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Upgraded account and now being throttled

M

I have the Nexus 5X so I've been using the prepaid $30 plan. I've never went over the data as it was sufficient for me at the time. However, this past month I haven't had reliable WiFi where I'm located so I've become dependent on T-mobile 4G LTE at the moment.

 

After going over my allotted 5 GB, I called customer service to upgrade my account to $75 Unlimited everything right away. However, after the upgrade my connection is way slower than the ~20 Mbps I was getting on my previous plan and the Hotspot has been throttled all the way down to 500 Kbps from ~15 Mbps.

 

My Data totals reset after upgraded so why am I being throttled? What is the point of paying $75 Unlimited everything when I being throttled off the bat?

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Best answer by magenta2454781 21 August 2017, 05:33

After snooping around, I've figured it out and will be switching to AT&T. They don't throttle hotspot use until 10GB, which is more than enough for me in their unlimited plan. I should've researched a bit more before upgrading my account with T-Mobile.

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17 replies

M

After snooping around, I've figured it out and will be switching to AT&T. They don't throttle hotspot use until 10GB, which is more than enough for me in their unlimited plan. I should've researched a bit more before upgrading my account with T-Mobile.

j.a.r.v.i.s
Userlevel 3

Sorry to see you go @magenta2454781​ - T-Mobile One for $70 includes tethering, but it's not full LTE speed.   For +$10 for One Plus gets you 10GB before throttling...or if you go with One Plus International, hotspot is unlimited...after 32GB, then you might get throttled if there is congestion...

How much for AT&T?  Is it comparable to $80?

artart

Hi @j.a.r.v.i.s​

Your question got me to thinking.

How can At&T possibly have a lower rate than T-Mobile

for any plan with the exact same or better features?

The minute AT&T were to even announce the availability

of such a plan. John Legere  would be putting out a press

release that T-Mobile was offering a lower cost plan. 😉

So I did some snooping "around".myself.

Actually I simply called up an AT&T store to see if there was

an unadvertised plan @magenta2454781 might have discovered.

I asked:

"Do you offer a prepaid plan with 10GB  of high speed data tethering?"

I was told the only prepaid plan which offered tethering was the $45

plan for 6 GB. Handset data & tethered data are combined with a 6GB cap.

(The OP's former prepaid T-Mobile $30 plan had a 5GB tethering allowance.)

I asked if there was a 10GB High Speed tethering option with a post paid plan.

There is a post paid unlimited data plan with 10GB  of tethering for $95 + taxes.

The OP never really asked a question. After his initial post, he did return an

hour later and made a statement. He then claimed that his statement was a

correct "answer".

It leaves an unsupported statement marked as "a correct answer" .

I hope the original poster does answer your question so that he might

verify that his statement was indeed correct.

Frankly, I believe your reply is the correct answer, and the OP would really

benefit by giving the T-Mo plan a try. He would save himself $180 per year.

Art

artart

Hi @magenta2454781​

Welcome to the forum.

We usually can help each other by addressing each others concerns. That is why it is called a community support forum. We do want to offer you any support we can. I can  understand you being upset. After paying 2 and a half times more for a new T-Mo plan than you had previously been paying, you had experienced slower speeds than you were expecting.

It seems that your original prepaid plan might have been a better plan speed wise. As @j.a.r.v.i.s​ pointed out on your new plan, tethering speed is only 3G. I haven't been able to find any 5GB options (your old plan) on the current list of prepaid offerings. I suspect you might have inadvertently given up a valuable grandfathered plan that is no longer being offered.

@j.a.r.v.i.s​ had an excellent suggestion about switching to the One Plus plan. I assume that you qualify credit wise for a post paid plan since you were anticipating switching to an AT&T post paid plan of some sort. The fact is T-Mobile will likely be willing to extend you credit based upon your loyalty and past on time payment history. I would encourage you to give the One plus plan a try.

Art

M

Throttling has been pathetic these days. Perfect reception right under T-Mobile cell tower and video will not play. 6GB monthly data limit and I only have 1gb used and it still will not play video. Take out SIM card and switch to Verizon and video immediately plays. WTF T-Mobile...? T-Mobile sent me a new SIM card and it is the same S H I T!! Video still will not play

nelfar212
Userlevel 2

It's nice to see folks do their research, the

TMO1 Tier I Offers Unl (Talk,Text, and Smartphone Data)  TTAD and Unl Mobile Hotspot/tethering @3g speeds

TMO 1 Tier II  Plus Same deal except 10GB LTE Mobile Hotspot/Tethering speeds reduced to 3g after 10gb

TMO 1 Tier III Plus Int Same as Tier I and II except  the Mobile Hotspot is UNL LTE and after 50GB you may experience slower speeds 'ONLY" on a congested tower. much like when rush hour traffic clears, speed will bump back up after the particular tower congestion clears.

There is no other carrier that can compete with T-Mobiles offerings, Though many swear by Verizions' coverage, they too have dead spots and coverage prone areas. To the OP, my advice when researching plans be sure to familiarize yourself with terms this will help you understand fully what your paying for.

Smartphone data: Data used by your device

Mobile Hotspot/Tethering  Data used via shared devices

Deprioritizing

Tier II is a great option due to binge on. I have a different grandfathered plan an I rarely exceed 14gb of hotspot use. 

M

Mine used to always work fine in the past but now is a different story. Even if one had full 3G speeds the video should play back without being cut off or waiting to load. When I spoke with tre supervisor she said my account had no Restrictions on it for data speeds download. I have a 6GB LTE Data package so there should be no excuse for it not playing a video when I have barely if any data used on my package. Switch SIM cards and switch devices and this issue is not relevant but is only relevant using T-Mobile device. This is messed up and I hope T-Mobile resolves this issue for me. I tried this with a new iPhone 8S Plus, New iPad Pro and a new Google Pixel 2 XL. When swapped to Verizon SIM card all videos immediately downloaded and played back with no interruptions but as soon as I put my T-Mobile card in I could not get them to play. Last but not least it is not the freakin device issue as all my devices are bought up front unlocked!! They have all bands working on them so I do not want to hear any device BS! I travel all over the world and every SIM card I pop in works properly and fast accept for freakin T-Mobile. This is a recent issue though for the last 4-5 months. Previously it worked fine like all other SIM cards I put in my devices

M

Issue 1: I have a T-mobile One plan with the "$10" add-on and my speed still doesn't pass 4 mbps under 10GB hotspot. I changed it to the "International Plus" with its Unlimited Hotspot and the speed remained the same, specially when I test it on a non-tmobile device even though it's compatible with T-mobile's B2, B4, and B12. Data on the phone is also slower than I had living 15 minutes away. My speed fell from 60 - 100 Mbps to 3-15 Mbps where I live now (Downtown Houston). The hotspot speed fell from 15-25 Mbps to 0.60 - 4 Mbps. This is unacceptable taking in consideration the location and plan I am paying for.

Issue 2: The signal in my apartment is acting horrible despite having full bars in it. I have full bars in my living room and yet the call randomly drops or my data stops responding. When the signal drops the bars goes from full to 0 (zero) and back to full. I called to notify the issue, and a signal booster (RSC) was sent (not the latest one). Turns out the booster has issues connecting to the network unless it has the same problem as all phones here.

Conclusion: I'm tired of waiting, I'm tired of paying for UNLIMITED Data at LTE but receive a 3G like unreliable service. I live in downtown, where I receive Band 2, 4, and 12. I have an app on my phone that monitors the network and shows signal drops on Band 2 and Band 4. Even though my phone is capable of band 12 it seems everyone is connected to it because all I get is less than what I used to get back in HSPA+. Hotspot on 4G LTE network remains slower than 4 Mbps.

Phones I have troubleshot the network with:

  • Non Branded t-mobile phone
  • LG V30
  • Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
  • LG K330

PS: At&t does allow unlimited Hotspot line for the same price as adding a voice line to your Unlimited Plus account ($20), and its speed normally stays around 10 MBPS. I believe if I am paying for a hotspot plan (regardless whether its $10 or $25, and regardless the device I choose) I should at least get a reliable service and speed on the network, specially if it's being marketed as LTE speeds.

M

So if you have the premium plan why do they say your being throttled down because you used too much data? They say only in congested areas but I've been told no not true. Use too much data and get throttled down even though streaming is free.

nelfar212
Userlevel 2

Throttling is no longer used per say.  Most of our smartphone data plans have unlimited data, meaning no charge for overages. with that being said TMO threshold is 50gbs if your on a NON congested tower you won't notice a difference, If your on a congested tower you may or may not notice a difference. The Mobile hotspots are a different story my plan allots 14gb of LTE data, binge on don't count towards that 14gb limit, however, once I've exceeded the 14gb LTE the hotspot operates at 3G speeds which is worse than dial up. I've inquired as to why is 3G so slow these days, haven't got a straight answer yet , 

M

T mobile has the better prices but not service it does suck but you get what you pay for i remember my ex had at&t and when my  hotspot could barely power my firestick her would run so smooth and fast no need to buffer..... also she had tons of deals like home internet at her place that was supper cheap since she had a phone with them plus she had dish network with a bunch of free stuff..... what sucks with t mobile hotspot if you can only hotspot off the phone but not off of an actual hotspot like the zte 719 unless you get a bucket plan n yet t mobile was ranting they got rid of buckets yeah right..... and 3g unlimited you might as well go to the library and run your laptop off the public wifi 3 g is a joke

M

nelfar212,

How are 3G speeds worse than dial-up? I came across this thread looking for "the answer" to 3G speeds for tethered devices on the TMO 1 plan (I'm on the 10 GB North American plan with data stash), and at minimum it should be around 128kbps, with a possibility being 512kbps. Going with 128kbps, it is just over 2x faster than dial-up (at 56kbps), and considering you can travel with your computer while online and making a voice call, it is MUCH better. Are you not getting at least 56kbps?

L

I just recently went from a T-Mobile Loyalty Plan which I had for over 14 years to the T-Mobile Military Plan just to save around $30, and I don't know if it's just me but I have been noticing that my data is somehow slower??? I went from 10GB of 4G LTE  per line to Unlimited 4G LTE, but somehow I feel as if my data is slower, I know it does't make sense but I watch (listen) to youtube videos everyday on my way home from work and ever since I switched my plan the videos have been buffering??? I don't know what to think of it right now since I just switched a couple of weeks ago, I'm hoping its just a transitional thing ...

nelfar212
Userlevel 2

I'll run a speed test when I get home, what makes 3G unusable is not just the downlink but Ping time as well. Just imagine water trying to move through a unclogged pipe vs. an excessively clogged one. I'm going to assume since I live in a very small city more than likely I'm on a older tower which operates on a reduced capacity as evident by my LTE speed test the max on the down is 20MBps. vs. when I've traveled to major cities and did around 150-175MBps. My comparison of 3G to Dial up is exaggerated, however I have found extreme load times while in 3G, it's possible TMO allows a bit more throughput to customers with 3G plans vs. those who have been throttled as a result of exceeding data buckets. Not sure, I watch my data usage and ensure I don't use all my data.     

M

I joined the MIlitary Plan recently and now experience the same slow speeds when tethering.  Tethering is so slow now that it is essentially unusable.   Today, Sunday, there was no congestion and the phone was getting 50 Mbps, but when I switched to tethering so that I could use my laptop, the internet speed of my laptop was under 100 Kbps.  It was unusable.  Before I switched to the Military Plan, I received reasonable tethering speeds (5Mps) until I used up my 4Gb of data for the month.  Now it is horrible all of the time, no matter how much data I have used.

nelfar212
Userlevel 2

You have to upgrade to the next tier to get your LTE hotspot/tethering back it's $10. for 10GB per line. The only reason I haven't switched to TMO Military. My plan is a TAD more by $30. All my Voice lines have 14GB LTE tethering which I'm not ready to give up.

F

Old thread but similar issue a year later.. was transitioned to a new One plan from a plan where I had had unlimited data with LTE tethering.  Now I am stuck trying to work one my laptop using the tether with a 3G speed of 0.5 mbps on download! T-Mobiles 3G speed should be more than 3.5 Mbps!!!  It not only sucks, its makes trying to work frustrating and inefficient if I can even get started!!!  I was offered the ability to pay more (big surprise) to get 20GB of LTE speed for only $15.00 a month.  Gee thanks T-Mobile for talking me out of a better capability and onto one that blows!

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