When AT&T resurrected unlimited data plans, it also introduced a feature it had shunned the first time around: letting subscribers use their phone as a mobile hotspot (AKA “tethering”), but only up to 10 GB per month. But there’s a flaw in AT&T’s execution that prevents users from knowing how much tethering data they’ve actually used. [More]
mobile data
AT&T Users Have No Way To Know How Much Data They’re Tethering, Despite 10GB Cap
By 4.28.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Verizon Will Now Sell You All The Unlimited Data You Can Use… For An Hour
By 10.18.16
We usually think of data as something that cycles monthly: your mobile bill comes once a month, and it has all your data charges on it. Bandwidth you use on the 1st is essentially interchangeable with bandwidth you use on the 15th or 30th. But Verizon is apparently tired of thinking monthly, and is now going a little shorter-term. As in, hourly. [More]
T-Mobile Getting Rid Of Plans, Now Only Offers Unlimited Everything
By 8.18.16
T-Mobile has spent the years since its failed acquisition by AT&T building its LTE network and launching new phases of its “UnCarrier” initiative. Today, the provider that started the industry trend away from contracts and handset subsidies is also getting rid of mobile data plans. From here out, it will offer one postpaid option: unlimited voice, data, and text. [More]
Consumer Reports Finds Serious Security Flaws In Fertility App Glow
By 7.29.16
The fertility-tracking app Glow collects detailed information about users’ bodies and sex lives, and one thing that may not occur to users is the possibility that their data could be compromised. No, not just if someone swiped their phone or broke into their account: our colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports discovered some serious security flaws in the app, which Glow has now fixed. [More]
Does Comcast Want To Be Your Mobile Phone Carrier? (Probably, Yeah)
By 7.19.16
They already dominate in home broadband and in cable TV. But Comcast knows as well as anyone else that your attention is increasingly leaving the living room and going on the road — or at least, split between two screens at once. And if you’re going wireless, well, Comcast wants to meet you there so it can keep taking your money. [More]
What The Heck Is 5G Anyway, And Why Does It Matter?
By 7.13.16 — Updated: 2.22.17
Wireless companies like to throw around a lot of swanky-sounding terms to get you interested in their goods. The new hotness on everyone’s lips is 5G, which does not in fact exist yet. But it will, and the FCC today is going to vote on a proposal that will have a lot to do with getting it off the ground. So here’s everything you need to know about the future of your phone. [More]
Americans Using Incredible Volume Of Mobile Data, Don’t Look To Be Slowing Down Any Time Soon
By 5.24.16
When businesses, consumer advocates, and government reports all say that the use of mobile data is skyrocketing, they aren’t kidding. An annual survey of the wireless industry shows that we are using more mobile everything, all the time, everywhere — and that the trend shows no signs of slowing down. [More]
Study: Ads On The Mobile Web Don’t Just Suck, They Suck Up Valuable Data
By 3.17.16
You’ve got a limited allotment of monthly LTE data to use, so you’re careful with it. You just load up the news and read it — on a reputable website — while waiting for a coffee or the bus, let’s say. And yet at the end of the month you’ve used way more data than you feel like you should have. The culprit? Those annoying ads that get in your way anyway. [More]
Qualcomm’s New LTE Gigabit Modem Will Make Phones Very Fast… If It Ever Gets A Network To Connect To
By 2.11.16
You may not know much about Qualcomm, but odds are fairly good that you come into contact with their tech daily. Their tech powers the majority of Android phone brands, including Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola, and HTC handsets. They also have a reach into most connected devices markets, including “smart” home appliances, cars, wearable tech, and health care. Today, they’ve dropped an announcement that they hope will change mobile data forever… but there’s a catch. [More]
Wireless Companies Have A Plan To Make Your Mobile Data Faster And Better… But It Might Break WiFi
By 10.19.15
Over the last couple of years we’ve all finally gotten used to 4G LTE being the mobile standard our phones use… so of course, the next network tech is already in development. The wireless companies’ plans for expanding LTE networks sound simple: piggyback off spectrum that’s sitting right there, available for anyone to use, so the metaphorical pipes can be bigger. Except that could cause big problems for basically all the wireless tech we already use. [More]
AT&T Rollover Data A Good Idea In Theory, Useless For Some Real Users
By 8.3.15
Tom is an AT&T customer, and currently has a data plan that includes rollover data. Normally, he and the other person on his plan are very precise: he says that they normally use 2.8 GB of their shared 3 GB plan. Recently, their normal practices didn’t work, and they had to dip into the rollover data. That’s when they learned that rollover data is only useful if your data use fluctuates wildly from month to month. [More]
Report: AT&T Wireless Program To Let Subscribers Get Free Data From Advertisers
By 6.11.15
Data is a precious resource for mobile consumers and the wireless companies that serve them. The two are always in a trade-off: data caps, overage pricing, unlimited plans, zero-rating… there are loads of different iterations (and shenanigans) in that sphere. And now, reports indicate AT&T might be trying out a new one. [More]
Sprint CEO: Unlimited Data Works For Now But “Is Not Forever”
By 5.28.15
The era of unlimited mobile data has been in rapid decline over the past few years. It turns out that consumers really like using mobile broadband and that wireless companies really like making money, and when the two go hand in hand the whole “unlimited” thing doesn’t really work out in business’s favor as much as “charge for data” does. Sprint has been trying to attract new customers by fighting against that tide, but even the top exec of the company now says that’s ultimately likely to be a losing battle. [More]
Verizon: You Should Love Your Mobile Data Cap Because It’s Good For You
By 4.14.15
Nobody likes data caps. They’re an aspect of the mobile era that we all grudgingly accept, but everyone basically hates them. Enter Verizon Wireless! The mobile behemoth has hired an analyst to rescue us — but not, alas, by removing data caps. No, no: Verizon’s analyst is here to tell us why we should actually love them. [More]
T-Mobile Decides To Base New Coverage Map On Real Data From Real Phones
By 3.30.15
T-Mobile has been trying, for the past few years, to break away from the dominant competition in the mobile space by doing anything they can think of differently. And now, that extends to information for potential customers, too: their coverage map. [More]
AT&T To Free Up More Data For Mobile Subscribers, At Cost Of Net Neutrality
By 1.7.15
Most of us are used to mobile companies clinging tightly to every precious bit and byte of data like a dragon hoards gold. Unlimited data plans were everywhere for a while, then went away, and then kinda sorta came back but not really. This week, AT&T has announced two big changes that will work to free up “bonus” data for their subscribers. One is harmless and maybe even good, but the other could have big, negative repercussions for mobile internet use. [More]
All Four National Wireless Companies Accused Of Breaking FCC Rules By Hiding Information About Data Throttling
By 8.7.14
Just over two weeks ago, the FCC not-so-gently reminded all four big wireless carriers that although true “net neutrality” might not apply to them, there are still rules about transparency and disclosures that they have to follow. At the time, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said that companies had no excuse to think the FCC wasn’t watching them — and the FCC isn’t the only group putting wireless companies on notice over their lack of transparency. [More]
