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AT&T CEO Confirms iPhone Tethering Coming "Soon"

Trajectory said:
Why does tethering require an additional charge? It seems to me that if you don't go over your bandwidth limit, it shouldn't matter...
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Because the bandwidth is probably oversold, if everyone used what their "limit" was then the network couldn't handle it. It's far easier to use more data on a tethered laptop than your phone since you're likely to spend much more time surfing and downloading files.

At $30/month additional, you're better off getting a wireless data card, taking the SIM out of your phone and putting it into the data card. I've done this and it works perfectly, in fact, even with the old iPhone plan you get 3G speeds.
 
Le Big Mac said:
Of course, tomorrow there will be an announcement that they didn't really mean it, and maybe one day there will be tethering. And then a website that says "tethering is here" but gets pulled within 6 hours. And so on.
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Actually ... it will be a $50/month option in which AT&T gets 70% of the revenue and Apple gets 30%. :rolleyes: :p ;)
 
Rojo said:
Sounds like this will be for 3G iPhones only?
(I'm guessing 2G speeds would be too slow for tethering?)
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I got NetShare within the few hours it was available and it worked great on my original iPhone, but works even better on my iPhone 3G.

Luke1robb said:
Is it possible to get a netshare-like application on an iphone now. I mean I know Apple has AdHoc, so couldn't someone create a copy of netshare and distribute it to 100 people or so?
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You can't, I have NetShare and I tried to do that by copying it to another computer and you have to authenticate it on that computer and iTunes only lets you authenticate it on 5 computers.
 
OH EM GEE if this is true.

I would not pay more than $0 a month for a tethering option because I feel it should be free for those 'in case I need it' moments if I'm already paying $30 a month for unlimited data plan.
 
PDANet is my prefered option and its free. Not like I'm doing a ton of stuff. Web pages and quick stuff nothing crazy. Long as you dont bit torrent you will be okay
 
They should make it free since we already pay for unlimited data plan. However since we live in a greedy greedy world it probobly be atleast additional $20 and I'm sure only 3G iPhones will quallify.
 
Another $30???

My bill is already at $185 per month. Unlimited Talk, SMS and Data...
Taxes eat u up as well. So another $30 for something that should and used to be free is ridiculous.:mad:

Another reason to have a jailbroken iPhone... Free everything.
 
While I love the fact that AT&T and Apple are finally going to let users tether, I'm not crazy about paying an extra $30 a month for that feature.
 
ayasinsk said:
They should make it free since we already pay for unlimited data plan. However since we live in a greedy greedy world it probobly be atleast additional $20 and I'm sure only 3G iPhones will quallify.
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Sounds like you're being the greedy one. There's only so much one can do given the format of the iPhone to really suck bandwidth on an individual basis. So even with unlimited data, AT&T will know you're not going to surf, send 10MB emails, and play some type of MMO on an iPhone for hours on end and suck up the bandwidth pipes.

Tethering should be a paid option. There are people that would cancel their $30+ DSL/CABLE service or others that will tether their laptop/desktop all day and start being a bandwidth hog. You very well know that is what would happen. The ones complaining that it should be free are the one's I'm sure AT&T is not interested in serving on that data plan since it would be ripe for abuse.

Providing a cheaper tethering option for like $5 - $10 for only a small limited amount of data would be fine. This package I'm sure is being aimed at the business sector and obviously not for people needing it to check for a couple emails per month at Starbucks.

But even then, if one can get 3G speeds for $30 unlimited, then that may very well replace what one is already paying for hardwired internet access at their residence providing the coverage is there and reliable. So at the end, the costs are balanced out or depending on what they are paying for DSL/CABLE, they may actually end up saving money.
 
Maybe Steve will hold a press conference to announce this, another thing companies have been doing for a long time, yet because it's the Iphone, it is a huge deal like "wow, I can tether on my phone", Big deal.

I have an iphone and love it, but it amazes me how things are such a big deal. I cant wait to see the reactions when copy and paste come out :)
 
If this happens...

If this happen, then no jailbreak for me.

So far the only reason to jailbreak my phone is so I can tether my phone and my laptop.
 
happydude said:
yeah, but how much will they charge?! $30/mo is way too expensive for me when i'm already paying that for the iphone's data plan. i think it should be included as is - will just help drive sales of the iphone and bring new customers to at&t. everyone wins!
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So, which do you prefer:
(a) a 30 $/month 'unlimited' tethering charge, or
(b) a 250 MB/month iPhone plan with $1 per 10 MB over this limit?

Because this is how almost all mobile data plans work in almost all countries, either you pay for unlimited data or you have a strict data limit with costs per MB for everything on top. All current iPhone plans already have a defacto data limit because you can only read so many e-mails and webpages per day.
 
I'm still pissed off about paying $30 a month for my data plan with no texts included. This is a feature I won't pay for, but would like to have.

I'd try to play WoW tethered.
 
BriChi said:
Maybe Steve will hold a press conference to announce this, another thing companies have been doing for a long time, yet because it's the Iphone, it is a huge deal like "wow, I can tether on my phone", Big deal.

I have an iphone and love it, but it amazes me how things are such a big deal. I cant wait to see the reactions when copy and paste come out :)
Click to expand...

Reminds me of an old joke: "Your son, Johnny in the marching band did so well! He was the only one on step."

For all the advances Apple makes in technology, there are always some features that stubbornly oppose customer requests. I remember the old PowerBooks with the upside down Apple logo. Steve felt it was correct to orient the logo from the viewpoint of the person opening. However, all the product placements in movies and television shows depicted the glowing upside down logo when cases were opened and viewed from the back.

At the January Macworld conference when the Titanium PowerBook was introduced, a video depicted the logo spinning around as Steve sheepishly point out what others saw all along.

Tethering, copy & paste, real automotive GPS, Blu-Ray, non-glossy iMacs and displays are all on the watch list -- waiting for Jobs to sanction them as his ideas whose time has come.
 
There will definitely be a charge because it is obvious that AT&T planned this long ago and Apple took down the free app. Most (if not all) carriers charge a fee for this, usually in the business plans.

I don't think it will be $30 but probably more like a $15 additional charge to add on like the text message fees.
 
riversky said:
There will definitely be a charge because it is obvious that AT&T planned this long ago and Apple took down the free app. Most (if not all) carriers charge a fee for this, usually in the business plans.

I don't think it will be $30 but probably more like a $15 additional charge to add on like the text message fees.
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What free app are you talking about?
 
AT&T has never not leapt at the chance to bone as many of its customers as possible.

I think we'll see a sharp increase in jailbreaking once they roll out the $30 tethering option.
 
If its not free I'll continute to use my Netshare.

Even though it has a habit of freezing,crashing, draining my battery in half an hour(even while on the charger),and making the phone hot as hell.. :(
 
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