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Well... I am now being throttled

So I never have come close to using my 5 gb of data but it seems that it happened for the first time last night. I was under the impression that throttling was only used under extreme conditions for repeat offenders seeing as how "some people" have managed to exceed the limit without being hit. My data stands at .01 kbps download and .001 kbps upload. I'm pretty annoyed right now and am giving more and more thought into another carrier and another phone. I am noticing that this phone officially bores me now. Sad because I did like it...til now.
Edit: I've jumped to 45 kbps download and 70 kbps upload. That seems to be the max now..
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

well thats what you get for going over 5gb. its life on any carrier and any phone. so if your bored of the phone ok get another phone but your throttled life isnt going to change.

syaoran68 said:
well thats what you get for going over 5gb. its life on any carrier and any phone. so if your bored of the phone ok get another phone but your throttled life isnt going to change.
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Any carrier? Last time I checked, Sprint is the only carrier to have true unlimited data. Rumors have stated Verizon is reconsidering. AT&T continues to honor grandfathered unlimited plans and T-Mobile has done what? Lowered everyone's data allowance regardless of previous plans or time with the company.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Well I have unlimited android web since last march and I've always had unlimited, no throttle, nothing, I've downloaded unlimited amounts and still no throttle.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

jonathan3579 said:
I'm pretty annoyed right now and am giving more and more thought into another carrier and another phone. I am noticing that this phone officially bores me now. Sad because I did like it...til now.
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I've hit the data throttle points a few times so i can speak from experience.
Just because you've hit the throttle point doesn't mean that the phone in itself sucks. The phone is still the same phone that had good download speeds. If you want to go to another carrier then fine. I'm not going to even attempt to stop you. But keep in mind 5Gb is a fair amount of usage. And other carriers will charge you for going over your limit, not just throttle you.

And for new customers AT&T doesn't even offer unlimited anymore. it's $25 for 2gb and $10 for every gb you use after that.
Sprint has unlimited, but their speeds suck for now. And they have horrible CS.
Verizon is still setting up their LTE network, and I believe once they are up and running they will be great. They don't even have any 4G phones yet. When the Thunderbolt comes out they'll have one, but who knows what you'd think of that phone. I haven't read any reviews.
I also heard some chatter about T-Mo re-raising their limit to 10gb. I hope they do that. IMO t-mo has amazing devices and excellent service, atleast where I live. We have all the major carriers in Spokane, and t-mo has by far the fastest data. CS speaks for itself. JD Power speaks for their customer service too. They speak good things.
In general, I think it's ridiculous for carriers to offer more and more bandwidth intensive apps like Netflix and all the streaming music apps, not to mention the ability to hook into an HDTV via HDMI or DLNA, and then lower the cap on our bandwidth to 5gb. So I hope they increase it again. It would be nice if one day they offered true unlimited and were OK with tethering and all that for us users who'd like to nix our home internet all together.
Either way, welcome to the throttling world. I don't think you'll be happier if you switch to a new carrier. Just suck it up until your next cycle. and next month, use wifi whenever humanly possible to save your data.
Cheers!

jonathan3579 said:
Any carrier? Last time I checked, Sprint is the only carrier to have true unlimited data. Rumors have stated Verizon is reconsidering. AT&T continues to honor grandfathered unlimited plans and T-Mobile has done what? Lowered everyone's data allowance regardless of previous plans or time with the company.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
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Clearly you haven't read Sprints terms of service. Go to their website and at the bottom of the page click it and read it.

TJBunch1228 said:
And for new customers AT&T doesn't even offer unlimited anymore. it's $25 for 2gb and $10 for every gb you use after that.
Sprint has unlimited, but their speeds suck for now. And they have horrible CS.
Verizon is still setting up their LTE network, and I believe once they are up and running they will be great. They don't even have any 4G phones yet. When the Thunderbolt comes out they'll have one, but who knows what you'd think of that phone. I haven't read any reviews.
I also heard some chatter about T-Mo re-raising their limit to 10gb. I hope they do that. IMO t-mo has amazing devices and excellent service, atleast where I live. We have all the major carriers in Spokane, and t-mo has by far the fastest data. CS speaks for itself. JD Power speaks for their customer service too. They speak good things.
In general, I think it's ridiculous for carriers to offer more and more bandwidth intensive apps like Netflix and all the streaming music apps, not to mention the ability to hook into an HDTV via HDMI or DLNA, and then lower the cap on our bandwidth to 5gb. So I hope they increase it again. It would be nice if one day they offered true unlimited and were OK with tethering and all that for us users who'd like to nix our home internet all together.
Either way, welcome to the throttling world. I don't think you'll be happier if you switch to a new carrier. Just suck it up until your next cycle. and next month, use wifi whenever humanly possible to save your data.
Cheers!
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Yeah, one of my good friends has discovered the wonderful fees from AT&T which I would fight. He crosses 2 gb within a week or two every bill. (And he doesn't know how to tether either...)
I have seen some relatively good speeds from Sprint here in Houston. And their $69 plan seems to be a pretty good option as well.
Verizon is the carrier that interests me the most and like you said, I believe they will be good once they finish with LTE. I am sure that I would like the Thunderbolt BUT I don't believe it to be anything groundbreaking. Let's face it, the specs are last year's best. (Actually, I don't think that even counts since the LG Optimus 2X was released in December albeit in another country.)
I have enjoyed T-Mobiles customer service however I feel that the company as a whole is making too many mistakes in exactly what you said - Promoting apps that use up a helluva lot more data with streaming and the like. On a side note, the data increase has been confirmed for the hotspot devices but nothing as far as I know of when it comes to phones. Disappointing really.
I guess this whole thing pisses me off because I have never come close to reaching the cap. In fact, I typically don't ever cross 2 gb of data so when I finally decide to dig into streaming music, tv, and movies then I get hit slowing my phone to a near complete stop. The phone isn't completely useless but it's just a fragment of what I loved about it. And syncing is taking forever thus draining my battery faster. I know there are plenty of people who have passed the threshold numerous times with no recourse but I cross it once (and haven't even checked by how much) and don't even so much as receive a data warning? I dunno....it just makes me think.

I'm always on WiFi so I never worry about this
*Sent from Carmen diva*

BTW, you may want to make sure the data they claimed you used was actually used. They seem to have some issues with their metering system. I ran into this problem last week with Tmob. They claimed I used 5.2GB in 6hours in the middle of the night while my phone was on wifi. Took forever, but they eventually unthrottled me.
More info here: http://forums.t-mobile.com/t5/Inter...lse-being-wrongly-throttled/m-p/755761#M23072

were you Downloading torrents?
sent from my rooted mytouch 4g

carmeng4evr said:
I'm always on WiFi so I never worry about this
*Sent from Carmen diva*
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Me too so this is a non issue for me
sent from my rooted mytouch 4g

surfnhawaii808 said:
were you Downloading torrents?
sent from my rooted mytouch 4g
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I'm not sure if that was directed at me or the OP, but no, I don't use my phone for torrents. I've got a mac mini server that I download everything on. I just use transdroid remote control to monitor them from my phone.

I download music and apps I buy,i also play a lot of youtube and surf all day long.
from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Data responsibility
Don't get pissed at T-Mo
People that are at the top users of T-Mo will get throttled so that "you guys" don't ruin it for the rest of us.
I don't want my download speeds / latency affected because a small subset of people eat up the bandwidth thinking that T-Mo can replace their ISP. I surf, stream, communicate, etc on my phone, but I'm responsible enough to use WiFi when possible as to not lag the network.
Not sure about everyone else, but when I want my mobile data, it needs to be quick. So I use wifi when available to keep my traffic off the towers, so others that need it won't be hampered.

At&the now detecting tethering by packet type value

Is it possible to change the tethering application built into most roms so that it won't deincrement the ttl value?

where did you get this info at?

http://osxdaily.com/2011/03/17/att-cracking-down-on-unofficial-iphone-tethering-mywi-users/
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/03/18/att.clamps.down.on.unofficial.tethering.users/

If you dig through the comments on those articles, it appears that the people who receive the letters are using in excess of 5GB on their unlimited data plan.
Case in point: One of the comments was from a guy who said that his wife was sent the notice from AT&T. From what he says, she hasn't ever tethered, but she's always listening to streaming audio or watching streaming video.
This is nothing new for AT&T. They have long held that 5GB is 'effectively unlimited' for a smartphone, and that anyone who uses more must be using a computer tethered to the phone. With the phones we have now, that simply is not the case anymore. But AT&T is using that as an excuse to try and get people off of the unlimited plans and on to something where they can charge customers more money.

Krynn! said:
If you dig through the comments on those articles, it appears that the people who receive the letters are using in excess of 5GB on their unlimited data plan.
Case in point: One of the comments was from a guy who said that his wife was sent the notice from AT&T. From what he says, she hasn't ever tethered, but she's always listening to streaming audio or watching streaming video.
This is nothing new for AT&T. They have long held that 5GB is 'effectively unlimited' for a smartphone, and that anyone who uses more must be using a computer tethered to the phone. With the phones we have now, that simply is not the case anymore. But AT&T is using that as an excuse to try and get people off of the unlimited plans and on to something where they can charge customers more money.
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I hope you're right.

Also just saw this......I personally dont tether much but have used mobile AP. Might be worth looking into for those that do tether.
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/03/18/att-shutting-down-unauthorized-tetherers/

cnigro1279 said:
Also just saw this......I personally dont tether much but have used mobile AP. Might be worth looking into for those that do tether.
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/03/18/att-shutting-down-unauthorized-tetherers/
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If they are using ttl to detect tethering, then mobile ap would be effected. I'm not sure if usb tethering does deincrement ttl. All the reports seem to be mentioning WiFi tethering.

i think its a scare tactic.
I don't think they are detecting tethering. I think they are targeting people going beyond a certain threshold of usage as suspected tethereres (4gb or 5gb or more likely)

bames said:
i think its a scare tactic.
I don't think they are detecting tethering. I think they are targeting people going beyond a certain threshold of usage as suspected tethereres (4gb or 5gb or more likely)
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+1
Just a scare tactic. I'm on my 11th day of this months cycle, and between tethering, mobile ap, and downloads, I'm sitting at 9gb of data usage and haven't heard anything from AT&T. Yet

vunuts said:
+1
Just a scare tactic. I'm on my 11th day of this months cycle, and between tethering, mobile ap, and downloads, I'm sitting at 9gb of data usage and haven't heard anything from AT&T. Yet
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WOW what are you doing to use 9gb of data lol.
Even though i think its more of a scare tactic i think it can be done...its just not cost efficient to do it wide scale unless their is a huge red flag...like oh say 9gb of data usage . I won't be surprised if you get a letter if your usage rates continually reach anywhere near that later as i suspect that is the type of red flag that may cause them to actually take the time to audit the account and look at the ttl/packet data more closely.
if you have a 2gb or even unlimited and tether never going over 2gb i seriously doubt you would received letter or raise an eyebrow.
This goes back to my initial thought on how stupid their marketing team and management decisions are.
ALLOW FREE TETHERING
Pay for the extra data you need. It breaks down to the same cost...they are just being short sighted and greedy hoping people will think oh...2gb more data for 20bucks and then continue to not even fully use the 2gb they already had paid for on their smartphones plan (they are playing on peoples ignorance of how much data they are actually using). Part of good business and sales is fitting the client with their needs so they can afford it and continue to be a good longterm customer rather than bilking them for services they don't need or use (much like requiring all smartphones to have data plans when some smartphone users could be completely happy with a smartphone and wifi only usage).
If i have $25 2gb plan and want to tether and don't go over 2gb DON'T CHARGE EXTRA or REQUIRE TETHERING. If i go over charge me by the GB just like you would if i used all the data on my smartphones. 2gb Plan + 2gb overage =$45 for that months data (shouldn't matter whether it was used tethered or untethered). If i have a 2gb plan and tether and only use 3gb for the plan why not allow my to pay for 3gb data instead of forcing me to pay for 4gb/tethering. Let people police and pay for their usage. DATA IS DATA and it doesn't cost more for att to deliver 4gb to a tethered user than it does to someone using the 4gb downloading torrents or streaming movies on their smartphone.
Seems like it would be great customer relations, marketing, and a blow to verizon if ATT and came out with a marketing campaign that said Free Mobile AP/Tethering. Use as much data as you need....pay for the data you use. If those still grandfathered under unlimited plans are the concern you could easily audit those accounts if the usage is excessive and either throttle or require tethering for unlimited plans only which might encourage more people to give up the unlimited and take one of the tiered plans. They talk about tethers using all the data while i suspect those doing a combination of significant streaming and downloading torrent using in an untethered state.
A good question is why is one industry being allowed wipe their A** with net neutrality (with so little backlash)

bames said:
WOW what are you doing to use 9gb of data lol.
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Lol, I just opened my own auto shop, and we have yet to get internet hooked up in there, so I'm tethered to my desktop there for about 5-8 hours a day. I wouldn't be surprised if I do hear from AT&T, but they can't do anything to me. They've tried before and I fought them and won. I have unlimited text and data and I'm going to use it to my advantage. If they want to try and blow smoke up my ass, go for it. I'll blow it right back

Funny how this coincided with the new bandwidth cap for cable customers... AT&T is slowly trying to eliminate all unlimited customers. I wish they spent as much time working on increasing signal strength across the US as they do finding ways to squeeze more money from their customers.

vunuts said:
+1
Just a scare tactic. I'm on my 11th day of this months cycle, and between tethering, mobile ap, and downloads, I'm sitting at 9gb of data usage and haven't heard anything from AT&T. Yet
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I thought my 3 -4 gb / month was a lot.
Isn't a byte of data still a byte of data no matter how you view your porn.

what they are doing with tethering would be akin charging us $10 per month to use google navigation.
They could say "hey our navigation per att nav with your device is $10 per month.....if you want to use navigation on your phone you must have a navigation plan add on and if you try to use another free navigation program we can tell and will change your plan without your permission"

I don't get any letters, but I get a "friendly call" from AT&T about every other month asking why I use so much data. I've been on unlimited since it first came out and I'm taking full advantage of it. When I get the call about my usage, I start downloading on my phone, just to eat more data. I've downloaded several ISOs of Linux distros and MS ISOs from the MSDN. Is it my fault I signed up for 'unlimited data' or is it there fault they didn't look into the future? ComCast tried to complain when I pulled down over 300gb in a month and wanted to charge me for it. Sent off a copy of the original contract and there was no bandwidth cap in it. It becomes a breach of contract if you haven't physically signed anything new accepting and agreeing to the new changes.

If you don't mind switching carriers (which isn't that attractive because they all suck and use the same ploys pretty much)
but if they change your plan (for example adding a tethering plan to your account) you have 30 days to cancel your contract WITHOUT penalty no matter how many months you have remaining.

bames said:
If you don't mind switching carriers (which isn't that attractive because they all suck and use the same ploys pretty much)
but if they change your plan (for example adding a tethering plan to your account) you have 30 days to cancel your contract WITHOUT penalty no matter how many months you have remaining.
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This is true. You can avoid any early termination fees and essentially end your contract in good standing credit wise.

pbclst said:
I don't get any letters, but I get a "friendly call" from AT&T about every other month asking why I use so much data. I've been on unlimited since it first came out and I'm taking full advantage of it. When I get the call about my usage, I start downloading on my phone, just to eat more data. I've downloaded several ISOs of Linux distros and MS ISOs from the MSDN. Is it my fault I signed up for 'unlimited data' or is it there fault they didn't look into the future? ComCast tried to complain when I pulled down over 300gb in a month and wanted to charge me for it. Sent off a copy of the original contract and there was no bandwidth cap in it. It becomes a breach of contract if you haven't physically signed anything new accepting and agreeing to the new changes.
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For every time they call and ask you you should place 20 calls to their customer support line asking them why someone called you again and telling them you just wanted to make sure they knew you had an unlimited data plan because someone keeps calling.

vunuts said:
Lol, I just opened my own auto shop, and we have yet to get internet hooked up in there, so I'm tethered to my desktop there for about 5-8 hours a day. I wouldn't be surprised if I do hear from AT&T, but they can't do anything to me. They've tried before and I fought them and won. I have unlimited text and data and I'm going to use it to my advantage. If they want to try and blow smoke up my ass, go for it. I'll blow it right back
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I'm sorry, but this attitude just rubs me raw. Cell phones were never designed to be ISPs. It's abusers like you that have made it hard for the rest of us by forcing AT$T to eliminate unlimited plans and by slowing down the network with your extreme usage. Why do so many feel the need to squeeze whatever they can however they can out of a company? If you think they're screwing you then simply take your business elsewhere.

People receiving the letter today are iphone users? am i correct? Did any android user receive it?

[Q] Tethering Police?

Has anyone actually been caught by the tethering police? I mean have they sent you a notice or anything?
Also, do you think I would be caught? I have used between 11 to 20 gigs a month for 6 months straight with my previous phone(Tilt2) and now I that I have the Infuse, would they even know If I was tethering or not since I would be using the same amount of data as I previously have?
Any input would be appreciated

Without trying to sound like a jerk, you do realize it's people like you that are the reason they have to police it in the first place?
20 gigs isn't off the charts outrageous, cause there are guys that say they've used up to 50 gigs in a month. Every time my bill goes up, I say a thank you to each one of you.

antuus said:
Without trying to sound like a jerk, you do realize it's people like you that are the reason they have to police it in the first place?
20 gigs isn't off the charts outrageous, cause there are guys that say they've used up to 50 gigs in a month. Every time my bill goes up, I say a thank you to each one of you.
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Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App

antuus said:
Without trying to sound like a jerk, you do realize it's people like you that are the reason they have to police it in the first place?
20 gigs isn't off the charts outrageous, cause there are guys that say they've used up to 50 gigs in a month. Every time my bill goes up, I say a thank you to each one of you.
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Click to collapse
That doesn't really answer my question... but hey, thanks!!

antuus said:
Without trying to sound like a jerk, you do realize it's people like you that are the reason they have to police it in the first place?
20 gigs isn't off the charts outrageous, cause there are guys that say they've used up to 50 gigs in a month. Every time my bill goes up, I say a thank you to each one of you.
Click to expand...
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+1
10characters

Thanks for the tiered data.
Hope you do get caught.
Sent from my Infuse 4G

antuus said:
Without trying to sound like a jerk, you do realize it's people like you that are the reason they have to police it in the first place?
20 gigs isn't off the charts outrageous, cause there are guys that say they've used up to 50 gigs in a month. Every time my bill goes up, I say a thank you to each one of you.
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Click to collapse
well if he stops know, theyll suspect something!
tbh, i pay for unlimited data. ive tethered a few times but not more than checking that i can or to run speed tests. even though i dont really tether, i still use alot of data. thats why i have the unlimited data plan. att knows this. ive been paying them for years to know this.

The Jack of Clubs said:
well if he stops know, theyll suspect something!
tbh, i pay for unlimited data. ive tethered a few times but not more than checking that i can or to run speed tests. even though i dont really tether, i still use alot of data. thats why i have the unlimited data plan. att knows this. ive been paying them for years to know this.
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I'm not going to get into the "well unlimited is unlimited and why does it matter how I use my unlimited." That's an argument that I feel both sides has a good argument for, so why waste the time.
I have no issues if you download gigs of porn to your phone, month after month. My issue is with the people that tether to excess just because they can. I can't tell you how thankful I am that ATT did lose a good amount of customers to VZW when the iP4 hit their shelves. Now those fanboys are bogging down the VZW network and not ours. Now I can only hope that more of these guys look for greener pastures so my bill stops inflating.

att prepared for the iphone originally with its separate apn and all that. it helped but you saw more iphones with down service than other phone users. really set up a bad name for att. has anybody even bought the iphone on verizon? i remember the launch day being a flop, havent really kept up with apple news since then.

antuus said:
I'm not going to get into the "well unlimited is unlimited and why does it matter how I use my unlimited." That's an argument that I feel both sides has a good argument for, so why waste the time.
I have no issues if you download gigs of porn to your phone, month after month. My issue is with the people that tether to excess just because they can. I can't tell you how thankful I am that ATT did lose a good amount of customers to VZW when the iP4 hit their shelves. Now those fanboys are bogging down the VZW network and not ours. Now I can only hope that more of these guys look for greener pastures so my bill stops inflating.
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I do not tether on excess just because I can. I do it because I have no other means to connect to the internet and It wouldn't be the same on my phone's browser. Yes it has a flash player plugin, but that doesn't mean I can do everything I can do in a computer environment. If I had access to internet by any other means, then I wouldn't tether from my phone. There was no need for you or anyone to be harsh to me without hearing my side of the story thank you very much.

MikeyMike01 said:
Thanks for the tiered data.
Hope you do get caught.
Sent from my Infuse 4G
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Agree. If I tether a lot in a month, MAYBE I'll cross 2 gigs. I make a point of keeping my tethering light.
However with the new phone I suspect I'll come closer to that 2gig limit a lot more often. (Fortunately I don't have it, since I'm unlimited.)
But 11-20 gigs/month without paying for tethering is just plain irresponsible. With abuse like that I'm surprised you haven't gotten busted and I wouldn't feel sorry for you if you did.

I had a grandfather plan - $20/mo unlimited data.
I've changed 5 or 6 smartphones since I had it, now on Infuse 4G, I'm getting the sucky-ass AT&T 4G speeds, tether to laptop when needed - no tethering plan.
I don't use that much though, about 2GB/month max.
I asked AT&T rep directly about this - she said they'll never change the plan unless I specifically allow it. She said they can't switch me.

well, there is that tethermanager.apk on stock that seems to report back to AT&T if you're tethering.
then if they feel like it they will text you and say "don't keep doing it or we'll swap you to the tethering plan"
you can freeze that with titanium backup (well you need to be rooted too) and that reactivates the stock tethering stuff built into the phone (both mobile ap and usb tethering)

hwaters said:
well, there is that tethermanager.apk on stock that seems to report back to AT&T if you're tethering.
then if they feel like it they will text you and say "don't keep doing it or we'll swap you to the tethering plan"
you can freeze that with titanium backup (well you need to be rooted too) and that reactivates the stock tethering stuff built into the phone (both mobile ap and usb tethering)
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Well that really isn't helpful(since I have already done all that) but thanks. I'm talking about AT&T's "Tether Police" that monitor data spikes and accuse you of tethering if your data seems different for any other month.

Earlier this year, a At&t added a tethering plan to thousands of accounts based on data usage. They also alerted many more they would do the same. I only know of three people to have this done to them
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

MikeyMike01 said:
Thanks for the tiered data.
Hope you do get caught.
Sent from my Infuse 4G
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1++++++++++++

That's why att sucks ass...
Grapes

I've been unlimited for years now, i don't know nor care how much data I use. I can tether if I want, which means if my home internet goes down and I need my pc, guess what... I'm tethering. I give att $200 per month for my phone plan over the past 4 years at lest, I highly doubt they'll piss me off and attach a tether plan to my account.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App

Rldowney said:
Earlier this year, a At&t added a tethering plan to thousands of accounts based on data usage. They also alerted many more they would do the same. I only know of three people to have this done to them
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App
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While what you say isn't exactly what happened they have been flagging a very large percentage iPhone users who have tethered even for a matter of 3 minutes.
I currently have an iPhone 4 (should finally have my INFUSE today) and only one time have tethered and probably for less than 30 seconds just to see if the Cydia app worked. All I did was go to speedtest.net and ran the test 2 or 3 times. That was it. About 2 weeks later I got the WARNING text. Plan was never changed. They only will change it if you ignore their warning(s) and do not call them to "discuss" it as they request in their text.
As for me, traveling in North, Central and South NJ, AT&T 3G is virtually useless. Speeds are terrible and the latency is horrendous. I have no idea how people can actually regularly use tethering. I guess it's better in other areas. Been that way through 3 iPhones over 4+ years so I have no desire to tether anyway.

I think the tethering and data caps are completely separate issues. ATT had a plan, or at least the idea, for tiered data plans long before the iPhone was even capable of tethering without being jailbroken. Tethering plans are complete bull****, and I'm sure the FCC will eventually make them illegal. If you pay for a data connection, you should be able to use it any way you want. It's like ATT trying to charge you for the separate phones in your house (or at least a premium to allow you to use more than just one phone). I also think the tethering police are a joke too. I'm sure (especially since they allow sideloading), that any kind of traffic that can be generating by a computer can be replicated in android.

Att/LTE observation

Ok so I have been reading different post on several message boards and forums about how Att is the Devil for throttling there grandfathered Unlimited customers. Now, you would think coming from Sprint only four months ago I would be siding with these customers but thats not the case.
I started with Spint in 2008 and for the first two years it was great. Then came Android. Now I love Android, but after people really started getting into android and mobile browsing, and then with the introduction of the HTC Hero and definetly after the Htc Evo data speeds dropped significanltly. I went from Youtube videos loading fast to them taking up to 30 seconds to load short videos. Wimax was an even bigger joke, my Iphone 4s which I returned for the Skyrocket yielded higher speed scores just on a Hspa+ network.
Now everyone wants to praise Verizon for allowing there customers keep their unlimited plans unthrottled. Now this is a good thing, but many speedtest that I have seen on YouTube and also today on Engadgets quick review of the new Nexus phone on Verizon, using a mifi device the Nexus got download speeds that my old Iphones 4s could easily double.
So whats the point of me writing this. Its written as a beware what you wish for story. Yes it would be nice to have anything unlimited but the truth is that many people abuse the system. I have read of people who have used up to 60 gbs of data in one month. What could you possibly be doing that would take up so much data. Im in a LTE area and last month I hit 1.4 gbs, I have wifi at home but not at work. Moreover, it really isnt fair that I am paying practically the same thing that an unlimited customer is but using far less data. An before anyone says that im just jealous not to have unlimited the fact is I really dont care who has it. But when your overendulgence of data slows down mine then we have a problem.

I get your complaint and in the same time I don't get your complaint. does it make sense?

I refuse to see it that way. As a whole we paid for the lines.. with lte its been documented the system is perfectly capable of handling all we throw at it at no additional cost.. Why penalize one who uses it more. 60gb is abuse for sure but the 5-10 range can be hit pretty easily)
It is going to be sad to see net neutrality come to an end ...its coming. We will see pay per use solely for the fact that they will make more
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Im not really complaining. Really if I was At&t I would move all Unlimited customers to a 10gb plan so they still get a lot of data but they also wont abuse it.
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Its not fair.. I use 100kb a month and I want it all for free.. Damn Att&t for not wanting to lose money!.. lol

I'm amazed they don't charge extra just for having hspa+ or lte. My Cox internet at home is tiered by speed. I would have thought they would have implemented a pricing system similar by now.

Yeah I think that's how most home internet providers do it. I'm on att uverse and I believe I have the 10 mbps plan. The problem with a cell phone company trying to do this is they can't always guarantee the speed your going to get because it varies by your location.
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I am just learning about/reading about net neutrality so I could be way off here ...but I "think" the FCC prevents them from billing wireless this way (by speed)
If and when that changes (lots of speculation it will) it is speculated we will see tiers based off usage AND speed
swedishcancerboi said:
I'm amazed they don't charge extra just for having hspa+ or lte. My Cox internet at home is tiered by speed. I would have thought they would have implemented a pricing system similar by now.
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[Q] Tether without AT&T knowing?

I know this is an annoying subject for some of you, but I haven't found clear answers on other threads. I am planing on tethering to Xbox Live and my Laptop. Is making a custom APN and deleting tether manager any good? Are there other and more effective ways? I am willing to take a risk and will stop if AT&T sends me a letter. I'm on CyanogenMod 10.
Thanks.

ArcriusOneX said:
I know this is an annoying subject for some of you, but I haven't found clear answers on other threads. I am planing on tethering to Xbox Live and my Laptop. Is making a custom APN and deleting tether manager any good? Are there other and more effective ways? I am willing to take a risk and will stop if AT&T sends me a letter. I'm on CyanogenMod 10.
Thanks.
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I could be wrong but I don't think there's any way to do that.
After doing some more research it seems some apps can kind of hide it but you will most likely get caught if not right away eventually
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ArcriusOneX said:
I know this is an annoying subject for some of you, but I haven't found clear answers on other threads. I am planing on tethering to Xbox Live and my Laptop. Is making a custom APN and deleting tether manager any good? Are there other and more effective ways? I am willing to take a risk and will stop if AT&T sends me a letter. I'm on CyanogenMod 10.
Thanks.
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regardless what you do, the amount of data that you will use doing what you listed is what will throw AT&T a red flag.

mikelebz said:
regardless what you do, the amount of data that you will use doing what you listed is what will throw AT&T a red flag.
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Yeah that's what I thought. Huge red flag.
Thanks

Tethering xbox? I can see AT&T being all over that. Laptop i think is doable but again have to limit it to general surfing and emailing any heavy duty data usage like streaming movies will again be a red flag.
Red flags usually due to usage in a particular sitting.
If you thether intermittently should be ok.
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Tethering guard is not a "tether police" app. It just controls tethering. Delete it and you won't be able to tether at all.
The only way to avoid getting caught tethering is to stay below AT&T's radar screen. That means keeping your data usage under control and not connecting to red flag sites like Windows update and, yes, Xbox Live.
If AT&T decides to check, there are numerous ways they can tell you're tethering, and once you're caught, the jig is up. They'll put you on a tethering plan if you keep doing it. There are no apps that are able to reliably hide tethering because there is evidence of it outside your phone.
There is some evidence they devote extra attention if you happen to have a grandfathered unlimited data plan.
I pirated tethering for years on my iPhones and One X and never got caught. I only tethered my MBP and was religious about limiting my data.

to allow native tethering on stock at&t rom all you do is a little sql editing of telephony.db which takes like 10 seconds. as far as detecting tethering im sure it depends on your area. i haven't ran into any problems tethering though. i don't understand why at&t would care since they already screw the people with unlimited anyways where after 5GB of data they throttle you to 500kbps, or that is what they do in my area.

DvineLord said:
as far as detecting tethering im sure it depends on your area. i haven't ran into any problems tethering though.
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The exact parameters by which AT&T is monitoring/policing for tethering seems to be unknown any anyone but AT&T insiders. It also seems to be a bit random. There have been reports by at least a couple folks on here that swear that they never even tethered, but got the SMS warning from AT&T that they were caught tethering, and any further tethering would result in being forcibly changed to a plan that allows tethering. While other folks use it occasionally and have never been caught.
The amount of usage is almost certainly a factor, so using it regularly for X-Box is probably not a good idea. The theory proposed by folks here, is that when certain red flags are raised by network usage, your traffic will be more close scrutinized, and the data packets examined for evidence of tethering. The checks are probably all network based, so changing anything on the phone will probably not help.
Personally, I use it only occasionally, for very limited time periods and data amounts, and have never been caught. Most often while traveling such as when a hotel WiFi is not available, crappy signal, or carries an excessive extra cost.