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Any guesses what the AT&T rates for tethering will be?

P

psingh01

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 19, 2004
1,610
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Assuming they start supporting tethering (we already know it works in the 3.0 beta OS), what do you think the rates will be?

I have Sprint 3G right now but will likely end the service soon. Might pickup the tethering option if it's not too expensive.
 
There will probably be a data cap too, just like AT&T's "unlimited" aircards.

5GB.
 
britboyj said:
There will probably be a data cap too, just like AT&T's "unlimited" aircards.

5GB.
Click to expand...

This is the only thing that makes me want to keep my Sprint account. They have a 5GB cap too, but I've had an account since it was a real "unlimited" account and so far they've left it unlimited for me.
 
For goodness sake people, the iPhone data is priced the EXACT SAME AS EVERY OTHER SMARTPHONE ON ATT!

Which means it will be $60 for data + tethering.
 
You can always jailbreak and use PDANet to tether - that's one-time $29 fee and it's super easy to set up. I know you asked about what AT&T's rates will be but this is a good alternative if you want to save a few hundred dollars per year.
 
or if you have a mac, you can jailbreak and use iPhonemodem for free ;)

Just don't torrent and don't go on it like crazy.
 
megamanbnmaster said:
or if you have a mac, you can jailbreak and use iPhonemodem for free ;)

Just don't torrent and don't go on it like crazy.
Click to expand...


Modem sucks. It crashes all the time and I've had serious issues getting it to work with all my applications.

PDANet is well worth the one-time $29 fee. It works wonders, is easy to run, easy to manage and fantastic to boot.

I'll be waiting until 3.0 is jailbroken to update.
 
psywzrd said:
You can always jailbreak and use PDANet to tether - that's one-time $29 fee and it's super easy to set up. I know you asked about what AT&T's rates will be but this is a good alternative if you want to save a few hundred dollars per year.
Click to expand...

The problem I'm seeing with this is that once tethering is officially supported, they will probably have ways to tell if a user is using the service (be it via pdanet or the native tether in 3.0) and paying for it or not. Thus if the user is not paying and using it, they'll make him pay! :S

Fabian
 
fabian9 said:
The problem I'm seeing with this is that once tethering is officially supported, they will probably have ways to tell if a user is using the service (be it via pdanet or the native tether in 3.0) and paying for it or not. Thus if the user is not paying and using it, they'll make him pay! :S

Fabian
Click to expand...

exactly. just look at t-mobile and android. the tethering apps were allowed to exist for a while but eventually they were pulled. it is not crazy to think that the same could happen to the iphone.
 
ruinfx said:
exactly. just look at t-mobile and android. the tethering apps were allowed to exist for a while but eventually they were pulled. it is not crazy to think that the same could happen to the iphone.
Click to expand...

Considering how long pdanet has been around and how many people use it, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I haven't seen any reports of people getting in trouble for using pdanet.
 
One of the few times I can say I am glad I am with Rogers/Fido in Canada as my provider. They explicitly state in their ToS that tethering is allowed in their data plans.

My guess for AT&T is the same as most others: $30 for data plus tethering. If you they do the $10 add-on as rumored, I would still think this is too much. Data is data. You are paying for a data plan, why should they charge you more for tethered data. Just because you are apt to use more? With that logic, they should be refunding you every month for using less than 5GB.
 
cere said:
My guess for AT&T is the same as most others: $30 for data plus tethering. If you they do the $10 add-on as rumored, I would still think this is too much.
Click to expand...

For other phones they charge $30 for data and $30 for tethering on top of that.

What makes you think the iPhone would be cheaper than what they currently do?
 
Small White Car said:
For other phones they charge $30 for data and $30 for tethering on top of that.

What makes you think the iPhone would be cheaper than what they currently do?
Click to expand...

Nothing at all. I actually meant to type $30 for data and $30 for tethering, but left the last bit off for some reason. The part about if they were to charge $10 for tethering was simply to say even that would be too much. Takes a lit of gall to charge users more just because they are more likely to use the data they have already paid for.
 
psywzrd said:
Considering how long pdanet has been around and how many people use it, I wouldn't be too worried about it. I haven't seen any reports of people getting in trouble for using pdanet.
Click to expand...

you never know when att will decide to start enforcing their policies. so far they have been letting people slide with incorrect data plans and unofficial tethering but eventually they will realize how much money they are losing and crackdown.
 
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