Secret $20/month Tablet UDP with 10 GB Hotspot

[Orlimar1]

That always worries me a little about doing something non-legit with a postpaid plan. It doesn't get mentioned much on the various forums but the fine print on most plans has something like "we reserve the right to move you a more appropriate plan".

The "appropriate plan" with AT&T is probably the 100 GB for $90 prepaid data only plan (recently gone back up from $55). It would be an expensive month if you've used a TB. You really would be on the hook for it. I also doubt that they'd do this but ... you never know.

I believe prepaid is safe from this. You're not under any obligation to pay anything more so all they can do is cancel.

I agree. So many people in rural areas are so desperate for home internet they’re going to accept the risks involved.

[Jack T. Chance]

Did you restart the router? When I changed plans I had to restart phones after turning the stream saver off.

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I not only restarted the TABLET, when that didn't resolve it, I went into the AT&T App, turned Stream Saver ON, then rebooted my tablet. A few minutes later, I went into the App, turned Stream Saver back OFF, and rebooted the tablet again. No change. AT&T is throttling/deprioritizing/whatever streaming traffic from Hulu to limit it to Standard Definition only, regardless of how fast the download speed is I'm getting from the AT&T network.

I'll be on vacation in the middle of the month and I'll be actively looking into techniques to hide my data traffic from AT&T so they can't tell when I'm streaming video, 'cuz this is total BS.

[Jim1348]

For those of you using this plan in a device other than a tablet are you finding that it is throttled in a hotspot or smartphone?

[Jim1348]

For those here using the $20 per month tablet plan, are you getting 5G in ANY 5G device with this plan when you are in a 5G area?

[kevink1]

I'd be interested too if I decide to buy a newer iPad with 5G.

[VVivian]

Yes, it’s the plan in my 2021 iPad mini and I’m connected to 5G+ right at this very moment.

The only catch is that 5G+ usage isn’t special like how 5G UW usage is on Verizon — it counts against your premium data allotment, unlike 5G UW data usage.

[xchpstang]

I’ve had this plan for almost a year. I have the SIM in a 5G hotspot and I never ever saw 5G on it in a 5G area, only 5Ge/LTE. Other than that it worked great. As of a month ago it suddenly stopped connecting to the internet and no amount of resetting or changing APNs or any other setting change on the hotspot has fixed it. I’m sure ATT caught on and blocked it from working. I hope to try the SIM on an iPad to see if it’s just the device being blocked or something else account related.

[Orlimar1]

I’ve had this plan for almost a year. I have the SIM in a 5G hotspot and I never ever saw 5G on it in a 5G area, only 5Ge/LTE. Other than that it worked great. As of a month ago it suddenly stopped connecting to the internet and no amount of resetting or changing APNs or any other setting change on the hotspot has fixed it. I’m sure ATT caught on and blocked it from working. I hope to try the SIM on an iPad to see if it’s just the device being blocked or something else account related.

These lines have to be provisioned for 5g. You have to call ATT and give them a imei from a 5g device. Also there are scattered reports of line’s being shut down if the imei isn’t showing that of a tablet. What imei was showing on your line? A hotspot imei?

[xchpstang]

These lines have to be provisioned for 5g. You have to call ATT and give them a imei from a 5g device. Also there are scattered reports of line’s being shut down if the imei isn’t showing that of a tablet. What imei was showing on your line? A hotspot imei?

It showed a Samsung galaxy tab previously even while in the hotspot. I gave them my IMEI from iPad Pro with 5G to see if they can provision. Since they couldn’t get it working right now they said they’d send me a new SIM card. I’ll report back here to see if it works but I have the feeling they just blocked it completely because I get a 5G signal on the iPad Pro but data doesn’t work.

[LTENetwork]

I know this has already been discussed on the AT&T subreddit, but for the unaware, AT&T has a secret postpaid standalone $20/month tablet unlimited data plan that comes with 10 GB full-speed hotspot (then 128 Kbps), 5G access, and free roaming in Canada and Mexico. By “secret” I mean that AT&T doesn’t advertise it or even have it on their website, but I was able to sign up for the plan yesterday by simply going into an AT&T store and asking for it, even though I didn’t have an AT&T postpaid account and therefore had to have one created just for this plan.

Attachment 168997

The only catch is that it’s always deprioritized, but as others have mentioned, deprioritized AT&T data is generally of a quality similar to prioritized AT&T data (unlike on Verizon, where it can spell doom). Despite it saying it only comes with standard definition video, I was able to enable any video resolution by disabling Stream Saver. (Given that I get ~100 Mbps at home over AT&T LTE, I feel comfortable describing this plan as supporting 4K streaming.)

I hear (but have not confirmed) that this plan can be used for unlimited hotspotting by overwriting a hotspot’s IMEI with that of a cellular tablet, which can be done using apps like this. Of course this is a violation of the ToS, but if you don’t go wild with it, you would probably be fine.

I’ve heard mixed reports on whether this $20 plan comes with any prioritized data if it’s added to an account subscribed to a premium unlimited plan such as Unlimited Elite. It definitely did prior to September, but no idea now. Even if it doesn’t, this is a very good deal imo.

Plan is not secret as I was offered this in a chat on the website when I asked about an unlimited premium plan on a tablet when I asked if I could get that without the phone line. Rep didn’t understand anything about QOS and QCI apparently.

The Business division which also should be better trained has QCI 6 up to 100GB on their top plan so I will talk to them to see what options are. It’s nice that AT&T treats top
Tier business customers to same QCI as first net for first 100GB. I have my tablet on prepaid which costs little more now but seems to be better for me till I get my new tablet. This plan gives me 22GB before they reduce speeds if congested and no drop-down in video resolution.

[Jack T. Chance]

I'm getting really sick of AT&T's draconian policies with these "Unlimited Data" plans.

I turned Stream Saver OFF, yet still, AT&T is forcing the resolution DOWN on Hulu + Live TV, limiting me to at best Standard 480p Definition. I've verified this by streaming a hockey game on the AT&T connection, getting a crappy picture even with 50-60 mbps speeds, then putting the tablet into Airplane Mode, turning on WiFi Only, connecting to my WiFi, and starting the game back up. I immediately got a Full HD picture. Turned Airplane Mode and WiFi both OFF, and immediately my picture quality went down the toilet.

At this point, I'm going to have to do some jiggery-pokery into deep down developer settings to give the proverbial finger to AT&T and stop them from limiting my streaming resolution even when I've turned Stream Saver OFF!

[VVivian]

I'm getting really sick of AT&T's draconian policies with these "Unlimited Data" plans.

I turned Stream Saver OFF, yet still, AT&T is forcing the resolution DOWN on Hulu + Live TV, limiting me to at best Standard 480p Definition. I've verified this by streaming a hockey game on the AT&T connection, getting a crappy picture even with 50-60 mbps speeds, then putting the tablet into Airplane Mode, turning on WiFi Only, connecting to my WiFi, and starting the game back up. I immediately got a Full HD picture. Turned Airplane Mode and WiFi both OFF, and immediately my picture quality went down the toilet.

At this point, I'm going to have to do some jiggery-pokery into deep down developer settings to give the proverbial finger to AT&T and stop them from limiting my streaming resolution even when I've turned Stream Saver OFF!

That sounds like a system error, not like an intentional policy choice.

[LTENetwork]

I'm getting really sick of AT&T's draconian policies with these "Unlimited Data" plans.

I turned Stream Saver OFF, yet still, AT&T is forcing the resolution DOWN on Hulu + Live TV, limiting me to at best Standard 480p Definition. I've verified this by streaming a hockey game on the AT&T connection, getting a crappy picture even with 50-60 mbps speeds, then putting the tablet into Airplane Mode, turning on WiFi Only, connecting to my WiFi, and starting the game back up. I immediately got a Full HD picture. Turned Airplane Mode and WiFi both OFF, and immediately my picture quality went down the toilet.

At this point, I'm going to have to do some jiggery-pokery into deep down developer settings to give the proverbial finger to AT&T and stop them from limiting my streaming resolution even when I've turned Stream Saver OFF!

You can use a VPN to get full resolution. Turning stream saver off on a plan that has lower resolution will only get you higher resolution if your plan allows for it and perhaps on other plans if network is not congested. I don’t know exactly how it works but better plans and/or VPN are the answer. Expect to pay more if you want full resolution. The networks get congested from usage and AT&T has to make the system work for everyone else, not just you.

You can’t get full resolution on a plan that doesn’t support it unless you use a VPN.

[Jack T. Chance]

You can use a VPN to get full resolution. Turning stream saver off on a plan that has lower resolution will only get you higher resolution if your plan allows for it and perhaps on other plans if network is not congested. I don’t know exactly how it works but better plans and/or VPN are the answer. Expect to pay more if you want full resolution. The networks get congested from usage and AT&T has to make the system work for everyone else, not just you.

You can’t get full resolution on a plan that doesn’t support it unless you use a VPN.

But other streaming apps give me Full HD Resolution. It seems that AT&T may have specifically targeted Hulu and other heavily used streaming services, I've heard of both AT&T and Verizon Wireless doing this sort of crap.

And again, with this plan, if I turn Stream Saver Off, I'm supposed to be able to get Full HD streaming, but it seems they've targeted Hulu specifically for being throttled at all times. I need to test Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount+ to see if they do it on them, too.

[LTENetwork]

But other streaming apps give me Full HD Resolution. It seems that AT&T may have specifically targeted Hulu and other heavily used streaming services, I've heard of both AT&T and Verizon Wireless doing this sort of crap.

And again, with this plan, if I turn Stream Saver Off, I'm supposed to be able to get Full HD streaming, but it seems they've targeted Hulu specifically for being throttled at all times. I need to test Netflix, Disney+, and Paramount+ to see if they do it on them, too.

Well that has to do with peering and transit links. I can’t say if the higher end plans will allow it or not. AT&T has very strict peering requirements. Run a traceroute and track down all the peering providers to see where the issue lies. A VPN would route you to another server which will use a different path to connect with Hulu. I can’t say what is going on but you can see where the issue is and what is slowing it down. AT&T’s backbone works incredibly well overall. AT&T doesn’t intentionally slow things down but it did upgrade its link to Netflix which made the news. I guess Hulu’s link is congested at some point so the resolution gets reduced. You need a certain speed coming from the network to get different resolutions to work and if the transit link is not capable, it will go to a lower resolution.