Any "Real" Unlimited Plans?

[smiller]

In terms of simple signal strength Visible coverage basically equals Verizon coverage (they are the same network after all), unless you are in a domestic roaming area. But location can still matter in that if you are using a particularly busy tower a Visible user may see deprioritization vs. a native Verizon subscriber. In this way time of day can matter as well as location.

If you see slow speeds at peak usage times vs. a native Verizon phone of the same model (and that is important because without a direct comparison you can't know whether your speed is really any different than a native Verizon customer would be receiving at that time) then you may be seeing deprioritization. One way to test is to check speed late at night, and if you see slow speeds then as well then it is probably a signal issue.

[tetranz]

An interesting point which I know doesn't help but we're paying much higher prices in the US than they pay in the UK.

In the UK you can get legitimate "unlimited" data only plans for the equivalent of about $35 USD per month. Business lines are about $45 for 1 TB.

Summarizing from here https://forum.peplink.com/t/data-com...500gbs/32700/3

[smiller]

Originally Posted by tetranz

An interesting point which I know doesn't help but we're paying much higher prices in the US than they pay in the UK.

In the UK you can get legitimate "unlimited" data only plans for the equivalent of about $35 USD per month. Business lines are about $45 for 1 TB.

Summarizing from here https://forum.peplink.com/t/data-com...500gbs/32700/3

If you want to feel better look at what they have to pay in Canada. I think a lot of it has to do with population density, i.e. in Canada a network has to cover a large geographical area with relatively low population density (and thus fewer subscribers per unit of area covered) and in Europe it's the opposite, with the US being somewhere in the middle.

[R.Wold]

I saw this and thought,yeah, I have unlimited plans....then I read the question....

[CWSWine]

We are preparing for 3 month trip starting Jan 2021 and loading up my Plex server with movies for the trip. So far in Dec 2020 I have used 845 GB on my Version (grandfather unlimited plan) without a slow down. We have plenty of bandwidth since we are in a College town and the students are gone.

[Hpyhilm]

Originally Posted by moisheh

Sprint may be unlimited but the service areas are full of holes. Not reliable. I gave up on them a few years ago.

I have had this plan since 2017, the service is way better now, not sure if the integration with T-mobile helped or the better mifi unit helped. I also have the att mobely, but use the FMCA sprint 90 % of the time for streaming.

[ScopesNC]

Originally Posted by Texsinbad

Within the next couple of months, we hope to hit the road and looking for “real” unlimited data for internet while traveling.

Things might change, but we probably stream/download 50 gigs a DAY. So, we really need unlimited plan.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

If you want truly unlimited, fast 4g LTE internet for $99 a month Unlimited To Go has it. They have been around for a few years now. I had them and I know they are good. You can get on a AT& T network or Verizon you pick. Nomad has sort of copied what they have been doing for several years now. I'm grandfathered in on a deal that works just fine right now. If I did not have that deal I'd go right back to Unlimited To Go. They throttle nothing and I was getting around 40 to 50 megs down and 4 to 5 up.

https://www.unlimitedtogo.com/

[TechWriter]

Originally Posted by Rolling Chaos

If you want truly unlimited, fast 4g LTE internet for $99 a month Unlimited To Go has it . . . They throttle nothing and I was getting around 40 to 50 megs down and 4 to 5 up.

From Unlimited To Go's Acceptable Use Policy . . .

NETWORK MANAGEMENT. UnlimitedToGo and Cellular Service Providers may use tools and techniques to manage their network, . . . (iii) de-prioritizing speeds during periods of extended congestion . . .

Also . . .

USAGE TRACKING. UnlimitedToGo and Cellular Service providers collect data on customer traffic pattern usage . . .

Lovely.

And . . .

EXCESSIVE USAGE. Excessive bandwidth or data usage that is deemed significantly higher than typical usage for which the networks are designed . . . De-prioritization may be utilized in order to ensure optimal internet experience for all members and customers.

[smiller]

Originally Posted by Rolling Chaos

If you want truly unlimited, fast 4g LTE internet for $99 a month Unlimited To Go has it. They have been around for a few years now. I had them and I know they are good. You can get on a AT& T network or Verizon you pick. Nomad has sort of copied what they have been doing for several years now. I'm grandfathered in on a deal that works just fine right now. If I did not have that deal I'd go right back to Unlimited To Go. They throttle nothing and I was getting around 40 to 50 megs down and 4 to 5 up.

Sounds great, but... I don't think you can go back to Unlimited To Go. Their web site is still up but there doesn't appear to be a way to buy anything, and recent customer reports are not good.... https://www.reddit.com/r/Rural_Inter..._transparency/ Also per a recent review only AT&T was $99/month (and that plan was intermittently available), Verizon and T-Mo were $179 to $199.

That's the trouble with 'too good to be true' mobile Internet deals... they usually are.

[tetranz]

I went to Unlimited To Go and ended up going around in circles trying to find some details.

Even if you could still buy it, with any "unlimited" plan I suggest asking what the real limits are or directly ask "Is 50 GB per day or 1.5 TB per month going to be okay?" Then I'd still be skeptical if they say yes without hesitation.

[CWSWine]

Originally Posted by tetranz

I went to Unlimited To Go and ended up going around in circles trying to find some details.

Even if you could still buy it, with any "unlimited" plan I suggest asking what the real limits are or directly ask "Is 50 GB per day or 1.5 TB per month going to be okay?" Then I'd still be skeptical if they say yes without hesitation.

My plan I use between 400 and 600 a month and have used as much 1000 GB and I have had the plan for two years this month. I have been in areas that the service wasn't good enough to stream and others places I could stream with two TVs. It is managed plan so at at times you have less than ideal bandwidth. I live in college town few miles from the football stadium and game day I get managed down to useless. I have been at rallies with couple hundred RV and have got network manage in the evenings. I guess you can say that it's not an "Unlimited" plan.

[ScopesNC]

Originally Posted by TechWriter

From Unlimited To Go's Acceptable Use Policy . . .

NETWORK MANAGEMENT. UnlimitedToGo and Cellular Service Providers may use tools and techniques to manage their network, . . . (iii) de-prioritizing speeds during periods of extended congestion . . .

Also . . .

USAGE TRACKING. UnlimitedToGo and Cellular Service providers collect data on customer traffic pattern usage . . .

Lovely.

And . . .

EXCESSIVE USAGE. Excessive bandwidth or data usage that is deemed significantly higher than typical usage for which the networks are designed . . . De-prioritization may be utilized in order to ensure optimal internet experience for all members and customers.

They all warn about things like this. I was and still use a lot of bandwidth. Almost a tera byte a month sometimes. I was never once throttled back while using Unlimited To Go. Not once. Heck even cable providers will warn about such usage.

As for tracking ? Well if your using the internet somebody or a lot of bodies are tracking your usage. That VPN service you have is selling your data also. They almost all claim not to , but many have been exposed as having done so.

[ScopesNC]

The biggest reason , but not always the reason for a throttle down.

Over subscription of the service causes a lot of throttle down issues for customers.

In most cases the providers look at how much usage a certain hub gets. That hub cell tower site may have been built to handle on an average day 6000 customers at one time. They know only 30 to 50 % of them will use it at any one time. So they over subscribe its capacity to 8000 or 9000. They gamble on the knowledge that only 50% to 60% will use it at one time. It's a way to cut cost on equipment most the time. Sometimes ( most often in larger markets ) it doesn't work out so well. The network gets slowed down in that area and that CMTS or router is set to slow down if or when that happens. Large gatherings in a area ( football, baseball games or protesters ) overwhelms that hub and the slow down starts. While this can happen anywhere in most cases it happens in the larger market areas. Cable companies plan it this way from the start and always have. Cellular companies have followed the same path , but not always for cost cutting. Sometimes they just don't have the floor space inside the small hub or build they house the equipment in to add more. So they just live with the slow downs until something new comes out on the transport side that allows them to handle more capacity.

Also keep in mind that cell companies use cable providers to back haul a lot of service from towers for them too. They place an order to get maybe 10 gigs of service from a certain cell tower back to the hub. It gets transported back to the main C O of that cell company by way of cable fiber. There maybe as many as 30 or more towers being transported this way off that one cable hub. Each depending on usage as to how much allotted band width they get. If one of those towers goes over the allotted bandwidth a slow down again happens.


Because of the way they build out these networks they issue a broad statement of over usage and that network slow downs can possibly occur. A c y a so to speak. They do not target the individual as much as you might think. I would not hesitate to say unless your going crazy with bandwidth usage making your self stand out , you as a individual wont see a slow down. Streaming a tear byte of TV and movies in a months time won't raise the alarm in most cases. In a weeks time yes it will show up on the radar and even then if it only happens once they may not do anything about it. To track down a single user like that takes man power. Someone has to log in and look for that device eating up the bandwidth. Most the time unless it becomes a regular thing the network person will not investigate the issue. He has way to many other things to work on.


Basically that is most often how it works. Not always , but most the time.

[Texsinbad]

I really appreciate all of the comments/suggestions. I am "senior" who only carries a pre-paid cell phone for emergencies. I tell you this so you know that I am NOT up-to-date when it comes to cell phones, plans available, and technology in general.

So, I now know more what I can do when we do start travelling. Being retired, I don't have to have internet everyday. Besides not being technical, I am also not rich. That means that I don't want to spend a lot of money and buy equipment that I won't know how to use or install.

Right now, I stream/download everything through my computer, and then watch via hdmi cable on my 75" Sony 4k tv.

Everyday, I am downloading movies/shows (mostly tv shows). For us, the internet has made the whole world available to us. We watch shows/movies for all over the world-Korea, Japan, Germany, Russia, Australia, England, and Thailand to name a few. We don't mind reading subtitles.

I don't keep track of my usage, but recently saw that I downloaded about 20 gigs, which was a slow day, and I am sure that I occasionally download a 100 gigs a day.

I have probably 12 TB on external hard drives saved up, which sounds like a lot, but probably 60% or more we won't like and will just delete.

When we start traveling, I won't be able to continue as I usually do, but we won't have to worry about not having anything to watch.

We are planning on taking 1-3 months trips, and then return home for a month or so.

I will find one of the better "unlimited" plans at the best price, and then I will just have to play catch-up on downloading when we are at home.

Again, thanks everyone for helping me get more current with what is available.