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AT&T Enables Wireless Mobile Hotspot for iOS 4.3 Users

Wirelessly posted (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/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

TheyCallMeSaint said:
bretm said:
Wirelessly posted (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/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

You realize Apple makes a percentage of the revenue for this, right?
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I doubt it. Apple solely sells the phone and can care less about network charges.
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That was explicitly in their contract with aT&t and why Verizon told them to go pound sand. It may have lapsed after 3 years but I doubt it. Why do you think Apple cares so much about jailbroken iPhones? If they only make money when they're sold, they could care less.
 
Warbrain said:
And what do you do with your iPhone to use up that much data?



Contract change? Adding features doesn't affect your contract dates.
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Until recently, changing anything on an unlimited data plan for the iphone automatically removed unlimited and slapped you on the 2gb tier. So yeah, there would be traps for people with unlimited to be un-grandfathered from these awesome plans.
 
Warbrain said:
Why wouldn't you just tether over USB? And if personal hotspot is turned on without wifi or bluetooth on it will ask to turn them on.
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Because Bluetooth tethering is wireless. I don't even have to take my phone out of its holster; I just pull the laptop out and get online. It's great.
 
Moyank24 said:
Would only be worth it if they let us keep our unlimited data. No way am I downgrading my plan for it.
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I wouldn't be surprised if it came back as an option again. The mobile phone companies seem to be competitive with the large data plans. It makes for great commercials. But they make their money by offering no options between around 200MB and several GB. Most customers don't need that large of a plan but would like more than the minimum plan.
 
I'm not sure how people think it's so hard to reach past 4Gb a month. All it takes is streaming a couple movies on netflix while away from the house and hitting a few hulu sessions and then listening to Pandora or any other streaming service the majority of the time you are out and about.

I regularly hit between 6-7Gb a month. Not every month mind you, but often. That was BEFORE I started tethering and using my 3G connection to upload my work projects since it is sadly faster than my lame ass Time Warner connection.

Upload a few databases, some high res imagery and some Illustrator and Flash project files and boom. There you go.

There is no excuse for the over the top greed these companies are trying to force on us, especially through their lobbying of congress.

I only have two iphones in my household and it's ridiculous to me that JUST the data plans on those are more than my home internet (Road Runner Turbo). I hope that Verizon starts a friggin price war with them and forces prices down. Unfortunately as we keep authorizing all the buyouts and mergers it won't be long until it will only be AT&T and Verizon and then I"m sure they will just agree to call it a day and do a little price fixing.

Bleh.
 
I would be willing to pay a few bucks more for tethering, but do not want to give up my unlimited data on my iP4. I currently use a MiFi for my iPad, so $10 to $20 to add tethering to the unlimited would reduce my overall monthly costs.

Never have used a jail break, but this may just push me over that wall....
 
Warbrain said:
How often do you come close to 4 GB?
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That is what people don't get. For most people it is not a problem.

It is also why they charge more for it. If they did not, then the base 2 gig plan would have to be 50% more for everyone.

Bandwidth doesn't just come out of thin air.
 
technocoy said:
I'm not sure how people think it's so hard to reach past 4Gb a month. All it takes is streaming a couple movies on netflix while away from the house and hitting a few hulu sessions and then listening to Pandora or any other streaming service the majority of the time you are out and about.

I regularly hit between 6-7Gb a month. Not every month mind you, but often. That was BEFORE I started tethering and using my 3G connection to upload my work projects since it is sadly faster than my lame ass Time Warner connection.

Upload a few databases, some high res imagery and some Illustrator and Flash project files and boom. There you go.

There is no excuse for the over the top greed these companies are trying to force on us, especially through their lobbying of congress.

I only have two iphones in my household and it's ridiculous to me that JUST the data plans on those are more than my home internet (Road Runner Turbo). I hope that Verizon starts a friggin price war with them and forces prices down. Unfortunately as we keep authorizing all the buyouts and mergers it won't be long until it will only be AT&T and Verizon and then I"m sure they will just agree to call it a day and do a little price fixing.

Bleh.
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Aren't you the one being greedy by wanting people who use less bandwidth to pay for you to use more?

That seems pretty greedy by you.
 
Warbrain said:
And what do you do with your iPhone to use up that much data?



Contract change? Adding features doesn't affect your contract dates.
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Yes it does. If you add tethering, you have to use the 2GB per month plan and therefore lose the unlimited data plan. This is for AT&T, I know other carriers vary.
 
Wirelessly posted (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/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)

I just love that E in the screencap. So much for talking and surfing at the same time, huh? ;)
 
bretm said:
Wirelessly posted (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/8C148a Safari/6533.18.5)



25 days into my cycle and I'm at 6.7 gigs. How about everyone else?
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17 days into my cycle and I'm at 4.1GB, therefore 4GB is not even gonna come close to cut it for me tethering, 15 dollars more for a lot less data. I love my netflix.

I probably will consider it if they match Verizon, keep unlimited and add 2GB of data for tethering, I'll just need to watch how much I actually use, it would be great if they could beat Verizon so they don't lose too many customers :D
 
Warbrain said:
I still think that people grossly exaggerate how much they actually transfer in a month.
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Comcast tells me exactly what I use each month, but I've never gotten past 50% of my 250GB monthly cap.

And I definitely don't use my mobile Internet connection the same way I use my home Internet connection. Watching Netflix or any video longer than a minute or two on my phone just doesn't float my boat.
 
Warbrain said:
Then it's not an option for you. But you also use a huge amount of data that no carrier would want you to use anyway.
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Do you work for AT&T or what? :confused:

I use Virgin Mobile's $25 plan (300 mins, unlimited data and text) and I use my phone as a hotspot.. works great with my WiFi iPad. Can't honestly beat $25 a month for unlimited data (I frequently use 2gb/week) , plus I use it as a phone!
 
I dont get why networks hate tethering. So long as you keep within your data allowance its no different than browsing the net on your phone. :rolleyes:
 
I have never been a fan of caps, but then again I have never been a fan of AT&T's "unlimited" either since it's not truly unlimited.

Either way this is great for people who are already on the 2GB iPhone plan and have a Wi-Fi only iPad. Anytime they are not around an AP they can always enable tethering really quick on the iPhone if needed. Sure it costs extra, but not as much as the cost difference of a 3G iPad (plus data).
 
AT&T are definitely offering Hotspot with 4.3 because the tethering option disappears and is replaced with Personal Hotspot, it doesn't have both.
 
Azadre said:
I hate that I pay for 2GB of bandwidth already, and I cannot use that for tethering. The device is capable, and the throughput is the same. 4.3 is not a good upgrade.
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iOS is an Apple thing. The bandwidth allotment and pricing is a provider thing.

Why are you blaming Apple for this?
 
seamer said:
Until recently, changing anything on an unlimited data plan for the iphone automatically removed unlimited and slapped you on the 2gb tier. So yeah, there would be traps for people with unlimited to be un-grandfathered from these awesome plans.
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This is not true. Since unlimited has been eliminated (and before it was sort of brought back), I've changed my primary plan twice, and added/removed an SMS package from my wife's phone maybe a dozen times. None of this has affected either of our UL data plans.

ten-oak-druid said:
I wouldn't be surprised if it came back as an option again. The mobile phone companies seem to be competitive with the large data plans. It makes for great commercials. But they make their money by offering no options between around 200MB and several GB. Most customers don't need that large of a plan but would like more than the minimum plan.
Click to expand...

Exactly. My father-in-law uses 200-400MB/month, so I have to keep him on the 2GB plan, unless I want his data to cost the same or more than my unlimited (this month he used 407, so that would have been $45).
 
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