If I needed it as a business traveler, that would be one thing. But for me, paying an extra 30 dollars a month to use the same data service I already pay 30 dollars a month for, just doesn't add up. I would pay a one time fee of up to 50 dollars a month to get the SOFTWARE to do it. I just think it is fascinating how much money we are willing to throw away for additional convenience. Not that I am without blame here.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AT&T CEO Confirms iPhone Tethering Coming "Soon"
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
AT&T should fix there 3G network first!!!
I am in the SF Bay Area, and only see 3G about 30%-40% of the time, and when I do, it's not really that fast.
I have both a 3G ATT broadband card and a sprint broadband card and every time the Sprint one kicks ATT&T's card out of the water.
In fact I am sitting here just a mile from the SF airport and my friend who is using AT&T and is the the 3G network is getting really bad performance, and I have to say my performance is great!
I am in the SF Bay Area, and only see 3G about 30%-40% of the time, and when I do, it's not really that fast.
I have both a 3G ATT broadband card and a sprint broadband card and every time the Sprint one kicks ATT&T's card out of the water.
In fact I am sitting here just a mile from the SF airport and my friend who is using AT&T and is the the 3G network is getting really bad performance, and I have to say my performance is great!
I wouldn't mind paying $30 per month for tethering. I did with Verizon. If you really need it, you will pay. If you don't really need it, you won't. Simple as that. They'll probably prorate the fees, too. So it's $1 per day -- turn it on and off as needed.
That being said, they need to switch on the 3G towers here in Omaha (hopefully this month).
That being said, they need to switch on the 3G towers here in Omaha (hopefully this month).
PDAnet all the way. 1.40 doesn't even drain the battery when there's no data going through, unlike previous versions.
I figure AT&T might try to detect who's not paying for tethering, but the simplest way to do that would be to sniff UA's as they go through. Just set your user agent in Safari to "iPhone" and you're good. And don't torrent!
I figure AT&T might try to detect who's not paying for tethering, but the simplest way to do that would be to sniff UA's as they go through. Just set your user agent in Safari to "iPhone" and you're good. And don't torrent!
Turn on the Develop menu (under 'advanced' in safari prefs) and you'll get a list of user agents (mobile safari for iPhone included) that you can easily switch back and forth.
PDANet is already acting as a proxy, making att think you're simply surfing on your phone, but changing your UA is a good idea if you're paranoid like me...
Well it's not really legal or not, but rather against the TOS or not. Yes the TOS is considered a legal contract, but nonetheless, said violations are in no way illegal.
30e/month..?
I have a cheap nokia smartphone, nokia 6120 classic (paid about 280e for it 8 months ago, unsubsidied) and I pay 10e/month for unlimited data (it's the cheapest data plan, throttled to 384kbit/s, but it's enough for me. 2mbit/s would be 25e/month). I use it to surf the web, chat on msn/irc/etc, place skype calls and such directly from my mobile phone AND i tether it to my MacBook from time to time. I'm actually typing this message on my MacBook using my Nokia's internet at this very moment...
I really can't stand the limitations of the iPhone and prices like those (30e/month for something my phone can do for free!?), don't really help it. And don't try to say it would cause too much strain on the 3g networks, the "unlimited" data on the iphone over there isn't unlimited anyways.
I have a cheap nokia smartphone, nokia 6120 classic (paid about 280e for it 8 months ago, unsubsidied) and I pay 10e/month for unlimited data (it's the cheapest data plan, throttled to 384kbit/s, but it's enough for me. 2mbit/s would be 25e/month). I use it to surf the web, chat on msn/irc/etc, place skype calls and such directly from my mobile phone AND i tether it to my MacBook from time to time. I'm actually typing this message on my MacBook using my Nokia's internet at this very moment...
I really can't stand the limitations of the iPhone and prices like those (30e/month for something my phone can do for free!?), don't really help it. And don't try to say it would cause too much strain on the 3g networks, the "unlimited" data on the iphone over there isn't unlimited anyways.
Where I live, networks are good enough for tethering problems not to exist, nobody really asks you what you do with your data. Because of that, not being able to use the iPhone as a 3G modem is about as silly as not being able to record videos or send MMS. It's one of the features we expect to see implemented out of the box on every phone we buy nowadays, so this will be a welcome addition.
I may be going too far, but it would be cool if we could turn the iPhone into a wireless access point, like you can do with some Wi-Fi enabled Nokias.
I may be going too far, but it would be cool if we could turn the iPhone into a wireless access point, like you can do with some Wi-Fi enabled Nokias.
I think this may be interesting for some buisnes people, but I don't think most private customers would use that every day and in that case it becomes expensive.
I use a MacBook with a HSDPA USB Stick. I have a prepaid plan,
2.50 Euro for each day it is used and no obligation to pay anything
every month. The stick works greatly with the Mac and I paid
only 88 Euros for it (unlocked!).
I don't know what T-Mobile in Germany will bill for tethering, but it is not hard to guess it will be too much.
Christian
I use a MacBook with a HSDPA USB Stick. I have a prepaid plan,
2.50 Euro for each day it is used and no obligation to pay anything
every month. The stick works greatly with the Mac and I paid
only 88 Euros for it (unlocked!).
I don't know what T-Mobile in Germany will bill for tethering, but it is not hard to guess it will be too much.
Christian
At current exchange rates, with a 30 day month (10/11/2008), USD = United States of America Dollars
Maybe that's the genius of AT&T... they already realize their network is overwhelmed so what's another billion gig's of data coming down per second?
Seriously, I cannot believe this is being offered.
I can barely stream video to the iPhone with the crap network they have now... and what the heck will I do when I am competing with someone with their laptop?
Remember, 3G speeds vary greatly depending on the area you're in. Personally, the few times I've used PDANet on my laptop my connectivity has been pretty snappy.
