I just bought Internet access at home (first time since dial-up!), a T-Mobile data-only cellular subscription, that promises 1 GB at 4G, unlimited at 3G, monthly. 10 days into the first month, while watching 'The Daily Show' (to see how Trevor Noah's doing), the show halted. T-Mobile sent me an SMS telling me that I had reached my 1GB limit. The modem reported that I had used 2.8 GB. I can still download text and audio at 4G speed (about 4 mbps), but pictures and video are at 3G (about 128 kbps).

T-Mobile's description of the account includes: 'Certain uses,e.g., some speed test apps, may not count against high-speed data allotment or have speeds reduced after allotment reached.'

> promises 1 GB at 4G, unlimited at 3G

No it doesn't. It promises 1 GB data at any speed, after which you are throttled to 2G.

You're right. I was relying on the information provided by EveryoneOn.org, which arranges for the plan. They must have made a mistake.

I also figured out that I made a mistake: text is also slowed down; only audio comes through full-speed, a feature of the T-Mobile service.

As long as I can forgo video, not a hardship, I won't use 1 GB of non-audio in a month. I wonder if I can rename files with an mp3 extension and have them come through unthrottled? I'll try.

Now if I can figure out how to listen to youtube...

Only certain streaming music services are whitelisted on T-Mobile. You can look up "Music Freedom" for the list.

I saw that. But I can download files with .mp3 extensions at 4 mbps, files without at 128 kbps. I even renamed a 6.7 MB text file on one of my remote servers with a .mp3 and downloaded it at 4 mbps when a few seconds before, without any extension, it downloaded at 128 kbps. I download a lot of audio, usually to listen to radio shows that don't air in town or at another time, an average of about 100 MB daily, and I download them with snarf, which reports the data rate, so I see this happen about 50 times a day. I also see non-audio files crawl in at 128. If it's really big, I log on to a remote server, fetch it to there, rename it.

That's what you get for dealing with T-Mobile.

If you want internet service at home, use wires. (Specifically, telephone. Everyone uses fiber optics to carry "POTS = Plain Old Telephone Service," and "phone" companies now routinely offer high-speed Internet and video.

In case you misunderstood, I'm not complaining. The city allowed the 2 broadband providers to divide us into 2 zones in which each has a monopoly thus charges monopoly prices. I refuse to pay them. Recently T-Mobile began offering discounted service (at a price I'm willing to pay) to 'poor' people, for which I qualify merely by my zipcode (no need to demonstrate need, which I couldn't). About 80% of what I want comes through at the higher speed despite what T-Mobile's plan says.

They may, but the phone company offers only dial-up in my neighborhood.