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If you went to one of the "pay per drink" data plans, what a great way to suck up all your gigabytes. :)

I don't think the wireless carriers will mind if you do this.....more money for them (unless you are on an unlimited plan). If this gets too popular, watch for Verizon/ATT to eliminate all unlimited plans.

that would be a good and bad thing, the only reason att let us keep the unlimited if we already had it is because if they just eliminated it for Everyone then they would be changing their terms of service...and in their terms of service it says if att changes something that affects you then you can cancel without paying an early termination fee and you get to keep your iphone...
 
I wonder what are those government idiots that 'legalized' jailbreak saying now?

What do you think they're saying now? That it was a mistake for them to not put people in prison for jailbreaking?

Somehow, I don't think that's what they're saying.
 
Been doing this for a while

I've been one of the lucky ones who's been able to do FaceTime over 3G since day one. How? I have a MiFi 2372 on AT&T's network. It fools the phone into thinking that it has a WiFi connection, despite the fact that it's carried over the exact same HSUPA as the phone.

FaceTime over 3G is just as good an experience as it is over any other WiFi network. Almost as if Apple had designed it to be able to go over 3G from the beginning.

My conclusion is that all of the fuss about FaceTime over 3G is really just about billing. AT&T wants time for their elimination of uncapped data plans to carry as far into the subscriber base as possible.
 
As it is now, everytime someone makes a FaceTime call, ATT gets shafted because the call ends and switches over to WiFi. Wouldn't it be in their own best interest to allow 3G FaceTime? At least they'd be getting people on data overages.
 
Maybe Apple will finally stop limiting some of it software to help the network providers.
 
Don't see that happening. Since it's just data traffic, they'd have to start sniffing packets to see what you're doing to tell if it's a video chat, or have some reporting mechanism built into the phone app to communicate minutes and data used. I'd suspect they'll just stick to tiered data packages. Interesting to see their business model change, though, when people no longer use voice minutes and only use data.

carriers already sniff packets, very easy. layer 7 switches have been around for years. Even the NSA used a commercial solution to track everyone's phone calls
 
I still find it unbelievable that years after the initial iPhone release ATT's network is still complete dogshiat. In the UK the networks are putting major money into data backhaul and it shows.

If (and it's ridiculously unlikely) 3G FaceTime activity brings down the ATT network it's probably the best thing that could happen. They can point the finger all they like but the public opinion would kick their sorry ass into sorting the network a lot faster than the token upgrades taking place at the moment.
 
I was FaceTiming everywhere with my iPhone 4 authenticated to my jailbroken iPad 3G running MyWi. I have since canceled by unlimited data plan on my iPad 3G - couldn't afford keeping two data plans.

But it can go either way now... I can use MyWi on the iPad 3G (which has great battery life as an access point for all my family) and move my iPhone 4's microSIM card over to it for the duration. I can still receive "calls" on my iPhone 4 if I forward my number to a VoIP solution, and FaceTime will work all the way around. It's a bit convoluted, but you get the idea. Or - though I'm still a little leery about it - I could simply jailbreak my iPhone 4 and have FaceTime with My3G and MyWi there instead.

If you aren't aware, iOS developers aren't too keen on users on jailbroken devices, and their software can actually run messed up just because it's jailbroken (not necessarily if you've cracked or pirated their app).

Also, MyWi is pretty steep at $20 and locked to one device (so it's a toss-up to install it on the iPhone 4 or the iPad 3G), but evidently worth it.

The only concerns I have is:
  1. that the web-based exploit (and therefore jailbreak) has been fixed in iOS 4.1 beta, and it's already half-cooked and soon to be released. So, will we have a 4.1 jailbreak, and in what form?
  2. can Apple deny you warranty service if they somehow determine you have jailbroken your iDevice at one point in time, even if you've restored the firmware back to normal? Call me paranoid, but what if your device is flagged with Apple's servers when synced with iTunes, kinda like how Xbox 360's get banned from Microsoft Live!? Only Apple and iTunes know how the device is actually being restored, even in a full DFU state. What if they purposely left any evidence of a jailbreak during recovery so that it can remain flagged?
 
I am betting within 2 weeks we see posts from the same people thinking it's "so cool" crying about the data overage charges they incurred because they have no clue how much data streaming video uses.

Those will be some priceless posts as they try to explain to their parents why they just tripled the wireless bill.
 
i hope they do for the better of every one else...

Keep crying. I'll go stream 250MB an hour video podcasts over 3G on my iPhone and iPad, simultaneously, to make you feel better. Eff AT&T their garbage ass network.
 
This is stealing

When you sign up for an iPhone and 3G service you agree to its terms and conditions. Jail breaking is not illegal and is normally harmless. If you are willing to take the warranty and security risks, who cares? Jailbreak! However, it becomes unethical—just like stealing—if you install 3G bandwidth hogs otherwise prohibited. If you don't like the terms and conditions, don't sign up. Or even better, have the smarts and guts to create your own company and offer unlimited 3G service. Those people who follow the terms and conditions are being cheated by those who install these types of apps because they lower the performance of the 3G network.
 
When you sign up for an iPhone and 3G service you agree to its terms and conditions. Jail breaking is not illegal and is normally harmless. If you are willing to take the warranty and security risks, who cares? Jailbreak! However, it becomes unethical—just like stealing—if you install 3G bandwidth hogs otherwise prohibited. If you don't like the terms and conditions, don't sign up. Or even better, have the smarts and guts to create your own company and offer unlimited 3G service. Those people who follow the terms and conditions are being cheated by those who install these types of apps because they lower the performance of the 3G network.

No, its not stealing as per your subject line. What exactly is being stolen?

Customer 'A' has purchased, say, 1GB of data per month.

Should they not be able to use that bandwidth they have purchased in any way they want?

Is there much difference between Facetime over 3G for an hour and streaming good quality YouTube video for an hour / or other sanctioned content type? They may just use the same amount of bandwidth, at the end of both sessions for the same duration of time. Yet one of these is 'disallowed'. Strange rules.
 
You can already watch YouTube in wifi quality by just going to the YouTube site in Safari instead of the app. The site works much better anyway than the app.

well, you mean going to m.youtube.com and not regular youtube.com ... cuz you cant watch regular youtube in safari on iphone... cuz of flash. but, thats a whole different discussion.
 
Just because you people in the states have garbage network carriers does't mean the rest of the world has to suffer.

Restricting facetime to WiFi for someone living in Sweden or Denmark makes ZERO sense. ****, I think since having an iPhone in 2007 I might have dropped 5 calls in total.

+1
though i am in US, your logic is flawless.
 
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