Anyone Regret Giving Up Unlimited Data Plan?

[eeyoreandtink]

This kind of confuses me. The phones are designed to switch back and forth on their own. Turn WiFi on and when there's WiFi, you have WiFi, when there's not the phone will drop over to LTE or 4G. There's no need to switch back and forth. (the exception being your network going out and the phone trying to locate it)

I have steadfastly guarded DH's unlimited but after looking at our history we have three iPhones that use less than 2GBs a month combined. That includes a teenager, lol! This is probably due to living in a large city and having access to WiFi just about anywhere we go. There are a few exceptions and in those instances we'd like to use our phones as hot spot for ipads or laptops. We can't do that with our current plan. We're clearly overpaying for what we have so we're going to make the jump I think.

I find that leaving my wifi turned on is brutal on battery life. It cuts my battery life almost in half to just leave the wifi on. It was explained to me that the phone expended energy constantly searching for a wifi network it can connect to.

 

[4luv2cdisney]

This kind of confuses me. The phones are designed to switch back and forth on their own. Turn WiFi on and when there's WiFi, you have WiFi, when there's not the phone will drop over to LTE or 4G. There's no need to switch back and forth. (the exception being your network going out and the phone trying to locate it)

I have steadfastly guarded DH's unlimited but after looking at our history we have three iPhones that use less than 2GBs a month combined. That includes a teenager, lol! This is probably due to living in a large city and having access to WiFi just about anywhere we go. There are a few exceptions and in those instances we'd like to use our phones as hot spot for ipads or laptops. We can't do that with our current plan. We're clearly overpaying for what we have so we're going to make the jump I think.

It will jump over to known networks (my home) but nowhere else. So, if I'm at Starbucks or at work, I'm not using their wi-fi.

Honestly, my wi-fi at home kind of stinks and we are all on the internet a lot. So, I had wi-fi completely turned off for a while because it seemed to help with our connection speed.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

We have 3 unlimited data lines and 1 with 2 GB data. My son with the 2 GB, routinely bumps up against his data limit. He says the cloud at his high school isn't good at all and no longer tries to access it.

Me personally, I would be OK in my normal life - I use wifi at work and at home, and just noticed I can use it at my regular grocery store, which pretty much sums up my life, LOL. Being able to use the internet during my commute isn't an issue, because I'm driving. However, if we travel or if there's an emergency, all that is out the window. We use our phones for driving directions and finding hotels/restaurants, etc. on the fly. Years ago I would use my phone as a hotspot for my laptop when we traveled.

My husband, on the other hand, does not have wifi at work and oftentimes uses his phone to look up parts and stuff for his job - he works at a golf course and would have to go to the clubhouse to use a computer and sitting in his golf cart using his phone is more convenient. <--- that's for spending his days on a golf course and getting paid for it.

My daughter, in college, has a "phablet" and uses hers all the time, for school or amusement. She routinely goes over 12 GB EACH MONTH. She is moving into a different house so maybe her internet options will change soon; she has said that the internet at her current apartment is horrible so she doesn't use it.

So, I will definitely keep unlimited data, whatever carrier we go with. IMHO I think every company throttles at some point, and I would rather be throttled than have to pay overage fees.

OH. One thought regarding dropping unlimited data, and this is my un-scientific observation: I think, in the future, consumers are only going to use MORE data the more our phones can do. Maybe wifi options will expand, and maybe they won't. Don't know.

 

[porterbl1]

I haven't read through, but don't do it!! My husband still has his unlimited data. He works in a place with no wifi and uses as much as 12 gb a month. We actually activated a line for my 11 yr old, so that my husband could upgrade his phone without losing it.

I'm so thankful that we can use his phone to stream music and tv/movies for our kids on the way to WDW next week. I'd say do whatever you can to keep it.

 

[mmbl]

2 of our 3 have unlimited data. We use phones a lot so won't switch. Check out the history of your monthly data usage (in your bills) and you can see how often you get over the 10-
We got the same message about it slowing down on a few occasions, but honestly, NEVER noticed any difference. I think ATT would have class action against them if they didn't provide service for which they are being paid.

 

[wenrob]

It will jump over to known networks (my home) but nowhere else. So, if I'm at Starbucks or at work, I'm not using their wi-fi.

Honestly, my wi-fi at home kind of stinks and we are all on the internet a lot. So, I had wi-fi completely turned off for a while because it seemed to help with our connection speed.

I suppose it just depends on where you live. Like I said I live in a big city so anywhere there is free WiFi my phone connects. I do have "ask to join networks" turned off so that my phone is not searching for them. My battery life is fine but the cord connected to my stereo charges while I drive and I don't get out much.

 

[girli565]

I find that leaving my wifi turned on is brutal on battery life. It cuts my battery life almost in half to just leave the wifi on. It was explained to me that the phone expended energy constantly searching for a wifi network it can connect to.

You can turn off the constant search for wifi but still have your phone connect to wifi networks you normally use. My phone recognizes known wifi spots like my wifi at home, my job, my aunt's house, and my husband's job. When I'm at any of those places it connects me automatically without prompting. And I do not let it search or ask me join unknown networks.

 

[aprilchem]

Yes! We got rid of our grandfathered plan because my DH wanted tethering. We found our dream house on the river a few months ago, and wouldn't you know there's no Internet service there? There is cell good AT&T cell phone coverage, though, and if we had the unlimited data we could have used that for our Internet, but given our current data cap there's no way DH could work from home without us going over (by a LOT).

The frustrating part is that the river house is only 2.5 miles from our current house, but there are no plans in the works for this neighborhood to get Internet service any time in the near future.

 

[disneychrista]

I like unlimited data. I never switch over to wifi. I just don't want to have to think about it. .

I leave both wifi and data on all the time. It used wifi when in am at home or where wifi is available and data when I am out and about.

 

[emilymad]

I am more concerned with the cost of new phones with some of these new plans than lossing the unlimited data. We are keeping our plan both to keep the unlimited data but also so we don't have to pay the full price of a phone when we need to upgrade.

 

[hsmamato2]

if you're used to it, you may miss it.... I have never had unlimited,and I don't want to pay for it... I use prepaid on a decent service, 250mb standard, I rarely turn on the 3g.... once in a while to use the gps feature while driving, but I've never come close to hitting that( I have an app that tracks how close I get with my monthly plan) it's all either my cell plan,texting,or wi-fi.....

 

[Karenj2]

Well, guess I'll be the oddball. My DH bought me an Iphone 5s with a new plan for Christmas. I was furious! The ATT rep assured him that I never went over 2g of data. This was true, but apparently my old Iphone used less data, so with the new phone I was over my 2g in less than 2 weeks. It took me about 6 weeks and a lot of trouble to get my old plan reinstated. On the up side, every time I had to call and explain my problem to someone new, they felt sorry for me and gave me another monthly bill credit. So, my bill has been really low since February.

I like unlimited data. I never switch over to wifi. I just don't want to have to think about it.

If you have an ancient phone and will be upgrading your phone, I would see how much data you use with the new phone before switching.

I do (another oddball here)... I was grandfathered with an iphone 4, but then my daughter dropped my phone and shattered the screen. (And I didn't realize I could just get the screen fixed. ) So, I ended up getting the new phone and lost my unlimited data. Like 4luv2cdisney, I hover right around 2gb of data, so depending on whether DD watches Disney Junior on my phone, or I listen to Pandora, I've found I have to shut off my data plan about halfway through the month to prevent me from going over (which messes up some of my texting, and voicemail, and being able to surf at will...)

I have a feeling I'm eventually going to have to upgrade to the next level, but at the moment I'm ok with occasionally paying the overage fee.

 

[porterbl1]

I am more concerned with the cost of new phones with some of these new plans than lossing the unlimited data. We are keeping our plan both to keep the unlimited data but also so we don't have to pay the full price of a phone when we need to upgrade.

If you have Verizon you can add a line for $10 a mo. Upgrade your phone on the new line. You might have to activate an old basic phone on the new line. Then just never use your upgrade. We did this for my husband. It worked great. We gave a basic phone to my 11 yr old, but it would be worth it for a lot of people, even if you don't use the new line.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We just got our iphones in October, so we've never had unlimited data, but between both phones, we don't get close to our 2GB in a month.

 

[dhardawa]

I'm grandfathered in on AT&T unlimited and can't imagine giving it up. I regularly go through 13-15GB every month. 10GB shared wouldn't be close to enough and with more and more things using big data, I don't see it getting any lower.

 

[MillauFr]

I have unlimited data from Virgin Mobile. $33 per month.

 

[AquaDame]

This prompted me to check my iPhone for usage... it says 16.3GB of cellular data, so I don't think I will be giving mine up anytime soon!

 

[punkin712]

DH and I have unlimited data on Verizon. When we got new phones in 2012, it was the last time we could upgrade without being forced into a limited data plan. Of course, every salesperson in the store was trying to convince us that we hardly used any data and that we should just switch to a limited plan. We actually got into an uncomfortably loud "discussion" with one salesman who said he was going to make the change to our contract anyway.

Fast forward to last weekend and we are back at Verizon getting new phones. We already decided to pay full retail so we could keep our unlimited data plans. We knew that with new phones we would end up using quite a bit more data than we had with our older phones. Once again, the salesgirl spent a good 15 minutes trying to convince us that it was silly to pay $30 for unlimited data when we could each get 6GB for the same $30. I finally said, "So, we could pay the same amount for 6GB or infinity GB? I'll take infinity." End of conversation.

BTW - in a week, I've already used almost 2GB without even trying.

 

[ellie05]

OP something to think about is how often you vacation and rely more on the data on your phone. I just checked on an average month DH,mom, sister and me use about 13GB of data. I don't work outside the house so most of the time I am connected to our wifi. However Feb we were on vacation and were relying more on our phones our data usage nearly double (just for DH and I).

 

[disneychrista]

This prompted me to check my iPhone for usage... it says 16.3GB of cellular data, so I don't think I will be giving mine up anytime soon!

When was the last time the data was reset? Mine says just of 1.1GB since Mid-December. If you have never reset it, then that 16GB is since you first started using your current phone.