Angry AT&T Customers May Disrupt Service 572
g0dsp33d writes "Fake Steve Jobs, the alter-alias of Newsweek's Dan Lyons, is calling disgruntled AT&T users to protest comments from AT&T’s Ralph de la Vega that smart phone (specifically iPhone) usage is responsible for their network issues and his plan to end unlimited data plans. The post, dubbed 'Operation Chokehold,' wants AT&T customers to use as much data service as they can on Friday, December 18th at noon. While Fake Steve Jobs is notable for its satire, many Twitter and Facebook users seem to be rallying to its cry. It is unclear if there will be enough support to cause a DDOS."
I read this as (Score:5, Funny)
"Internet braces for even higher levels of smug Apple douchebags"
Re: (Score:2)
I agree. While I personally agree with Fake Steve Jobs in that the iPhone isn't the cause of AT&T's crap network, the lunacy that people defend the iPhone with is...well, it's baffling.
EVERY phone has issues, and the iPhone's issues are glaringly bad. It's a decent device that does its job well, but to claim that it is perfect is like saying 360's don't get teh red ring...
Re:I read this as (Score:5, Insightful)
Except the iPhone get blamed for the wrong things. Does it have problems, sure, but don't blame the phone for problems on the network. I'm on an iphone in Europe and 99% of the criticism out there doesn't apply to me because I'm on a decent network. Most of the "problems" are pretty minor though so why do people feel the need to talk thrash about the iPhone instead of just accepting they don't like some aspects of it and getting another damn phone ?
Re:I read this as (Score:4, Funny)
Again, I don't think the iPhone is crappy, I just think it is ludicrous to act like there is nothing wrong with it.
yes, yes, I know...that's what fanboys do...but this trait seems to be exacerbated by Apple fanboys moreso than other groups.
Oh, except for Browncoats. Try telling one of them that Firefly is nonsense...it will likely be the last thing you ever say, lulz
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I'll just shoot you..... politely.
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* Tethering
* Voice Dial
My Fricken Razr can do these things.
And please don't tell me that you don't need tethering because the iPhone is such an awesome web client, because I DO need tethering since the iPhone has no good keyboard options.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, geeks are supposed to be knowledgable and have a penchant for solving perceived problems through creative methods:
Is spending $300 to update my 1yo phone to get voice dialing that already works on my 4yo razr "creative" or "stupid?"
Jailbreaking an iPhone may be considered creative to some. To me, needing to jailbreak an iPhone to get basic functionality is flawed, not creative. Really, are people still patting themselves on the back for jailbreaking?
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First of all, these two statements are completely incompatible
Not necessarily. Best example: The xbox 360 is an awesome gaming console, but the older versions still had horrendous reliability. Hence, it did its job as a gaming console well, but that doesn't make it a well designed piece of hardware.
Second, what are the iPhone's glaringly bad issues?
To name a few of the more obvious ones...
Sync issues (admittedly, this is more due to iTunes being bad software rather than the iPhone being bad hardware, but still...), problems with many new firmware rollouts (for example the random shutdowns and decreased battery life
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Just for your own information...
sync issues:
http://mashable.com/2009/11/09/iphone-windows-7-sync/ [mashable.com]
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10330485-263.html [cnet.com]
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/intel-responds-on-iphone-sync-issues/ [ilounge.com]
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/ipod-iphone-software-apps/139937-i-have-mind-boggling-iphone-3g-sync-problem.html [mac-forums.com]
http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/97665 [iphonefaq.org]
Random shutdowns/decreased battery life:
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2009/09/iphone-os-31-problems-random-shutdown-poor-batter [iphonehacks.com]
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I read this as (Score:5, Interesting)
Um no, I use the unlimited data plan to afford it. it's $15.00 a month on my Nokia 5800 I use it for 90% email and 10% other. If they drop the unlimited plan then they will lose me as a customer.
The douchebags are the AT&T executives. I'm tired of them trying like hell to screw the customer.
Re:I read this as (Score:5, Insightful)
Really? What if the new plan offers more data than you currently still use in a month?
If you do leave, where will you go to? You realise other networks are likely to follow suit?
The problem in the US isn't the proposal to cap data. It's the complete and utter lack of affordable data in the sort of quantities the mass market needs to encourage mobile internet use to take off.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Really? What if the new plan offers more data than you currently still use in a month?
Good question. I switched from T-Mobile to AT&T because I didn't perform enough homework and got shafted by T-Mobile's 3G network frequency. Apparently, T-Mobile decided they wanted to use 1700/1900MHz for 3G whilst AT&T went the more standard (for the Americas) 850/1900MHz. I, being the not-educated-enough consumer, purchased the 5800 whilst still a T-Mobile customer because I figured "It has a SIM card and is for North America, I should be good!"
Wrong.
If you only use WLAN and are fine with Edge
Re:I read this as (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:I read this as (Score:5, Insightful)
I really don't care WHICH phone Mr. Asshat Bossman of AT&T thinks is the main cause of his company's illness. Point is, they constantly rate dead last for reliability AND customer service among all national carriers. I can tell you this - ATT doesn't fix their problems in a fair (to the consumer) manner, when my contract is up I'll sell this little bugger to a "fanboi" and get a Droid phone, or even just a fucking regular handset, to get away from these clowns.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Mod this guy up. It's insightful on a few different levels. One for noting that AT&T had these issues before the iPhone came along and the other for noting that the problem is with the network and not the phone. You don't oversell your capacity. I was with AT&T and have been for about 8 years. The network hasn't changed. It was spotty then and it's spotty now. The last I heard most businesses don't complain when they have too many customers. They don't blame their problems on their customers either.
Re:I read this as (Score:4, Informative)
From the Fake Steve website : "On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees." Also every other site has managed to correctly [tuaw.com] report [facebook.com] the date [gizmodo.com]. You might want to check little facts like that before assigning blame.
Re:I read this as (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You forgot to note that he said "join their clause", rather than "join their cause", thus making himself just as guilty of typo's as the submitter of the article.
*cough* =)
Should be (Score:5, Insightful)
This thing isn't only for iPhone users. It's for every user of the AT&T network with a 3G device. And if AT&T had trouble with casual usage, wait until a lot of users try to bring the network down.
Can't wait to hear how the whole thing went for both sides of this story.
At least you guys have a choice of providers. Here in Canada, we almost have government-backed monopolies with even higher monthly bills.
Re:Should be (Score:5, Funny)
Don't worry we have cable companies for that.
Re:Should be (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Should be (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Should be (Score:5, Insightful)
If they change the terms of the contract then those contracts are no longer valid, allowing customers to cancel them prematurely.
Given that those contracts are used to subsidize the cost of the phones, I don't think it's going to happen.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Don't forget option 3:
AT&T's network is fucked over more than usual, and some people die because they couldn't make 911 calls. What, you thought taking down the data connection would have no effect on voice? HA!
Re: (Score:2)
Exactly. This smacks of someone getting very very angry and lashing out without giving any thought to what he's trying to accomplish, and how to achieve them. Sometimes an uncivil riot gets results. This isn't one of them. Stupid tactics, stupid strategy.
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Re:Should be (Score:5, Informative)
I really want to reiterate the point of your first case, because I haven't heard enough people catching on to this: AT&T is blaming network issues on what they consider to be the high bandwidth that smart phones use. To protest this, smart phone users are going to try to bring down the network by hogging as much bandwidth as possible. With their smart phones.
Just wanted to make sure everyone understood exactly what's going on here...
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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It's the same problem here with the spectrum... frankly, the airwaves should be controlled so it isn't total chaos, but it shouldn't be reserved to a handful of users (i.e. specific companies). We can manage to have multiple users of wireless networks living close together (apartments), wireless technology is now capable of jumping to free/less noisy ranges, split the bandwidth into multiple chunks, etc...
Why can't it work the same way for the other spectrums, and simply allow everyone to use other frequenc
Re:Should be (Score:5, Insightful)
This has always been one of my biggest complaints about the FCC's wireless spectrum auctions. There really needs to be a use requirement attached to the sale. For example, anytime a company/individual purchases a chunk of spectrum, there are required to put it to use. If they don't utilize it or under-utilize* it it gets taken back from them (no refunds) and then re-auctioned.
* - Under utilization would cover buying a chunk of spectrum which can carry far more information on it than a company does regularly. In which case, that chunk should be stripped from them and a less valuable one given for their current use. This is to avoid the purchase of a valuable chunk and then using it to send control messages or the like to avoid it appearing unused.
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Here in Canada, we almost have government-backed monopolies with even higher monthly bills.
In Soviet Canada, YOU supply PROVIDERS!
(I wish I was joking... grumble mumble Telus grumble)
Re:Should be (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Should be (Score:4, Interesting)
This thing isn't only for iPhone users. It's for every user of the AT&T network with a 3G device. And if AT&T had trouble with casual usage, wait until a lot of users try to bring the network down.
Can't wait to hear how the whole thing went for both sides of this story.
At least you guys have a choice of providers. Here in Canada, we almost have government-backed monopolies with even higher monthly bills.
In Montreal, I can get mobile service from Videotron, Rogers, Fido, Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile, and their discount spinoffs like Koodo. There are plenty of companies to compete against each other.
The problem isn't the lack of companies to compete, it's the fact that there is very little motivation to compete HARD when every customer is locked into 2-3 year long contracts. I have 2 years left on my Fido contract, so why would Bell or Telus try to woo me away from Fido when I simply can't do it.
You want competition to explode in Canada? Remove these long term contracts or, remove the penalty for cancelling them ahead of schedule. Do that, and suddenly customers are as mobile as their phones and can move around to different companies, especially now that we can keep our phone numbers regardless of the company we sign up to.
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Multiple choices doesn't mean there is any actual competition...
Fido = Rogers [wikipedia.org].
Koodo = Telus [wikipedia.org].
Virgin Mobile Canada = Bell Mobility. [wikipedia.org]
And thanks to the CRTC, companies such as Globalive had a hard time coming to Canada. And no thanks to Videotron, they won't be available in Quebec.
The only question is, which of the three big compani
Friday, December 19? (Score:4, Interesting)
Obviously they aren't doing it in 2009, since Friday is December 18th, so they're going to do this in 2014?
Re:Friday, December 19? (Score:5, Informative)
The article says the 18th. The summary is incorrect - or the article has been edited:
"Subject: Operation Chokehold
On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments. THe idea is we’ll create a digital flash mob. We’re calling it in Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power!"
Counter-Productive (Score:5, Insightful)
The only way this can go well for AT&T customers is if a large, well-documented group gets together, attempts a DDOS, and fails. Then what can AT&T say? "Well it's not THOSE iPhone users, it's the ones who live in their parents' basements..."
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Protesters are STUPID. We are protesting against AT&T response that their infrastructure can't handle the load By DDOSing them. Isn't that like beating the crap out of person who says you are too violent.
Pirates (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course when we pointed out that the pirates were only the first one to encounter network bandwidth limitations we were told to buzz off and the whole net neutrality debate was pointless too.
Clogging the bandwidth (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't fall for the crap that network bandwidth is somehow limited because of usage problems. That's never been the issue with AT&T's network. The problem is simply that they don't have enough cell tower capacity to handle that many simultaneous users. This is why your phone service cuts out in very crowded areas.
So if a bunch of people simultaneously try to use the network, the cells will max out and a lot of people will be out of coverage, but the network as a whole will continue to run just fine.
Getting AT&T to increase cell density is a nice goal, but so is getting cells to remote areas. It's a matter of priorities, but a covered area that has insufficient capacity is better than an uncovered area with zero capacity.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
But they just put up a new tower about 5-6 miles away, so that should help . .
I'm so glad I bought a g1 instead.
Re:Clogging the bandwidth (Score:5, Interesting)
I just got back from a trip to India. In terms of mobiles, the US is lightyears behind them.
I went out to Sikkim for the first week, closer in geography to Colorado than NYC (or the rest of India). I don't think I ever lost cell reception once. We're talking about an area that is about as densely populated as farm towns in the Midwest. I was standing on top of a mountain and could get 4 networks. 4. Vodaphone, Airtel, Aircel and some other local one. I got better reception at the top of the mountain that I can get at my own house in a subdivision (I don't live in the sticks).
Not only that EVERYONE had a cell phone. Some of the monks, every farm we were on, etc. Everything was prepaid and the SIM cards 'never' expired (They had an expiration sometime in 2025). Meaning I could add $1-2 and it would never expire. Compare that to the US where if I want to get the cheap $10 prepaid plan I have 30 days to use that before it expires. Calls were around $.01/minute anywhere.
Then they had the 'data' plans. Stuff for $10-20 a month with unlimited 3G. I had an 'unlimited' GPRS plan that cost me $0.20 a day. Not only that I could turn it on and off at will. Going to not need it: *567#, going to use it: *567#. No locked in plans, no monthly fees, nothing.
It's depressing coming back to the US and realize how much we're getting screwed by the phone companies compared to else where.
Re:Clogging the bandwidth (Score:5, Insightful)
That is not necessarily a meaningful metric. Mountains tend to be the highest point in the area so you get bonus distance due to a clear line of sight.
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Re:Clogging the bandwidth (Score:4, Informative)
I just got back from a trip to India. In terms of mobiles, the US is lightyears behind them.
That's because in terms of landlines, India is light years behind the US.
In the developing world, landline phone systems are in shambles. Many of them are state-run monopolies, and quality and availability is non-existent. People had to literally wait months or years to get new phone service.
Mobile phone services were a way around that: private companies could build out a cellular network without running wires. Once the price of cell phones came down, it was affordable for almost anyone. For those that still can't afford it, "renting" a handset for a few minutes at a time has become a cottage industry.
In the US, cell phone networks were developed for a completely different market: the businessman (or woman) that needs a phone during the working day. That market still exists, and is lucrative for the cell phone providers. All the alternatives are designed to avoid cannibalizing that market.
Tracfone (Score:3, Interesting)
Tracfone offers what you describe in the US. I used one all summer/fall in a fairly remote area of northern Wisconsin because my ATT Blackberry got no coverage there - the remaining minutes and number are good for another two years witho
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As various people here keep saying, you have to consider the whole lifecycle.
I'm not defending the entrenched oligarchy of providers in the US, as they probably are gouging customers to an extent and not being as flexible as they could be. However when quoting all the amazing price deals available there, you have to consider how this is linked to pay levels, because to a certain extent the amount you pay is going to be affected by how much it costs to run the infrastructure, and paying people is a large pa
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I just got back from a trip to India. Calls were around $.01/minute anywhere. Then they had the 'data' plans. Stuff for $10-20 a month with unlimited 3G.
Yeah, doctors in India make about $6000 a year and the common man much less. I would hope things are cheaper there.
That still doesn't explain why India has 4 carriers with clear signal in the middle of no where and the US can't even get near that. The technology behind the towers/3G network is the same as over here, the only difference is how much they pay their admins to monitor their networks.
If a country that can afford to pay doctors $6k per year can afford to spam cell towers everywhere, even locations that have almost no users, then the USA where a doctor makes $200k+ per year can afford at least 10xs as many towe
Not the best idea (Score:5, Insightful)
How could anyone really think this is a good idea? AT&T has effectively admitted that the data usage growth for smartphones is above the rate that their data network will be able to grow. Using more data intensive applications will only show them how correct they are ("Look how much data will be used in the future when more people are streaming data")
In addition, what if this actually interferes with an emergency call?
Sorry that this might not be anti-corporate enough, but Operation Chokehold really isn't a great idea.
Re:Not the best idea (Score:5, Insightful)
If emergency calls cannot go through under "100%" usage of the tower, something is seriously wrong. There needs to be bandwidth provisioned and reserved for emergency calls for every tower and trunk.
If this does affect emergency calls, AT&T really does need to get their shit together. I assume there are laws in place to enforce the transmission of emergency calls. Hell AT&T gets a free stress test of their network which is something they should be doing anyway. Real world data of extreme usage. Study, learn and yes: build a better network because of it.
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In addition, what if this actually interferes with an emergency call?
Data and voice operate independently of one another. While 3G/EDGE service may be disrupted it won't affect end-users' abilities to make calls over GPRS. And while it may further reinforce AT&T's point that their end-users gobble "too much" bandwidth, the publicity that it could generate would be a nice way of sticking it to yet another corporation that enjoys selling "limited-unlimited".
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People don't place emergency calls over 3G data connections. Those are voice calls.
Angry Slashdotters May Disrupt Service (Score:5, Funny)
www.fakesteve.net
Error 500 - Internal server error
An internal server error has occured!
Please try again later.
some of the usage is ridiculous (Score:5, Interesting)
i have an iphone 3gs and i max out at 2GB per month if i stream pandora almost all day for a month. the 3% AT&T is talking about use 20GB or more and reading some forums people brag how they did it by jailbreaking and tethering or using some banned apps.
the unlimited data plan is if you follow the TOS. jailbreaking and tethering is against the TOS so expect almost everyone not to care when AT&T implements a 5GB or 10GB max data per month and charges you a lot of money for anything above that. my wife uses less than 100MB per month on her iphone and most people are less than 500MB per month
the only people the new charges will hurt are a small minority who aren't playing by the contract anyway
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I care if i don't exceed it the new cap. It is the principle, not the practice.
Re:some of the usage is ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
i have an iphone 3gs and i max out at 2GB per month if i stream pandora almost all day for a month.
2*1024*1024*1024/(8*3600*30)*8 = 20Kbps. That's some darn good compression they're using.
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at least during the workday. i checked my usage on my account page and it averaged 100MB per day
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When I stream from pandora or last.fm, the rate is indeed between 12-20 Kbps. I'm listening right now and since I started paying attention a few minutes ago, the speed has never exceeded 22.0 Kbps.
-b
Re:some of the usage is ridiculous (Score:4, Insightful)
I agree, and yet I don't. Unlimited means unlimited, it doesn't mean "Within reason."
AT&T needs to get it's shit together.
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exactly - if they want a 5gb a month plan - then sell it as a 5gb a month plan not unlimited.
unlimited means without limit - a limit is a restriction - a cap is a restriction and there for a limit.
I really wish i had the resources to take them to court for fraud/false advertising/deceptive practices.
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0% of iPhone users on AT&T can get a tethering plan from AT&T.
the crying to pay is crap - what your hearing is the bait and switch complaints.
they sell it as unlimited - and are now using their lack of network growth to justify changing contracts to 5gb max meaning unlimited while pocketing the money.
As far as i'm concerned the tethering iPhone users can be cut off - they knew when they bought the phone that it wasn't allowed. In fact that is the chief reason i don't have one, because i do tether a
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why? when i bought the router it said on the box 100Mbps Ethernet. And thats what i got. they don't say unlimited.
whats happening is they are saying Unlimited for X and then charging you X+Y where Y is usage over 5gb.
if they want to do that then they need to state that and remove the word Unlimited as that is false advertising.
So... (Score:5, Funny)
So I can go ahead and expect to stop receiving e-mails on my BlackBerry on Friday? Great, yeah, sweet. Thanks guys!
How mature. (Score:2, Insightful)
Seriously, folks, this is like crazy Berkeley behavior. All you're going to do is make sure that every other AT&T customer - like the ones whose family members are sick in the hospital, or who just got in a massive wreck, or who just got carjacked, or maybe are waiting to hear from a family member overseas - can't get service. All so you can point out that AT&T has a grossly inadequate network, which is something that everyone knows alrea
Uh oh! (Score:5, Insightful)
Pretend-inciting a virtual cyber riot? Why, that hypothetically violates some possible public safety laws! This guy had better watch out, he might go to meta-jail for his semi-crimes!
But seriously, AT&T is going to try to sue him. :(
Bait and swtich? (Score:5, Insightful)
Selling us all unlimited *contracts* that they know they cant deliver, then later switching it to limited while we are still stuck with the contract should be something the FCC should look into.
Missing Option (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm changing my plan to the lowest pricing structure possible. I am going to log every dropped call and file a FCC complaint as it will have "stolen" minutes from me.
I have two iPhones with 3000 min day & 3000 min night + rollover, unlimited texting and the required data plan.
I'll send letters off to the AT&T consumer oversight about the obvious overselling of the data//cell service by AT&T - much like the old airlines used to do with seats and overbooking - betting that the no-shows will prevent bumping. Here, we have virtual bumping from saturated networks.
Frankly, AT&T ought to be dissolved - the Corporate Death Penalty and give the shareholders not a dime. The company has, through several iterations, demonstrated its gross incompetence too many times to exist. It is a monopoly and all monopolies must die. Let's kill AT&T - screw the shareholders. Time for "too big to fail" to take a nosedive into history.
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Second - even if you did, why should the FCC care? No, really, think about it. Do you think any government agency is going to purposely put thousands of people out of jobs, cause stocks to drop even lower, and send a great big Fuck You to the corporate bosses who pay their paychecks all to make a couple thousand disgruntled geeks happy? When those disgruntled geeks are just going to go away if they're ignored for a while?
I feel your pain. I don't have a smart phone, but broadband is i
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Oh, status quo.
The FCC doesn't have the power to nullify the corporate charter of AT&T and its affiliates.
The DOJ does.
In the past we have rarely used the Corporate Death Penalty - and your argument is AT&T is too big to fail - or be killed off?
I'm for thousands of managers out of work - and out of the industry as a criminal sanction. The rest of the workers will find jobs with the competition.
We are the people who control our government. Time to make a stand. Burn AT&T - twice is twice too o
Liability for missed 911 call? (Score:2, Interesting)
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Presumably voice traffic has priority over the data traffic? Do the individual cell towers have enough smarts to be able to identify emergency call traffic?
Re:Liability for missed 911 call? (Score:5, Informative)
if AT&T's tower switches fail to prioritize a 911 call ahead of generic data traffic then AT&T should be liable for not providing the required 911 service.
some funny things happen with cell phones when you dial 911 - they are not treated as a general phone call.
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Huh? (Score:3, Interesting)
Okay so let me get this straight... show a company you hate their product by creating more demand for it? Does nobody participating understand economics?!? Well don't be surprised when they jack up your rates again and cite "increased network demand" as the reason. Keep at it at you might get to have the same high rates we have here in Canada.
Cutoff sentence (Score:3, Insightful)
It is unclear if there will be enough support to cause a DDOS...
... or, if they're successful, whether AT&T wireless customers will notice anything has changed.
Minutes and Data (Score:2)
Here is the thing with heavy data users. Some of them don't use a huge number of voice minutes, so it looks like we are paying the $1000 a year mostly for data. Additionally, many plans are unlimited minutes at off peak times, , sometimes with nominal charges. Given unlimited voice, unlimited data, especial
Hah! Like I'd be able to tell the difference. (Score:2)
That sounds like AT&T 3G service on ANY Friday afternoon around here. As well as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. That's why I'm no longer an AT&T customer. Every weekday, I'd see data speeds start to fall off around mid-morning. By 10-10:30, 3G data service was virtually unusable and stayed like that for the rest of the day. I couldn't even keep a telnet session open reliably. (And, yes, I was paying damn good money for tethering using a non-iphone 3G smartphone.)
I don't understand why AT&T VOICE sucks... (Score:2)
Specifically, why it ends up so bad on dropping VOICE calls. Yes, data is a huge hog. But the bulk data can be prioritized much lower than voice.
I could see in Manhattan or San Francisco that the DATA service would suck: too many users, etc. But why should the voice channel suck so badly too?
To use as much bandwidth as possible? (Score:2)
DDOS, served! (Score:3, Funny)
Slashdot has done to Fake Steve Jobs what Fake Steve Jobs was trying to do to AT&T.
Awesome.
I just want to make sure I understand. (Score:5, Insightful)
They are protesting AT&T's announcement that smartphones are disrupting its network. By using smartphones. To disrupt AT&T's network?
Maybe it's the phone (Score:4, Informative)
For an alternative point of view, this article [nytimes.com] is interesting because it claims that the iPhone design isn't very good and that is what is causing the problems.
I don't live in the USA so I have no idea how good or bad AT&T is, but what I do know is that the RF sensitivity of the iPhone isn't very good. I can think of plenty of times (and places) where my iPhone (and not just my iPhone) will disconnect and then can't get a signal again - yet friends on the same network with other phones do just fine.
Hell there are large periods of time on my morning train commute where the iPhone claims "No Service" yet my Blackberry (on the same network) is downloading emails and browsing the web just fine.
It was terrible on the original iPhone and the 3GS is better, but like the camera quality, I do think they need to work at it quite a bit more.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
For an alternative point of view, this article [nytimes.com] is interesting because it claims that the iPhone design isn't very good and that is what is causing the problems.
That's like blaming Airbus for Sully's ditching in the Hudson. The A320 hasn't had to ditch anywhere else in the world but somehow it's still Airbus' fault?
To point: The iPhone would only be at fault if it were dropping calls worldwide. It's not, so very basic troubleshooting tells you to look elsewhere...specifically at something unique to the U.S. where that problem is occurring.
I have read that AT&T is mounting a rather significant lobbying effort to try to throw suspicions off of their network. Th
Legality? (Score:5, Interesting)
Is it legal to publicly co-ordinate a DDOS attack on a major US telecom?
Dan Lyons? (Score:3, Insightful)
Nothing to see here, move along, move along.
Really? (Score:3, Funny)
The post, dubbed 'Operation Chokehold,' wants AT&T customers to use as much data service as they can on Friday, December 18th at noon. While Fake Steve Jobs is notable for its satire, many Twitter and Facebook users seem to be rallying to its cry. It is unclear if there will be enough support to cause a DDOS.
So basically, he's incited the deliberate sabotage of a public communications network. Really?
I get the feeling "Fake Steve Jobs" is going to be hearing from "Real Homeland Security" soon. :^/
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Toro
Re:Angry AT&T Customers May Disrupt Service (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Angry AT&T Customers May Disrupt Service (Score:4, Insightful)
Doesn't matter. The chokepoint is at the local tower not at the backhaul. So doing this at noon in your timezone should be adequate.
Now if their network is so janky that New York is still seeing problems at 3PM when LA starts in...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I hope it "suceeds."
Everybody sing along now: S-U-C-C-E-E-S! That's the way you spell success.
Re: (Score:2)
We are used to our politicians lying to us, but most people are still getting used to their Advertising Service Provider or Dropped Call Provider lying to them. ::shrug::
satire may be dead, but it's not illegal (Score:2)
Satire or irresponsible? (Score:4, Interesting)
Some kinds of jokes, like yelling fire in a theater, are irresponsible. I'm sure there will be many emergency 911 calls at noon that day and some of them will be on AT&T networks. Blocking those deliberately is irresponsible.
Re: (Score:2)