I went back into my local Verizon store a few days after buying my 'bolt and I saw new signs heavily promoting the unlimited Hotspot.
I looked closely at the fine print on the signage and it stated that new and existing Thunderbolt customers will have to subscribe to a Hotspot data plan after May 15, 2011. $20 / 2 gig plan not available.
I asked the rep who sold me my 'bolt and he confirmed that the $20 plan will not be available for the Hotspot, and that Verizon has not yet announced what the cost and plan will be.
I rely on the Hotspot feature of my N1, using it daily. I'm not too keen on locking myself into a one year contract on a phone without knowing up front what the full cost of the plan will be, and what the terms are.
My bet is that they're going to follow in AT&T's $40 / 4 gig footstep and offer up a $50 / 5 gig plan which includes the Hotspot feature, requiring those who want it to give up unlimited data.
I call foul. They should announce the cost of the Hotspot now so those of us who rely on it and who want to use it without resorting to alternative means, can know the full cost before locking themselves into a contract.
Edited to include a pic, taken with my bolt
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i went to 2 diff verizon stores and its $20 extra than what you are paying now
Root; Wireless Tether.
@ lorijuan1024 - Except for the fact that every sign in the store that advertised the unlimited Hotspot through 5/15 stated "$20 / 2 gig plan not available" in the fine print, and the Verizon rep confirmed that it would NOT be available...
@ ikon8 - I've rooted and used Wireless Tether on other phones, wasn't happy with the performance, not as good as the stock app. That is why I switched to the N1, it's native OS functionality
Exactly,
If u root and run WiFi tether, u won't need the hotspot, I feel the tether is better anyway!
Sent from my ThunderHammer from Pluto
ikon8 said:
Root; Wireless Tether.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jackoutside said:
@ ikon8 - I've rooted and used Wireless Tether on other phones, wasn't happy with the performance, not as good as the stock app. That is why I switched to the N1, it's native OS functionality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I agree Wireless Tether is the easy solution, and though on rare occasions I've had issues w/ wireless tether so far on my thunderbolt it seems to be work as good if not better than the mobile hotspot (which has also had published issues). I also have gotten the same speeds on each actually on some cases the wireless tether speeds might have been faster. You could always go with the free wired tethering solutions such as pdanet, which doesn't even require rooting.
I cant wait for them to tell me, "They are going to charge me more"...It will be a good fight...
jackoutside said:
I've rooted and used Wireless Tether on other phones, wasn't happy with the performance, not as good as the stock app. That is why I switched to the N1, it's native OS functionality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you can have slightly degraded performance with the hack/app that gives you tethering for free, or you can pay an amount of money that seems to have you upset for slightly better performance.
Seems like a no-brainer to me, but YMMV.
BTW, I've not tested wireless tether on my TB, but it's been a staple on older phones with android and it always performed as well as the phone could give.
+1 Root, Wifi Router
its because its not 2 gigs its unlimited for 30$ a month for hotspot coming in may....
I doubt unlimited for only $30/month. Verizon would be crazy.
PJnc284 said:
I doubt unlimited for only $30/month. Verizon would be crazy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, they would be.
If that does somehow end up being true, I might just have to cancel my Qwest DSL and use my phone. Who would have thought 6 years ago that we'd be doing that?
The $30 unlimited is staying, but that applies only to data used BY THE PHONE, not tethered devices.
The extra charge ($20 for 2gb is commonly quoted, though when I looked on the vzw site, the thresholds were 1, 3, 5 and 10gb) is a separate and additional charge for data used by 'consumers' of the WiFi Hotspot app.
So that means regardless you will have to pay $30 for unlimited data to your phone, but on top of that, after May 15th, you'll have to pay extra to keep using WiFi Hotspot. I guess this app somehow identifies traffic as coming from a tethered device so VZ can account it (that or WiFi hotspot does not do NAT, but instead acts as a bridge and so gets an IP address direct from VZ rather than the phone, which makes it easy for VZ to count the data usage - or it could even have the WiFi hotspot app phoning home to report data usage, I don't know).
When you root and use WiFi tether, it's doing the same thing as WiFi Hotspot, however the VZ network never knows you're even tethering anything, so they can't charge for it (WiFi tether does not tag packets, and does NAT so the IP address the tethered device gets comes from the phone, and is never sent beyond the phone). This means that according to VZ, all the data is coming from the phone and is therefore subject to the required $30 unlimited fee anyway.
If you don't want to root and don't mind tethering use PdaNet......
also should of added on my earlier comment rep said was 2gb so i was thinking screw that
distortedloop said:
So you can have slightly degraded performance with the hack/app that gives you tethering for free, or you can pay an amount of money that seems to have you upset for slightly better performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use this feature as my primary source of internet access - slightly degraded performance to someone who uses not as much may not mean as much to someone who relies on it.
Besides, the main point of my post is that Verizon isn't disclosing the full cost of this "bundled" plan, phone data and Hotspot data, until after we're locked into a contract.
I jumped onto the phone as soon as it was released to lock in the unlimited data, like most everybody else in this forum did...
I think we agree that wireless tether is an option, my preference however would be to use the stock app, purely from a reliability standpoint.
WiFi Tether is an option, but not as a primary source of internet. Verizon runs programs that look for unusual data usage (on the 'unlimited' plan) and they may bill or throttle you. If you use WiFi Tether occasionally you shouldn't have a problem. But be careful. Enormous bills have been reported.
jaym25 said:
WiFi Tether is an option, but not as a primary source of internet. Verizon runs programs that look for unusual data usage (on the 'unlimited' plan) and they may bill or throttle you. If you use WiFi Tether occasionally you shouldn't have a problem. But be careful. Enormous bills have been reported.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I searched a lot about them detecting unauthorized wireless tethering and haven't found many people who got caught, I've seen posts from people stating usage exceeding 15GB and never getting caught, do you know how much data people were using that got caught?
I only use it occasionally, and never had a problem.
I really doubt they can detect tethering. If you tether and visit some websites from your computer, how are the packets verizon sees any different from using a mobile browser with the user agent set to desktop?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
its going to bbe 30.00 for unl on may 15 a software update will be pushed to the phone thats going to remove the free hotspot then you will have the option to add it on if you like
Related
The Captivate will be my first true smartphone, and as such there's no way I can be grandfathered into the unlimited data plan. So I have to have either the 200 MB or 2 GB plan (ridiculous btw). I know that the 200 MB just flat out isn't going to be enough for me, but how much usage would it take to max out on the 2 GB plan?
it'd have to be a LOT. I have work emails and do constant FB/Twitter photo uploads and the like and the max I've used is like 350 meg. Even with the occasional *cough*tethering*cough* on my current WinMo phone, I've never gotten anywhere near 2 gig.
How do you check your data usage with this phone?
There is an app in the market called "my wireless " by AT&T, it shows you everything about your account and it is free, otherwise there is the website...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Thanks, I plan to stick with the minimum plan since I have university wifi everywhere.
Most I have ever used in a month is 1GB but that is also pretty much the amount I use per month, even with wifi in most places I go.
That's because you know you have 2GB. I'm not going to stream HQ videos off of youtube off-campus and I'm not going to go to photography sites and download HQ images. I'm going to web browse (with opera mini), use google maps, and various social apps on 3G. 90% of the time I will be at university.
Take you charger with you for the wifi though, like you I am usually at home or school with wifi, but it drains the battery a lot quicker than normal over the air data...
I typically get about 3-5 hours with only wifi but nearly constant use on my N1, it just depends on how close you are to the router and if you have the screen on constantly...
I know there has been a lot posted on this, but every phone/device I have had and/or used wifi has been a battery drain.
s.m.knipe said:
Take you charger with you for the wifi though, like you I am usually at home or school with wifi, but it drains the battery a lot quicker than normal over the air data...
I typically get about 3-5 hours with only wifi but nearly constant use on my N1, it just depends on how close you are to the router and if you have the screen on constantly...
I know there has been a lot posted on this, but every phone/device I have had and/or used wifi has been a battery drain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You use less battery when you use wifi..just be sure to turn the 3g off when you do. Also, the most I used was 800meg per month.
caelestis2 said:
How do you check your data usage with this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also *DATA# like any other AT&T phone and you'll get a text right back with your usage.
Also there is a program on the market called 3g watchdog that I used to track my usage, I liked it, but after I realized I only use 200mb in about a month I uninstalled it lol but I'm also still on the unlimted 5gig
Sent from my MB300 using Tapatalk
ltxfreak4 said:
Also there is a program on the market called 3g watchdog that I used to track my usage, I liked it, but after I realized I only use 200mb in about a month I uninstalled it lol but I'm also still on the unlimted 5gig
Sent from my MB300 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The unlimited plans are unlimited. There is no 5 GB cap as is commonly rumored, unless you're on someone other than AT&T, Sprint or Verizon.
caelestis2 said:
Thanks, I plan to stick with the minimum plan since I have university wifi everywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same boat. First smartphone and I will be doing the minimum (200mb) plan because I plan on using my home/uni wifi most of the time. I dont plan on streaming a bunch of videos or doing pointless browsing, however I am still a little nervous that I might go over.
dsjr2006 said:
The unlimited plans are unlimited. There is no 5 GB cap as is commonly rumored, unless you're on someone other than AT&T, Sprint or Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wanted to call BS on this but I did my *DATA# and it says I've used 6MB out of Unlimited.
I could have sworn there's a 5GB cap though.
That said I've used 2.3GB of data since February (last time I reset my usage). So the 2GB plan *should* work. If you use more than that then you're probably using it as a modem.
djsmvp said:
I am in the same boat. First smartphone and I will be doing the minimum (200mb) plan because I plan on using my home/uni wifi most of the time. I dont plan on streaming a bunch of videos or doing pointless browsing, however I am still a little nervous that I might go over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just use the methods listed here at the end of everyday.
Also, is there a way to block data in/out from the phone if I'm near my limit?
dsjr2006 said:
The unlimited plans are unlimited. There is no 5 GB cap as is commonly rumored, unless you're on someone other than AT&T, Sprint or Verizon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when i was working at att they gave us some papers detailing data plan that talked about going over the 5gb mark and being hit with a pretty hefty charges. there is a case that is on engadget that i think is what caused them to give us the paper work. i couldnt post the link cause im new but if ya want to read it pm me. i had a customer pull this off and his bill was over 700, ive came close to doing the same as well.
p.ford said:
The Captivate will be my first true smartphone, and as such there's no way I can be grandfathered into the unlimited data plan. So I have to have either the 200 MB or 2 GB plan (ridiculous btw). I know that the 200 MB just flat out isn't going to be enough for me, but how much usage would it take to max out on the 2 GB plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree; even normal heavy usage for me did not typically exceed 2gb unless I was watching lots of video or downloading movies. So I can't complain too much about the new 2gb plan restriction, as most months I save $5, which costs less even if I occasionally go over and am charged an additional $10 for another 1gb.
how do you save 5$
ltxfreak4 said:
when i was working at att they gave us some papers detailing data plan that talked about going over the 5gb mark and being hit with a pretty hefty charges. there is a case that is on engadget that i think is what caused them to give us the paper work. i couldnt post the link cause im new but if ya want to read it pm me. i had a customer pull this off and his bill was over 700, ive came close to doing the same as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BS. My average is over 6 GB and I've never received any additional charge or a single phone call. Only tethering and data cards are limited which is because they aren't limited plans. I'm pretty confused as to where this confusion came from because there isn't a single shred of proof of what you're saying anywhere on an AT&T document.
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From the DataConnect plan terms... not smartphone
We may, at our discretion, suspend your account if we believe your data usage is excessive, unusual or is better suited to another rate plan. If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly MB/GB allowance and additional data usage rates, you agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month; provided that, prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your Service.
There is nothing is the Wireless Data Use Service Agreement of the general plan terms about a 5GB limitation. The only places that line appears is under the DataPlus, DataPro and DataConnect plan terms.
Are you streaming videos like blockbuster or slingbox or something? 6 GB... wow...
I downloaded the "my account" applications this morning to check my usage. And something came up pretty odd.
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any know if T-Mo changed their data usage policy ?
When I bought a couple of MT4Gs in December, I moved to a 3000 minute Family plan, with "unlimited" data. So my info looks similar.
jggimi said:
When I bought a couple of MT4Gs in December, I moved to a 3000 minute Family plan, with "unlimited" data. So my info looks similar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea but t-mo "should" be throttling after 5Gb of data usages. And i haven't got any text, email, call or anything about being over that by 2Gb.
I'm just wondering if they heard the masses scream and listened.
i have unlimited data and such, and my data usage doesn't show up under my usage if I use the "my account" app... weird
*edit*
I'm using the one that was pre-loaded on the phone, not the one from the market... doesn't look like the screen shot though
The my account app is very inaccurate. Not sure about data, but it ALWAYS gets the minutes wrong.
Let me shed some light on this for you guys. Yes TMo has changed the dataplan which now include $10 for 200MB or $30 for unlimited. Now keep in mind Unlimited does not truly mean its unlimited as the soft cap is around 5GB but its not always enforced but only to those top 1% heavy user who are throttled to EDGE 128kbps until next cycle restarts.
BTW option94 the update is not real time as its periodic which consists of few sessions and thats how they post the data. As TMo sometime share towers with 3rd party for those can take up to 30days yes 30days to reflect on your bill. It even shows up on your next bill if you even used it on this bill.
HKM said:
Considering on official TMobile forum I saw 19gb/month screenshot and another 17gb/month without any TOS with standard $19.99 unlimited data plan. So IDK they make treat it case by case who knows or they don't care, did policy change? This was just 4-5months ago.
First of all thats Carriers way of making money extra from same bandwidth. Hence the whole bandwidth crunch BS? They sold the service claiming its unlimited then they couldn't define unlimited and stated is subjected to TOS for excessive use without clearly defining it. It wasn't until ComCRAP's fiasco they had to legally come out or face same fines by FCC. Now from what I read in that thread and man that was long thread like 7-8pages or something. The user used torrents, downloaded XXXX lol, did light tether but mostly bandwidth quota was hit by P2P.
P2P FTW always the reason you should have seen my FServ spec and stats my ISP wasn't very happy me hosting my own server and pulling 3.5TB TX bandwidth.
TMoUS has 5GB soft limit far as I know but what I am saying is as I had asked those folks if they were contacted by the Abuse team they told me no as they were never notified or given warning. Normally when you get passed there quota which I myself believe 19GB is high on mobile device. I don't think TMo simply enforced it, now if everyone keep doing this they will. I myself have never personally went over 2.5GB/month usually is at 250-500mb/month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can attest to that-got a text from them the other day saying I was over the 5gb cap and my 4g is now throttled until the day after my billing cycle ends...lame....wish they could offer true unlimited without it affecting their network....
OptLynx said:
Let me shed some light on this for you guys. Yes TMo has changed the dataplan which now include $10 for 200MB or $30 for unlimited. Now keep in mind Unlimited does not truly mean its unlimited as the soft cap is around 5GB but its not always enforced but only to those top 1% heavy user who are throttled to EDGE 128kbps until next cycle restarts.
BTW option94 the update is not real time as its periodic which consists of few sessions and thats how they post the data. As TMo sometime share towers with 3rd party for those can take up to 30days yes 30days to reflect on your bill. It even shows up on your next bill if you even used it on this bill.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically
"unless you abuse the 5Gb throttle point you really have nothing to worry about"
The soft cap is still in place.. I know, since I'm still running at 50kbps as of this morning.
neidlinger said:
So basically
"unless you abuse the 5Gb throttle point you really have nothing to worry about"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya don't worry about it. This is done to target the heavy users in to switching them to plan which they will implement for the tethering, basically they are milking the cow for whats it worth lol with same service before but for higher price. Always trust the Bandwidth Guy
Anything over 5gb you are throttled, if you have a plan after 11/3/10...... prior to that it was 10gb. All carriers are coming up with phones (Iphone 4) to get you to renegotiate the contracts so they can phuc you.
You may go over 5gb and still have unthrottled speed but as I was told by a t-mobile field technician you will only be slowed when the tower is seeing high usage, ie. you will be the first to get slowed to EDGE speeds. So in my case, I love my new Mytouch 4g half the month and the rest of the time its my Mytouch 2g....... great selling point huh??
It pisses me off too because it goes back to the American way....If you had enough money to get your new phone at $500 dollars you could have kept your TRUELY unlimted data plan like the congressmen, movie stars, professional athletes, yes and even the trust fund babies...LMFAO
neidlinger said:
I downloaded the "my account" applications this morning to check my usage. And something came up pretty odd.
View attachment 514051
any know if T-Mo changed their data usage policy ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at least its still better than att's $25 for 2gb
I'm hoping the government breaks them (att) up again like when we were kids. It is still a monopoly and that government apparently cared about the citizens more than the money lobbyist brought them.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
yeah i hit the data cap like 10 days in to my first month. they let me go another 2gigs before they throttled in.
and man, it was slow.
im playing it safe this month and not torrenting
I asked about it when activating streak 7 and was told that t-mobile does not throttle after 5 gigs.
Sent from my Dell Streak 7 using XDA App
They lied, wanna see the text messages I get? LoL
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
jesus2282 said:
I asked about it when activating streak 7 and was told that t-mobile does not throttle after 5 gigs.
Sent from my Dell Streak 7 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought tmo doesnt have a plan that does not throttle. Would you care to test it?
Lmfao yeah lets bust his cap and show him how bad it sux. The only plans that aren't caped are old accounts that haven't been upgraded in over 2-3 years or if you are in the "elite class" and of course tmobile dealers/select employees. There is more too I'm sure....
jesus2282 said:
I asked about it when activating streak 7 and was told that t-mobile does not throttle after 5 gigs.
Sent from my Dell Streak 7 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
I got hit by softcap once on laptop plan during the experiment (pushed hard to pass the limit), so the softcap is real. A buddy of mine got hit a few times (he got 12-14GB) too.
The only reason I haven't been throttled is because I use Wifi at home. I'm at 2.5GB for the month but if I had service in my room that would easily double.
My phone is my main computer. As people become more dependent on mobile devices they should be increasing bandwidth limits. It would be nice to see T-Mobile increasing bandwidth as well as speeds. What good is a 42Mbps connection if it's only that fast half the time?
So i keep hearing mixed things on being able to keep the unlimited data. Some people say they have taked to AT&T and you can keep your grandfathered plans and other things say that you can't. I currently have the unlimited plan with my Captivate and I would like to keep it if I get this phone. Can anyone provide and kind of difinitive answer with proof as to which way the scenario is really going to go?
yes: http://www.androidcentral.com/att-clarifies-their-4g-policy
Thanks a ton man, funny how this thing is kind of unfolding as we speak. There's to much he said, she said crap on here about one specific topic with no concrete eveidence. That should work though, I will be getting one on Sunday as previously planned.
Looks like internal memos are going out saying you will be forced to switch plans. Haven't seen any personally, I believe it was posted on BGR.
entropism said:
Looks like internal memos are going out saying you will be forced to switch plans. Haven't seen any personally, I believe it was posted on BGR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After reading the officail AT&T facebook page I think you may be wrong on that point. The attached picture pretty much answers it all in one fail swoop.
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Like I said, just reporting what I saw:
http://www.phonedog.com/2011/02/10/...rce=Rss&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=PhoneDog
entropism said:
Like I said, just reporting what I saw:
http://www.phonedog.com/2011/02/10/...rce=Rss&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=PhoneDog
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has already been refuted and clarified this evening.
http://www.androidcentral.com/att-clarifies-their-4g-policy
Thank god, I was going to have to switch carriers....
I picked up two Inspires on Sunday, one for each of my lines. The salesman in the store assured me that both of my unlimited data plans would be grandfathered over to the Inspires.
This morning I had to spend about a half of an hour on the phone with customer care after receiving alert messages about using over $100 in data charges so far and needing to choose a data plan. Apparently I had no data plan whatsoever on either of my lines...customer care couldn't even figure out how the phones had gotten activated without one.
Customer care then proceeded to tell me that I could not have my unlimited lines back and needed to choose a tiered plan, and only gave in after I demanded to escalate the call to a supervisor. They said that they would reinstate the unlimited data plans after it went through some special case department for discontinued features, and that the plans would be instituted on the 02/24/11 with a back date of 02/13/11 (the day that the plans were taken off) in order to delete any data charges before the billing cycle went through.
So yeah...be careful. They most definitely are fighting to get rid of these unlimited plans and are not exactly going about it very professionally.
If you decide to have the wifi hotspot activated in the stock ROM, you will have to give up the unlimited plan in favor of a tiered plan with tethering, otherwise, you're all set.
My roommate and I each got our Inspires on launch day and I looked at the screen to make sure we were getting our unlimited data, and we do indeed have them. So yes, you will get your unlimited if you currently have it.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
JetBlk said:
My roommate and I each got our Inspires on launch day and I looked at the screen to make sure we were getting our unlimited data, and we do indeed have them. So yes, you will get your unlimited if you currently have it.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Still on unlimited data.
acedj123 said:
If you decide to have the wifi hotspot activated in the stock ROM, you will have to give up the unlimited plan in favor of a tiered plan with tethering, otherwise, you're all set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaking of tethering, does Easy Tether work with these phones?
Thanks.
lrs421 said:
Same here. Still on unlimited data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the misfortune of losing my unlimited. They warned me in advance I might, and I saw until I signed on the electronic signature pad thing it was there, then afte I signed the computer showed it was a 4Gb plan, which he said was curious since they don't have one.
When he warned me in advance, he also said that in the fine print on the unlimited it had recently said that 5Gb is the max. The FCC forced ATT and all cell cariers to no longer have unlmiited plans, because, he said in the fine print all cariers have had some limit eventually even on unlimited plans.
Just explaining what I was told by ATT when I got my inspire.
You can definitely keep your unlimited. Unfortunately, not all employees are aware of this, or how to switch you to the Unlimited 4G data plan.
Personally, nothing was done at the store, and I was left with my 3G unlimited plan. This prevented me from using mobile data. I called AT&T to have it switched to the 4G unlimited plan. It took me 3 tries before I finally got a CSR that was able to do the switch for me. You'll know when you've got a competent CSR when they ask you for your IMEI number.
You'll likely run into some employees who say that you can't keep your unlimited plan. When this happens, don't allow them to make any changes to your account. Just simply say "thank you", hang up, and call again. Just takes a little patience.
I bought my phone on Sunday and I asked the Rep. If I was able to keep my Unlimited Data Plan and she said yes. On the papers that she gave me shows the $ 25.00 data plan, and I asked her about that, and she told me that I still have the unlimited data plan, then she showed me on her computer that I still have the $ 30.00 unlimited data plan. So far no problems at all keeping the unlimited data plan. Here is a screenshot of my plan, it was taken today.
I have my original $15 unlimited data plan. It has remained intact since getting this phone.
ButtonBoy said:
I have my original $15 unlimited data plan. It has remained intact since getting this phone.
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I am one of those $15 unlimited customers. Where did you buy the phone to keep the plan? I walked into a store today and they told me they would have to move me onto a new plan even if I purchased it without contract paying $399.99 .
Yes you can. Unfortunately, when they did my upgrade, they accidentally messed up my line and gave me the 2GB plan. I called 611 and they said they will re-add the unlimited plan back within the next 2 weeks (the reps can't do it directly, they have to submit a ticket)
Attention AT&T users today I received the notorious text message from AT&T threatening me about tethering. While I am the first to argue the BS surrounding tethering and paying for the same internet twice I can say in all Honesty that I Have not Tethered my phone, after a heated argument with the AT&T representative, where I was told they would supply no proof, and if detected again after December 31, they would switch me off my Unlimited data plan automatically. I demanded to know when their expert system than detected this activity, I was informed that they detected it in both of the last 2 months !! I can say with 100% certainty that i have not tethered ever not even for a second during these last 2 months. I was than informed that if i wished to take legal action they welcomed it and were prepared for such blow back. It is clear that this is their strategy to get rid of all of us on the unlimited data plan that we will never loose if we don't leave or switch our plan otherwise. I realize that with #SOPA and the holidays we all have a lot on our plates already right now , but i believe if we do not mount an aggressive counter attack and strategy starting now we will all be stuck with tiered data plans by February 2012. Lets use this thread to come up with said strategy, leave thoughts and ideas down below.
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I'll take a look in my notes from a while ago but I saw a specific way out of a contract that is similar to the meeting of the minds provision that says if there's something in the contract that you did not have a clear understanding of it becomes null and void. It allows you to cancel with no fees. May take me some time to find but I'll subscribe to this so I will keep this in mind.
Actually if they do change it it will not null and void your contract. You actually broke the contract by tethering without a tethering plan. If they caught you they are giving you a chance to not break the agreement forward when they could actually stop your service and charge you the ETF. Sprint has done that to me before for something else.
If they can not provide any proof that you have tethered your phone and sstill cut your unlimited data plan then you can and should take legal action... they are saying they are ready for it because they think that it will detur you from actually doing it! If they don't have proof of it then they can't prove it in court therefore you win. If they break the contract by doing that they legally CAN NOT charge you a ETF!!!!! (If they have no proof that is). Sorry about this next sentence.... easy way to avoid this BS is to switch to sprint.... they have unlimited data and could care less if you root your phone and tether. I have many of friends who do itt and I have not heard of 1 story of someones contract being amended because of tethering!
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
It sucks.
Well to sum up the OP's idea: AT&T is underhandedly trying to cut off people with Unlimited plan (by blaming them about tethering) so that next year all customers must have a tier plan. Now what he want to do is gather people in the same situation to protest.
I got this before nothing happen to me lol
The removal of unlimited data plans has been an ATT goal for over a year. In the end there is nothing we can do to stop it as one of the options outlined in the plan is to remove the option from all internal systems so when they upgrade it will work like it does when they buy smaller cell carriers. You can switch your plan or the cancel your contract. Now as for the burden of proof, they would have to proof it in court, but the main tactic would be to drag it out in court till people can't afford to fight it any more.
Now you say you weren't teathering but how much data did you use? There is a section in the contract we all sighned that says "reasonable usage" for data. If your streaming alot of content or using more then say 5gb a month then it will raise flags.
Thanks for feed back guys, as i stated above i have not tethered my phone not even for a second during these last 2 months that they say there system caught me. As for my data I actually untill recently was and have been since becoming a customer 4 years ago been a HEAVY data user using as much as 12 gb as of last 2 months i have been using a lot of wifi instead and have been only using 3gb , i do think that they saw a dramatic decrease in my data usage and assumed that i was tethering before (meaning 8 months ago) but never caught me but now that last 2 months i have used a lot less data they just made up the story to try and trap me on a tiered plan.
My goal with this thread how ever is not to switch providers or share hate or love stories with carriers.
My goal is to figure out a strategy to combat this BS attack At&t is coming at us with. It is obvious to me that they are planning on coming after ALL people on the Unlimited data plans through use of this "our full proof system caught you tethering" Bull---- . I for 1 will not accept being switched to a $15 more a month services that offers me even less when my average bill for 1 line is already $125.55 . While i agree that they should have to give proof , they say they do not and its there network so they can do what they want, and to an extent i know this is correct because i am only on At&t because i got booted off tmobile right after i got my g1 because "I cost them money" basically they said i roamed to much and they were not going to keep paying for the money it cost them for me to roam and they booted me. So lets brain storm here , and if you have been given this notice as an Unlimited data user leaver your story here as well so we can ll learn. (have you tethered etc )
I was under the understanding that they could only detect tethering on iphones. I thought Android phones where a lot harder to detect.
Not really one tall telling sign would be windows update queries showing up and they would know you are tethering. There's a few other ways which are legal they could use.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Tidbits said:
Not really one tall telling sign would be windows update queries showing up and they would know you are tethering. There's a few other ways which are legal they could use.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
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I guess it would be in your best interest to use Linux then, lol.
iphones use an entirely different access point to tether while Androids don't. Tethering traffic on an Android is mixed up with mobile traffic and makes it a lot harder to detect. They could but it would cost money to detect it. iphones are easy. If the user does not have a tethering account and uses that access point hes flagged.
ATT wold actually have to examine everyone’s traffic to detect Android tethering. Maybe they are, but ATT is not known for spending money on things.
I'm on grandfathered unlimited data plan. running Synergy ROM, and wondering what is the best way to tether without getting busted by Verizon.
android94301 said:
I'm on grandfathered unlimited data plan. running Synergy ROM, and wondering what is the best way to tether without getting busted by Verizon.
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I've been tethering for close to three years, on the original Droid, the Droid Charge, and now the GS3, using Wifi Tether. I always did it infrequently, I don't torrent over it, and didn't use a stupid amount of data (except for a month when I moved and had no home internet). I've never gotten any indication that Verizon knows or wants to do anything about it.
Has anyone, ever, actually reported getting busted? Have any actual people been punished?
According to the recent FCC ruling Verizon can't charge you extra for tethering. They had to pay out cash and all.
I wouldn't worry about it as long as you don't disrupt their network. In other words, don't torrent or transfer 30+ gigs...
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
honestly as far as getting busted or what not you don't have to worry about that since their are only a few people who actually still have that plan the only thing you have to worry about is any upcoming plan change and such but you have 2 years for that enjoy.
mikejr83 said:
According to the recent FCC ruling Verizon can't charge you extra for tethering. They had to pay out cash and all.
I wouldn't worry about it as long as you don't disrupt their network. In other words, don't torrent or transfer 30+ gigs...
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The FCC ruling only prevents them from charging for tethering on capped data plans. This does not apply to unlimited plans. That being said, I haven't heard of Verizon busting people for tethering. Like an earlier poster, I've been tethering for years and have not had any problems. I've never used more than about 6 GB in a billing cycle though.
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k0admunk33 said:
The FCC ruling only prevents them from charging for tethering on capped data plans. This does not apply to unlimited plans. That being said, I haven't heard of Verizon busting people for tethering. Like an earlier poster, I've been tethering for years and have not had any problems. I've never used more than about 6 GB in a billing cycle though.
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I read the ruling as they couldn't charge for it regardless. Plus shared everything plans include tethering at no additional charge.
Sent from my DROIDX using xda app-developers app
just use foxfi, that's what I've been using since I got the phone. My brother has been using it on his Galaxy Nexus for the last few months. And here's the good thing, you don't have to be rooted.
Short of sniffing your traffic and looking at your running applications list on your phone I don't see how they could know. They can speculate by data usage, but I think that's about it.
I've seen peoples posts where they swear VZW will know, and I always inquire "How?" and have yet to get an answer. Propaganda and rhetoric.
Don't sweat it, just do it!
mikejr83 said:
I read the ruling as they couldn't charge for it regardless. Plus shared everything plans include tethering at no additional charge.
Sent from my DROIDX using xda app-developers app
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If you read the fine print the unlimited plans state you have unlimited data for one device, using your computer to receive data over 4G/3G constitutes another device there for its not part of the contract you signed when receiving the unlimited data package
Jarredw said:
If you read the fine print the unlimited plans state you have unlimited data for one device, using your computer to receive data over 4G/3G constitutes another device there for its not part of the contract you signed when receiving the unlimited data package
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Lets set aside the legality of it and whether it's morally correct or **** about the contract and get to the real question.
Can they actually catch you and can they prove it?
Meh, I just use WiFi Tether. Works great. I really only use it for Netflix streamed from my PS3. Used 32g the first month. When you look at data usage on the phone though it never comes up as the application using any data. Like ^^ they said, I don't think there is any way for them to prove you are tethering. Honestly using Spotify, streaming "Extreme Quality" while driving, at the gym, breaks at work, cooking throughout the day I can use close to a gig every day. Kind of a music junkie, but nevertheless, using it for a perfectly legitimate reason with a legitimate app I can burn through a fair amount. I think if you start getting up higher (100+/month) then maybe you could come up on their radar, but they'll have no way to prove anything. If you aren't rooted use FoxFi.
mikejr83 said:
I read the ruling as they couldn't charge for it regardless. Plus shared everything plans include tethering at no additional charge.
Sent from my DROIDX using xda app-developers app
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Read it again (http://www.fcc.gov/document/verizon-wireless-pay-125-million-settle-investigation). Toward the end of the document it states "consumers on usage-based pricing plans may tether, using any application, without paying an additional fee." Unlimited data plans are not usage-based, so they are not prohibited by this ruling from charging for tethering on these plans.
ancashion said:
Short of sniffing your traffic and looking at your running applications list on your phone I don't see how they could know. They can speculate by data usage, but I think that's about it.
I've seen peoples posts where they swear VZW will know, and I always inquire "How?" and have yet to get an answer. Propaganda and rhetoric.
Don't sweat it, just do it!
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It's plausible they could look at your number of connections to determine whether you're running some P2P, which is technically against their ToS whether it's on your phone or tethered.
They could also plausibly look at your traffic's destination and determine whether it's somewhere a phone "should" be going. In the way-back-times when Netflix didn't have their Android app out yet, I was concerned an investigation into my data usage would suggest I had been tethering.
And of course, there was that Carrier IQ debacle. I wouldn't scoff at "looking at your running applications list on your phone"; that software package certainly had exactly that capability. It apparently was never on any VZW devices, but if you aren't running something AOSP-based, there's a technical possibility something unexpected could be phoning home.
Okay, /tinfoilhat. I don't honestly think Verizon is looking for or punishing illicit tethering, except possibly in the most egregious cases. It's too much overhead and bad PR to boot. I have no inside information, though; that's my reasonable, slightly-informed opinion.
If you're using less that, say, I dunno, 10GB/month, I'm fairly certain you can do whatever the heck you please, indefinitely, without getting any sort of red flags. People here have certainly pushed it further than that.
I could care less what other people do with their unlimited data, but using 100 gigs a month & then bragging about it on a site like (like the DB who has it in his avatar) is just asking for trouble I would think.
On the unlimited plan, it is a clear TOS violation to tether any other system to your phone. I have never heard of VZ actually enforcing that, but when I tether I try not to use an outrageous amount of data to raise a red flag on my account & give VZ an excuse to take away my unlimited data plan.
I was using my Slingbox on my phone one time at work when our VZ corporate rep showed up. Our rep is a hot chic & she's cool as hell.
When she saw what I was doing, she asked a few tech questions about it & then laughed and said "just remember, apps like Slingbox are not supported by Verizon" She could care less what I was doing, but she went on to say that it was technically a TOS violation & to just be careful not to go absolutely crazy on the data use or you may end up losing your data package at some point.
Unlimited Plan Tethering
I've read through all this, but would still like y'alls opinion in my case.
I currently have AT&T U-verse internet max at home. It gets me about 8 Mbps DOWN, and 1.5 UP (if I'm lucky.) It costs me $48 +tax per month. I'm unemployed and looking to save everywhere, so that's a lot of bones.
I have the VZN 4G Bionic and was Grandfathered in from Alltel with Unlimited data. The Bionic is NOT rooted and I just I just discovered FoxFi. WOO HOO! Now my Xoom IS ROOTED but the 4G plan isn't activated. Just for S&G's, I am wirelessly tethering my home PC AND MY Xoom to the Bionic. The native USB tethering cable also worked on my PC. This just tickles the crap out of me that I can do this. Not only does it work, but I'm getting fantastic WIRELESS 4G speeds (per speedtest.net
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This is so much faster and better than U-verses internet, that I wonder... YES, wait for it because I'm going to ask... Do you folks think that it would be inadvisable to just turn off U-verse and go totally tethered? Yes, I am aware of the implications, e.g., I'd need to keep my phone plugged-in or face battery drain. I live alone, so don't internet need it when not here.
About red flags, so far I've been consuming about a 2-4 GB per month on my phone, so I know that when I start using my PC, I'm guessing that would go WAAAAY up. I could try to manage keeping the PC untethered except when I'm on it. If they question me, couldn't I just say I'm a recent Netflix and Pandora whore or something?
What's the worse that could happen? I turn U-verse back on?
What say y'all?
From what I understand verizon has stopped charging for that all together
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They can tell if you're tethering by examining the TTL (time to live) field of your packets. If they're not the default sent out by android, then that means they originated one or more hops earlier than the android device.
I think the REAL QUESTION IS has anybody anywhere ever heard of VZ actually cracked down on anybody for doing this? (I know I never have)
jmorton10 said:
I think the REAL QUESTION IS has anybody anywhere ever heard of VZ actually cracked down on anybody for doing this? (I know I never have)
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No one has. There was a funny little story a few years back of a guy who was supposedly bragging and talking other people into tethering and 2 VZW goons showed up at his house and strongarmed him into signing a contract stating his phone would be stopped at 4 or 5 gigs a month. At the time though that was when VZW was still offering unlimited, and the story was later admitted to be false so...
I have use wired and wireless tethering on my RAZR MAXX, steam downloads Netflix torrents etc, and got up to around 10 gigs and stopped but seriously if you don't go crazy chances are nothing will happen. If you torrent and they confront you you can say you were downloading the via one of the torrent programs on the market. The only thing I did that I could never really think of an excuse for, if they had ever asked, was steam.
But as with everything YMMV.
I've seen someone on verizons unlimited data tether and end up using 90 gigs in one cycle downloading torrents and music. He didn't get a letter or any notification from Verizon telling him to knock it off. Granted that was only one month.