My experience with data prioritizing on T-Mobile

This cycle just 10 but I have had over 40 GB in and no change

 

Is your plan truly unlimited, or "unlimited*", and now they're finally throttling you. Have you checked the fine print in your contract?

*subject to limits, like fair usage, etc.

 

If you are a T-Mobile customer and not on their network via MVNO, they do not prioritize data. You would only be slowed if the network is just overloaded or you're getting throttled for exceeding your high speed data limit.

If you're blasting through up to 40GB/mo you must be getting throttled for tethering. Even on an unlimited plan there's a tethering limit. T-Mobile ain't stupid.

 

22-23 GB-month is the soft "limit" for Tmobile/MetroPCS/Sprint/Boost/AT&T

I just personally think since BingeOn - towers are just more congested then before.
My gf's Metro phone, NOT at 23GB per month, gets crap speeds the last 2 months. 1.2down, 6+ up speedtest.
Used to get 20's both ways. Same location.
Only at 8GB usage this month. But ALL Metro users are deprioritized from day 1, on a Tmobile tower.
Hard to want to give up the $50 Promo unlimited everything plan. (taxes included) Or switch to Tmobile for $90 plus taxes for maybe better speed.

Of course Metro doesn't even have the benefit of zero rated data for video. Seriously thinking of added her to my Boost account. Spark has always been faster at my house.

 

Tmobile does prioritize their customers data without going "over" ***
First with BingeOn, if they see video streaming (plus some others), it is limited to 1.5 download as long as you are streaming. And also, if they flag you to be in the top 3% of data users per month,

http://www.tmonews.com/2015/05/t-mobiles-de-prioritization-explained/



Now, this is worked out on a month-by-month basis. Customers that are flagged for using more data than 97% of customers in a given month will be reset at the beginning of their next bill cycle. Sadly, there’s no specific figure in GBs downloaded to go by. Nothing anywhere that says that if you hit 20GB, you get throttled. It doesn’t work that way. It’s based on percentages. And chances are, if you use 20GB of mobile data in a month, you’re in the top 3%.

 

When I think of data prioritization I think of favoring one customer over another. As in T-Mobile customers get data priority over MVNO customers. If the network gets busy, T-Mobile customers get priority. MVNO customers get slowed to provide more bandwidth to T-Mobile customers. That's prioritization.

What you are pointing out isn't what I'm talking about. If fact, it's not really prioritization at all. It not favoring one customer over another. It's throttling based on amount or type of data usage. Prioritization is the wrong term, technically.

T-Mobile does not prioritize my data use over yours if we are both T-Mobile customers. Your web browsing has equal rights to the network as mine. If you are over your data limit or are doing a certain type of data usage such as BingeOn then you may be slowed per usage rules. The same would apply to me. There is no prioritization there, just application of usage limitations.

 

You are wrong.
Tmobile user 1 , Tmobile user 2

If both have the $90 Unlimited data plan,
if User 1 uses 24GB in a month
if User2 uses 3Gb in a month

Both Tmobile customers, User 1 is prioritized lower then User 2. User 2 has full speeds, User 1 is slower

Its apples to apples. Usage if the factor, and prioritized.

 

They have equal network rights as long as neither is over their data limit.

 

"If both have the $90 Unlimited data plan"
Define equal? Or are you just trolling......

from Tmobile,

customers who use more than 23GB of data during a billing cycle will be de-prioritized for the remainder of the billing cycle in times and at locations where there are competing customer demands for network resources. At the start of the next bill cycle, the customer’s usage status is reset, and this data traffic is no longer de-prioritized.

Where the network is lightly loaded in relation to available capacity, a customer whose data is de-prioritized will notice little, if any, effect from having lower priority. This will be the case in the vast majority of times and locations. At times and at locations where the network is heavily loaded in relation to available capacity, however, these customers will likely see significant reductions in data speeds, especially if they are engaged in data-intensive activities. T-Mobile constantly works to improve network performance and capacity , but there are physical and technical limits on how much capacity is available, and in constrained locations the frequency of heavy loading in relation to available capacity may be greater than in other locations. When network loading goes down or the customer moves to a location that is less heavily loaded in relation to available capacity, the customer’s speeds will likely improve

 

OK, what T-Mobile is saying is if you have the 24GB plan, after you reach 23GB you lose proritization and might be slowed if network load demands it. In other words, for that last 24th GB you lose priority. Sort of a warning that you're close to you limit. I was not aware of that odd little catch in the contract. So you're right but only concerning that 24th GB.

It doesn't change the fact that for the 1st 23GB there is no prioritization. If I have a 2GB plan and you have 24GB and I have used 0.5GB and you have used 10GB neither of us has priority over the other. We are both within limits and have equal network rights.

 

"If both have the $90 Unlimited data plan"

there is no 23GB plan. nuff said

 

OK, whatever, point is you can be slowed after using 23GB. But again, that's usage-based not really prioritization of one customer over the other based on their plan, phone, race, religion or sexual affinity. If both are within contract limits so that usage-based throttling is not in effect, a 2GB plan customer has no priority over an Unlimited customer and the Unlimited customer has no priority over a 2GB customer.

They have equal network rights.

 

Yeah,it sucks,especially when the soft cap didn't exist before,when you started service.
I'm betting that they had some sort of unspecified/vague language before the soft cap,that they could loosely interpret & apply to anyone at anytime,with overall network congestion being the major factor that affects everyone.
All the major US players have some sort of soft cap now & don't look for any of 'em to turn back the hands of time & open the dam gates for no-strings unlimited.
Best we can hope for is the day when 4G LTE is considered the new throttled speed............................

 

Im in the same boat with Metro. 8am to 8pm shit connection
First test from 7am, and then now at 11:30am. Phone in the exact same location on a table. Connected to the same West Sacramento server. The Ping is fantastic, around the same. Data sucks now.

I can airplane toggle the phone, it starts fast on Band 12, then makes connection to band 4, back to dialup speeds. It wasn't like this all last year, until around BingeOn was introduced.

 

Network congestion at work,no doubt (Along w/all the other previous items mentioned).
I experience similar as you during "peak times",regardless of amount of data used,when @ home.
The past 2-3 yrs.,I've used an average of 2-3 GB/mo. on unlimited plans,on Sprint & T-Mobile & the same thing,slow except between approx 12AM-6AM.
The equipment has been upgraded to support LTE,but,not much good when overall traffic is growing every day.
The # of towers remains the same it was 5-6 yrs ago.
Other parts of town,speeds are blistering in comparison,averaging 45-50 mbps on Band4 (No Band 12 available & doubt if I'll ever see it w/o relocating/on vacation).

 

EDIT: USING TMO APN.

Metro PCS NYC right now:
Ping 37 Down 110 Up 30

Data Maximizer OFF permanently, on Unlimited Plan.
One week into billing cycle.
Usually stay just under 20gb total but use up all tethering.

Then again, all carriers deployed extra in NE for the snowstorm.

I have no context because í never test...

 

For what it's worth, i blow through 40-50gb a month on average. No tethering at all. The only thing I have that could tether would maybe be my 3ds, but that is currently in need of repair.

I only have an HSPA+ capable phone though. Looking to upgrade to something faster and better on signal.

 

You must be in a fairly decent area?
Looks like u get same speeds @ start & end of cycle?