Is it time to think unlimited?

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Unlimited cell service. Honestly, I thought it was gone forever. All of a sudden within the last year everyone’s back to offering unlimited plans. I’m as shocked as you are. The question is, should you jump in?

How unlimited is unlimited?

When you’re using a word like “unlimited” you tend to think well, there are no limits. And to some degree, that’s true. With an AT&T Unlimited plan you can talk as much as you want, text all you want, and e-mail all you want. Just be aware that you’re talking about communication within the US and a very small area beyond that. If you want to talk or text to someone in Europe you’ll need Skype, Whatsapp, or some other IP phone solution.

When it comes to data, it’s true. You’ll never be charged for data overages, you’ll never get a message that you’ve reached your data cap and have to stop streaming. However even unlimited has its limits.

In a very extreme case…

Depending on your AT&T Unlimited plan your streaming speeds could be throttled if there’s massive network congestion. Of course that’s true anyway, if there are a lot of people on the network then naturally your speeds are going to slow down. But with some Unlimited plans this is going to happen on purpose. Your streaming won’t grind to a halt but you might not get full HD.

Also you need to know that in most cases you’re limited to 22GB of downloads per month (not counting DIRECTV content. You can get as much as you want of that.) After 22GB you will find your streaming speeds slow to where you can get good quality SD, but not HD.

This is done just to be fair, really. AT&T’s current unlimited plans aren’t designed to let one office use the data plan of a single cell phone. That would be silly. 22GB is a lot of data even for a hard core streamer; it’s about 45-50 hours of streaming depending on what you’re watching. It’s also about the amount of data in a short 4K movie so of course you have to choose carefully.

Should you consider an unlimited plan?

Most people today are on metered cell phone plans they set up in the last few years. 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of data may have seemed like all you really needed when you went into the store to sign up, but then things changed. You got hooked on bingeing Game of Thrones or Insecure and all of a sudden that data plan is gone in a flash. Or maybe you work where they don’t let you on the Wi-Fi and you have to do all your web surfing on your phone. (Hey, I don’t judge.)

You can use the myATT app, available for free on your phone’s App Store or Play Store, to find out how much data you’ve used in the last month and compare your usage over several months. If you are using more than 75% of your data allotment every month it’s really time to start looking for an upgrade.

Unlimited plans can cost more than you’re paying now for an older, very limited plan. That’s a fact. But they also free you up to do things you never thought possible and there’s a huge value to that. Your cell phone is your most important possession — don’t try to pretend it isn’t true — so why are you holding back from using it the way it was designed?

Call Signal Connect Now

If you’re looking to upgrade your current AT&T plan or if you’re thinking of changing providers, call the experts at Signal Connect at 888-233-7563. They’re AT&T dealers and can use the same tools that the folks in your neighborhood can, in order to get you the service you want, need and deserve. Why use them instead of the folks in your neighborhood? With over 15 years of experience, the folks at Signal Connect are true professionals. Nothing against Brandy, the young lady at the mall trying to sell you phone service, but our people at Signal Connect are career tech professionals and that’s what you want when you are working with that most prized possession.

Give yourself the gift of life without limits. Call Signal Connect today.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.