What to do if Verizon FiOS is throttling your data

What is Data Throttling?

Data throttling is a way for telecom companies to reduce or slow down the speeds you get. This is particularly unsettling for Verizon FiOS customers Lupe for an unlimited plan or a specific kpbs for hotspot data.

Data Throttling versus Deprioritization

Data throttling and deprioritization are both terms that refer to situations where your speeds are slowed down usually without warning. The difference is that data throttling legally takes place when you pass a threshold for your data usage. If you have a plan with a data cap for your mobile hotspot or any other device, Verizon FiOS will slow your speeds down to give priority to people like unlimited customers.

Deprioritization is when you are no longer considered a priority. This is applicable to any plan, even unlimited plans. Many of the major telecom companies share things like towers and if your signal is bouncing off a tower from anyone other than Verizon, they might give priority to the other customers. This is why at any given moment you might suddenly go from full service to no service.

One way to tell if Verizon FiOS is throttling your internet is to use an internet speed test, then repeat the same test with a VPN. A VPN will change your location and trick the internet provider into thinking you are somewhere else. If you have a significant difference in the speed between these two, chances are Verizon FiOS is using data throttling and you can use this information from the two different tests to draw their attention to it. You can do the same type of test with your mobile device if you do a speed test for your phone.

What your Verizon FiOS contract says about data throttling

If you pull out your contract for Verizon FiOS you will see that even if you have things like the Verizon Jetpack mifi, or an unlimited plan, you are still going to face throttling. In fact, the community board for Verizon has a great deal of complaints from customers about the misleading terms for their contracts.

Verizon FiOS will reduce your internet speeds in the event that things are congested or they’re simply a lot of users online at any given time. They don’t make it clear what they define as busy or how many people have to be in a given area to bring about deprioritization or data throttling. This makes it very confusing for customers and very frustrating because you never know when they are going to throttle your data or by how much.

The obligations Verizon FiOS has to you and your data

Verizon FiOS has multiple plans and the least expensive plan says it can be throttled at any time even if there isn’t a lot of congestion. They throttle the plans that are the least expensive first and then they throttle the mid-tier plan, and finally the highest tier plan.

Verizon FiOS will throttle plans where you exceed the gigabytes you have paid for in your contract, and they tend to send warnings to you when you are close to going over your limit. Once the new billing cycle is initiated, that throttling is supposed to stop.

What you can do if Verizon FiOS throttles your data

What do you do if a new billing cycle has started in Verizon FiOS continues to throttle your data? What do you do if you just figured out that they are throttling your data or deprioritizing you regularly?

Contact Verizon FiOS customer service

Start by reaching out customer service. There may be situations where customer service can rectify the situation ( especially if they are suddenly made aware of the fact that you know they are throttling your data).

Verizon Fios’s mobile service number is 1-800-922-0204. If the data throttling is happening with your home internet, you can reach out to customer service at 1-800-VERIZON

If you run a test for your internet or your mobile device you can present this information to Verizon FiOS when you contact them. They might be more willing to listen to your complaints and try to offer a resolution if they know you have proof of data throttling, especially if you use this as leverage for potentially changing your contract to another company. To learn more about getting great customer service from Verizon FiOS, click here.

Use Consumer Arbitration to Get Verizon Fios to Resolve Your Complaint

If you have tried to reach out to Verizon FiOS regarding your data throttling and they refused to help or are not giving you a satisfactory solution, there are other legal options at your disposal. You can use arbitration, something laid out in your Verizon FiOS contract.

Arbitration is a form of dispute resolution which allows you to bring your dispute against Verizon in front of an independent arbitrator.