Canceling WiFi. Living on iPhone Tethering

ipedro

ipedro

macrumors 603
I'm going to begin a one month trial of using my iPhone's 3G connection as my sole source of internet access.

In Canada, as you may now, iPhone is allowed to tether for free, as long as you're within your monthly cap. For original iPhone subscribers, that means that with the iPhone launch promotional plan, you get 6GB.

My typical monthly usage has always fallen under 1GB using iPhone tethering almost every day at coffee shops. I expect that to go up but I don't think it'll multiply by six.

I'm not going to alter my internet habits. If this works out, I'll be getting an iPad 2 for internet use and my MacBook Pro as my work machine, with tethered access.

I'll blog my experience here. Stay tuned.
 
Your really brave, Last time I tethered to my MBP I had usage of up to 400mb in one night. I guess it really depends on how much time you spend browsing the internet at night, or whenever you do it. I suppose with a six gig data plan it'd be pretty reasonable but how long will the 'promotion' rate stick.

I am in Canada and just bought my iPhone 4 about a month ago now, and I wasn't able to get anywhere near a 6 gig plan. Telus really is terrible, something like 2GB for 80$ plus some other stuff.
 
We need wireless tethering...
Tethering is so old. Most of android phones do wireless tethering. Apple and other GSM carriers need to get their acts together on this.
 
Very interested to see how this goes. 6GB seems like it should be enough as long as you're not streaming/downloading a lot of music or video. For general browsing I expect you'll be ok. I live with four others so it makes sense to share a broadband connection, but if I lived alone relying exclusively on tethering would be tempting (although I stream waaaaay too much video for it to be realistic).

hcho3 said:
We need wireless tethering...
Tethering is so old. Most of android phones do wireless tethering. Apple and other GSM carriers need to get their acts together on this.
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There's a (jailbreak) app for that. See MyWiFi.

Personally, I don't quite understand the allure of creating a WiFi hotspot. It drains the phone's battery really quickly, which means you need to plug the phone in, which means you may as well use USB tethering anyway.

Sure, in some situation, like if you want to let friends hop on the internet, then it's great. But for most users, with limited data plans, are you really eager to share you limited allotment with others? I'd be hesitant to do so on AT&T's 2GB plan, for example (although with Rogers' 6GB plan it's probably not as big a deal).
 
I used wifi tethering on my old 3G last month for 5 nights on vacation when the hotel's wifi wasn't working in my part of the hotel. 2 people shared it at night, and I probably used 700MB doing this (just under 1 gb for the whole month, but only tethered this period).

WiFi tethering was useful because the other computer was in another room.

It worked better than I expected.

I haven't JB my 4, since it is still under warranty.
 
kevink2 said:
I used wifi tethering on my old 3G last month for 5 nights on vacation when the hotel's wifi wasn't working in my part of the hotel. 2 people shared it at night, and I probably used 700MB doing this (just under 1 gb for the whole month, but only tethered this period).

WiFi tethering was useful because the other computer was in another room.

It worked better than I expected.

I haven't JB my 4, since it is still under warranty.
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Jailbreaking only voids the warranty from a software point of view. You can restore it in iTunes and all traces of the JB would be gone leaving you back with your original warranty..
 
How many times do I have to day this: Jailbreaking does not void your warranty. Damage caused by jailbreaking (i.e. bricking your phone) does. Last time I needed warranty service, it clearly explained it at the bottom of the email they sent me. I sent my 3GS in because it had dust under the screen. Jailbreaking didn't cause this. I didn't restore the firmware and left my iPhone jailbroken and they replaced it.
 
Don't fry your phone.

There is a reason that routers are the size they are.

Chewing through that much data on a phone will put physical wear on it, especially where heat is concerned.
 
Demosthenes X said:
...saving money? A home internet connection can be anywhere between $30 - $100/month... that's decent coin, and if you can get by on the iPhone data plan you're already paying for, why not?
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bingo.

I have been doing this for over a year. You'll be fine.
 
I don't know about living off tethering... espacially with that data cap. But I've recently cancelled my cable and my internet service with comcast for Sprint's Overdrive MObile Hotspot. It's got a 5gb cap on 3g network and truly unlimited on 4g network. luckily i live in a 4g area. It's been great. Yea it takes 5 more mins to download a movie but I'm actually saving money, and I get to take it everywhere I go.
 
very much considering doing this in my household as well. 2 people here have iphones with unlimited data plans, i myself do some decent downloading while the other person never goes over 2-3gb. i called att numerous times to verify what unlimited means, and i even asked about a 5gb soft-cap, numerous reps claimed there is no such thing. i would average around 25-30gb per month with streaming of tv shows. no online gaming. currently my isp is $40/monthly i was considering dropping it and MAYBE adding att dsl (the $15/month package) for when i need it for 50gb+ months.
 
Even with my unlimited plan there's no way this would work for me. Netflix watch instantly and my PS3 gaming/updates alone wouldn't really do it at speeds that low, and that's without downloads and regular browsing. That's cool if it works for you, but unless you're doing really light usage I can't see it being practical.
 
what sort of speeds do you get with your isp? my speed is 580KB/s and when i tether i can pull almost 500KB/s where i live so the little bit isnt a big ding for me, before i was having slow tether speeds now they've picked up, also my upload tethering is twice as fast as my home connection, how sad is that!
 
I'm moving soon and the only available Internet connection is tethering. I won't put up with satellite Internet.
 
Tarzanman said:
Don't fry your phone.

There is a reason that routers are the size they are.

Chewing through that much data on a phone will put physical wear on it, especially where heat is concerned.
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:D hahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahhahhahhahaha! :D

He made a joke everyone. He's joking.
 
iphone1105 said:
Maybe get a blog and dont clog up the forums....good luck with that, sure your fellow canadians will enjoy you flogging the network!
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I'm on topic and using the forums for exactly what they were designed for. Not interested? Put me on your ignore list. You're on mine.

If I can live on 6GB of data per month, I won't be flogging the network. Regardless, Rogers sells 3G USB sticks made exactly for what I'm doing.

Bandolier said:
I don't know how you guys use that little data. I average 7GB a night.
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What kind of porn are you downloading? :D
 
This is going to work out just fine. In 3 days of using my iPhone tethered to my Mac as my exclusive internet source, I've only used 143MB. I haven't changed my habits at all. I've been visiting the same sites, viewing the same videos online.

Regarding speed, most of the times it works pretty fast. I'm getting 1.6mbps right now. That's plenty. Just a few years ago, that's how fast my home line was.

Demosthenes X said:
...saving money? A home internet connection can be anywhere between $30 - $100/month... that's decent coin, and if you can get by on the iPhone data plan you're already paying for, why not?
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Exactly. I took a hit buying the iPhone4 so I'll counter act it by going off cable internet for a few months. I was paying way too much for my ISP. They were advertising 25mbps but many sites would still take a few seconds to load. There's some sort of bottle neck. The only advantage to high speed was loading videos. I can wait a few seconds before beginning to view it.

I already pay $30 per month for that 6GB over 3G. I might as well use it.

Dhelsdon said:
I suppose with a six gig data plan it'd be pretty reasonable but how long will the 'promotion' rate stick.
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It's permanent for those who got it. Once you get a plan, you're grandfathered in. Now the most you'll find any mobile operator offering is 3GB and that's unreasonably priced.
 
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