Unlimited data is not unlimited streaming speed

[mathtrax]

They told us that it would slow down from 4G to 3G after 10GB, but it has slowed WAYYY down. It's like being on dial-up again. Netflix won't load, pages take 20-30 seconds to load, and videos buffer so much that they are unwatchable. Why offer an unlimited plan if it's unusable??!!??

[Marie37]

Actually it wasn't. It didn't show up until the middle of March. When Verizon rolled out their unlimited plan, I did a ton of research. I read everything on this site about their terms, data "limit" etc. Everything said once you hit 22GB of data any device you "might" be slowed down to 3G speeds. Even their t.v. commercial said the exact same thing. I specifically asked the customer service agent I was talking to about being throttled back and again I was told once I hit 22 GB of data, (with  my jetpack, phone etc.) there could be a possibility of being throttled back to 3G speeds depending on how much traffic was using data in my area. The whole 10GB limit for jetpack, mobile data etc. popped up mid March on the site.

I am tenacious with doing research before switching over to something/buying something etc and I ask a ton of questions. In short, they lied to us. I even called last month after getting a notice about being throttled to 3G speeds once I hit 10GB of data. I asked the representative if I would be able to stream Netflix on 3G speeds and I was assured I would be. She then stated that she highly doubted that I would be throttled to 3G speeds. I have 1GB left before I am supposedly throttled back. If I find I can't stream like I was promised, then I will probably be submitting a complaint with the FCC, BBB, and my State's Attorney General. They lied to me and everyone else with the whole 22GB and then "might" be throttled. I am NOT happy!!!!

[rcschnoor]

Marie37 wrote:

I am tenacious with doing research before switching over to something/buying something etc and I ask a ton of questions. In short, they lied to us. I even called last month after getting a notice about being throttled to 3G speeds once I hit 10GB of data.

I do a bit of research before I ever consider switching plans or purchasing things, too, and I saw multiple articles mentioning the 10 GB limit for hotspot usage on the new unlimited plan when I was researching possibly switching back in February. I ALSO just did a google search for "Verizon new unlimited data plan" and got results which included articles from February from Android Central, USA Today, Droid Life, The Verge, Gizmodo, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, etc... not to mention the press release from Verizon itself mentioning the 10 GB limit.

While I may not necessarily agree with that limit for devices with a line access fee equal to that of a smartphone and only one way to use data, i.e. by tethering/hotspot usage, the information WAS out there from the very beginning when Verizon made the announcement bringing back an unlimited plan.

[mama23dogs]

Marie37 wrote:

I am tenacious with doing research before switching over to something/buying something etc and I ask a ton of questions. In short, they lied to us. I even called last month after getting a notice about being throttled to 3G speeds once I hit 10GB of data. I asked the representative if I would be able to stream Netflix on 3G speeds and I was assured I would be. She then stated that she highly doubted that I would be throttled to 3G speeds. I have 1GB left before I am supposedly throttled back. If I find I can't stream like I was promised, then I will probably be submitting a complaint with the FCC, BBB, and my State's Attorney General. They lied to me and everyone else with the whole 22GB and then "might" be throttled. I am NOT happy!!!!

My definition of research must be different.  Asking 3 or 30 people who are paid to sell the new plan is not research.  Recall the bibliography of my school days, had to cite multiple sources.  30 wrong versions of  misinformation doesn't count.    In the first few days, it was very confusing.  The only accurate information came from regulars on this forum, and the FAQ and other information on Verizon website.

[Marie37]

It is entirely possible I could have missed that, but when it was announced that verizon was thinking of going to unlimited plans I don't recall seeing anything about the 10GB of data limit per mobile hotspot. I also had read the FAQ page and at that time I didn't see anything that mentioned the limit. Also the question mark by the unlimited plan at the time, also didn't have the 10Gb listed, it showed up a couple to a few days after I made the switch as I did the switch 2-3 days after it came out. I had read various articles, and like I mentioned it is entirely possible that I misread that for meaning using your phone to tether not the jetpack I use. Then I did talk to verizon customer service numerous times, asked a bunch of questions, reiterated that with my jetpack, phones etc. once I hit the 22GB of data my data might be slowed down, I was told yes that was correct. It wasn't a guarantee that it would be slowed down. They didn't mention the 10GB limit. Either they were confused and didn't know what they were talking about or they were lying. I haven't even been on this forum until today, so yeah, I'm not a regular. Either way, I felt slightly misled. Anyways, I digress....also  no need to be rude.

[Marie37]

Also I just wanted to say that the comment about no need to be rude wasn't directed at you but mama23dogs. You were pretty polite. Like I said, it is entirely possible I missed that with all the confusion of the new plan rolling out.

[THOPRI38]

We are running into this same issue.  We are only 3rd day into billing cycle and have run into being throttled down to 3G.  My wife is having hard to getting local retailers sales flier to download...and we have 28 days to go.  We have not tried streaming yet but can only imagine ho we that will go.  I agree that there should hav ed bedn more disclosure by the sales rep.  There were a couple other hiccups involved with the transaction.  We have been loyal (blind?) customers of Verizon for last couple decades but this customer experience has not been good.  We will (unfortunetly) likely need to switch back to our prior cable provider to get the service we need.  One big hassle all the way around.  We pay Verizon thousands of dollars per year and think may be time to spend that money elsewhere.  Too bad. 

[THOPRI38]

I see several typos in my previous post (e.g., "unfortunately," etc.) but not able to edit it?! 

[tikibar1]

THOPRI38 wrote:

I see several typos in my previous post (e.g., "unfortunately," etc.) but not able to edit it?!

There's a five-minute window after a post is left during which edits can be made.

[bear350]

rklytle  same exact thing happened to me, I had it happen twice, once they told me I could switch to the Jet pack and keep my Unlimited plan from Alltel which i was suppose to be grandfathered into. So i bought one and brought it home only to find out when she shut my ub760 usb stick off and tried to turn on my jet pack it magically wouldn't let her, So I asked to just leave the 760 on,  guess what heppened then, Oh I am so sorry sir but we can't put that plan back.  and now I had a 16 gigrklytle s a month plan with Carry over data and 3g speeds if I went over that limit, I asked about Jet pack and they said I would have 22 gigabytes of data and after that I may be Prioritized I said sure I can live with that.  Ok First month my bill was suppose to be around 95.00 dollars compared to the 124.00 I was paying I even said to her in my chat they can look it up.  It sounds to good to be true. and assured me that It would be better than the package I had. Did not mention anything about the 10 gig throttle back stuff. Now i have been with Verizon for years now with only 2 options not including Hughes net which i had before with no limits after certain times 12 am to 8 am no limits, I  might be going back to that not sure yet.  But I am not very happy I was tricked by a Rep from Verizon not once but twice. I should rightfully have Unlimited data,text and Phone. From my Alltel but I don't anymore, The thing is I am not a high bandwidth user I may use at the very most a month 50 on a busy month.  and now I can't do the things I was used to. Oh and one more thing, the first month it let me use 23 gigs without notice on my jet pack and now I get a warning after 9.8 gigs saying I am going to be throttled down to 3 g snails pace internet which is so slow I can't watch a video on you tube or do anything I really use it for. a matter of fact I am using my Phone right now because i have to wait for about 10 minutes for a page to load and I have  a very good computer with hi end Processor quad core and 16 gigs of ram and now it is as slow as my very first computer i got back in 2000.  17years and it is worse now than when I was with alltel years ago.   I really don't know why this is, first of all it is wireless which means nobody has to come to your house and install anything, it comes over a wireless which shouldn't be slowed down. with all the tech. out here today this should not happen and verizon Reps should tell you everything and not pretend not to know what is happening when you call, like I did, they acted like they didn't know what was going on, and them after more than an hour on chat they tell me, Oh I see you have a jet pack. I almost went through the ceiling after I specifically asked about my jet pack, and my old 760 that was the same speed I am getting now after 10 gigs. i did the math so you can use up 10 gigs in Minutes, so if you get LTE speeds which typically are around 15 to 30 megabytes per second,1024 megs in a gig. at the hi end is 1800 megs per minute we all no that is bull but if you figure it out it isn't very much data, most can use that up in a  hour on the internet. So almost 2 gigabytes per hour and that is about 5 hours or it should be but it isn't close to that.