Unlimited

as defined by Webster Dictionary.

lacking any controls : UNRESTRICTED unlimited access

(For 4g internet services, a terabyte is considered unlimited)

Unlimited Internet – bust the myth

If an internet provider advertises unlimited then the service should not have caveats like daily usage limits .

They should not say “unlimited” followed by prioritized, data abuser or the statement “beyond normal usage“.

All of those things are nice ways of telling you the limits of the service.

So what is unlimited?

Everyone wants unlimited. It assures us we will have all the internet we need for tv, music, work, zoom calls and all the things we now use on a daily basies.

Unlimited plans top usage normally starts at a terabyte of date. If someone is using that kind of data, they are probably doing something dishonest. An example would be running a server farm on a home internet plan or minig bitcoin.

When you read unlimited on my website, you are free to use your data how and when you want. No throttleing,prioritizing and you won’t be called a data abuser. BUT… when you hit a terabyte, I am going to ask, What are you doing?

Why do they say Unlimited?

Providers using the term “unlimited” can do so, honestly, as long as you have internet of any speed. If they have throttled your service to slower than dial up, technically, you still have internet. They are not adversitsing unlimited, usable internet. Just unlimited internet.

Terms you should know

Throttling is the act of slowing down your internet service speed. It is done to slow the amount of data you are using.

Prioritizing is a nice way of saying throttling. If you use too much data, the company may prioritize you to the back of the internet line which will decrease your speed and data usage.

Data Abuser is a term to describe someone that the provider says is using more than their fair share of data. The fair share is normally what you are actually getting from the provider. It is common to see stated “the normal family uses 250 gb of data a monht” and if you go over that, you are an abuser. Always be ware of fair share because it is never what YOU think is fair.

Fair Use Act – This is the document that the company has compiled to explain what they consider fair usage of data. This document is a good place to look for the true amount of data you will get and the usage that will be allowed.

Here are examples of “unlimited” offers on various websites. They are presented in alphabetical order.

The words are directly from the companies websites and the words in red are the limits.

To be fair, I will start with my first “unlimited” website.

Unlimited Internet Anywhere

I was told by Gotw3, the company I was working with at the time, that the service I was selling was unlimited.

UnlimitedInternetAnywhere was the website was designed around the gotw3 service when I was a retailer for them.

I was new to the 4g industry and I never questioned. I did not know so I never disclosed anywhere that unlimited actually meant, at the maximum, about 750 GB.

AT&T Unlimited Elite (Yes, the big guys do it to)

Get unlimited data, HD streaming, 30GB of mobile hotspot data, plus HBO Max included

After 100GB, AT&T may temporarily slow data speeds if the network is busy.

Straight from their website: https://tinyurl.com/y45rq77c

Get4gwifi.com

Is The Service Really Unlimited?

(This question is from their support page. A screen shot is pictured to the right. The full text is below.)

This service appears to be limited to 500 gb a month with an expected usage of less than 150 gb

For normal internet usage, YES! No more overages! our plan includes unlimited data with high speed depending on congestion you may experience slower speeds. Normal internet usage like streaming music and movies/surfing/gaming etc. Illegal activities would include data abuse and suspicious usage. Data abusers are those who purposefully push limits or conduct known illegal activity like torrenting etc. If you consistently burn through a half terabyte or more a month (that’s over 500 GBs!), that is not normal internet usage and you could be asked to split your usage between two accounts or the service could be terminated by the carrier. To put that into perspective the average Household in America uses 150 Gb/month. So just please utilize our service with regular discretion so we can continue to provide our members with high-speed wireless internet. (BE REASONABLE)

Straight from their website: www.get4gwifi.com/support

Net All Over – from their Terms & Policies

This is a site that tells you it is unlimited in the first sentence but then takes an entire paragraph to tell you all the ways the carrier (AT&T, Verizon,T-mobile) will prioritize you, throttle you and enforce “fair use”.

This Internet service is provided to you on an unlimited basis. By your continued use of this service, you acknowledge that we purchase LTE services on a wholesale basis from various LTE carriers and that while download and uploads are unlimited,

due to technological limitations of LTE, these carriers may at times deprioritize your service during peak times or overuse of the service by you or others using your service. Deprioritization means that your service may be placed at a lower response than others on a tower if you hit their specified thresholds for daily downloads and/or uploads. It will not be limited; ie. you will still be able to use it, however it may lag during games or it may buffer some videos during periods of deprioritization.</p style=color:red”:>

NoLimitData – from their Support & FAQ page

Is your service really unlimited wireless internet?

You agree to use our membership data plans accordingly and responsibly. You agree to use less than the monthly data limit for that plan and weekly data limit listed for the plan you choose. For our Blue 500Gb plan we have a 150GB weekly limit and for our 800Gb plan we have a 200GB weekly limit that is stated in plan details. Our Unlimited Blue plan does not have a weekly limit. The Pink plans have a 900Gb limit and no weekly limit. All plans are on a 30 day monthly cycle. We do not throttle our internet service, but speeds may be de-prioritized after 50gb during high network congestion…..

NomadInternet – from their FAQ

Is your service really unlimited?

Yes! No more data caps and no more data overages**! All of our plans include unlimited high speed data for normal internet usage such as gaming, movies, streaming music, and surfing the internet! However, downloading illegal content as well as data abuse is prohibited. Data abusers are those who use BitTorrenting or go through over 400+GBs a month. The average Household uses less than 250 GBs a month.

August 30, 2020

RV-4G – From Terms of Service

They are not hiding anything. These statements are in bold.

SECTION 21 – PINK Plans
On all PINK plans, during congestion, the small fraction of customers using >50GB per month may notice reduced speeds until the next payment cycle due to data prioritization.

SECTION 22 – ORANGE Plans

On all ORANGE plans, during congestion, the small fraction of customers using >100 GB per month may notice reduced speeds until the next payment cycle due to data prioritization.

( that little > open arrow means greater than for those of you in Rio Linda)

Ubifi – from their FAQs page

Is it really unlimited?

Yes, the service allows for unlimited data usage without high speed data caps, usage based throttling, or overage charges. However, because the service operates off of a wireless 4G LTE connection, you may still encounter periods of slow connectivity if/when there’s increased network traffic and/or tower outages/maintenance affecting your service area.

Unlimitedville from their support page

IS YOUR SERVICE REALLY UNLIMITED?

For normal internet usage, YES! No more data caps! No more overages! All of our plans include unlimited high speed data for normal internet usage such as streaming music, movies, surfing, gaming and more! However, surfing/downloading illegal content as well as data abuse is prohibited. Data abusers are those who purposefully push limits or conduct known illegal activity like torenting etc. If you consistently burn through over 500+GBs/mo, that is typically considered outside of normal internet usage and in some cases you could be asked to split your usage between two accounts. To put that into perspective the average Household in America uses less than 200 GBs/month.

So just please utilize our devices with regular discretion so we can continue to provide our members with high speed wireless internet.

USLTE — Terms and FAQ’s

What is de-prioritization and does USLTE employ this strategy.

Think of your LTE data connection as an all-you-can-eat buffet with the data being the food. You can consume as much as you want to as long as you are being fair. If you have already had your first plate of food (data in this case) and you are ready for your second plate, you may have to wait a little bit for someone else who has not yet eaten. If you go to the buffet during lunchtime, you should expect to wait a little longer to get your food than you would if you went in the afternoon. The wait, although inconvenient, does not limit the amount you can consume. The same thing happens on LTE networks. So, during peak times and heavy congestion, de-prioritization may occur.

De-prioritization is the carrier’s way of making sure everyone utilizing the network gets their fair share by making some wait while others are served. We cover 3 million people!

De-prioritization does not happen until the line has consumed more than 20 GB of data and does not limit the amount that can be consumed, but it does keep people from abusing all-you-can-eat-data privileges.

U2 Connect – Usage Policy

They state in bold letters it is not unlimited

Although the carriers do not provide hard data caps or limits of potential usage in the description of the plans they provide, algorithms monitor the networks constantly for traffic and congestion issues. 4G LTE data plans are provisioned on a shared network and the carriers guard against any one user detrimentally impacting other users. The carriers will act to control this detrimental impact by slowing speeds, restricting use, and worst case, canceling service without warning or notice as they see fit.

Unlimited does not mean unlimited data at unlimited speeds.

Verizon – is a lot more vague but the limits are there

Get access to 50 GB of 5G Nationwide / 4G LTE premium data per month. 5G access requires a 5G-capable device. Plus 720p HD streami……

Unlimited mobile hotspot 30 GB of 5G Nationwide / 4G LTE data

Your smartphone can become a Wi-Fi connection for other devices. Get up to 30 GB of 5G Nationwide / 4G LTE data. 5G access requires a 5G-capable device. After exceeding allowance, 600 Kbps speeds for the rest of the month

Straight from their website: https://tinyurl.com/y6se4z8a

This, I just really did not know where to put but it is in a lot of “terms” so they are telling you what they can/will do.

Network Management: Service may be slowed, suspended, terminated, or restricted for misuse, abnormal use, interference with our network or ability to provide quality service to other users, or significant roaming.