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It really sucks that carriers do this, but I think it's important to realize that the issue is transparency, not that they do it. Verizon and AT&T have a probl

It really sucks that carriers do this, but I think it's important to realize that the issue is transparency, not that they do it. Verizon and AT&T have a problem with scaling. They should be honest and upfront about what speeds you're realistically going to attain, but I don't think they have an obligation not to throttle people. It's honestly hard to exist without it. I don't know if Verizon and AT&T could operate such competitive networks without throttling. Another thing to realize is that this also happens to internet download/upload speeds. How often do you realistically hit the maximum speeds you're advertised? I think there should be accountability for lack of transparency, but I can't say I blame them for throttling. I don't have enough expertise on cell tower networking to know if they could stay profitable with competitively sized networks otherwise.

Zak 13y ago
It doesn't seem at all reasonable to throttle a particular device and not other comparable devices. It seems more reasonable to have the tower/router adjust the bandwidth made available to each device in real-time to ensure there's enough bandwidth for all users in the face of capacity issues. I think it's fine to advertise peak speeds if those are regularly attainable even if sometimes they are not. It's not OK to advertise such speeds if the device is sold in a configuration that can't take advantage of them without a hack or update from the carrier or manufacturer.
- sneak 13y ago
  The blame here lies squarely with Apple for allowing the carriers to pull this sort of bullshit with their customers. They're the ones who implemented this whole carrier profile mess on their platform. They could take a lesson from Tron.
  - MBCook 13y ago
    Really? Carriers have been doing this stuff every since the first feature phone came out. I remember Verizon disabling things like USB access to storage so you'd have to use their gateways to get pictures off your phone at $1.50 each. Why do carrier Android updates take so long? One of the reasons is probably so they can put these kind of "features" in. Apple has done a lot for the wireless market. They were able to strong-arm AT&T into allowing them to ship a phone without all the standard preloaded carrier crud. My guess is this was a totally non-negotiable point on the carrier's side.
  - interpol_p 13y ago
    I'm sure if Apple didn't agree to those terms they wouldn't be selling the iPhone at all. They probably had to fight pretty hard just to avoid carrier branding on their phones. Carriers are also allowed to do it to Android phones, but choose not to do so. Why is that? Do they make more money from Android phones, and are incentivised to make them appear better performing?
    - czhiddy 13y ago
      > Carriers are also allowed to do it to Android phones, but choose not to do so. Why is that? Do they make more money from Android phones, and are incentivised to make them appear better performing? Studies have shown that iPhone user use far more data on average than Android users. Carriers would naturally throttle iOS devices first.
shurcooL 13y ago
Agree, the lack of transparency is something I have a problem with, but the speeds are _way_ more than I need. I'd rather get slower speeds and higher bandwidth caps for the same money (if I could choose).
deleted 13y ago
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Ayabashi 13y ago
They should do it at the network level depending on congestion instead of at the device level. Why should they throttle someone streaming 1080p video at 3am just because they're using an iPhone?
rayiner 13y ago
Do AT&T even advertise specific speeds? Their advertising is "4x faster than HSPA+."

Zak 13y ago

It doesn't seem at all reasonable to throttle a particular device and not other comparable devices. It seems more reasonable to have the tower/router adjust the bandwidth made available to each device in real-time to ensure there's enough bandwidth for all users in the face of capacity issues. I think it's fine to advertise peak speeds if those are regularly attainable even if sometimes they are not. It's not OK to advertise such speeds if the device is sold in a configuration that can't take advantage of them without a hack or update from the carrier or manufacturer.

sneak 13y ago
The blame here lies squarely with Apple for allowing the carriers to pull this sort of bullshit with their customers. They're the ones who implemented this whole carrier profile mess on their platform. They could take a lesson from Tron.
- MBCook 13y ago
  Really? Carriers have been doing this stuff every since the first feature phone came out. I remember Verizon disabling things like USB access to storage so you'd have to use their gateways to get pictures off your phone at $1.50 each. Why do carrier Android updates take so long? One of the reasons is probably so they can put these kind of "features" in. Apple has done a lot for the wireless market. They were able to strong-arm AT&T into allowing them to ship a phone without all the standard preloaded carrier crud. My guess is this was a totally non-negotiable point on the carrier's side.
- interpol_p 13y ago
  I'm sure if Apple didn't agree to those terms they wouldn't be selling the iPhone at all. They probably had to fight pretty hard just to avoid carrier branding on their phones. Carriers are also allowed to do it to Android phones, but choose not to do so. Why is that? Do they make more money from Android phones, and are incentivised to make them appear better performing?
  - czhiddy 13y ago
    > Carriers are also allowed to do it to Android phones, but choose not to do so. Why is that? Do they make more money from Android phones, and are incentivised to make them appear better performing? Studies have shown that iPhone user use far more data on average than Android users. Carriers would naturally throttle iOS devices first.

shurcooL 13y ago

Agree, the lack of transparency is something I have a problem with, but the speeds are _way_ more than I need. I'd rather get slower speeds and higher bandwidth caps for the same money (if I could choose).

deleted 13y ago

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Ayabashi 13y ago

They should do it at the network level depending on congestion instead of at the device level. Why should they throttle someone streaming 1080p video at 3am just because they're using an iPhone?

rayiner 13y ago

Do AT&T even advertise specific speeds? Their advertising is "4x faster than HSPA+."