AT&T - New MobileShare but still no hotspot?

[KDR]

I signed up for the new mobileshare service yesterday. It makes a lot of sense for my family. I was hoping AT&T would finally enable hotspot/tethering on the iPad, but no dice.

Anyone have any news or other info on this?

 

[house1999]

I chatted with a rep last night. She claims that for the iPad mobile hotspot feature to be enabled, you have to sign a contract. I questioned why I would need to sign a contract if I paid full price for my iPad, and she basically said that's just the way it is.

I would talk to more reps to get more concrete answers. This is a question I've had since the plans were announced. I have asked several reps for more information about the mobile share plan and they all seemed under-informed and gave me conflicting information. One of them even put me on hold several times while he researched.

Edit:
Just glanced over AT&T terms of service under section 6.14 towards the bottom of the first paragraph it states that "Tethering and/or mobile hotspot use is permitted with Mobile Share plans with capable Designated Devices; provided, however, that such use is limited to a maximum of five (5) simultaneous users per Device. An activation fee will be charged when converting from a prepaid or Session-Based plan to a Mobile Share plan or when you activate an additional Device on an existing Mobile Share plan."

The iPad should be considered a "capable" Designated Device since it is manufactured by Apple to have the capability. The TOS mentions nothing about requiring a service contract. It seems like they should only be able to, at most, charge an activation fee.

 

[KDR]

I moved my iPads from separate accounts to the mobile share plan with no activation fees. It was a major hassle though. Had to cancel the prepaid plans and issue new phone numbers and reassociate the sims. Now that everything is done it seems great.

As for hotspot on the iPad, it isn't available. Yes, it should be but from what I can tell AT&T still hasn't enabled it, even with the new mobileshare plans. I can see the hotspot options on my iPhone but not on the iPad. A call to customer service confirmed the same.

 

[house1999]

I moved my iPads from separate accounts to the mobile share plan with no activation fees. It was a major hassle though. Had to cancel the prepaid plans and issue new phone numbers and reassociate the sims. Now that everything is done it seems great.

As for hotspot on the iPad, it isn't available. Yes, it should be but from what I can tell AT&T still hasn't enabled it, even with the new mobileshare plans. I can see the hotspot options on my iPhone but not on the iPad. A call to customer service confirmed the same.

Thanks for the update. Did you have to go to the store to get new SIM cards for your iPads or were you able to take care of it over the phone? (some other forums had users stating that they needed to go to the store to get new SIM cards because they had activated prepaid plans on them)

 

[KDR]

Thanks for the update. Did you have to go to the store to get new SIM cards for your iPads or were you able to take care of it over the phone? (some other forums had users stating that they needed to go to the store to get new SIM cards because they had activated prepaid plans on them)

No, although it took them a few hours to get it done with a manager. They called me when it was done.

 

[bryan85]

Ugh... I am regretting getting the AT&T version of the iPad for this exact reason. I didn't know this when I purchased it. I could really use the tethering when everyone at Starbucks is streaming Netflix.

 

[zankou]

same experience as OP... i added my ipad 3 to my at&t mobile share plan today, and i do not have the hotspot feature on my ipad either. it is present on my iphone.

i called at&t customer support and a local at&t store and both indicated that the device "does not support it." the customer support person said it would be enabled with iOS 6, but i'm not sure where they got that information. she made it sound like she was reading apple support docs.

 

[KDR]

the customer support person said it would be enabled with iOS 6, but i'm not sure where they got that information. she made it sound like she was reading apple support docs.

I really hope that's the case.

 

[spinedoc77]

What is mobile hot spot? Is that a way for other devices to tether to your iphone internet connection? If so can I do this for my laptop?

I'm also one of those who swapped to the mobile share plan, I really like their new plans. I went from $240/mo for 2 unlimited data iphones and 1 unlimited data ipad to $140/mo for all 3 on 1gb, I find I rarely use more than 100mb/mo on the phones and the ipad maybe 500mb/mo, but at least have the option to move up to the 3gb and the 6gb plans.

 

[zankou]

I really hope that's the case.

it does appear to be the case. i upgraded my ipad to iOS 6 today, and the hotspot feature is now enabled and working. i have the 1GB mobile share data plan on AT&T.

 

[KDR]

it does appear to be the case. i upgraded my ipad to iOS 6 today, and the hotspot feature is now enabled and working. i have the 1GB mobile share data plan on AT&T.

Nice! Finally!