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AT&T/3G limitations. (Rant)

E

EvolutionXGSR

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 3, 2010
46
0
Can someone please tell me, what is the point of having fast 3G speeds if you need to connect to a freakin' Wifi connection for large transfers? :mad:

A huge majority of games/apps in the app store are getting alot bigger and now require wifi connections for downloading them. Not to mention most podcasts out there.
It's like AT&T is saying, "Hey there, you can use our high speed data service (which your already paying a pretty penny for) to download content, but only if you stay under 20MBs. Anything over that and you're going to have to use someone else's service".

I mean, does it really matter whether the webpage you are trying to load takes 10 seconds versus 20 seconds? Maybe. But it matters more whether or not I am even able to download anything at all if I'm not near a wireless connection. Its the difference of having service and NOT HAVING service. A service you are paying monthly for! :confused:

Speaking of page loading...

I could've sworn my first-gen iPhone gave you the option, in the settings, to view regular webpages or mobile page? Did they somehow do away with this on the later phones?
I know that most pages let you select to view "normal version" at the bottom, but some of them don't. So you are "forced" to view the optimized version. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with AT&T.

Also, viewing youtube videos on the iPhone is almost pointless at times. The quality is so poor when NOT using Wifi, that most text(if the video has any) is unreadable. It is very frustrating.
I had a friend tell me about http://www.youtubekeep.com/ yesterday which lets you view the videos at their appropriate qualities whether or not your on a wifi connection. But why should I have to resort to this? It really isn't fair mainly because I am paying for the High Speed 3G service!

Anyway, Its crap like this that makes me hate AT&T more and more.
 
Just imagine everyone who owns an iPhone downloading larger then 20 MB files with the iPhone, it would bring any network to it's knees especially that AT&T's is already taxed with the iPhone. Verizon and anyone else would have the same trouble. I understand the apps are getting larger, but then again it would take a while under 3G, so I do not mind lownloading music videos while I am at home, or movies for that matter, I have a great router with WiFi connection and I would drain my battery trying to do it via 3G.

Hey I am only trying to show the other side of what would happen if everyone downloaded stuff larger then 20MB on 3G, it would not be pretty:D
 
Those are all restrictions put in place by Apple, not AT&T, as proven by the fact that not only do other AT&T smartphones not have these restrictions, iPhones sold in other countries do.
 
-aggie- said:
Give 'em an inch (20 MB) and they want a mile. They just raised the limit from 10 MB, in case you didn't know.

Of course, this would NEVER happen if Verizon had the iPhone. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Well said.
The 20mb download limit is there for your protection and the networks stability. Some stuff on the appstore are well over 1GB. Imagine people trying to update them without thinking on knowing how big it is or how long it will take. As soon as the update is released it could cause alot of problems nationwide.
About the 1Gen iphone and mobile webpages I have no clue where you get this from.
Also like said above those limitations are put by Apple thruout every iphone sold worldwide. So its the same for every carrier the iphone is on and not just AT&T.
 
Applejuiced said:
Well said.
The 20mb download limit is there for your protection and the networks stability. Some stuff on the appstore are well over 1GB. Imagine people trying to update them without thinking on knowing how big it is or how long it will take. As soon as the update is released it could cause alot of problems nationwide.
About the 1Gen iphone and mobile webpages I have no clue where you get this from.
Also like said above those limitations are put by Apple thruout every iphone sold worldwide. So its the same for every carrier the iphone is on and not just AT&T.
Click to expand...

Then again, we are paying $30 per month for UNLIMITED internet. Unlimited does mean unlimited. It doesn't say we can't use 5Gb per month or more as I normally do with my XM app and have since June. Because AT&T allows unlimited bandwidth, there shouldn't be a limit on apps either.
 
SpaceKitty said:
Then again, we are paying $30 per month for UNLIMITED internet. Unlimited does mean unlimited. It doesn't say we can't use 5Gb per month or more as I normally do with my XM app and have since June. Because AT&T allows unlimited bandwidth, there shouldn't be a limit on apps either.
Click to expand...

AT&T isn't the one imposing that limit on you. Take your complaint up with Apple.
 
SpaceKitty said:
Then again, we are paying $30 per month for UNLIMITED internet. Unlimited does mean unlimited. It doesn't say we can't use 5Gb per month or more as I normally do with my XM app and have since June. Because AT&T allows unlimited bandwidth, there shouldn't be a limit on apps either.
Click to expand...

I dont think you realize how long it would take to try to download lets say a 1.3GB Navigon or Tomtom app update for example thru 3G or Edge. It could take many many hours. Or a game update and many other big apps. Its not a practical thing to try to download big files like that thru the phone without a fast Wifi connection. Not only will the download fail as soon as your screen will dim and iphone lock also your battery will not make it thru.
An average of 20MB to 50MB would be decent IMO.
Its like trying to empty a pool with a straw. Its doable but time consuming and not practical.
 
Did anyone else read that article stating that its not the fact so many phones are USING data, it's the connecting to the towers that is congesting the network. The amount of people making connection requests is the problem, not actually using the data.
 
Applejuiced said:
I dont think you realize how long it would take to try to download lets say a 1.3GB Navigon or Tomtom app update for example thru 3G or Edge. It could take many many hours. Or a game update and many other big apps. Its not a practical thing to try to download big files like that thru the phone without a fast Wifi connection. Not only will the download fail as soon as your screen will dim and iphone lock also your battery will not make it thru.
An average of 20MB to 50MB would be decent IMO.
Its like trying to empty a pool with a straw. Its doable but time consuming and not practical.
Click to expand...

I DO have any idea of how long it could possibly take. I often download 65MB music videos on 3G and sometimes it takes 5-10 minutes depending on where I am in my house.
 
SpaceKitty said:
I DO have any idea of how long it could possibly take. I often download 65MB music videos on 3G and sometimes it takes 5-10 minutes depending on where I am in my house.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
Im glad you do but many people dont know any better. They will just click update all and then sit there and wonder what is wrong with their iphone running extra slow after hours of trying to update those large apps and tryng to do other tasks and it keeps failing and keeps trying etc....
 
Applejuiced said:
Exactly.
Im glad you do but many people dont know any better. They will just click update all and then sit there and wonder what is wrong with their iphone running extra slow after hours of trying to update those large apps and tryng to do other tasks and it keeps failing and keeps trying etc....
Click to expand...

The worst thing about 3G speeds is that it fluctuates. It's not a constant 1.5MB download as an example. It may get faster or slower every few seconds making the download take even more time or not depending.
 
SpaceKitty said:
The worst thing about 3G speeds is that it fluctuates. It's not a constant 1.5MB download as an example. It may get faster or slower every few seconds making the download take even more time or not depending.
Click to expand...

I hear you on that, and when you're on the road its even worst with its ups and downs.
I had a friend try to update a big game while using 3Gunrestrictor and he regret ever trying. His app wasnt usable any more, phone became slow as hell and he tried shutting it off and back on and it would not stop trying to update it and ask for his itunes password.
 
SpaceKitty said:
The worst thing about 3G speeds is that it fluctuates. It's not a constant 1.5MB download as an example. It may get faster or slower every few seconds making the download take even more time or not depending.
Click to expand...

that's how radio waves work. i used to be a radio tech in the army and you could be within sight of the other guy and you couldn't get a transmission until you moved 10 feet to another spot. sometimes you have dead spots and the speed depends on your location to the sender. i was watching The Civil War on PBS and there were reports of journalists being in the middle of a battlefield and everything was silent. it was a known phenomenon of silent areas due to how sound waves travel. very similar to radio waves.

the maximum speeds you see are in ideal lab conditions. it's like the old CD-ROM drive speed wars. even the 50x drives were only 50x in a lab test one out of 1000 times.
 
SpaceKitty said:
Then again, we are paying $30 per month for UNLIMITED internet. Unlimited does mean unlimited. It doesn't say we can't use 5Gb per month or more as I normally do with my XM app and have since June. Because AT&T allows unlimited bandwidth, there shouldn't be a limit on apps either.
Click to expand...

it would be a routing nightmare if you tried to download a large file while moving and connecting to different towers
 
This is true with any service

SpaceKitty said:
The worst thing about 3G speeds is that it fluctuates. It's not a constant 1.5MB download as an example. It may get faster or slower every few seconds making the download take even more time or not depending.
Click to expand...

3G DSL wireless cable you name it if a service is over taxed or to much demand at a giving time speed will very.
 
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