AT&T Cracking Down on Unauthorized Tethering

[MacRumors]

ModMyI and our forums have reported that some users are receiving notices from AT&T about unauthorized tethering. Tethering is the act of sharing your iPhone's 3G connection with another device. AT&T charges an additional fee for this activity.

Some users received the above SMS message with a followup email explaining tethering and warning them that tethering will be enabled if they continue to use that feature.

Many AT&T customers use their smartphones as a broadband connection for other devices, like laptops, netbooks or other smartphones– a practice commonly known as tethering. Tethering can be an efficient way for our customers to enjoy the benefits of AT&T's mobile broadband network and use more than one device to stay in touch with important people and information. To take advantage of this feature, we require that in addition to a data plan, you also have a tethering plan.

Our records show that you use this capability, but are not subscribed to our tethering plan.
...
If we don't hear from you, we'll plan to automatically enroll you into DataPro 4GB afterMarch 27, 2011. The new plan – whether you sign up on your own or we automatically enroll you – will replace your current smartphone data plan, including if you are on an unlimited data plan.

TiPb speculates on how they are detecting unauthorized tethering:

I think it’s one of two things. Since AT&T offers Personal Hotspot under iOS 4.3, they may have access to data they didn’t before, and they’re choosing to use it in a pretty crappy way. So if you’re on iOS 4.2.1 still (almost all jailbreakers are) and they see you’re generating traffic that looks like Personal Hotspot, they know you’re doing so without a plan. Once a jailbreak for iOS 4.3 is released, I bet it will make it a lot harder for them to track what users are actually tethering legitimately. Option two, they’re just going after heavy data users again and trying to bluff them into switching to a tethering plan and losing their unlimited data.

Article Link: AT&T Cracking Down on Unauthorized Tethering

[gravytrain84]

I knew this was coming sooner or later....

[jav6454]

Somehow this doesn't surprise me at all. However, this is one more reason to stick at 4.1.0.

So far, the only real reason for 4.3.0 is Personal Hotspot, but since that is being monitored, then, I'll be happy to stick in 4.1.0 and give the finger to AT&T.

[TheRealTVGuy]

Option 3; STOP trying to cheat the system, and START using your iDevice the way the manufacturer designed it and the way your carrier supports it. (Is it unfair? YES! Are all of us iPhone users getting hosed, even though there's now two carriers? YES)

And while you're at it, knock off the piracy with the napster/limewire/torrent crap.

(Yeah, I said it! SOMEBODY had to!)

[Moyank24]

Originally Posted by TheRealTVGuy

Option 3; STOP trying to cheat the system, and START using your iDevice the way the manufacturer and your carrier designed it.

And while you're at it, knock off the piracy with the napster/limewire/torrent crap.

(Yeah, I said it! SOMEBODY had to!)

Do napster and limewire even exist anymore?

[TheRealTVGuy]

Originally Posted by Moyank24

Do napster and limewire even exist anymore?

Probably not, I just felt the need to rant...

Sorry.

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by TheRealTVGuy

Option 3; STOP trying to cheat the system, and START using your iDevice the way the manufacturer designed it and the way your carrier supports it. (Is it unfair? YES! Are all of us iPhone users getting hosed, even though there's now two carriers? YES)

And while you're at it, knock off the piracy with the napster/limewire/torrent crap.

(Yeah, I said it! SOMEBODY had to!)

Poor thing... he doesn't realize napster and limewire are history. Also, once the data hits my device, it's mine to do with as I please. Thank you very much.

>laughing_girls.jpg.tiff.

[TheRealTVGuy]

Originally Posted by jav6454

Poor thing... he doesn't realize napster and limewire are history. Also, once the data hits my device, it's mine to do with as I please. Thank you very much.

>laughing_girls.jpg.tiff.

Yeah, because ever since the iTunes store opened, I haven't had the need...

Unless it's Metallica, then I'm all for ripping those guys off, just to mess with them!

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by TheRealTVGuy

Yeah, because ever since the iTunes store opened, I haven't had the need...

Unless it's Metallica, then I'm all for ripping those guys off, just to mess with them!

TBH, I've never used music sharing sites. I have actually obtained physical copies of the original CD and ripped that. Other hard to find songs I do buy. So, your whole napster deal doesn't apply to me.

As per tethering, hell to the NO am I changing to a tiered plan.

[TheRealTVGuy]

Originally Posted by jav6454

Poor thing... he doesn't realize napster and limewire are history. Also, once the data hits my device, it's mine to do with as I please. Thank you very much.

>laughing_girls.jpg.tiff.

By the way, I agree with you. Once you buy something, you should be able to use said device to its maximum potential. NOT have to pay to unlock its built-in features.

And by the way AT&T, all I want from you is a large pipe full of 1s and 0s. What I choose do do with them, or how I use and distribute them should be of no concern... Just one flat rate for a big, fast, data pipe.

Until then I'm stuck because I believe in playing by the rules, no matter how F-d up they are...

[bradl]

Originally Posted by jav6454

Somehow this doesn't surprise me at all. However, this is one more reason to stick at 4.1.0.

So far, the only real reason for 4.3.0 is Personal Hotspot, but since that is being monitored, then, I'll be happy to stick in 4.1.0 and give the finger to AT&T.

So if you're sticking at 4.1.0 and they aren't monitoring, then they should be monitoring 3.x even less, no?

All the more reason for me to stick with 3.1.3 on my 3G.

BL.

[TheRealTVGuy]

Originally Posted by bradl

So if you're sticking at 4.1.0 and they aren't monitoring, then they should be monitoring 3.x even less, no?

All the more reason for me to stick with 3.1.3 on my 3G.

BL.

Wow... was multi-tasking supported that early, or did we not get that until 4.0. It's early here in Florida and I can't remember.

But hey, if its working for you... go with it!

[rorschach]

I use HandyLight to tether, but only occasionally. I wonder if they can detect that. I don't know what method the jailbreak way uses.

[bradl]

Originally Posted by TheRealTVGuy

Wow... was multi-tasking supported that early, or did we not get that until 4.0. It's early here in Florida and I can't remember.

But hey, if its working for you... go with it!

No. it wasn't.

I rarely use it, and when I do, it is work related. I went the MyWi route after the BenM hole was patched up in iOS > 3.1.

BL.

[brianbobcat]

Originally Posted by rorschach

I use HandyLight to tether, but only occasionally. I wonder if they can detect that. I don't know what method the jailbreak way uses.

I did that exact thing today for the first time in like 6 months, and plan to do it again tomorrow. For the occasionally user, ME, paying the $5 or whatever Handylight cost at the time was well worth it. During my morning commute, on the few days I bring my laptop with me, and on the even fewer days I require a data connection, then AT&T can suck it. Other than that, I will continue to kill their network using my apps like Pandora, Netflix, and EyeTV, all of which are legitimate to use and kill their 3G a LOT more efficiently than the text-based websites I'm loading via my laptop.

[linknprk]

Originally Posted by bradl

So if you're sticking at 4.1.0 and they aren't monitoring, then they should be monitoring 3.x even less, no?

All the more reason for me to stick with 3.1.3 on my 3G.

BL.

um... did you guys misread the article?
The article is proposing that they might be able to suspect unsupported tethering for people NOT using 4.3 because hotspot wasn't made available until 4.3

So if you stick with 4.1 or 3.1.3 or anything earlier than 4.3 (while using data in a way that looks like tethering)... you will stand out.

Thats how I interpreted the article.

[marksman]

Big Thumbs up AT&T. I am glad they are just taking it to enroll people into the 2gig plan and add tethering, saves people the trouble of having to do it themselves!

Plus I won't have to subsidize their data usage from their stealing bandwidth and access from AT&T.

I can't wait though, in a few weeks / months, though, when we start seeing people complaining how AT&T screwed them and changed their dataplan even though they did nothing wrong and weren't using MyFi and AT&T is horrible and a crook.

It is coming...

By the way the supposition as to how they are detecting this is likely way off base. It is probably pretty easy for them to determine it. I suspect Apple has included some kind of method for them to determine it. People who think it is not detectable just don't understand how it works/what it is doing at the device level.

[pika2000]

This is why I bought the Nexus One.
Although I'm afraid I might be forced to let go my grand-fathered unlimited data plan in the near future. Does anybody know if adding a line and converting both it and my line into a family plan will kick me out of the grand-fathered unlimited data plan?

[jav6454]

Originally Posted by marksman

Big Thumbs up AT&T. I am glad they are just taking it to enroll people into the 2gig plan and add tethering, saves people the trouble of having to do it themselves!

Plus I won't have to subsidize their data usage from their stealing bandwidth and access from AT&T.

I can't wait though, in a few weeks / months, though, when we start seeing people complaining how AT&T screwed them and changed their dataplan even though they did nothing wrong and weren't using MyFi and AT&T is horrible and a crook.

It is coming...

By the way the supposition as to how they are detecting this is likely way off base. It is probably pretty easy for them to determine it. I suspect Apple has included some kind of method for them to determine it. People who think it is not detectable just don't understand how it works/what it is doing at the device level.

Someone is failing... hard

[MacBacker]

Originally Posted by pika2000

This is why I bought the Nexus One.
Although I'm afraid I might be forced to let go my grand-fathered unlimited data plan in the near future. Does anybody know if adding a line and converting both it and my line into a family plan will kick me out of the grand-fathered unlimited data plan?

No, you can have a separate data plan for family plans. I have what you are going to sign up for plus another 2 lines and all our data plans are different.

[damnyooneek]

stop gouging the customer. first we pay for 'unlimited' data thats capped at 5gb then they limit it to 2gb and force you to pay more to tether.

[rhinosrcool]

Originally Posted by damnyooneek

stop gouging the customer. first we pay for 'unlimited' data thats capped at 5gb then they limit it to 2gb and force you to pay more to tether.

I totally agree.

[kntgsp]

Originally Posted by TheRealTVGuy

And while you're at it, knock off the piracy with the napster/limewire/torrent crap.

(Yeah, I said it! SOMEBODY had to!)

Napster and Limewire? What is this, 2002?

[sammachin]

Actually the way they are most likely doing this and the way most carriers do it is using some deep packet inspection kit or maybe even a transparent proxy.

They can look for browsing traffic on port 80 then simply pick out any users where the user agent string is that of a computer OS so Windows|Mac|Linux.

2 options to get around it are: either change your browsers UA to that of the iPhone although this will often give you mobile sites or better still send everything down a VPN, that way its encrypted and they can;t see what your doing just how many bytes :-) High VPN usage shouldn't be odd either as the iPhone has a VPN client so you could feasibly be using that.

(Used to work in a carrier designing these systems so I should know!)

[rstansby]

I don't think it is a bad thing for AT+T to prevent people from tethering to a laptop on an unlimited cell phone plan. Those people are just taking advantage of the system, and wasting bandwidth that the rest of us could use.


As far as I'm concerned it is the same as going to an all you can eat restaurant and sharing your food between two people, while only paying for one. It isn't a serious crime, but it is stealing, and you know that if you get caught you will have to stop. I'm not going to feel bad for these people that are using 5+GB per month.