The REAL Deal behind the Sprint data Cap Policy for aircards
Before everyone starts freaking out keep this in mind, LESS THAN 1% OF ALL CURRENT SPRINT AIRCARD USERS CURRENTLY GO OVER THIS LIMIT. This cap will effect less than 1% of aircard customers AND THIS CAP DOES NOT apply to corporate liable airc...
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1 Megabyte MB (unit at which we measure stored data) = 8 Megabits Mb (unit at which we measure transmitted data)
1 Gigabyte GB (unit at which we measure stored data) = 8,192 Megabits Mb (unit at which we measure transmitted data)
1 Gigabyte GB = 1,024 Megabytes MB
Mbps = Megabits Per Second
1.5Mbps is twice the national average of speed on a 3G EVD0 Rev. A Transmission.
MP = Megapixel
Scenarios:
If you are a non-corporate-liable customer to exceed this 5Gig limit you would have to send 1024 5MB PDF files (which if you had a steady 1.5Mbps connection - which is also unlikely - would take you 7.5 hours). If you are a business person who needs to send 1024 5MB PDFs a month while on the road with your data ca...
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One other thing, you are comparing 1.5Mps and I understand why. On paper in a perfect world that is what the cards are capable of. Also like you said that is about twice the national average on EVDO rev A. So more realistically the downloads will be around 800kps, so with as painful as your downloading scenario already sounds, it would most likely be about twice as bad for 99% of the users.
Point is, if you're doanloading 5gigs a month you are in the minority by far.
Wireless.O.G. said:
His claim was that he has seen VZW customers who use 25,000 Gigs a month. Here are some possible scenarios:
i believe he was saying that he has seen bills of $25,000 in overages. not 25,000 GBs of usage
~$45- 60/month. Reliable, 6- 10mbps, stationary.
Wireless aircard, revA-
~$60/month intermittent issues, lag between request and connection, .5- 1.5mbps, mobile.
See, I can justify the $60 wireless card price if it's unlimited and mobile... but, if it's not unlimited then the hassle and issues surrounding a wireless data card outweigh the benefit of being mobile. That means, to have a true value comparison, the aircard would have to be priced at $30- 40 since it is a fraction of the speed of a typical consumer DSL or cable modem connection.
Yes, the % of people using >5gB is very low, but that's all the more reason the monthly cost should be much lower than the $60 it is now. Cable companies can transfer...
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ac4321 said:
Cable modem connection-
~$45- 60/month. Reliable, 6- 10mbps, stationary.
Wireless aircard, revA-
~$60/month intermittent issues, lag between request and connection, .5- 1.5mbps, mobile.
See, I can justify the $60 wireless card price if it's unlimited and mobile... but, if it's not unlimited then the hassle and issues surrounding a wireless data card outweigh the benefit of being mobile. That means, to have a true value comparison, the aircard would have to be priced at $30- 40 since it is a fraction of the speed of a typical consumer DSL or cable modem connection.
Cellular data cards are about mobility. They are not designed to handle large volumes of data service for long periods o...
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Don't want to be an ass but I know people that use Sprint and use Slingbox on Sprint.
Would 5gig be easy to go over in that scenerio?
Xfort said:...
5 gigs is huge. For people that were using more than that they were taking bandwidth away from everyone else by leaving their aircard on constant downloads for huge files. The 300meg off network cap is because people were also taking advantage of using their aircards on roaming all the time, which cost Sprint tons of money to pay other carriers. I was alerted that this was coming weeks ago because Sprint expects high call volume to the call centers once the letters go out BUT and this is a big BUT:
Before everyone starts freaking out keep this in mind, LESS THAN 1% OF ALL CURRENT SPRINT AIRCARD USERS CURRENTLY GO OVER THIS LIMIT. This cap will effect less than 1% of aircard customers AND THIS CAP DOES NO
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I understand that this is an extra $60, but it certainly beats having a $25,000 phone bill.
Once again, if you use enough to warrant a second Aircard, maybe you need to look into DSL or a Cable modem for the times you AREN'T out and about. Perhaps Clearwire would work better for you if you are in different hotel rooms on a regular basis.
On the other hand, I do think that Sprint is going to have to allow the 5 gig cap to grow over time. Think of it as "bandwidth inflation." Sites are getting ever more complicated and require ever more bandwidth...
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It is obvious that hardly anyone will use 5Gb but Unlimited sounds better to the average customer who may not know exactly how much 5GB is.
Wont really hurt them though because their Aircards and Data network are the best currently.
"Sprint reserves the right to limit throughput speeds or amount of data transferred, and to deny, terminate, modify, disconnect or suspend service if usage either exceeds 5GB/month in total, or 300MB/month while roaming. "
The other 99% will not cancel if they are not even close to the cap.