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T-Mobile Raises Deprioritization Threshold To 30GB (tmonews.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TmoNews: T-Mobile's new deprioritization threshold is 30GB of usage in a single billing cycle. While T-Mo didn't make an official announcement about the change, you can see in this cached page that the network management policy says 28GB: "Based on network statistics for the most recent quarter, customers who use more than 28GB of data during a billing cycle will have their data usage prioritized below other customers' data usage for the remainder of the billing cycle in times and at locations where there are competing customer demands for network resources." Navigating to the webpage today now says 30GB. What this change means is that if you use more than 30GB of data in one billing cycle, your data usage will be prioritized below others for the remainder of that billing cycle. The only time that you're likely to see the effects of that, though, is when you're at a location on the network that is congested, during which time you may see slower speeds. Once you move to a different location or the congestion goes down, your speeds will likely go back up. And once the new billing cycle rolls around, your usage will be reset.

39 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Found the LUDDITE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ONLY apps can app apps, NOT LUDDITE dumbphones!
    It sounds like you're too stupid to use appy app apps like Appy App Saga and Appstragram, so you have to make up LUDDITE lies instead!
    Apps!

  2. Remember when... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    /. had news that matters? More science and less corporate plugs please.

    1. Re:Remember when... by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Hey, got to make money somehow... But you are right, it makes it hard for the ad blocking software to catch them...

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:Remember when... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      Remember when Slashdot had news that mattered?

      Pepperidge Farm Remembers.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:Remember when... by sabri · · Score: 1

      But you are right, it makes it hard for the ad blocking software to catch them...

      Well, what really annoys me is the amount of ##.col${RANDOM}.scw-horizontal.stackcommerce-widget entries I have in my adblock filters now.

      --
      I'm not a complete idiot... Some parts are missing.
  3. What does this matter. by hackwrench · · Score: 2

    Most plans lower you to 2G speeds well below that.

    1. Re:What does this matter. by geek · · Score: 1

      Most plans lower you to 2G speeds well below that.

      T-Mobile lowers you to 4G speeds. I know reading is hard but FFS why comment if you don't have a fucking clue?

    2. Re:What does this matter. by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      And you know this because you read the article... How about actually having an account? I had an account with MetroPCS, an alterego of T-Mobile, and I did run out of the amount they give you. I recently switched because their customer service is lousy. Now maybe T-Mobile branded accounts are different, but let me get back to you on that further on in the post
      And what is reduce you to 4G supposed to mean? There is no speed higher than 4G except for some companies playing with so-called 5G networks.
      Now back to T-Mobile branded accounts: Unless the terms have changed, which they very well may have, all the plans stated in their terms that they lowered the speeds to 2G.
      https://support.t-mobile.com/d...
      Unlimited 4G LTE data on your smartphone.
      Note: Data slows to 2G once your data limit is reached.
      Yes. Still says 2G.

    3. Re:What does this matter. by networkBoy · · Score: 1

      T-Mo branded accounts are different then.
      I get throttled only near busy cells (based on observation such as: at the mall while lots of other people are there).
      Near my house I don't see any throttling at all.

      While I'm being throttled my phone is still reporting LTE, but I am seeing speeds drop to about 40-70% of normal.

      --
      whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
    4. Re:What does this matter. by schnell · · Score: 1

      I get throttled only near busy cells (based on observation such as: at the mall while lots of other people are there).

      That's not throttling. That's T-Mobile's network getting slammed.

      Throttling is the deliberate, policy-based use of the network to constrain a user's throughput lower than default "best effort" settings. Traditionally this was done by forcing the user from a higher data rate technology to a lower one, such as bumping a user off the LTE network and onto 3G (HSPA/CDMA), or from a 3G network onto 2G (EDGE/1xRTT). More advanced networks can now do this by using LTE Quality of Service features to 1.) set a maximum bit rate for the user's default data EPS bearer or 2.) lower the user's ARP and QCI values so that they have a lower-than-best-effort priority for resources and in the network scheduler.

      If you're getting lower throughput at busy cells, that isn't throttling, that's... the network being busy. If it happens every once in a while, that's an abnormal network load and to be expected. If it's happening all the time, your carrier either has its spectrum exhausted in the area, or sucks at network planning (constraints in backhaul, coverage densification, etc.). Or neither and they are just cheap.

      --
      "95% of all Slashdot .sig quotes are incorrect or completely fabricated." -Benjamin Franklin
  4. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Your traffic might go from 25MB/s down to 22.8MB/s. They aren't blocking traffic, they aren't stopping your traffic. They are just making it so that others have a fair share. Compared to all the other operators, they are doing it right.

  5. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Limitless data does not mean limitless data to the detriment of other people.

    Even if they slow you down, they're still not limiting the amount of data that you can download.

    Don't ever come to Canada, where they charge you $5 per gig over your already expensive 1/2/5/10GB data plan.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  6. Why a threshold? by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Why not just prioritize all traffic by previous traffic used per billing cycle? So light users generally get top prioritization and heavy users get gradually lower prioritization but nobody has to pick a number where it suddenly switches form one category to another.

    --
    -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
    "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    1. Re:Why a threshold? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      My wife and I lost interest in television back in the 90s some time. We threw a tablecloth over our television and started using it as an endtable. Eventually, we forgot it was even a television! I lifted the tablecloth one day and chuckled when I saw the screen... it had just been so long. With all the free time we gained from not watching television, we've been able to improve our lives in many ways. For one thing, we learned that a lot of our so-called "friends" were so addicted to the "boob tube" that we stopped hanging out with them because all they ever wanted to do or talk about was TV... and whenever we gently suggested "unplugging" to them, it would just upset them. So now, we enjoy our cats, the great outdoors, we volunteer for community service like our HOA board and neighborhood watch, and work on improving our lives and the lives of others around us. Some people just need a little persistent pressure to improve themselves!

    2. Re:Why a threshold? by silverkniveshotmail. · · Score: 2

      If this wasn't so boring I'd guess it was copypasta.

    3. Re:Why a threshold? by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      Why three tiers? If fewer is better, why not two, or just one? If more is better, why not ten, or a hundred, or a thousand... which in the limit becomes what I was suggesting.

      Unless someone can give a reason why some particular arbitrary number of tiers is best, it seems the obvious default is either no tiers (which is to say, one tier, everyone gets equal priority) or continuous ranking of prioritization like I suggested.

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    4. Re:Why a threshold? by j-beda · · Score: 1

      Why not just prioritize all traffic by previous traffic used per billing cycle? So light users generally get top prioritization and heavy users get gradually lower prioritization but nobody has to pick a number where it suddenly switches form one category to another.

      I was thinking the same thing. When there is no congestion, everyone gets top speed, otherwise priotiize the lightest users. Heck - the light users probably won't make much of a dent in available bandwidth anyway.

    5. Re:Why a threshold? by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      That makes me think of another good reason to do this: since light users won't make much of a dent in available bandwidth, prioritizing them ensures that the largest number of users get full speed for all their usage. Like how if you have many things to do, you can get more of them done sooner by doing the quick ones first.

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
  7. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Don't ever come to Canada, where they charge you $5 per gig over your already expensive 1/2/5/10GB data plan.

    What's funny is - with T-Mobile, you roam for free on Rodgers (I think that's the network). Last year I headed up to Vancouver for a meeting - a minute or two after I crossed the border, I got a text telling me I had the same coverage in Canada as in the US - for free.

    Maybe you should buy service from T-Mobile in the US and then head home...

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  8. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by fred6666 · · Score: 1

    Limitless data does not mean limitless data to the detriment of other people.

    It's to the detriment of others because they do not upgrade their infrastructure enough. It's their problem if they do not upgrade enough to get the bandwidth required to serve their unlimited customers.

  9. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    You know as well as I do that whatever upgrades they do, users like you will use all of it and then complain again.

    You still have unlimited data right now, upgraded infrastructures or not.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  10. Sounds reasonable. by MMC+Monster · · Score: 1

    Just wish they had better coverage around me.

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
    1. Re:Sounds reasonable. by DewDude · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure where "around me" is; but you may need to check to see if your phone lacks support for one of the bands they use. My area has seen a huge expansion of Band 12 LTE and the coverage has been pretty fantastic; but I also see areas with Band 2 expansion having a notice about having a compatible phone.

  11. A REAL clampdown on anti-social bandwidth usage. by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    I totally misread the headline as a 30GB Deportation Threshold.

  12. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

    Of course there has to be a limit, there is only so much bandwidth available. But, they shouldn't fucking advertise it as limitless when there is actually a limit.

    --
    I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
  13. Re:A REAL clampdown on anti-social bandwidth usage by cstacy · · Score: 1

    beat me to it! LOL

  14. Efficiency with 156-bit frames, legacy, simplicity by raymorris · · Score: 1

    GSM data is sent in 156-bit (18 byte) frames, which are then combined into superframes. So anyway the prioritization decision is made every few bytes - millions of times for one video. It needs to be fast, very fast, and a flag indicating "high" or "low" priority is fast - much much faster than computing and comparing a numerical score for each frame to see who is highest, then multiplying the reciprocal of that by time in queue.

    Also, long before T-Mobile started prioritizing based on usage so far in month, network protocols and network equipment was built built with traffic classes, not traffic scores. T-Mobile is using pre-existing functionality. It's arguable which provides a "better" customer experience, so they might as well use the simple, efficient, pre-existing method.

  15. Nope by mrfatmann · · Score: 1

    My Pay as you go $40/ month is still 2Gigs. Rising tide it ain't

  16. Re:Efficiency with 156-bit frames, legacy, simplic by DewDude · · Score: 1

    GSM data is sent in 156-bit (18 byte) frames

    LTE != GSM

  17. So... by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    I may not have all the facts, but I certainly have a clue. Something you don't realize when your world comes to consist of what is contained in a single article.

    1. Re:So... by geek · · Score: 1

      I may not have all the facts, but I certainly have a clue. Something you don't realize when your world comes to consist of what is contained in a single article.

      I'm a TMO customer. Nice try troll.

    2. Re:So... by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      That doesn't mean that you didn't narrow your worldview to the scope of the article, the only information you complained I didn't use in making my initial assessment. But what do you make of T-Mobile's own website saying that speeds are limited to 2G?

  18. I 'member by mpercy · · Score: 1

    'Member Chewbacca?

  19. Still, 5ms or 10s by raymorris · · Score: 1

    LTE uses 5ms-10ms frames. So still, that's 100-200 switching decisions per second, per connection.

  20. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by zedaroca · · Score: 1

    if everyone streamed HD youtube all day nobody would get any data at all

    Your math skills are lacking. If everyone did that, everyone would be getting as much as possible from their unlimited plans, that's a lot of data.
    His solution is obvious, split it evenly between all the customers, without penalizing any of them unequally. In order to provide more bandwidth better technology and coverage might be necessary.

  21. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by guyniraxn · · Score: 1

    I have T-Mobile as well and love the free international roaming. I've used it with great success in Asia and Mexico but just last weekend I was in Montreal. I got the same text I always do about free roaming but the entire time I was there I only had voice and SMS service. No data whatsoever.

  22. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by fred6666 · · Score: 1

    Maybe you should buy service from T-Mobile in the US and then head home...

    You must use a majority of your data in the US (over a few months) to use that plan otherwise they may ban you.

  23. Re:Where's the class action lawsuit about "limitle by fred6666 · · Score: 1

    Nobody forces them to offer unlimited plans if they are not able to deliver.

  24. This is just crazy. by NoSalt · · Score: 1

    First companies have a race to see who can screw their customers over the most. Now, they're in a race to see who can give customers the most data. So ... do they want to screw us over or not???