Films presumably?

Blu Rays are circa 50 gig for a copy of the whole disk, so 40 of those and you're there, but 2TB??

Goodness knows why the spokesperson stated that ridiculous figure. 3 themselves state that 1000GB is almost impossible even when the service is used 24/7. Classic disinformation to distract attention from the real issue which is network congestion being caused by steaming services like Netflix and the BBC iPlayer which when combined with tethering can result in usage levels of 50+ GB per month and that is unsustainable in urban areas as the average usuage deliverable on 3/4G is around 5GB per use per month.

Restricting tethering to 2 and 4GB makes sense as it prevents mobile technology replacing fixed line services which are more capable of delivering high amounts of data. The screen size on a mobile makes streaming TV shows and movies less attractive although screen mirroring may make that usage possible and if adopted by sufficient numbers 3 will have to rethink the whole issue of data consumption again. I expect more limits to apply to ensure mobile users can do the basics with their smart phones and the most likely regulator in the short to medium term is likely to be pricing. Traffic sense has a role to play but its expanded use risks alienating customers as it can vary not only from area to area but from user to user depending on what is required in specific places.

According to my iphone settings I've used almost 65GB in 3months, that's web browsing and youtube, youtube is mostly on my laptop through tethering. I thought that was a lot but reading the above makes it sound like nothing lol

The comment would of been made 'hypothetically' as the '1000GB' like someone said is a 'Soft cap' and once you reach the counters re-set to '0'. (Bearing in mind TrafficSense would of punished you like mad for reaching that cap).

It certainly does I admit I use three as a fixed line alternative although i've clearly stated that my area doesn't have the best in broadband throughout my area. It also maeans less congestion on masts and less bandwidth required, but they are still offering 'Unlimited' data on Mobile Handsets which will still put a strain on the network although when '4G' comes hopefully it will improve the reliability of the whole Three network although there using the lowest spectrum available Three have always as the saying goes 'Done a lot with little'.

They will only change it for 'New Customers' and that's what they have done although I believe they will change the PAYG tariffs to get more profit out of the 'All-You-Can-Eat' service offered on that possibly use the 'Free 0800' numbers as a marketing method to entice users to getting a new 'PAYG' tariff as PAYG works out better to the 'Sim Only' plans atm.

Let's compare the PAYG tariffs to the 'Sim Only'

PAYG (Currently)

http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchSimOnly?tariff=112

3000 texts and 300 minutes plus all-you-can-eat data for just £15

Contract (Sim Only) - Nearest to the PAYG Plan same cost less minutes ;-

http://store.three.co.uk/view/search...riff=204821200

All-you-can-eat data
200 minutes
All-you-can-eat texts
Use up to 4GB of your data allowance as a personal hotspot.
12 months

Also another reason as (Tethering isn't officially supported ) many people can tether on PAYG whereas on new tariffs they have a separate system that identifies and gives you a tethering usage. PAYG will be changing very soon

Three say on their blog


http://blog.three.co.uk/2014/07/15/p...new-sim-plans/

How big is one episode of GOT?? 90mb?? Even one EastEnders episode in SD on iPlayer about 30 mins long is about 300mb.

If you've got a phone with an HD display (or even a 2K display with the G3 and many more phones coming out in the second half of 2014) then you'll almost certainly want to stream in HD quality - 1080p ideally. And at a decent bitrate.

Some services like iPlayer and Sky Go don't appear to give the best quality, but even if you didn't tether and just watched on your phone (and with a 5-5.5-inch display, it's perfectly possible to use your phone as a media player) I think you could use a lot of data.

But I can't imagine that, unless you're running P2P software 24/7, you could get very close to 1TB, let alone 2TB. Even if you were in an area with a very fast connection in both directions.

I think that on my ADSL connection, when TalkTalk used to let me view the usage, I once peaked at 160GB.

I am not sure how many people are downloading full bitrate Blu-ray films, but obviously there are going to be some.. but I'd imagine a lot of this really heavy usage is illegal (pirate) material anyway, not people who are just using the Internet 'legally'.

Ive seen evidence of someone using 700GB + on Three before.

If it's a 1080p, DD 5.1 *.MKV, then they weigh in at circa 1.6 gig, or 4 or so gig in *.TS (Transport Stream) format.

Damn, I really must try harder!

I know. Its a joke and not possible unless you tether all day every day and constantly download torrents.

Fwiw i got a reply on twitter from 3 support saying they only apply trafficsense for those using p2p, so i can only conclude the rubbish speeds after 3pm for me are due to network congestion.

Ill stick with 3 until at least my contract end in january then will evaluate my options . I hope the congestion eases when people start to move on to newer plans

Three will be hoping to sign up a lot more subscribers, so there's every chance we won't see a massive change.

Three may end up having the exact same network usage, but obviously makes more money from having more users using a bit less each. It's what Three obviously wants and needs, but I really don't believe that there are THAT many heavy users who are taking advantage of unlimited tethering (or abusing, depending on your opinion).

The minority taking a massively disproportionate data allowance have nowhere else to go anyway. I'd rather Three had tethering caps that worked for the vast majority (but possibly with the option to buy more data so those wanting to use it to replace fixed line broadband could do so).

Hi,

I'm on the Ultimate Internet SIM 200 1 month plan, i don't think it exists anymore and it doesn't include tethering. At least it didn't when i bought it.

I've just tried my phone as a hotspot and connected with my kindle and browsed the web.

I didn't think tethering would work if i wasn't on the right plan so has tethering been enabled on all the AYCE data sims, even the older ones?

No it isn't allowed but it does work.

It even works on PAYG.

Technically, Three could block it but they don't seem to bother at present.

I don't buy it at all.

I forced my Three SIM onto 2G in Central London the other day and it connected to 2G just fine.

You don't buy what?

Evening guys, first post and bit of a bump!

I've been on the Three one plan for 2 years, contract was up so switched to a sim only deal. Tonight i've had the text "You've nearly used up your hotspot allowance. This will restart on 21/09. To add more hotspot allowance please visit my3"

I've got 860mb left out of 4000mb, and i'm only 4 days into fresh allowance!

Thats simply using phone for PC to browse the net, and watch youtube.

Any alternatives i've been looking at gifgaf but not sure they allow tethering at all. There are some apps to tether undetected but need more research!

You have 14 days to cancel. Why not just go back onto the One Plan.

Thanks jabbamk1

I was paying £34 a month for the one plan but wanted a new phone after 24 months, they said if I went with new phone that would be new contract thus back on the 4gb hotspot limit.

I'm considering going on Virgin media broadband only, and giffgaff for phone when out and about.

You can only tether on giffgaff limited data packages, you can't tether on the unlimited data.

Honestly speaking, going from Three to Giff Gaff is not a good idea. Giff Gaff's network is very poor compared to Three's network.

Besides, Giff Gaff are increasing their prices to £18pm for unlimited data from next month.

How much data are you actually using every month on tethering? Obviously more than 4GB right?

If possible see if they can recommit your plan on sim only with unlimited tethering? If not may be worth going back to your old plan, even at £34 still very very good price.

That the 2G backup doesn't exist much anymore, I think that's what he was saying.

Thanks all, seems catch22 then with gifgaff if only tethering on the limited data plans.

I use at the most 15gb a month, it can be higher if I DL any steam games, but this is a rarity.

Currently weighing up Virgin media @ £26.50 without landline for 50mb, VS talktalk £2 line rental with a landline (£15.99?)

That Virgin price seems high, especially if you are a new customer.

I have the Virgin Media 50mb service, with landline and anytime calls, all inclusive it costs me £29.49 a month.

You might want to phone and haggle a bit more on the price .