AT&T Overages

I found this issue kind of disturbing and will report the problem as I see it.

AT&T charges me $60 per month on a 5GB plan for my USB Direct Connect 3G modem, with the note that overages are $10/GB. I read that to mean that if I suck up too much bandwidth before my month is up, I pay $10/GB for the extra experience.

Tonight, I get an email stating they have blocked my data modem (in the middle of the month) (ask me how I got the email without the modem working) and charged me some $32 for the extra usage.

So I call Customer Service, saying that's fine, I get it, please release the block and I will pay whatever overage I have this month. Ok, says the rep, we'll unblock your account, "just this one time", but there's no guarantee it won't get flagged and blocked again since I am already over the 5GB.

So I say, what's the problem with me paying for what I use? "Oh, you have already used too much, we cannot allow that - we do not have unlimited usage". And I say, it's not unlimited usage if I pay the bill for all I use, is it?

Well, either I totally misunderstand the concept of 5GB limits, and $10/GB for overage, and the concept of unlimited usage, or something...

I also have a Verizon MiFi 2200, 3GB limit, $30 per month, with a $10/GB overage. You can bet I am calling Verizon first thing in the morning to get them to explain their contract.

This whole overage thing has been bandied about here on the forum, along with unlimited usage, but I am not sure I have seen where the cap is a hard cap, and you cannot buy more...

I stand by to be corrected. 

If you think that is bad, you probably don't want to read this article about how AT&T can be/is up to 4700% off on metering how much you use...

http://www.itworld.com/unified-communications/141523/att-internet-usage-billing-much-4700

In the U.S., AT&T's gross incompetence at data-use measurement makes the whole idea of usage-based billing and access policies controlled entirely by the carrier rather than the user seem ludicrous. Nevertheless, there's a big push by AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and other carriers toward usage-based billing on both wireless and wired broadband networks and the overlooked objections of its opponents.

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This is about AT&T as an ISP, but then, MAYBE their wireless division can count better than their others...

I'm in the process of dumping AT&T altogether. (at the house ) The wife just got her Droid and I've had mine and we just hook the laptops to them and let them fly.

I am using Verizon 3G with a 5 gB plan.  I understand that I can go to a reseller http://www.millenicom.com/ and get 20 gB of Verizon service for the same price.  I normally use 2-3 gB per month so I haven't gone this route.  I am killing my home phone and DSL line soon and may need more bandwidth and may go to Millenicom.

AT&T has had a shortage of bandwidth every since the iPhone. There literally isn't enough to keep everybody happy.  I guess they don't want you to use more than 5GB, no matter what the price.

When we were on the road this past summer I used the 5GB Verizon plan. One month I went over. They billed me the extra but never shut off the service. I did get periodic messages telling me I had used over half my limit. The counter on the computer program was always less than what they said it was. ???

Bago said:

I understand that I can go to a reseller http://www.millenicom.com/ and get 20 gB of Verizon service for the same price. 

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Those are some amazing, no contract rates with Millenicom. I will be calling them today to verify they have full Verizon network coverage, and that would easily be the solution for me.

Unlimited usage, $69.99 per month vs 5GB with AT&T at $60. My cynical side says this might be too good to be true, so I will report back on this shortly.

Thanks for the tip, Bill.

I will be calling them today to verify they have full Verizon network coverage, and that would easily be the solution for me.

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When you call, ask about coverage in VZ "roaming" areas. Sometimes resellers don't provide that coverage. It may, or may not, be important.

If you call also ask about how long the rates are guaranteed. If it is like the Virgin Mobile deal, they make a great offer to get people to sign up then change the plan to a capped plan.

skyking4ar2 said:

Those are some amazing, no contract rates with Millenicom. I will be calling them today to verify they have full Verizon network coverage, and that would easily be the solution for me.

Unlimited usage, $69.99 per month vs 5GB with AT&T at $60. My cynical side says this might be too good to be true, so I will report back on this shortly.

Thanks for the tip, Bill.

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Although Millenicom does not state they use the Verizon network for their 20GB plan, the coverage seems to indicate that that's what they use. They do use different carriers for their different plans. I don't believe their unlimited plan is on the Verizon network; I think it is on Sprint...

vermilye said:

Although Millenicom does not state they use the Verizon network for their 20GB plan, the coverage seems to indicate that that's what they use. They do use different carriers for their different plans. I don't believe their unlimited plan is on the Verizon network; I think it is on Sprint...

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At my home location I can only get the 5 GB or the 20 GB plan on the Verizon network and not the unlimited or the bring your own modem.  Some of those plans use Sprint as the carrier. 

I've used Millenicom since 11/10 and have no complaints.  It works fine and if you do have a problem their support is here in the US.  What I found as a huge benefit is you don't have any 'per day' limits (I did when using HughesNet).  I have been able to watch races, watch wildlife streaming video, do my normal work/play and never worry that I might get 'slowed down' because I used too much in a day. There is no contract so it's not that big a deal to run both what you have now and Millenicom for a month and see if you like it or not.
That's what worked for me.

Well, the plot thickens. Because of fraud, AT&T will block your account after the 5GB limit and force you to verify that you want to continue using the device. That charge after the 5GB limit is $.05 per MB, or $50/GB, just a little rich for my blood. Now, you could always add another device to your bill, effectively giving you 10GB per month, but that would be 2 X $60 per month, effectively $12/GB if you used it all, twice that if you only used half. Your mileage may vary.

For Verizon, on my $35/3GB plan, the overage is $10/GB, up to a $250 limit. At that point, the fraud trap cuts in, and you have to verify that you will pay the bill and that there has been no unauthorized usage. There are some other caveats where they will pay half the bill if you are getting defrauded, etc. but if you are smart enough to set up your wifi with a security password that is not easily cracked, you should be protected.

Obviously, weighing both plans on the rates only, Verizon is a better deal, because you can have a minimum contract at $11.66/GB and your overage drops to $10/GB.

For me, since I have to be in different places, and have to have one coverage or the other, I have both plans, but the obvious choice is to use the Verizon if I think I will have to exceed the 5GB in a month.

Ya gotta love the fine print....

That said, both my USB Lightning Modem with AT&T and my Verizon MiFi 2200 have performed well, given they are in a coverage area. My USB modem required a Cradlepoint router to get the extra connections in the coach, and the MiFi allows five.

Sometimes it's just complicated.....

skyking4ar2 - A little off topic here but since you're doing all the research...  I understood that AT&T was going to move to the same plan as Verizon - $10.00 for each GB after you have used the 5GB in the plan. Obviously from what AT&T is telling you that is not correct.

We've had AT&T for years and while I'm generally happy with the plan ,we are going to be spending some time in the southwest and will be roaming on an AT&T partner network. AT&T does not like this and has sent us warning notices threatening to cancel our contract if we go over 20% of our 5GB plan. Of course we do go over.

So the question I have for you since you have both AT&T and Verizon - where are the dead spots for each one? We've had problems on the California and Oregon coasts and southern Idaho. Then there are some empty spots in the midwest but other than that we can get service almost everywhere. How's Verizon compared to AT&T?

T&K,

You actually are on topic...one of the things I discovered was that AT&T was resisting removing the 5GB cap. I had my service rep check, and she said there was no other plan that would work, even though on the web site, there is a button to "Upgrade to Unlimited".

I found some recent AT&T Forum blogs where everyone was screaming bloody murder and demanding them to lift the 5GB cap. The battering they took when they could not deliver bandwidth in New York and  other large markets recently probably created a bit of gun shyness (is that a word?).

What I asked the rep was, could I add as many devices (aka Connect Direct Lightning modems) to my account as I wanted, and she said sure. So I can buy all the service I want at $12/GB (i.e. $60 month) and figure out a way to balance the usage so I get all I paid for. Now why that is any different than letting me buy off one modem at $12/GB, all I can afford, I cannot explain. More than likely it has to do with their computations of bandwidth which are based on an average of 2GB per line (don't ask my how I know this stuff). It's a bean counter game for projecting the infrastructure growth and then assigning a budget to the buildout. Bad assumptions using good numbers still give bad results.

I actually bought the Verizon because in Taos, AT&T had not finished acquiring the cell towers in that area, so I had limited AT&T service and it was on a roaming network. We got the nasty gram on the wife's iPhone and I called screaming about that, too, but nobody exploded the iPhone, although I know they would if they thought they could suffer the customer fallout.

To date, in the South, I have usually had more Verizon coverage than AT&T, and I know the west seems a little better with Verizon. I fire up both modems at each site and see who wins!! We will know here shortly as we head across Texas, on to New Mexico, and Utah, and the up through the Rockies. Probably will have to start keeping stats!

The recent acquisition of T-Mobile will widen their bandwidth a bit, and I suspect within 6 months you will see the 5GB cap lifted. Verizon is killing them on that cap now and that just won't do from a brand perspective.

skyking4ar2  Thanks for the additional information. The T-Mobile deal had slipped my mind. Hopefully that will fill some the gaps and with the added bandwidth they will lift the cap.

Don't hold your breath.  The merger, if it happens, will take at least a year.  And the ATTWS and T-Mobile networks, while both GSM, are on different parts of the frequency spectrum so will take even more time to integrate.

Years ago, when I worked for Southern New England Telephone, we had a Long Range Planning Group and a Short Range Planning Group. They were tasked to determine what facilities would be needed for future growth. It seems obvious that AT&T's Long Range Planning has failed miserably!!

It seems obvious that AT&T's Long Range Planning has failed miserably!!

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They never even dreamed of an iPhone or Droid. Leaps in technology always leave the planners lying face down in the dust, wondering what happened.  ???

The carriers offer unlimited data plans and then are astounded when the customers actually try to use them.  That's worse than failed planning, it's what happens when the marketing people don't listen to the engineers.