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AT&T: 'Fine Tuning' Still Required Before Offering Internet Tethering Via iPhone
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Wow, people, here we have tethering, it's part of our data plan. It's data, same as if it was coming from the iPhone. The network is fine, it doesn't cost more.
And if you don't need it, why the heck do you care if others want it ? I didn't need it either and now I use it. It's a nice feature, and since I need to VPN into work on weekends when I'm on-call, this means I don't have to stay at home or close to places with WI-FI or Internet access.
And your source is ? Here, Tethering or regular data access for iPhone is the same plan. You pay for data, you have tethering. Why would AT&T would be any different ? Because you perceive them as greedy ?
And if you don't need it, why the heck do you care if others want it ? I didn't need it either and now I use it. It's a nice feature, and since I need to VPN into work on weekends when I'm on-call, this means I don't have to stay at home or close to places with WI-FI or Internet access.
And your source is ? Here, Tethering or regular data access for iPhone is the same plan. You pay for data, you have tethering. Why would AT&T would be any different ? Because you perceive them as greedy ?
Exactly. People keep forgetting that don't they? And to all the people who want to switch to Verizon because it's so much better, isn't Verizon at least $50.00/month for just data with any of their Smartphones?
Welcome to capitalism. But to say they should have been already doing this. Doing what? Allowing us to tether? For free? That's like saying Comcast should have been allowing you to use cable internet because you subscribe to cable tv each month.
Net neutrality doesn't mean uncapped usage. There is no legislation to force carriers to allow unlimited usage and there never will be. It means that the ISP can't give preferential treatment to some kinds of data and disallow others.
If AT&T charges for tethering, I will not be paying for it. Why should someone have to pay? You are paying for the iPhone, computer, and AT&T data service already. It does not make and sense to pay $360 a year just to connect the three of those.
I can't wait for the iPhone dev team to come out with a way to bypass having to pay for the AT&T's tethering by only jailbreaking.
I can't wait for the iPhone dev team to come out with a way to bypass having to pay for the AT&T's tethering by only jailbreaking.
what are you talking about I allready teather now on non jailbroken phone
Same here. What is all this fuss about, lol.
I mainly travel from Orlando International and there is fast free wifi there. Yeah I agree with you it's a sham when you have to log in with a credit card etc. and the hassle that goes with their bad connections. I actual feel that airports are the one place there should been open wifi -- some airports have it, some dont. I think it's lame that Miami doesn't--O'Hare doesn't--DC doesn't -- unless that's changed.
..building the network to reduce capacity strain.
Cable TV and Interent are two different boats. Tethering is just using the data plan that is already in existence.
In all honesty, I would like the "ability" to tether, but I probably wouldn't use it with that much frequency, certainly not enough to pay $30 or $50 a month to do so.
I have been down the shore or up the mountains a few times over the summer where I would have liked a USB dongle or the ability to tether, but as long as I have my iPhone, I can do without the computer for a few days. The iPhone browser is nice, but when it comes to watching hulu or netflix or typing ANYTHING, nothing beats my MacBook Pro. I take the train to work in Philly everyday and I would like to tether my Dell "MacBook" Mini 9, but I just watch podcasts on the iPhone or listen to music since I can't use tethering. It's not a huge deal.
I find the iPhone's coverage in Philly to be very good.
I couldn't imagine paying extra for tethering, but such a feature would be appreciated if available.
I have been down the shore or up the mountains a few times over the summer where I would have liked a USB dongle or the ability to tether, but as long as I have my iPhone, I can do without the computer for a few days. The iPhone browser is nice, but when it comes to watching hulu or netflix or typing ANYTHING, nothing beats my MacBook Pro. I take the train to work in Philly everyday and I would like to tether my Dell "MacBook" Mini 9, but I just watch podcasts on the iPhone or listen to music since I can't use tethering. It's not a huge deal.
I find the iPhone's coverage in Philly to be very good.
I couldn't imagine paying extra for tethering, but such a feature would be appreciated if available.
Break it down for me what YOU are paying for exactly? So you have an iPhone which means you're paying to have data access ON YOUR PHONE. You mentioned you also pay for computer and AT&T data service as well? How is AT&T data service separate from iPhone data service?
Instead of ambushing to make your point, please be clear to me what it is you're paying for, since $360 a year=$30 a month=the iPhone data plan only when you make it seem like you have 3 different bills from AT&T.
But do explain. This should be good.
I believe AT&T's theory is that with the option to tether, people will use their 3G connection more than usual. This may be true, but considering the ease of using the network on the iPhone, I don't believe that the option to tether will increase 3G usage by a significant amount.
The advantage to the customer is to be able to use their 3G connection on a laptop/desktop computer with different applications. The customer will not be given any extra bandwidth. They will only be able to use the capacity currently available via their iPhone.
If you chose to stream music all day via Pandora on your iPhone or you chose to download a TV show while tethering via your computer, you will not be given any extra bandwidth. You would just tunnel your connection to another device. Same connection, same bandwidth. You shouldn't be charged for this and there shouldn't be much "fine tuning" involved.
Unless AT&T has statistical proof that network usage will significantly increase with tethering, it seems as if they're just stalling.
The advantage to the customer is to be able to use their 3G connection on a laptop/desktop computer with different applications. The customer will not be given any extra bandwidth. They will only be able to use the capacity currently available via their iPhone.
If you chose to stream music all day via Pandora on your iPhone or you chose to download a TV show while tethering via your computer, you will not be given any extra bandwidth. You would just tunnel your connection to another device. Same connection, same bandwidth. You shouldn't be charged for this and there shouldn't be much "fine tuning" involved.
Unless AT&T has statistical proof that network usage will significantly increase with tethering, it seems as if they're just stalling.
I agree with you on point #1. AT&T should have been building 7.2 3G for the past 2 years and should have it in far more places than it does...or at least basic 3G! I'm just a fan of building with a good forward plan. It's kinda like when the road construction company comes out and spends 5 years widening 100 miles of the interstate when by the time they finish they need to widen it by 2 more lanes...and everybody driving the interstate knew that all along.
Re: point #2 - its not just using the data plan already in existence. Not by a long shot. Because even though the iPhone can support a full web site (minus flash and NO I'm not advocating for flash - I dont' want flash - just making a point!) a lot of companies -- especially the ones we use heavily, like banks and social networking sites and news sites--places that on a full browser are very media rich and ...these companies reduce their offerings on their iPhone sites in order to make them load faster. Tethering basically provides your laptop a broadband connection. Now your laptop can open full pages that take longer to load and include much more (FAR MORE) downloadable content, therefore hogging the network. If AT&T is seeing issues with a bunch of iPhones using a lot of bandwidth, what do you think is going to happen when a bunch of laptops are now on it, browsing at resolutions that are many sizes x what an iPhone is!?
EDIT: ...and furthermore, if AT&T saw their network as being capable don't you think they'd start trying to sell AirCards for people to replace their home cable/DSL connections with? Newsflash. They aren't. And they won't anytime soon. 4G (LTE) is the first thing that may actually have a viable shot at this.
I was frankly shocked they let the MLB app stream pretty good quality video over their network. But still, have to trust AT&T to know their own network, they are the network with the fewest dropped called after all.
What's interesting about this statement is that cable tv and cable internet use the exact same connection coming into the house, so really that is a very good analogy. It literally makes zero difference if you subscribe to one service or the other, both use the same cable.
That's why cable companies make you use their boxes and their modems (unless you have "approved" equipment of your own). Those boxes are part of the way they filter traffic and cut service to specific locations.
I really think cable tv as we know it will start to change in the next few years and standard cable boxes get replaced with home theater pc's (that you own yourself) that route hi-def streaming media traffic to different monitors and televisions in your home. Imagine 1080p being considered low def as picture quality is increased when higher download and upload speeds become the norm.
Imagine having wi-fi on your tv sets. Imagine your televisions are on your home wi-fi network with ZERO cables (other then maybe an XBox, haha). You could send streaming media to any or all of the tv's on said network.
I really want to see internet speed increases. Some European countries have internet connections that are more then 10x better then ours. We really need to catch up.
I was frankly shocked they let the MLB app stream pretty good quality video over their network. But still, have to trust AT&T to know their own network, they are the network with the fewest dropped called after all.
Good quality video for the iphone is literally 480x320, so the bandwidth required for a good iphone video compared to a hi-def tv set are VERY different.
However, your right, even low resolution video is a strain over a cellular network.
Not on 3.1
Why wait and complain?....
....just go to your local ATT store and get a free 3G card for your computer. I'll bet that the monthly costs (tethering versus separate 3G card) are going to be the same.
Having a separate card means that you can talk on your iPhone and surf on your computer at the same time.
....just go to your local ATT store and get a free 3G card for your computer. I'll bet that the monthly costs (tethering versus separate 3G card) are going to be the same.
Having a separate card means that you can talk on your iPhone and surf on your computer at the same time.
If this is the same "fine tuning" that happened with MMS then AT&T will surly crash on launch day and the world will plummet into irreversible doom (or until iPhone is an open/any network device).
But you can tether with the iPhone and talk at the same time (with USB). I am testing it now talking to my cousin while posting this edit.
But you can tether with the iPhone and talk at the same time (with USB). I am testing it now talking to my cousin while posting this edit.
Yet another reason we need a new/additional carriers in the US. NetShare was fine but a battery drainer even when plugged in, hacked .ippc file was generally good, but again battery life did vary...
I got so sick of drop-outs and loosing connection, I just went to Cricket and got a dongle for $40 a month...
Att if you had your crap together on this, maybe you would be getting that additional $40 a month... Oh well... I guess I'll pay for an official supported service, instead of dink around on your 'cough' network...
Att +1 Negative
I got so sick of drop-outs and loosing connection, I just went to Cricket and got a dongle for $40 a month...
Att if you had your crap together on this, maybe you would be getting that additional $40 a month... Oh well... I guess I'll pay for an official supported service, instead of dink around on your 'cough' network...
Att +1 Negative
Yes it is. From Apple.com:
Share the connection.
With Internet tethering on iPhone, you dont need a Wi-Fi hotspot to surf the web from your computer. Now you can share the 3G connection on your iPhone with your Mac notebook or PC laptop and connect to the Internet anywhere. When your iPhone is tethered, you can still send and receive data and make phone calls.
No, it doesn't. You don't get more bandwidth by tethering. You just pass the connection through your phone to your computer.
The issue at hand is that AT&T is making the assumption that if they enable tethering, 3G network usage will significantly increase. I don't know if this is proven but it is my opinion that they need to prove or disprove this assumption.
I'm confused. Smartphone and Blackberry plans with tethering on AT&T network costs more than just standard data. Why should an iPhone data plan equal free tethering?
update: I just checked T-Mobile and Verizon. Verizon charges more for tethering and it doesn't look like T-Mobile allows tethering by their terms of service that specifically says no tethering unless noted in the data plan. I may have overlooked the T-Mobile area for tethering included similar to AT&T and Verizon.
1. Permissible and Prohibited Uses
Your Data Plan is intended for Web browsing, messaging, and similar activities on your device and not on any other equipment. Unless explicitly permitted by your Data Plan, other uses, including for example, tethering your device to a personal computer or other hardware, are not permitted.
So why should AT&T give iPhone users free tethering? Doesn't make sense.
update: I just checked T-Mobile and Verizon. Verizon charges more for tethering and it doesn't look like T-Mobile allows tethering by their terms of service that specifically says no tethering unless noted in the data plan. I may have overlooked the T-Mobile area for tethering included similar to AT&T and Verizon.
1. Permissible and Prohibited Uses
Your Data Plan is intended for Web browsing, messaging, and similar activities on your device and not on any other equipment. Unless explicitly permitted by your Data Plan, other uses, including for example, tethering your device to a personal computer or other hardware, are not permitted.
So why should AT&T give iPhone users free tethering? Doesn't make sense.