Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
ANDY50789
Enthusiast - Level 1

This should sum up how they are treating unlimited plans

Ran a test earlier tonight with my iPhone 6 on an Unlimited Plan and my mom‘s iPhone 6 on a 6gb/month plan. My monthly cycle just started and I’ve only used 2gb so far. My mom has used about 1.5gb in her cycle so far. All network settings were reset and phones restarted before tests. All other potentialay relevant settings (such as roaming settings and others were set to match as well). Ran numerous speed tests through different outlets on both devices. So you would assume both phones tests similarly......NOPE. My mom’s phone averaged download speeds of 12-16Mbps and uploads of 2-4Mbps. Mine however average downloads of .9-2.2Mbps with uploads ranging from 1.4-4.7Mbps. So how does one justify 14Mbps compared to 1.5Mbps when the only possible difference is that I’m on an unlimited plan? I’m not even close to my 22gb “deprioritization limit” yet I’m CLEARLY being deprioritized. So just a disclosure before anyone on here thinks about switching to an unlimited plan, beware. Your speeds will most likely get [Removed] 😞

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Message edited by Verizon Moderator.

Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
Bondtoo7
Enthusiast - Level 2

My wife and I have been on the unlimited data plan as of October 17, 2017 and have been very disappointed with the service we have been receiving. All experience up until this point has been superb with Verizon, but the past week and a half has had us both wishing we had never gone to the unlimited plan.

Our zip code is 72764, Springdale, AR. This is a large metropolitan area, made up of roughly 500,000 people, so it is not like we are in the middle of the sticks.

I am currently reading -77dBm for signal strength in my area based off of 42 individual cell recivers, so the signal strength is not poor.

On my last recording of my service I had a download speed of 0.58 Mbps, an upload speed of 5.55 Mbps, and a ping of 54.

Needless to say all we were watching was a loading sign spin on our phones for content to load before timing out.

Any help on trouble shooting our problem and restoring the speeds we once had with Verizon would be greatly appreciated.

For those experiencing similar problems, use the Coverage Map app by ROOT Metrics, it provides excellent information on cell signal.

Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
BARNEYMIKE71
Enthusiast - Level 2

Because the go unlimited plan allows them to throttle your speed down to accommodate people on the Beyond unlimited plan. Just spent two days on the phone with them the only way to get your speed back is the spend more money on the Beyond unlimited plan.

Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
stef7
Master - Level 2

That was a great test! You should get a big star for that one.

If you are nowhere near the de-prioritization threshold, what's going on?

Is it a case where VZW's own description of de-prioritization doesn't match the technical realities of their implementation?

Not only is the term "Unlimited" misleading, so is the term de-prioritization, and the threshold provided.

Also, de-prioritization is effectively throttling under high-use conditions.

Analogy: Let's say you were trying to take the subway, but you were de-prioritized by having to wear a ball-and-chain, such that every time a train arrived at the station, you could only move slowly to the doors, and they would close ahead of you such that you missed another train. In the system, you wouldn't get very far, very fast compared to other travelers would you? Now imagine, instead of you, it's your data packets from your phone we are talking about.

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Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
rcschnoor
Legend

ANDY50789 wrote:

This should sum up how they are treating unlimited plans

Ran a test earlier tonight with my iPhone 6 on an Unlimited Plan

I can't help but notice you don't indicate which of Verizon's Unlimited Plans(gounlimited or beyondunlimited) to which you have subscribed. I switched to Verizon's beyondunlimited data plan on October 16 because I did not want the possibility of re-prioritization until I had reached 22 GB of usage on my phone. I have experienced none of the problems you have described. Of course, had I made the switch to Verizon's gounlimited data plan I would have expected some of the problems you describe.

I have run at least a hundred speed tests since I have made this switch 10 days ago. In fact, OpenSignal is my BIGGEST user of data during these past 10 days as evidence I have made so many speed tests, with well over 1 GB of data usage for that app alone for performing speed tests.

Screenshot_20171026-072430.png

While I have had 1 or 2 speed tests that had upload/download speeds near 1 Mbps, I believe that is simply due to the location of the speed test as a subsequent speed test less than a minute later in a location a short distance away was at a much more reasonable speed. Out of the 100+ speed tests I have made, I would estimate over 90% of these tests were for download speeds of 20+ Mbps with more than a few tests exceeding 100+ Mbps. I was so surprised with this speed the first time I saw it that I took a screenshot of it:

Screenshot_20171018-161044.png

Not once has my data speed prevented my phone from streaming audio without ANY buffering. Not once has my data speed prevented my phone from streaming video without ANY buffering problems. No spinning circle during playback during any of the times I have attempted streaming. I will give you that I have only streamed video for a total of around 1 hour, but I stream audio over an hour a day on my commute to/from work, once around 6AM when I would not expect any re-prioritization and once around 4 PM when I would expect some re-prioritization. The speed test from above with download speeds of 100+ Mbps was taken when I was ALSO steaming music AND was taken at 4:12 PM during my commute when I would expect the possibility of re-prioritization IF that was how Verizon was choosing to treat ALL unlimited data plans and not just the lower cost one which warns of that being a possibility regardless of how much data you have consumed instead of the one which states you have 22 GB of usage before re-prioritization is a possibility.

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Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Bondtoo7,

We don't want you or your wife regretting. Help is here. Everything checks out in that area. Which Unlimited option are you on? How are voice and text services?

KatiM_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

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Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
Bondtoo7
Enthusiast - Level 2

Hi Kati,

I am on the GoUnlimited plan. Even still, I wouldnt expect to go from 30.1Mbps to 0.58Mbps.

In regards to voice and text services, the voice quality is meiodcre. I used to get HD Voice level call quality, now it sounds as if I’m talking to someone on the old Motorola brick phones. I am using an iPhone 8 Plus, and the people I am calling are on at least an iPhone 7, so I know HD Voice is compatible.

Texts seem to not have an issue, maybe a slight delay, but nothing absurd.

Anything suggestions?

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Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
rcschnoor
Legend

Bondtoo7 wrote:

Hi Kati,

I am on the GoUnlimited plan. Even still, I wouldnt expect to go from 30.1Mbps to 0.58Mbps.

What is your basis for this expectation? On the gounlimited plan, Verizon states it can re-prioritize your data at ANY time the tower you are using is experiencing high traffic. This would result in a slower data speed.

And if you are measuring the data used by your phone's hotspot, THAT data is restricted to 0.60 Mbps at ALL TIMES, regardless of how much data you have used.

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Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

We definitely want you to be able to enjoy your service, Bondtoo7. It's very possible that based on the information you've provided earlier, you could be experiencing network management (prioritization) if the tower you're connecting to is congested. Let's dig into this a bit further. What times of day are you experiencing these speeds and poor HD voice quality? Are you having this happen indoors only, or outdoors as well? How far must you be from your location to see things improve?

 

LynnD_VZW

Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

If my response answered your question please click the �Correct Answer� button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

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Re: Slow data speeds after change to unlimited plan
Bondtoo7
Enthusiast - Level 2

The basis for this expectation is that I am not referring to using my phone as a hotspot, I never use my phone as a hotspot. This is strictly just standard phone use. If I am paying $9 MORE per month for a service, I should not expect to see a 98.07% decrease in my service's speed, even at peak hours of usage.

The below test was done at 23:20, not a peak hour of usage.

IMG_3420.PNG