[SpecMode]

On the iPhone, yes. Not so much for the iPad.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Maciej Am I missing something here? Wasn't the "unlimited" plan really limited to 5GB?

You're not missing anything. Someone mentioned it earlier in the thread but most carriers have been using the term "unlimited" in what I'd call false advertisement. Really, it's never been unlimited.

[Maciej]

Right.

So what I'm saying is, is there really much difference between 5 gigs and 2 gigs? (put the iPad aside for the moment.) I really think we should be complaining about the lack of a real "unlimited" plan in the first place; not the carriers taking it away.

[Partial]

http://gizmodo.com/5554946/say-goodb...ess-data-plans

I disagree and think that costs are going to continue to fall once LTE becomes the de facto standard. Look at today versus 5 years ago, it's significantly cheaper.

[Luca]

Originally Posted by turtle2472 You're not missing anything. Someone mentioned it earlier in the thread but most carriers have been using the term "unlimited" in what I'd call false advertisement. Really, it's never been unlimited.

Yeah, but I'd still rather have a "fake unlimited" 5 GB for $30 than 2 GB for $25. Even though I rarely use more than 1 GB of data. It's just nice knowing that if I do need to tether sometime in the future, I can use it pretty freely without having to worry about extra charges.

And again we come back to tethering. It shouldn't cost anything since data's data. The networks can't even tell if you're tethering or not. If you tether, you're going to use more data, so you'll end up spending more anyway. I think the reason carriers have been trying to charge for tethering is twofold - one, they're always looking for new ways to charge people money, and two, since they don't have metered data plans, someone who uses 5 GB isn't paying any more than someone who uses 500 MB. AT&T has addressed the latter with their metered plans but they're going to charge for tethering anyway. Very typical for a cell phone company. But you don't have to pay for tethering (it's easy to do through third party software).

[psmith2.0]

Hey, here's something I just stumbled across at AT&T's site while viewing my account. It's a "data usage" calculator, and it might give you a general idea of what you can do with those new 200MB and 2GB plans:

Check it out.

You can enter in what you think you might do, or you can click on one of the two options below the data bar (200MB or 2GB) and the info above will fill in to show what you're looking at sending/receiving.

[Renny722]

Originally Posted by Xaqtly Sort of stretches the definition of "unlimited", doesn't it?

haha apparently it's a limited unlimited plan.

[psmith2.0]

Okay, I've got a question regarding this new plan structure (and my soon-to-be $15/200MB set-up):

I've got one friend in particular who is quite fond of sending photos and videos from her iPhone (settle down...not those kind; man, I wish ). When I get them now, even on EDGE, I'll often look at them (photos anyway) or wait until I'm home to view all of them, or any larger video files (unless I'm on WiFi with my iPhone, then it's relatively painless).

But at what point does my iPhone get "charged" for the data of something like that? Say she sends me 2-3 iPhone camera attachments in an e-mail (which is often the case)...if I simply see her e-mail in my inbox and don't select it to view, does that bit of data (represented by her 2-3 attached photos) count toward my usage?

If I leave her e-mail untouched/unviewed on my iPhone (while on EDGE or 3G), am I actually receiving/downloading anything? Or is it not until I click on her e-mail and view the images or whatever that the stuff is counted toward my data usage?



Because between her - and even my own parents on some days - I may have to start handling some of these e-mails a bit differently (even though I'm currently not nearing the 200MB ceiling, I don't want to just start viewing/downloading every damn thing - most of which is stuff I can honestly live without until I'm at home, on my iMac - from all these attachment-happy people I know).

What's the deal with this?

Tonight, for instance, I received (another) photo-heavy e-mail from her, and I was thinking to myself "okay, a month or so from now, when I'm on my 200MB/month plan, how would I treat this situation? Open and view? Wait until later? Send to trash unseen? And which of the above impacts my 200MB allotment?"

Believe me when I say that none of them have ever been anything I absolutely need to see right then and there. Usually, because of EDGE, I choose not too. But does simply receiving them into my inbox, unviewed, "count"? Because if not, that'll kinda dictate how I view this stuff when I'm not on WiFi.

I'd like to avoid any sort of "quit sending me all this stuff" requests if possible (but I'm also not above doing so if it comes to it at some point ). Because I'm gonna get kinda short and pissy with people constantly eating up my 200MB ceiling with some of this stuff.

[Bryson]

Don't you get a little "download" icon (a page with a downward arrow, and then text below tells you the size) when people send you pictures, so you can choose whether to download or not? I certainly do. Just wait until you're on wi-fi to hit the download icon.

[psmith2.0]

That's why I'm confused (and asking)...I sometimes get that little box, but then I've also clicked on e-mails with photo attachments and they're already loaded and visible. Does the size of them dictate that, maybe? I honestly don't know, but I experience both types of attachment behavior.



That's why I was wondering if I just leave the e-mail alone completely - leave it as "unread" with the blue dot beside it - if any attached files still counted as "received data" or whatever.

Yeah, if I have to physically click a little button to load the stuff, I assume nothing's registering/being counted up to that point.

[Nogs]

Can you test it?

Go into settings and reset the network stats, send yourself an email and wait and see. Obviously turn off wifi? Then keep an eye on the usage, and send a few more emails for some more testing.

[psmith2.0]

There's an idea...

[Nogs]

I was surprised when I went to the uk a couple of months back. On arriving there I got a text message saying to do something similar to track my usage. I think they also suggest for the smaller iPad plan when I signed up.

[thegelding]

i'm almost always around wifi...home and work and all my family members...even Mom...

so i think i will save 10 bucks a month and go small plan...i don't think it will be an issue for me...



g

[Maciej]

I've decided to stick with my 5GB/$30 plan. Just in case my usage skyrockets after this new iPhone I wanna have the extra space available. I can always downgrade it a little later...

[psmith2.0]

Oh, man...you should be fine. Check out my usage stats:



...and I'm going to the $15/200MB plan with no hesitation (that April bump was the 2-3 weeks I was sans iMac). Once I get my place AirPorted up again, I'll probably not cross the 100MB threshold much at all.

My billing cycle ended today and I was just under 110MB for the 30-day period, so yeah...it should be fine. Everywhere else I spend time (friends, relatives, etc.) has WiFi.

[torifile]

AT&T sucks. Spoiler alert: they're counting microcell usage against your data cap. What? Isn't a microcell using *your* broadband?

[psmith2.0]

How is that even...legal?!

Seriously...they've kinda got the world on a string these days (having had the good sense to throw in with Apple and all), but they do this weird, chintzy stuff that just comes across so off-putting.

Hell, I guess I should be thankful they didn't raise the free for 200 texts from $5 to $15.99...

Thank you, AT&T. May I have another?



I don't understand all this stuff at a deep-enough level to get truly torqued-up. But, on the surface, it strikes me as a bit on the dickheaded side of the meter.

[EmC]

I just received this message from AT&T:

AT&T Free Msg: Great news! Effective immediately, AT&T is increasing the amount of data included in your DataPro Tethering plan from 2GB to 4GB. The monthly charge for your plan will not change and no action is required by you. Thank you for being a great customer. Please call 611 with questions.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by EmC I just received this message from AT&T: AT&T Free Msg: Great news! Effective immediately, AT&T is increasing the amount of data included in your DataPro Tethering plan from 2GB to 4GB. The monthly charge for your plan will not change and no action is required by you. Thank you for being a great customer. Please call 611 with questions.

It's only right. Previously, the DataPro Tethering plan had the same 2GB cap as the regular DataPro plan, meaning people were paying $20 extra for 0MB more data. Ew.

But AT&T is crazy greedy. They require a DataPro Tethering plan when using the Atrix 4G with its laptop dock, for example, even though it's just a bigger screen and battery.

Things like that make are why I prefer T-Mobile (where data is so cheap, my mom got a smartphone) and Verizon (free tethering on webOS 4 lyfe!). Now that the iPhone is multi-carrier, I can't think of anything that would make me go back to AT&T. Not even the adorable HP Veer.