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I have one of these old grandfathered accounts from many years ago (< $20 / line for unlimited data, 5gb tethering, unlimited sms, and unlimited voice). What's

by xur17 2y ago

I have one of these old grandfathered accounts from many years ago (< $20 / line for unlimited data, 5gb tethering, unlimited sms, and unlimited voice). What's weird is that they've actually upgraded the plan over time while keeping the price the same. It originally didn't include tethering, and was capped at 3gb of data.

Dalewyn 2y ago
I would hazard a guess that backend upgrades made keeping your plan as-original became impractical if not impossible, but hiking your price up and losing you as a customer was also wholly unappealing because any money is better than no money. So presumably AT&T did the next best thing for both you and themselves by silently(?) upgrading your plan to whatever was the new minimum of the new hardware while keeping true to the price lock to keep you as a customer.
Akronymus 2y ago
The unlimited data but limited tethering is one of the more scummy moves by telecoms IMO.
- immibis 2y ago
  Is it? When you pay a certain amount at a buffet for unlimited food, they let you eat as much as you want at the buffet, but they don't let you bag it up and take it home. True unlimited costs a lot more. There are ugly ways to cheat the system by replacing your stomach with a food sack and not chewing.
  - Dylan16807 2y ago
    The buffet analogy isn't very compelling when ordinary people will watch video on their phones for long periods, easily using 3GB+ per hour. I don't want more data, I just want flexibility. (If we really want to force a buffet analogy, it's like living in a dorm with a permanent buffet, but you're not allowed to bring buffet food into the lounge or back to your room.)
  - happymellon 2y ago
    This makes no sense, it would be more akin to buying a meal and only being allowed to eat noodles with the left side of the mouth. You paid for X amount of data, why does it matter if you are using it for a work VPN or browsing HN?
    - immibis 2y ago
      Except you didn't? You paid for all-you-can-eat-on-a-phone, and 5 GB extra. So it's a dormitory with unlimited dining hall, but you can only take one plate a week outside of the dining hall. For the provider, the point of this design is that there's only a certain amount that people are willing to download on a phone or eat in a dining hall. For the consumer, they don't have to count their data or their servings as long as they follow a simple rule - they get predictable billing.
      - Dylan16807 2y ago
        > So it's a dormitory with unlimited dining hall, but you can only take one plate a week outside of the dining hall. You see how that's bad, right? My phone service, a utility, should not be micromanaging me.
        doubleg72 2y ago
        They aren’t, they manage their spectrum you are agreeing to use.
        Dylan16807 2y ago
        They should not even know when I'm tethering.
        immibis 2y ago
        That's one point of view, but you just banned unlimited-on-your-phone plans that a lot of people presumably enjoyed. If they change them to simple unlimited plans, you'll be popular. If they only offer limited plans now, you'll be unpopular.
- happymellon 2y ago
  I'm not in the US, but I've not heard of this. My 60Gb can be consumed by YouTube, HN or tethering. It doesn't really matter to them. Is this common in other countries?
  - jonfw 2y ago
    It's less common for limited data like you have, it's more common for unlimited data. Essentially they don't want people using tethering as a replacement for home internet on these plans
    - happymellon 2y ago
      I could have got an unlimited plan, except that it costs more and even with tethering I don't go through more than 40GB so I saved a bit and downgraded to a limited plan. The data limitations was a personal choice. I don't see any of the providers here in the UK with different amounts for tethering Vs data.
- JohnClark1337 2y ago
  One of the reasons I used to swap out the OS on my android phone. Back then I used CyanogenMod (now LineageOS) and they weren't able to track when I was using tethering and when I was just using my regular data.

by xur17 2y ago

Dalewyn 2y ago

I would hazard a guess that backend upgrades made keeping your plan as-original became impractical if not impossible, but hiking your price up and losing you as a customer was also wholly unappealing because any money is better than no money. So presumably AT&T did the next best thing for both you and themselves by silently(?) upgrading your plan to whatever was the new minimum of the new hardware while keeping true to the price lock to keep you as a customer.

Akronymus 2y ago

The unlimited data but limited tethering is one of the more scummy moves by telecoms IMO.

immibis 2y ago
Is it? When you pay a certain amount at a buffet for unlimited food, they let you eat as much as you want at the buffet, but they don't let you bag it up and take it home. True unlimited costs a lot more. There are ugly ways to cheat the system by replacing your stomach with a food sack and not chewing.
- Dylan16807 2y ago
  The buffet analogy isn't very compelling when ordinary people will watch video on their phones for long periods, easily using 3GB+ per hour. I don't want more data, I just want flexibility. (If we really want to force a buffet analogy, it's like living in a dorm with a permanent buffet, but you're not allowed to bring buffet food into the lounge or back to your room.)
- happymellon 2y ago
  This makes no sense, it would be more akin to buying a meal and only being allowed to eat noodles with the left side of the mouth. You paid for X amount of data, why does it matter if you are using it for a work VPN or browsing HN?
  - immibis 2y ago
    Except you didn't? You paid for all-you-can-eat-on-a-phone, and 5 GB extra. So it's a dormitory with unlimited dining hall, but you can only take one plate a week outside of the dining hall. For the provider, the point of this design is that there's only a certain amount that people are willing to download on a phone or eat in a dining hall. For the consumer, they don't have to count their data or their servings as long as they follow a simple rule - they get predictable billing.
    - Dylan16807 2y ago
      > So it's a dormitory with unlimited dining hall, but you can only take one plate a week outside of the dining hall. You see how that's bad, right? My phone service, a utility, should not be micromanaging me.
      - doubleg72 2y ago
        They aren’t, they manage their spectrum you are agreeing to use.
        Dylan16807 2y ago
        They should not even know when I'm tethering.
        immibis 2y ago
        That's one point of view, but you just banned unlimited-on-your-phone plans that a lot of people presumably enjoyed. If they change them to simple unlimited plans, you'll be popular. If they only offer limited plans now, you'll be unpopular.
happymellon 2y ago
I'm not in the US, but I've not heard of this. My 60Gb can be consumed by YouTube, HN or tethering. It doesn't really matter to them. Is this common in other countries?
- jonfw 2y ago
  It's less common for limited data like you have, it's more common for unlimited data. Essentially they don't want people using tethering as a replacement for home internet on these plans
  - happymellon 2y ago
    I could have got an unlimited plan, except that it costs more and even with tethering I don't go through more than 40GB so I saved a bit and downgraded to a limited plan. The data limitations was a personal choice. I don't see any of the providers here in the UK with different amounts for tethering Vs data.
JohnClark1337 2y ago
One of the reasons I used to swap out the OS on my android phone. Back then I used CyanogenMod (now LineageOS) and they weren't able to track when I was using tethering and when I was just using my regular data.