Unlimited data plan, but you can only use 5GB

[argonauta]

So, I called my cellphone company to ask for dataplans...they offer an email plan with unlimited internet for $20. When I asked...so I can really use the internet as much as I want? they reply: yes, but it's limited to 5GB a month.

I said 5gb is not unlimited, but they say it's unlimited because nobody really uses 5gb...isn't that false advertising????

[sstalder]

I would say so, but I am not a lawyer :d

[atRax]

What is the company and where are you?

I usually don't hit over 600mb..

[argonauta]

movistar, in ecuador...I didn't hire the plan yet...and I'll give them a second chance...usually the people on the phone don't have any idea what they're talking about

[1stbite]

had the same here in UK when I had the mis-fortune to use NTL for my home internet..

They claimed unlimited internet data transfer... in fact at the time anything over 4GB and you were deemed an excessive user and the connection was closed until the start of the next calender month as per their small print in the terms and conditions. :S

Again I'm using three mobile internet and i have unlimited account which I have been informed by the sales team when I purchased it that the terms and conditions state that can be revoked (capped) if three deem the data transfer is excessive to normal usage.

[hanratty21]

5GB on a cellphone data plan is a ton. What is it about the plan that you don't like, other than what you percieve as false advertising? There is no chance you'd hit that threshold anyway, so no problem, right?

[argonauta]

their site it says the plan is unlimited internet access, limited to 5gb if i use my phone as a modem, and $2 per extra mb. I think that's reasonable. As I said, there's a chance that the phone guy didn't know what he was talking about.

Also, I haven't hired any plan yet, because they can activate it only the day they bill my account (once per month on the 8th).

I don't know if 5GB is a ton for a cellphone, never had internet there before. I can easily go beyond 1GB of downloads in a day with my pc, but again, I don't think I'd use my phone the same way as a pc.

Either way, you can go beyond 5GB easily nowadays...not sure if it's 5gb of download or total data transfer (upload and download).

I have a full webserver on my phone (php, mysql, apache), hosting a site there could use a lot of bandwith (the fact that it wouldn't be reasonable or even suitable is another story). If you upload or download lots of photos to flickr, you can use tons of data (one of my phones is a 5megapixel camera, so that means big photos). I can also have a p2p client on my phone, you could also download music (legally, but a dumb way to, you could have your entire mp3 library on a server and download it from your phone). One of my sites is about 6mb per page, which is also a lot to download on a phone.

Certainly, I wouldn't use it that much, and I guess it isn't broadband either (and the phone's battery life isn't that long), so maybe they're right that I wouldn't go beyond 5GB. BUT, there's a huge difference between unlimited and 5GB.

[silverx2]

your not going to be downloading HD porn on your phone.

[el-Ignoramus]

No, he's gonna be making it...

[argonauta]

I'm a virgin, and no, i don't like porn, but I'm into sheep these days...can discovery channel programs be considered porn?

[FlashLackey]

their site it says the plan is unlimited internet access, limited to 5gb if i use my phone as a modem, and $2 per extra mb. I think that's reasonable. As I said, there's a chance that the phone guy didn't know what he was talking about.

Sounds like they are counting the internet access via the phone interface as being unlimited. But, if you use the phone as a modem to download onto another machine, they have a 5GB limit.

[gerbick]

Sounds like they are counting the internet access via the phone interface as being unlimited. But, if you use the phone as a modem to download onto another machine, they have a 5GB limit.

My question has always been... how would they know?

I've had an iPhone and I've yet to reach over 500mb in a month really. That's with 4 Gmail accounts, one Exchange account, files from the store, online music purchases, and some YouTube watching.

[FlashLackey]

Maybe there's something proprietary in the phone in question that tags different kinds of transferring?

Though, even if they didn't have that, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to tell what the phone was being used for if someone got it up to 5GB just by the records of IP's etc. They probably want to avoid having someone hook it up to a laptop and seed 100 movie torrents for a month.

[zakp0]

Maybe there's something proprietary in the phone in question that tags different kinds of transferring?

Though, even if they didn't have that, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to tell what the phone was being used for if someone got it up to 5GB just by the records of IP's etc. They probably want to avoid having someone hook it up to a laptop and seed 100 movie torrents for a month.

There can't be anything like that unless it's a locked phone purchased from the provider. Phones like those usually have the OS tampered with a little to cater for the carrier.

[asheep_uk]

...i don't like porn, but I'm into sheep these days...

How you doin'?

[argonauta]

hello there

[gerbick]

don't get a room, you two.

[el-Ignoramus]

Ohh let the freaks have their fun, they might produce more woolly hats.

[Frets]

It's like that "All you can eat for $5.00"
































If you try to eat more someone handslaps you and says

"That's all you can eat for $5.00
You wanna eat more you gotta pay more."

[hurricaneone]

There are not enough days in the month to reach a 5Gb download limit over even a 3G line.