Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

AT&T to Eventually Offer Tethering in the U.S.

Stately said:
I don't know about bringing it down though, as much $$$ as they have milked from iphone customers already, they are pretty much set up to do whatever they want from here on out.
Click to expand...

Well, if they decide to enter into any investments (upgrading infrastructure, etc.) relying on money they will make in the future (from the iPhone crowd) and don't make that money (because people jump ship), this could lead to big trouble. However, I'm sure they are not stupid enough to believe that all these new subscribers Apple has brought to them are permanent.
 
e-coli said:
$40 for tethering. Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame.

Technology regression thanks to US Corporate greed. Can't wait until this Apple / AT&T Cabal is finished.
Click to expand...

I remember saying that soon AT&T would eventually begin taking every little feature the iphone had to offer and try to capitalize off of it, hence ruining the iphone experience. I also said they would charge for tethering and that it would probably be around $40. I was told "NO look at AT&T's site it's $30" as if that made a difference, because it should be free. The phone can go on the net already and that service is paid for. I had people saying that people like myself on this board were whining over nothing and that's the price you pay if you want a phone and that it's pricing plan was like that of any other phone. NOW people are beginning to see what was already so clear and I'm glad I left AT&T when I did. The average bill is roughly $85, make that $100 due to AT&T's sneaky tactics. Tag on tethering for $40. Banning applications like Slingbox which they have no right to do because they have no rights to it but supposedly they can't handle it. So that's $140 right there which can be bumped up to 160-170 (Once again, AT&T's price game) So like I said before I am definitely one for patience, but right is right and wrong is wrong. So we are talking $170 right there just to use the capabilities that the phone already has and this will continue. If video chat ever came to the iphone, another $30-40 will probably be tagged on, they probably wouldn't even make it a pay as you use feature. Greed. I hope other carriers wake up who have the capability to take on the iphone and decide on some fair pricing leaving AT&T's pricing schemes in the dust.
 
Anuba said:
Right, but if you buy an *unlimited* data plan, the understanding is that the plan is, in fact, *unlimited*. You can't sell someone an unlimited data plan and then go "oh, you're actually going to be USING it, well that changes everything".
Click to expand...
I think American marketing is somewhat prone to hyperbole (well, all marketing is, American just a bit more). It's like an all you can eat menu, which works fine until you start stuffing things in your pockets and bags. All you can eat thus meaning, all you can eat now not all you can carry away with you. Adding a computer to an iPhone is like bringing a bag into a restaurant, it changes things dramatically.
 
Keynote Address is T Mobile a new carrier?

In the WWDC Keynote Address, @ 00:56:55 and @ 01:01:03 when they talk about MMS and Tethering there is a T Mobile logo listed on the projection screen as a carrier. What does this mean? Is Apple planning to allow T Mobile to carrier the I phone? Does these mean that we will no longer have to jail break phones?....
 
NeXTCube said:
Wow, so that's, what? $10 a month MORE than their laptop 'DataConnect' plan? On top of your voice plan, and SMS plan? For that matter, it's $10/month more than the 'data and tethering' plan for 'smartphone' users. Is the iPhone a 'really smart phone'? (Not to mention I can add unlimited data to my wife's Sony-Ericsson W760 for $15/month, and it will tether UMTS out of the box over Bluetooth...shhhhh....)
Click to expand...

Why not just get the laptop dataconnect plan then? Seriously, why fool with tethering if you can directly connect for less money?
 
Boneoh said:
The EU has already opened the door to allow competition, why do the policies here in the USA have to suck so bad?
.
Click to expand...

Because all the carriers in europe use GSM. Verizon does not, nor does Sprint. So if the policy were the same in the US, then Tmobile would be your alternative.

Blame Verizon/Sprint for jumping on the wrong technology wagon (or don't, but that's a huge part of the problem here).
 
Mr Tuck said:
In the WWDC Keynote Address, @ 00:56:55 and @ 01:01:03 when they talk about MMS and Tethering there is a T Mobile logo listed on the projection screen as a carrier. What does this mean? Is Apple planning to allow T Mobile to carrier the I phone? Does these mean that we will no longer have to jail break phones?....
Click to expand...

T-Mobile is the primary carrier in some countries. The original iPhone EDGE was tested in Australia to something like 21 mb/s shortly after release. The hardware is there, it's all about service. One wonders if the iPOS3 software will enable VGA video on all older iPhones.

Rocketman

:) "iPOS3"
 
Mr Tuck said:
In the WWDC Keynote Address, @ 00:56:55 and @ 01:01:03 when they talk about MMS and Tethering there is a T Mobile logo listed on the projection screen as a carrier. What does this mean? Is Apple planning to allow T Mobile to carrier the I phone? Does these mean that we will no longer have to jail break phones?....
Click to expand...
T-mobile carries the iPhone in Germany and Austria (maybe elsewhere, possibly eastern Europe as well). T-mobile is the mobile subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom the former monopoly, state-owned telephone provider in Germany. T-mobile USA is just another subsidiary of them. In Europe, a lot of telecom companies operate in multiple countries but carrying the iPhone in one country does not mean the same company will also carry it in another.
 
40 for tethering

is the same as no tethering. Seriously. With it being 40 bucks, someone will jailbreak it and people will be fully for it. That is inconcievable; inconvcievable I say.
 
manu chao said:
I think American marketing is somewhat prone to hyperbole (well, all marketing is, American just a bit more). It's like an all you can eat menu, which works fine until you start stuffing things in your pockets and bags. All you can eat thus meaning, all you can eat now not all you can carry away with you. Adding a computer to an iPhone is like bringing a bag into a restaurant, it changes things dramatically.
Click to expand...
Well, not really. All you can eat = all you can eat, not all you can eat *and* bring with you in a bag. An unlimited data plan that's actually limited is something else altogether, more like an all you can eat menu with a secret 10 ounce limit. Since the US is the most litigous country on the planet I don't see why anyone would let this one slide...
 
I thought you could just plug it into your computer and use your internet connection, your download quota etc on your iPhone/Touch. Is this not the case? Can the Touch do it?
 
It's interesting to see how things will go from here on.


Apple was clearly taking jabs at AT&T (Scott and Phil both).

Users are pissed beyond words.

And, above all, AT&T STILL isn't doing anything.

The minute this contract ends, it will be a bag of hurt for AT&T...

Of course I'm in Canada with Rogers where we get free tethering for this year... :rolleyes:
 
All iPhone users are to AT&T are cash cows.

Want your phone bill to show who you called and for how long? $1.99/month :rolleyes:
Want to use that nifty new "Voice Dial" feature Apple finally implemented? $4.99/month :rolleyes:
Want to tether? $40.00/month :rolleyes:

Next cycle AT&T will probably charge you $.99 just for powering up the iPhone. Another $.49 for reboots. :mad:
 
Sambo110 said:
I thought you could just plug it into your computer and use your internet connection, your download quota etc on your iPhone/Touch. Is this not the case? Can the Touch do it?
Click to expand...

iTouch is not on ATT, so no.

And in theory an iPhone could do what you describe but it has been designed to only do it if you are paying for the feature, or more accurately that feature has been permitted by your carrier.
 
Cynicalone said:
It is $60.00 a month with AT&T to add tethering to a Blackberry with a 5GB cap. So I wouldn't expect anything less with the iPhone. I'm just tired of carrying an iPhone and a 3G card when I'm on the road.

The ball is entirely in AT&T's court now. I'll wait to see what they do.

Here is a link to the AT&T Page http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...t1510007&LOSGId=&catName=BlackBerry®+Services
Click to expand...

you may want to read that page again. it actually is showing that you can add tethering to your crackberry for just $10/month.

$30 plan for unlimited data for the crackberry
or
$50 plan for unlimited data AND unlimited messaging
or
$60 plan for unlimited data AND unlimited messaging AND tethering

the $60 is not in addition to the other two options

goes to show they could do a similar pricing structure for the iPhone IF they wanted to
 
Further proof ATT is the ********* provider in USA. The second iPhone becomes available for another carrier (hopefully Verizon) I will be canceling my ATT account and switching.

MMS is a basic feature on all of my friends smart phones and they can't believe how pathetic viewing MMS pictures on my iPhone is. At the very least make the damn passwords easier to remember.

ATT SUCKS!!!
Boo Apple for making iPhone ATT only!!!! :mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
The entire AT&T excuses are very lame.

They knew these features were coming and should have them available on day 1. They can also run a script or SQL update to make changes to their customers database.

Plain lame.

The 2G Iphone and the 3G iPhone both use a media rich web browser and also a mail client and SMS client. All images and videos from the most complicated web pages are transmitted to the iPhone and rendered by the iPhone (flash excluded), so why using the phone as a modem to browse the net from a laptop would use more badwith? I do not see how my laptop will use more of the network than my iPhone under normal conditions. Yea maybe due to downloads of software, I can see that, but video, pictures, and other web browsing activities are the same regardless of device used.

How much does it cost to just add a 3G card and service to the laptop?
Would using the phone as a modem be less expensive?
Probably can not get calls when using the phone as a modem, which means you may want to add a 3G card instead.

Best wait anyway until these features are available than rush to the store for a limp iPhone 3GS at this time. If unable to use it fully why get it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back