4.3 at&t wifi hotspot

[AuroraProject]

I have unlimited data from at&t grandfathered for my iPhone 4. With 4.3 just around the corner (tomorrow?) I am wondering if at&t will let me add the $20 a month wifi hotspot to my unlimited data pack. Or will they make me change to a capped plan?

Thoughts?

 

[nunes013]

you will have to change to the data pro with tethering

 

[iMrNiceGuy0023]

Jailbreak and use the MyWi app and pay $20 just 1 time to tether for free

 

[AuroraProject]

you will have to change to the data pro with tethering

So $65 a month?? That's $35 higher than I pay now and I'm limited to 4gb, no thanks.

 

[AuroraProject]

Jailbreak and use the MyWi app and pay $20 just 1 time to tether for free

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought of.

 

[kre62]

Now that's an idea I hadn't thought of.

Jailbreaking is legal, free, easy, and well worth it. it does not change your phone at all, it functions, syncs, and performs the same. The difference is you get access to the goody room.

You can also get TetherMe for just 2 dollars, which will unlock the native hotspot ability on 4.3. We have to wait for 4.3 to come out, and be jailbroken, first though. MyWi is ready now, and does work extremely well.

 

[Travisimo]

So $65 a month?? That's $35 higher than I pay now and I'm limited to 4gb, no thanks.

Huh? The Data Pro with Tethering plan is $45 total. It's $30/mo for the grandfathered unlimited, $25/mo for DataPro with 2GB, and $45/mo for DataPro with Tethering with 4GB. Those are your options.

But yes, if you have the grandfathered plan and don't mind jail-breaking, that would be your best route. If you want to stay legit, then it would be $45/mo for a total of 4GB of data to be used between your phone and tethered device(s).

Of course, right now the iPhone on AT&T does not have the Hotspot tethering option, so you'd have to tether via Bluetooth or USB without jail-breaking. We assume that when iOS 4.3 is released, AT&T will enable the Hotspot, but they have not officially said so.

 

[ulbador]

You can also get TetherMe for just 2 dollars, which will unlock the native hotspot ability on 4.3. We have to wait for 4.3 to come out, and be jailbroken, first though. MyWi is ready now, and does work extremely well.

I'm a little curious on how it will pan out. Using this method with tetherme on my verizon phone, the phone actually tracks data usage and tethering usage separately. Makes me wonder if they will be able to track this.

 

[AuroraProject]

Huh? The Data Pro with Tethering plan is $45 total. It's $30/mo for the grandfathered unlimited, $25/mo for DataPro with 2GB, and $45/mo for DataPro with Tethering with 4GB. Those are your options.

But yes, if you have the grandfathered plan and don't mind jail-breaking, that would be your best route. If you want to stay legit, then it would be $45/mo for a total of 4GB of data to be used between your phone and tethered device(s).

Of course, right now the iPhone on AT&T does not have the Hotspot tethering option, so you'd have to tether via Bluetooth or USB without jail-breaking. We assume that when iOS 4.3 is released, AT&T will enable the Hotspot, but they have not officially said so.

Yes but I think the wifi hotspot service is another $20 a month on top of data pro with tethering. I'm not certain though, just what I've heard.

 

[Aduntu]

Jailbreaking is legal, free, easy, and well worth it. it does not change your phone at all, it functions, syncs, and performs the same. The difference is you get access to the goody room.

But isn't using a service (tethering) that you are not paying for, and a service that other customers are paying for, and a service that both carriers in the US charge for, a violation of a contract that you agreed to uphold?

It may not be illegal, but it's certainly unethical and immoral -- so don't paint it as all rainbows and butterflies.

 

[tek210]

I wonder if now that At&t has some pressure from Verizon, will they allow some better options for the hotspots, assuming they enable it.

Getting the iPad 2 at release and would love to be able to use my iPhone 4 as the hotspot. But not lose my unlimited data. All day XM listener.

 

[Travisimo]

Yes but I think the wifi hotspot service is another $20 a month on top of data pro with tethering. I'm not certain though, just what I've heard.

No, it's not. It's $45/mo for 4GB of data to be used as a pool between your phone and any tethered devices. The Hotspot IS tethering so if your device has it, it is included with the $45/mo plan. Hopefully iPhone will get it as soon as 4.3 comes out.

 

[AuroraProject]

No, it's not. It's $45/mo for 4GB of data to be used as a pool between your phone and any tethered devices. The Hotspot IS tethering so if your device has it, it is included with the $45/mo plan. Hopefully iPhone will get it as soon as 4.3 comes out.

Ok, that sounds more reasonable. I'm trying to reduce my monthly bills, so I'm going to drop my air card, and maybe my home internet.

 

[rjohnstone]

But isn't using a service (tethering) that you are not paying for, and a service that other customers are paying for, and a service that both carriers in the US charge for, a violation of a contract that you agreed to uphold?

It may not be illegal, but it's certainly unethical and immoral -- so don't paint it as all rainbows and butterflies.

Yes, in it is a contract violation to use these services without paying for them.
Illegal... no. But AT&T could terminate your service and/or charge you for previous usage if they chose too.

 

[Warbrain]

So you all know it works in 4.3b3 right now and it's great. I love it.

I doubt you'll see 4.3 tomorrow. It hasn't even been released as GM yet.

 

[AuroraProject]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

So you all know it works in 4.3b3 right now and it's great. I love it.

I doubt you'll see 4.3 tomorrow. It hasn't even been released as GM yet.

How's the battery life with the hotspot on?

 

[Warbrain]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)



How's the battery life with the hotspot on?

Good enough that I don't notice any major drop. Is it going to eat battery? Yeah. But it's not as bad as it could be.

 

[richard371]

So in theory I could leave the hotspot on all the time (albiet slight battery drain) keep the phone in my pocket and anytime I need a hot spot from my macbook just connect to it?

Are we pretty confident ATT will enable this feature? I have BT tethering now and it takes about 30 seconds to a minute to start up and as soon as I move more then 5 feet from the phone the throughput drops. WiFi has greater range and is faster.

 

[kre62]

But isn't using a service (tethering) that you are not paying for, and a service that other customers are paying for, and a service that both carriers in the US charge for, a violation of a contract that you agreed to uphold?

It may not be illegal, but it's certainly unethical and immoral -- so don't paint it as all rainbows and butterflies.

I think the immoral and unethical part is a company double charging me for data. I'm paying 30 a month for data access, weather I use that data on my handheld computer vs my laptop should be immaterial. Just because AT&T wants to charge me does not mean they are justified in charging me.

 

[AuroraProject]

So in theory I could leave the hotspot on all the time (albiet slight battery drain) keep the phone in my pocket and anytime I need a hot spot from my macbook just connect to it?

Are we pretty confident ATT will enable this feature? I have BT tethering now and it takes about 30 seconds to a minute to start up and as soon as I move more then 5 feet from the phone the throughput drops. WiFi has greater range and is faster.

In theory you could do that, yes. Battery life will suffer and I'm fairly certain it will shut the hotspot down if there are no devices connected for a certain amount of time. I'm fairly confident this feature is coming when 4.3 is released for at&t phones.

 

[yg17]

I think the immoral and unethical part is a company double charging me for data. I'm paying 30 a month for data access, weather I use that data on my handheld computer vs my laptop should be immaterial. Just because AT&T wants to charge me does not mean they are justified in charging me.

You're free to take your business elsewhere if you don't like AT&T's policies. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you can break it.

 

[Daveoc64]

So in theory I could leave the hotspot on all the time (albiet slight battery drain) keep the phone in my pocket and anytime I need a hot spot from my macbook just connect to it?

The major caveat is that when the "Personal Hotspot" feature is enabled, your iPhone wont connect to any Wi-Fi networks.

That would limit you to using 2G/3G data only - with all of the downsides that brings.

 

[richard371]

On the mytouch 4G I could leave wifi enabled/connected and still use the hotspot. The hotspot pulled through the 3g/4g connection. I guess it depends on how Apple sets it up.

The major caveat is that when the "Personal Hotspot" feature is enabled, your iPhone wont connect to any Wi-Fi networks.

That would limit you to using 2G/3G data only - with all of the downsides that brings.

 

[Small White Car]

So in theory I could leave the hotspot on all the time (albiet slight battery drain) keep the phone in my pocket and anytime I need a hot spot from my macbook just connect to it?

The Verizon iPhone reviews indicated that it's a lot like leaving 'location services' on. 'On' just means it's possible to use it, but in reality the phone puts that function to sleep quickly if nothing is using it.

So you can just leave it on all the time.

In the review I read it said that once you turn off your laptop the hotspot goes to sleep a few seconds later. The next time you open your laptop you have to go into the iPhone's settings for hotspots, but before you do anything it 'wakes up' the instant you're in there and you don't have to actually turn it on.

This could all change, but that'sz how the initial Verizon phone is set to work.

I think the immoral and unethical part is a company double charging me for data. I'm paying 30 a month for data access, weather I use that data on my handheld computer vs my laptop should be immaterial. Just because AT&T wants to charge me does not mean they are justified in charging me.

If you're paying $30 that means you have unlimited, right?

If you hook up a laptop it's likely you'll use more data than just the phone would, right?

Thus your use of the word "immaterial" is either disingenious or naïve, right?

 

[Aduntu]

I think the immoral and unethical part is a company double charging me for data. I'm paying 30 a month for data access, weather I use that data on my handheld computer vs my laptop should be immaterial. Just because AT&T wants to charge me does not mean they are justified in charging me.

When you took your phone, you agreed to play by their rules. Your $30 allows you all the data you can consume with your phone. You can't pay for a single person at a buffet and then expect your entire family to be fed too.