I pay $61/month for unlimited LTE.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
it used to cost more. i paid like $90 for the Smartphone plan and $20-per-gigabyte data a year ago when i signed up.
Now, it's only $40 for the plan, with $10 per gigabyte. of course, i got the elipsis tablet from another promotion for free, but with a $25 credit per month, only paying the activation fee. this was a promo for those already on the 12GB plan. EDGE is about the same. so i now get $15 off per month and pay like $10 over 24 months to have the Note 3. so $10 x 12 would normally be well over $100 or so but with credits it evens out. all i know is my 12GB data, unlimited talk, text and such, only costs me $170 per month. maybe i pay a bit more but i still get far better rates than the WISP provided. in addition, in winter the WISP's modem would shut down as it was not designed to tolerate any temps below -20 Celcius, so i'd lose service i was still paying for about half the year (winters here often last six months) so i was throwing more money with them than with Verizon.
keep in mind that $170 includes a phone and data-enabled tablet, as well as free tethering for up to ten devices. i get 4G LTE even in my remote area and with the Note 3, whenever it does fall back to 3G, the speeds are still decent (not sure why my S4 was performing at dial-up speeds on 3G)
Problem with 'unlimited' you still have to deal with throttling, and the magic number is roughly half a Netflix movie. so you cannot video stream, and are limited in your online gaming, as well as downloading games via Steam if you have no other way to get online. so that $50 or so you save comes with a price for those like me who have no other means to access the internet.
When i got the Note 3, i of course had to re-download my music, movies and some apps, and i did it over 4G LTE and i just now got my 90% usage alert, but that still leaves me a couple of gigs to use, and i have more than enough movies 'pinned' to satisfy one more week before i get a new 12GB to play with.
Now, it's only $40 for the plan, with $10 per gigabyte. of course, i got the elipsis tablet from another promotion for free, but with a $25 credit per month, only paying the activation fee. this was a promo for those already on the 12GB plan. EDGE is about the same. so i now get $15 off per month and pay like $10 over 24 months to have the Note 3. so $10 x 12 would normally be well over $100 or so but with credits it evens out. all i know is my 12GB data, unlimited talk, text and such, only costs me $170 per month. maybe i pay a bit more but i still get far better rates than the WISP provided. in addition, in winter the WISP's modem would shut down as it was not designed to tolerate any temps below -20 Celcius, so i'd lose service i was still paying for about half the year (winters here often last six months) so i was throwing more money with them than with Verizon.
keep in mind that $170 includes a phone and data-enabled tablet, as well as free tethering for up to ten devices. i get 4G LTE even in my remote area and with the Note 3, whenever it does fall back to 3G, the speeds are still decent (not sure why my S4 was performing at dial-up speeds on 3G)
Problem with 'unlimited' you still have to deal with throttling, and the magic number is roughly half a Netflix movie. so you cannot video stream, and are limited in your online gaming, as well as downloading games via Steam if you have no other way to get online. so that $50 or so you save comes with a price for those like me who have no other means to access the internet.
When i got the Note 3, i of course had to re-download my music, movies and some apps, and i did it over 4G LTE and i just now got my 90% usage alert, but that still leaves me a couple of gigs to use, and i have more than enough movies 'pinned' to satisfy one more week before i get a new 12GB to play with.
Medion
Android Expert
Wait. You thought that equated to $50 per month? PLEASE tell me that someone else does your taxes for you
Don't get me wrong, I'm not doubting Verizon's network range and quality. But many people read this forum. If you're going to tell a potential reader that you pay $50/mo for 12GB on Verizon, you need to spill the beans on that deal. What you did was akin to me telling people that I pay $20/mo for unlimited LTE plus mobile hotspot (by conveniently leaving out the other fees on the plan).
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
point is even if you pay less for 'unlimited' you still cannot use the speeds to stream video, play games online or do large downloads without getting throttled. and i do all three of those things. i don't get throttled. savings ain't worth that.
When i had the WISP, i was paying $50 per month (leaving out that at least 6 months of the year i had no service, so i was paying $50 for 6 moths of no internet, too) in addition to some cheap arse prepaid plan that was at least $100 that included 'unlimited' data, but would go to 128Kbps if i used 1.5 GB in one day, or after 15 days into the pre-paid period. that meant i was paying $150 for far less, but now i only pay $170 and get a lot more out of it. it might not be exactly $50 per month but eliminating the WISP and using my LTE data plan i pay only $20 more than i was, but have internet all year long too.
When i had the WISP, i was paying $50 per month (leaving out that at least 6 months of the year i had no service, so i was paying $50 for 6 moths of no internet, too) in addition to some cheap arse prepaid plan that was at least $100 that included 'unlimited' data, but would go to 128Kbps if i used 1.5 GB in one day, or after 15 days into the pre-paid period. that meant i was paying $150 for far less, but now i only pay $170 and get a lot more out of it. it might not be exactly $50 per month but eliminating the WISP and using my LTE data plan i pay only $20 more than i was, but have internet all year long too.
chanchan05
The Doctor
To be fair, I'm not in the US. And I don't know bout you nick, but I stream YouTube HD fine with EDGE at 150kbps? Sure I have to wait for a short buffer time at start but it's fine with me.
My contract is approx 40USD in conversion, which consists of 'unlimited' data, 300sms,15min calls and 800 credits a month. The credits will be used if the sms and minutes are used up, with one sms at one credit and 7credits per minute calls.
For most of my uses, my contract is fine. There are days I don't even use up my 1GB full speed allowance.
My contract is approx 40USD in conversion, which consists of 'unlimited' data, 300sms,15min calls and 800 credits a month. The credits will be used if the sms and minutes are used up, with one sms at one credit and 7credits per minute calls.
For most of my uses, my contract is fine. There are days I don't even use up my 1GB full speed allowance.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
150 kbps won't even load a website here. even attempting to Load Google would take Like nine minutes if it Doesn't DNS timeout first
Medion
Android Expert
I don't get throttled either. On my plan, unlimited means unlimited. I"m at 20GB + so far this month and counting. My personal record is 82GB in one month.
150kbps is more than adequate for most usage. It will surf the mobile web just fine, though many full websites will load slowly. If it's a constant 150k, or close to it, it will even stream Pandora beautifully, which caps at 64k. Back when I had a throttled plan, it would fluctuate between 128k-256k, and I'd use Google's Navigation while streaming Pandora over Bluetooth with few if any issues. Anyone who thinks that you can't load a website on 150k is sadly misinformed.
If you're getting DNS timeouts that's probably not a bandwidth issue, much more likely is a sub-par DNS server at the ISP. DNS lookups hardly take any bandwidth, it's only URLs and IP numbers. Many websites can appear to get hung up, because they're trying to access a lot of other crap as well, like Facebook, tracking and ad servers. CNET sites are terrible for that. The browser just waits, often showing nothing at all, until it gets a response from Facebook or the tracking and ad servers, or it eventually times out. In Firefox on a PC can actually see it, things like "Waiting for twitter.com". On my own systems I've now added a lot of junk like Twitter, Facebook, AdSense, DoubleClick etc. into the hosts files.
You probably remember yourself Nick, back in the 1990s of 56k AOL or whatever dial-up, websites were much simpler, and not the huge multi-megabyte Flash ad bloated monsters they can be now. Which can be a very good reason not to have Flash, or at least block it until you actually need it, especially if one is bandwidth challenged or has a limited data plan.
I know about crap bandwidth of course, and very much any website doesn't have servers in this country, maybe get only around 150-250 kbps EDGE like speeds with high latency, e.g. Google.com and not Google.cn. Which is actually enough for YouTube, but I usually have to push it to lowest quality, certainly no 1080p HD unless I want to wait a long time.
Back in the olden days, things were much simpler...
....I was happy with my US Robotics "56K Flex" modem, and could only dream of things like 128kbps bonded ISDN service.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
Prodigy was back in the 2400bps days
but YouTube refuses to load videos for me unless i have a 4G LTE connection, even in low quality. they would sit there and buffer and play a minute, then buffer again, process repeat over 3G. websites over 3G would load like you were on dialup, often super high ping and often getting 'website unavailable'. forget Netflix over 3G.
i ran a speedtest over 3G. the download speed was 500kbps. if it was that slow with 500, i cannot imagine 150.
but YouTube refuses to load videos for me unless i have a 4G LTE connection, even in low quality. they would sit there and buffer and play a minute, then buffer again, process repeat over 3G. websites over 3G would load like you were on dialup, often super high ping and often getting 'website unavailable'. forget Netflix over 3G.
i ran a speedtest over 3G. the download speed was 500kbps. if it was that slow with 500, i cannot imagine 150.
chanchan05
The Doctor
Im guessing it's more of a server problem on your case and not a bitrate problem.
nickdalzell
Extreme Android User
maybe, but that doesn't explain why 4G works fine. when it does drop to 3G it only picks up one bar or less, so that might have something to do with it. as for why it drops the 4G LTE with 3 bars to 3G with one, that is a question even Verizon cannot answer.
while 3G download is 500kbps, the upload is well over 1.5mbps. not sure why upload is that much faster than download either. it is the reverse on 4G. upload slower (by half) than download.
over 4G LTE download is 4.7mbps, upload is 400kbps.
while 3G download is 500kbps, the upload is well over 1.5mbps. not sure why upload is that much faster than download either. it is the reverse on 4G. upload slower (by half) than download.
over 4G LTE download is 4.7mbps, upload is 400kbps.
I get quite close to that sometimes, tends to be better on weekends though.
I have to VPN into the United States to get YouTube, which is usable most of the time, along with many other sites due to the GFW.
DirtyDee
Android Expert
I beg to differ on unlimited meaning you get throttled, I rack up over 60 gbs a month on tmobile full speed same back when I was on MetroPCS. No slowdowns full speed all day all night 60 a month on metro 70 a month on tmobile before taxes of course... We are free to use our data as we please.