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Confused re:tethering on older Verizon plan w/iPhone 5

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rmp71701

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 7, 2012
59
0
I've done some searching on this topic but haven't found a straight/reliable/tested answer. Here goes:

I'm on an (older) Nationwide Talk Share Plan with Verizon - I refuse to move over to the Share Everything plan for numerous reasons, mainly the cost. I am going to be upgrading and adding an iPhone 5 to an existing dumb-phone line on this plan, which means I'll be paying for a tiered data plan (2GB for $30).

If I want to have tethering & turn my iPhone into a hotspot, Verizon says I have to pay the extra $20 (on top of the $30 data package) for 4 GB + hotspot.

In light of the FCC ruling against Verizon this past summer, here's my question: is there any way I can have a free tethering/hotspot feature on this iPhone through Verizon? In other words, is Verizon somehow obligated to offer me free tethering if I ask for it, because of the FCC ruling? Or is Verizon only obligated to do free tethering only if I switch over to Share Everything plan? (which has free tethering built in, so you still pay for it on way or another).

Does the FCC ruling for free tethering not apply to customers with existing, older plans who are going to be using Verizon's 4G LTE network (with an iPhone 5)?

Anyone else have any experience/advice with this issue? Many thanks.
 
I

iTalk

macrumors member
Sep 14, 2012
33
0
ORD
With the old Nationwide talk plans, Verizon has cleverly trained its CSRs to only sell the 2GB/5GB/10GB 'data with personal email' feature tiers, which do not include the hotspot feature. According to Verizon, you are only sharing minutes with the Nationwide talk plan - not data. But Verizon has other data tiers available for choosing in your My Verizon account, so if you login and go to the 'Change Minutes text or data', it will show you shared data plans of 4GB for $50, 7GB for $70 & 12 GB for $100 etc. that include 4G data and hotspot with no limits

Depending on your minutes and data usage (i.e. low min, high data), the data plans above with the nationwide talk works out to be cheaper than share everything

EDIT: The other option, of course, is to try your luck with jailbreaking.
 
R

rmp71701

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 7, 2012
59
0
Thanks for the reply. So it looks like I am forced to get 4 GB data plan for $50 in order to get the "free" tethering/hotspot. But what if I only need the 2 GB plan for $30? Verizon does not offer the hotspot with that plan, yet it would seem with the FCC ruling that they shouldn't be allowed to restrict the tethering option like they are doing - forcing you to buy a higher data package.

If they removed the $30 option, so that the first level of data was the 4 GB + hotspot, then it would be a different ballgame. But by including a 2 GB plan option, but restricting hotspot feature, I don't see how that complies w/FCC ruling. They are still withholding tethering option from me - that is unless my old Nationwide share contract gets them off the hook. That's what I was originally asking in my post above - do I lose the right to free tethering (on 4G network) because I'm on the old plan?
 
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