AT&T Community Forums

unlimited plan bait and switch

i recently changed to the unlimited plan. i was told by the agent i would only be slowed down after my 22 gig limit in high congestion areas. this is also stayed very clearly on the website. i am in a VERY rural area with no network congestion and yet i am still slowed down to 1 mbps speed. after complaining i was told that it does not matter where i am located, that once i reach 22 gigs they send code to your device that slows it down. this is not what i was told or what the website says. it is so slow it is unusable! i was treated very poorly today and because of this and their shady business practices i will be cancelling ALL of my att services. i have two accounts, 4 phones, 2 hotspots, home internet and directv. i have been with att for years but they could care less about losing a loyal customer. i suggest you all look into tmobile. they are half the price and are truly unlimited, plus they dont require a seperate hotspot to get the unlimited 4glte. their signal is actuall much better in most pla5ves i have found as well. anybody who has had this same issue needs to download the complaint for and arbitration form and fill it out and send it in. until enough people do this att will continue to screw their loyal customers.

Responses

sandblaster

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

7 years ago

That's baloney. They do not send a code to your device and slow it down. There has to be some other explanation for your slow speeds.

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richlandchamber

Tutor

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5 Messages

7 years ago

well i was told that by the technical support woman today and by my brother in law who is the manager for the noth texas district. but i guess you know better than them right? so tell me then, how do you suppose they slow you down?

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richlandchamber

Tutor

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5 Messages

7 years ago

did you read,the part where i have two hotspots and 4 phones. i have them all right here right now and the only one getting 1 mbps downloads is the one over 22 gigs. the rest are between 30 and 40. explain that then smart guy.

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sandblaster

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

7 years ago

I never said you aren't being slowed down, only that they don't send a code to your device. Besides, how you are being slowed is irrelevant. Your issue is why are you being slowed. You seem to believe your device should not be slowed because the rural area where you live can't be congested. Therefore you are concluding that ATT lied about when network speeds are slowed. How do you know whether the network is congested or not? Just because you are in a rural location does not mean there aren't many more users. You yourself have 6 devices.

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richlandchamber

Tutor

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5 Messages

7 years ago

look, im going to believe the techinal support people and my brother in law. i was told they send a code and when the month is up the remove it. i was also told there has to be over 3 thousand customers on the same tower at once to be slowed down. another thing i was told by the actual att suport is that the tower i use is very low congestion. so my question to you is what makes you think you are some kind of expert that knows more than the people who are trained on these matters? or are you just some guy who cruises the forums defending att? or are you paid by att to try to discredit complaints against them? either way someone at att is lying. they are eithher lying about only slowing you down in congested areas or lying about the code or lying about slowing you down the second you reach 22 gigs. reguardless of who is doing the lying its not what i want from a company i pay 500 dollars a month. i was also told last week that the tower was being worked on so thats why it was slow and today i was told it was not worked on. so which is it mr att expert? what are lies and what is true because i have been told all those things.

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Gary L

ACE - Expert

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16.5K Messages

7 years ago

@richlandchamber Why are you here if you don't want other opinions?

1) If it was just a code, someone would be hacking it to bypass that issue. If they were doing that, it'd be on the internet as a way to cheat AT&T. But honestly, it's SO UNBELIEVABLE I'm not even going to Google it, but feel free...

2) A 22GB you device is considered a lower priority device than all other devices on the tower you are connecting to. I don't know how fast your tower is or how far away your tower is. But as you said it's over 22GB and it's slower than your other devices. I do not know if it's even a specific speed it's slowed down to, mostly that it's just served last.

3) If you'd spend a minute and search the 'net (that's the "internet") you can see there are people using 100s of GB and not encountering any slowdown (a few using 1000GB+ and not having problems).

D) Brother-in-law? Why didn't you ask him first? A manager isn't likely to have these technical facts... Anything you say to point out his "expertise" will likely be met with "why didn't you ask him first"?

"for the rest of the cycle AT&T may slow data speeds on that line during periods of network congestion" from https://www.att.com/plans/unlimited-data-plans.html

E) It's congested NETWORK, not congested geographic area. Are you certain your tower has just as many antennas and just as much bandwidth as a tower in a downtown area? (Are your roads as wide there as it is where there is more traffic?)

only be slowed down after my 22 gig limit in high congestion areas.

this is also stayed very clearly on the website.

The policy is ~~stayed~~ stated very clearly on the web site, but what you are saying is not stated on the web site. Congested areas are not mentioned at all please check https://www.att.com/plans/unlimited-data-plans.html

6) I've also got over 25GB so far on my unlimited device and I've yet to experience any significant slow down.
I say "any significant" because my speed normally jumps between 6Mbps and 50Mbps normally, so if a tower is congested and I only get 10Mbps it's really hard to know if I'd normally get 10Mbps at that location or 40Mbps and it's been deprioritized. I've had this running on multiple towers as I've been traveling the last few days and it hasn't mattered where I'm at... Screen Shot 2017-07-08 at 12.25.54 AM.png

It's just me running some speed tests every so often using some common sense (no brother in law or tech support or district manager), nothing magical happened to mine at 22GB. In the mountains, at the park, in the 'burbs and in the city. If anything, the last 10-15 speedtests have been above average in speed.

IN CONCLUSION:

I know I can't address what is specifically happening in your specific part of Texas any more than you can address how everyone else's devices works on the entirety of AT&T's network.

All I know is the facts that you are presenting about automatic slowdowns don't appear to be true in my case. And I've seen multiple screenshots of people's usage that doesn't fit your case either.

No one is saying your device didn't slow down.

Just that your reasoning / facts as to why it is slowing down doesn't make more sense than what is posted at att.com. (Actually, to be perfect clear, I think some of your "facts" makes no sense).

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richlandchamber

Tutor

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5 Messages

7 years ago

you really need to get a life fella. i am here to inform people of exactly what kind of liars att are and how they are ripping people off. why are you here? the FACT is ive been told all these contradicting statements by att emloyees and my device over 22 gigs has been slowed down reguardless of where i am at. i have 3 homes in different parts of the state and travel between them weekly. i have been lied to repeatedly by att, FACT. i pay them over 500 a month, FACT. my device is slow all across the state, FACT. it states my device COULD be slowed down due to network congestion, FACT. i was told by a technical support manager that they send code to the device to slow it down, FACT. i do not know exactly how they do it nor do i really care, what i care about is paying for an unlimited plan that is not really unlimited and being lied to by a company and its employees repeatedly. i have recently learned that sprint and tmobile offer true unlimited with no slow downs over any ammount of gigs, FACT. so back to my original question, what makes you think you are some sort of expert about att and their services? be honest, do you work for att? i find it hard to believe that you just cruise att forums and defend atts shady dealings for no particular reason. anybody who posts as many times as you have is either a paid employee pretending not to be or has absolutely zero life of his own. either way i feel sorry for you. now if you will do a bit of research you will see there are MANY other complaints like mine about att. but im sure you already know this as you spend all your free time browsing att forums. and im also sure you know about att being sued repeatedly for their shady business practices. i have not heard about any other cell companies paying 100 million for misleading customers. no matter what kind of made up nonsense comes out of your mouth your company is losing my business and i will continue to tell the world how they have lied to me and how poorly they treat a loyal customer. seriously guy, this little act of yours is pathetic and obvious to anybody with a drop of common sense.

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Gary L

ACE - Expert

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16.5K Messages

7 years ago

@richlandchamber wrote:
why are you here?

To clue other people who might wander in that all of one person's "facts" might not reflect their experience. Or might not even be facts (read on).

the FACT is ive been told all these contradicting statements by att emloyees

That's very common if you read the forums, another reason to hang out here correcting misinformation.

and my device over 22 gigs has been slowed down reguardless of where i am at.

And while that might be true for YOU. It does NOT make it true for me and for every other user.

i have been lied to repeatedly by att, FACT. i pay them over 500 a month, FACT.

You're lied to repeatedly but still send money? That makes no sense...

my device is slow all across the state, FACT.

YOUR DEVICE is slow. We got that. No one is arguing that.

Actually, since you didn't test it every square foot across the state, I could argue that, but I'll let it go...

Mine isn't slow across 4 states, QUADRUPLE FACT!

it states my device COULD be slowed down due to network congestion, FACT.

Yes, no one is arguing with that. It says that at least 4 times on the unlimited plan description at https://www.att.com/plans/unlimited-data-plans.html

was told by a technical support manager that they send code to the device to slow it down, FACT.

It may be a fact you were told that, don't let that cloud your judgment that it's actually true. As you said you repeatedly get information that isn't true, I'm not sure why you are certain this one is true, you're the only one here saying that.

i do not know exactly how they do it nor do i really care, what i care about is paying for an unlimited plan that is not really unlimited and being lied to by a company and its employees repeatedly.

Time to move along then. FYI, your last month is not prorated so wait. Also, it's WAY better to unlock your phones before leave.

i have recently learned that sprint and tmobile offer true unlimited with no slow downs over any ammount of gigs, FACT.

That's NOT A FACT, it's actually SUPER INCORRECT. Just go look at their websites. BOTH companies have similar deprioritization rules. You're messing with your "credibility". Take two seconds to look these things up.

Sprint says "Data deprioritization during congestion after 23GB/mo" see https://www.sprint.com/en/shop/plans/unlimited-cell-phone-plan.html?ECID=vanity:unlimited

T-Mo says "On all T-Mobile plans, if congested, top 3% of data users (>32GB/mo.) may notice reduced speeds due to prioritization." see https://www.t-mobile.com

so back to my original question, what makes you think you are some sort of expert about att and their services?

I can read and know how to ignore the nonsense that people feed to me. FACT.

I've not said I'm an expert, you're the one calling me an expert.

now if you will do a bit of research you will see there are MANY other complaints like mine about att.

Nope, you're the ONLY one with a SHUT DOWN CODE conspiracy.

The 22GB is NO surprise, it appears TEN TIMES at http://att.com/unlimited

Gary L

ACE - Expert

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16.5K Messages

7 years ago

@richlandchamber Are you doing your speedtests at FAST.com?

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formerlyknownas

ACE - Sage

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117.2K Messages

7 years ago

Wouldn't be the first time someone at ATT tried to explain network deprioritisation to a layman. (Wrong). Just like the executive from Direct NOW explained data free TV wrong when interviewed by the Cord Cutters group. There is plenty of evidence ATT employees at all levels are not properly informed or do not understand their own products and policies.

We see it here daily.

@richlandchamber The exact 'how' was not explained correctly. But a line would be automatically deprioritised after it hit 22 gigs. All carriers do so at some point. Verizon and ATT at 22 gigs, Sprint and T-mo slightly higher.

The question is how congested is the tower/s and where and how many? You said rural, so there may only be one tower carrying the entire load for a HUGE area, and hands off to individual towers. If there are a lot of ATT customers I'm not surprised.

I recall a post from a customer saying after 22 gigs he only got full speed between 2 AM and 6 AM.

Im just green with jealously as I am on a tiered plan and never get more than 10 GBs speed. That seems to be all the tower puts out. I would love 30 GBps at any time. But that only seems to be in high use areas.

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