yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
Both Speedtest from exact same Device, in the Exact Same Position, with FULL SIGNAL

^ 1-month Rolling One Plan SIM

^ 24-month (Since December 2010) One Plan SIM with Handset throttled by TrafficSense

This #AllYouCanNibble stuff really makes my Traffic Make NoSense
[Networking] cirian75:
get that on

http://www.facebook.com/AllYouCanNibble

now

---------- Post added at 10:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:06 PM ----------

I'm am preparing for my departure from Three, a HTC Sensation has been secured just incase I don't get to hang onto my iPhone 4s
[Networking] Paladinleeds:
Hmm, what I find interesting is the way things change when not throttled. It clearly isn't affecting everyone, look at the top two results for example in the attachment. (The lowest result was from a different day).

Finally, apologies for it not being SpeedTest.net, AFAIK it is still not available on Windows Phone 7 (I use a HTC TITAN)
[Networking] flyingcat:
11 kbps is really slow. Are you sure it isn't 11 kBps ? (about 88kbps)

Still really slow and useless of course.
[Networking] HarrowingLife:
That's interesting, they introduced this TrafficSense to improve speeds for the 95% and your speeds have got worse.

I'd rather put it on Google+, once Facebook started stealing Google+ features I had enough and deleted my account. (P.S. Saw in the news that Mark Zuckerburg is now having to eat McDonalds after the whole failed Stocks thing http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...takes-new-bride-Priscilla-Chan-McDonalds.html)

---------- Post added at 11:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 PM ----------

kbps = kilobits per second so I assume cirian75 does mean 11KBps although I've had as low as 800BYTE's a second with this throttle system at times!

Not to mention DNS Lookups Failing, Huge Latency making World of Warcraft literally Unplayable (Only requires Dial-Up!), Connections failing for example you get only half the web page and even 10 minutes later its still only half the web page, etc....
[Networking] grumpy3user:
as my username states.. im a grumpy 3 user

hello all, just registered on here to put my 2p in

been following this thread for a couple of days now (as i googled 3 throttling and this was the first place that came up)

anyway, as like most of you here i am also experiences TERRIBLE speeds at night

15 quid a month pay as you go user

recently moved house in march and found i couldnt get broadband where i live so refused to pay sky the money for line rental and internet speeds of dial up , so as a result my brother in law pointed me in the direction of the 3 all you can eat payg sim!!

for 6 weeks it worked great, then BAM one day it just went slow

he gave me his phone so i could use it as a hotspot (its a long story as to why i dont have my own)

i considered getting a contract from three so i could get my own phone and thus give him his back.. im glad i didnt now.. couldve been stuck with a 24month contract for something i only wanted for net access which now dont work!

according to the date usage on the phone itself.. since 19th-31st of may ive used 234MB

not a lot is it?

granted i had used more than 10gb the first month i had it.. even so 10gb isnt a lot in this day an age

current download speeds are 2.5kb/s

from what ive read on here, im going to get myself a new sim tomorrow and see how i go
[Networking] cirian75:
Three must know by now TrafficSense is broken

People's phone data counters are showing this to be true.
[Networking] grumpy3user:
not sure if your been sarcastic or not lol

if you are :D .. :cool:

if not.. my data counter was working perfect untill i got throttled , as i would check it every day jus out of curiosity more than anything
[Networking] flyingcat:
As someone pointed out the top 5% thing (if true) would mean mostly everyone on Three would get "throttled" sooner or later.

There would be a constant stream of new "top 5%"ers as the last lot were punished and either left Three or really reduced their data usage.

So I doubt it's really the "top 5%" of users at all, it just sounds good to claim it's the selfish few getting whacked Godfather style.

previously on Godfather pt 4:

"This is Three, your fairy Godfather. I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse. All You Can Eat Data, whatcha think of that hey? And no funny business either, you can count on it. Capice?"

later that year...

"Why did you betray me like this? downloading 70GB/80GB a month?.

I trusted you like a son/daughter/shareholder, you have dishonoured the family. You must pay a high price"
[Networking] AlecE:
You will be throttled again. Tethering on PAYG is against the terms and conditions and TrafficSense is designed to detect it and mitigate it. ACYE data on PAYG is handset data only, no tethering, no using it in a data only device (MiFi, iPad etc though PAYG mobile broadband deals are available).

Hope that helps,

Alec
[Networking] hypermidget:
Finally!

One minute ago 0.02mbps now 5.40mbps. Been reading through this forum for a while, only been able to sign up now because I couldn't get a connection to hotmail before! Really annoyed by this, especially as I signed up to a second one plan contract the day before yesterday...

One idea I had is to try and tweet celebrities, I know it's a long shot but if one of them picks up on it then that'd be a lot of bad publicity for three. E.g. saw a tweet by Stephen Fry complaining about a 3 mifi...
[Networking] grumpy3user:
helps a lot, thanks ;)

guess il just have to suck it up lol, 15 a month is still cheaper than sky and any other company, would rather pay 15 a month than 25 for line rental etc which i dont even need, ahhh the downfall of living in the country.. cant have it all eh

appreciate the info though m8
[Networking] rgrover:
Sky is £22.50 a month including line rental here for 6-11 Mbps with unlimited usage. I'd much rather pay the extra £7.50 for a reliable service, plus they're doing 6 months free at the moment so only works out at £17.50 a month for the 1st 12 months.
[Networking] mardon85:
Back on full fat internet now. Was catching up on Galaxy SIII reviews on youtube and iplayer last night. Checked before bed (before 00:01 I may add). 1.72GB used ooops. Thats me throttled again next week.

Its not right that on an all you can eat data plan using it for nothing illegal I now have to worry about being put in the naughty cupboard again.

So glad they let me cancel my contract.

They no just as well as us they have done some serious miss selling of their product. Just see the 3 sales man on youtube. That was EXACTLY how I was sold my contract and was left without internet for a week because of using it as sold. Utter disgrace.

I'm really surprised that the media haven't got hold of this by now and ripped three a new one. Any day now I guess.
[Networking] grumpy3user:
I wont get those kind of speeds though, i had all sorts of issues with sky - it took them a month to put the PHONE ON, 6 visits from engineers, phone goes active, i phone them up to order my internet..and thats when they told me that they couldnt provide me with it..so i cancelled my phone and this is why im using a 3 payg sim lol
[Networking] Hands0n:
Its 9:42am and you've used 4GB today? :eek::eek::eek:
[Networking] cirian75:
Ok

I have just watched 34 minutes of a netflix film = 1GB

My iPhone says 1GB

the data counter on the PC says 1GB

mmm

the data counter on my iPhone also said 63GB from March 9th till May 25th.

Three told me I did 90GB in march and 60 in April

something wrong somewhere.
[Networking] Hands0n:
It all depends on exactly what is being counted. Is the iPhone's data counter counting payload bytes or the entire data packet itself, including headers and footers? I don't think we can know for sure but I doubt that the iPhone is counting payload+packet. OTOH, Three's data stats are more likely to be a reflection of the entire use case, that is payload+packet, and that would include [perhaps] data that is not counted by the iPhone (if any).

I don't think that Android counters are likely to be any clearer, unless someone knows whats going on at the OS level in these terms.

That said, a third-again difference seems to be awfully high to be entire packet vs payload only.
[Networking] cirian75:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bi...ty/responses/Three_response_to_Ofcom_Tra1.pdf

Page 5, point 17.

This is exactly what three has done
[Networking] chazam:
Thanks everyone for the thread as I hadn't realized what Three were up to until this morning when I came across the news here.

Really disappointed with what is going on and will be keeping an eye on how well the complaints are received by various agencies. I guess I'd better get a move on and put some in myself.

TrafficSense makes no sense at the moment. I'd suffer being throttled to between half a meg and 1 meg during busy periods (choosing to download anything big off peak) but they're hitting people too hard with the current cuts IMO.

I guess I was never going to last but I was encouraged to use it to its full potential by some of the blog posts on the official Three blog.

I was so surprised by what was on offer I saved a PDF version of one of the blog posts from June last year. Just in case anything changes, here it is for all to see.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/991312/Three Tether 1 21-07-2011.pdf

Turned out to be a little white lie. :(
[Networking] Hands0n:
Yea but, in context with what else they said in that consultative document, same page, point 14

Other networks that do not [currently] utilise active traffic management do have poor customer experience issues. This week alone, I have had to tether my Vodafone networked iPhone to my Three networked Galaxy Nexus just to be able to access Internet content. DNS and other timeouts occurring constantly through network congestion and massive latency, even though speedtests were coming in at 4Mbps when they actually ran from that same location.

That said, I also agree with the section you pulled out of that document (an interesting read in its entirety also). Better than Jeremy Kyle Show.
[Networking] Bottomless Pete:
All those documents you guys have shown here e.g. the blog posts, ofcom documents... should be added to the first post, so that new readers can see all the resources.

Also the first post says 6-12, however it is 3-12
[Networking] cirian75:
Agreed, I 101% agree with Three that Traffic management had to happen.

Their method though of doing it with "TrafficSense TM" is totally wrong though.

A peak time 3.8mbps cap for all would have been much better.
[Networking] philje123:
Does anyone know how much notice is required when cancelling under these circumstances?

As in if I rang up today how soon would it be to the phone being cut off and no longer billed?

Thanks

Phil
[Networking] cirian75:
you have 30 days from when Traffic sense became active 12th May
[Networking] philje123:
You mean I have a 30 day window in order to ring and cancel or it will be cancelled 30 days from when it started regardless of when I ring?

Thanks
[Networking] greigster:
Have a look at the time of his post, if you need any more hints let me know!:rolleyes:
[Networking] rolydj:
Wait 12th May?? I signed up on the 13th, received phone 14th. Does this mean I'm screwed if I get throttled? :eek:
[Networking] cirian75:
very possibly :eek::eek::eek:

---------- Post added at 11:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 AM ----------

Pity he's just ruined it

http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2012/05/three-public-image-has-turned-a-corner/
[Networking] newbintraining:
Yeah, that was a whole days usage. Don't think I got managed, maybe it also depends on your total usage per week/month? It's very vague... The bloke at the call center said I should avoid downloading 3pm -> midnight...

The whole thing has been underhand, they didn't let us know and what information is available is so vague. Although the traffic management on Virgin Media can be annoying, at least they are up front about the times, bandwidth and rates of reduction, unlike Three. Awaiting a call from a manager from 12pm onwards today, definitely going to leave them. If they can prove they haven't breached their terms then I would take them up on a goodwill gesture of returning the phone if they return my upfront cost.
[Networking] Hands0n:
Ah, 9PM. Riiiiiiiiight! Doh! :rolleyes:

Although, 4GB in a day still sounds an awful lot in context to any of the other networks (O2, Vodafone, he'd need to be visiting Wonga to pay the bill).
[Networking] Shiftone:
Ok finally got my offer of cancellation via their social media team.

They are requesting the return of my handset... lets see how this negotiation goes.
[Networking] cirian75:
Section 2.3 of three T&Cs says the handset is NOT part of the contract.

its 100% yours

let us know how it goes.
[Networking] newbintraining:
That's why I chose Three and the AYCE data at the time, but my data usage varies a lot. The past 2 months I've hardly used any, but in the first 2 weeks of my contract I used 20GB, depends on what I'm up to.

---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:03 PM ----------

The thing is, if they can prove they haven't breached the terms then you aren't entitled to cancel, so they are offering this as a goodwill gesture.

By social media team did you mean twitter?
[Networking] cirian75:
well I want the £49.99 I paid up front back, and the extra £15 pm my plan cost vs the same sim only plan then.
[Networking] Hands0n:
Yea, my monthly usage is all over the place. Sometimes less than 1GB, other times very much more than that. That was the principle reason why I went for TOP+AYCE, a fixed bill, no surprises.
[Networking] rolydj:
As for users who signed up after after 12th May when 3 apparently sneaked in Trafficsense, anyone knows where we stand?

:confused:
[Networking] Hands0n:
A perspective on this affair - TrafficSense on Three

Here are some personal thoughts on this week's debacle; as a Three customer (as well as other networks), a forum mod (not this one) and an occasional blogger (http://technoratia.com).

I am not so much worried about the introduction of TrafficSense - rather the means and the lack of quality information about it. The way in which this has been launched into production use leaves much to be desired. Leaving the public-face of Three to pick up the flak from a rather disgruntled customer base.

As someone who has had a career working at the shadowy layers of networking in large organisations my own view is that the activity has done great PR damage. I'd go as far as to say it has brought Three into disrepute, a sackable offence in many organisations I have worked in. Heads would roll (maybe not in today's PC employment climate).

There are far too many questions unanswered that would even allow us to shape our own usage so as not to get snagged. Always assuming that we would actually do this. Clearly there are some who will consume all that they can eat, constrained only by the prevailing bandwidth at their cell location and how many hours there are in a calendar day. And, given how the service is sold, one could ask "why shouldn't they?".

And then the actual "managed" bandwidth being too low as to be of any practical use (20Kbps, not even the stated 128Kbps) has got everyone's goat, even those [like me] who have not been impacted.

Certainly, I agree with traffic management in a finite resource such as networking. I don't see it as a change to T&Cs. In fact, others have already identified that the T&Cs support traffic management. But the actual implementation of the bandwidth restriction to the 5% has been tantamount to an FUP as it has resulted in making the data service unusable. And in that alone it is a major failing.

Three have an opportunity to put all of this right very quickly. I won't say that they have dragged their heels because a week, in corporate terms, is no time at all. Like turning an oil tanker vs a speedboat it takes a lot longer for things to happen, for due process to be gone through. But turn Three must, if it is to salvage any remaining PR good will out of this episode.

Then thinking about PR, Three must find a way of documenting this incident, talk to its customers and prospective customers. To do what no other mobile network operator does, be open and honest. To build upon the good social media reputation that Three already has. Break the fear of corporate loss of face, its too late, that has already happened. Man up and face the music. Talk to us. Tell us what happened, what has been done to fix it, and how we can avoid coming under Traffic Management if we want to.

And Three must learn from this week, to make sure that nothing like this happens like this again. It was wholly avoidable, and that is the crying pity of it all.
[Networking] cirian75:
I suspect your knackered :mad:
[Networking] newbintraining:
Well you do get 14 days to return the phone and cancel the contract penalty free if you have just bought it, afaik.
[Networking] cirian75:
http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Device_support/Returns
[Networking] jonmorris:
I wonder why they didn't just adopt the approach used by Three in Sweden, where you get a certain amount of data at full speed (and they have HSPA+ and possibly even DC-HSPA+ nationwide) and then after that it drops. I believe you can either wait until the next month for the speed to be restored, or pay for a top-up of sorts.

I can't recall what the limit is - but they can still say it's all you can eat data. The speeds you'll get are clearly set out before you sign up. If you're going to use 100GB a month, you'll know that the speed after nnGB will be reduced. If you don't like it, don't buy - or look elsewhere (except these days, few rivals are offering truly unlimited data).

GiffGaff had/has already imposed limits, in this case cutting people off completely I believe, on their totally unlimited tariff. I recall they also claimed it to only be a certain percentage of abusers, a clever way of getting other customers (not CURRENTLY affected) to support the action - that is until they find themselves caught up by the cap a month or two down the line.

It's a big mistake for Three and a PR disaster.. and all about the time they should be boasting about rolling out DC-HSPA+ for BT Infinity style speeds (well before BT boosted it beyond 40Mbps) on mobile.
[Networking] newbintraining:
Anyone managed to get Three to offer the cancellation deal? I read in the TOS that they can introduce traffic management, though the way they have gone about it is poor. I wouldn't be overly bothered about returning the phone if they refund me the £199 I paid for it and voided the contract. Total loss would just be for the 3/4 year worth of line rental.
[Networking] IanAG:
I am seriously relieved I have just taken out a monthly contract and bought an S3 separately rather than going with a 24 month. The main reason I left t-mobile was the lack of integrity, funny really as the guy in retentions tried to use it as an excuse for me to stay with t-mobile claiming all phone companies treated their customers the same!

Apologies if this has already been covered but is it just me or is it pretty funny that 3 don't support access to their Android app via wifi forcing you to turn it off to access it?
[Networking] rolydj:
I purchased mine from Buymobilephones.net whose returns policy is 7 days, so it's been over that already >.<

I guess my only argument would be if the speeds were throttled to the point of being unusable?
[Networking] cirian75:
I have been offered via email and phone

7 months in now

They want the phone though.
[Networking] newbintraining:
Hmm, I have yet to hear back from my email or from my phone call yesterday. I need to pressure them somehow. Have you asked for your initial payment back as part of the deal?
[Networking] philje123:
Another question for people.

They insist that I have not been throttled and I'm not in the group of high users (guess the really slow speeds I have been having at peak times is just coincidence then eh?!).

Because they insist this she was refusing to let me cancel and not pay the remaining months back.

Anyone else have this?

Also are the supervisors that call you back English? No offence but I find the customer service staff very hard to talk to as they have strong accents and also explain things in a very funny way and don't always understand when I tell them things.

Phil
[Networking] newbintraining:
Ok, so I just got called by the manager, who was obviously in India, and he was perfectly understanding when I explained that I realise why they have added it, but I was disgusted at the way it was being handled. Then, he said that he will escalate my complaint further and I will get a call back in the next few days to discuss the possibility of a penalty free cancellation. Not there yet, but it's a start.

---------- Post added at 01:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 PM ----------

Ask to be called back by a manager like I did, it may take 24 hours for them to call, but you can use them to escalate further as long as you stand your ground without being rude. As much as I felt like I wanted to really say something, I kept calm and put my point across.
[Networking] scoopex:
Confirmation from ThreeUK on Twitter that one plan contract users must use data heavy services at off-peak times. :eek:

With that Tweet have Three NOT just shot themselves in the foot which in turn gives me the right to cancel my one plan contracts without penalty ?
[Networking] wml:
I wonder what happen once everyone starts downloading off peak and the network melts again i bet they will say they have no choice but have trafficsense running 24/7

Cant see how this can be a workable solution
[Networking] newbintraining:
Interesting note I forgot to add; The manager said this has come into force due to a massive server outage they had a month or so ago (maybe it was two months) due to being over capacity. Whether there is truth in that claim or not I don't know. Hopefully I'll get a call from someone even higher up soon.
[Networking] Hands0n:
Six minutes to 3pm. Speedtest.net at the ready people :)
[Networking] wml:
Looks like my 7 days of no peak internet are over till next time
[Networking] Hands0n:
What speeds are you seeing? Normal, before TS hit, or something beween?
[Networking] wml:
About normal for my current location

Ping 209ms download 2204kbps upload 2397kbps

And almost identical to pre 3pm today
[Networking] Hands0n:
Hmm, It looks like you're out of it :)

Anyone still in TS can supply Speedtest.net results? If there's an improvement it will be a sign of change
[Networking] Bottomless Pete:
Yea speeds seem to be better for me too;
[Networking] safc:
can anyone clear a point for me if i have my phone plugged into tv via hdmi and watchin footy is this classed as tethering iam on the payg ayce and can three ever detect wat yer phone is plugged into .thanks
[Networking] Hands0n:
No, that is not tethering.

Tethering is where you use the phone's data connection by another device "tethered" to it by some means (USB, Bluetooth or WiFi commonly). That'll be a laptop or desktop computer, games console and suchlike. These devices typically use much more data than your mobile phone can use, even if it is displaying on a larger screen.
[Networking] chazam:
I wonder if we have a u-turn with this throttling on our hands?

This is what I am getting today:

I'll re-check it after 6pm to see if anything declines beyond what I'd expect.