I gave up my unlimited data plan as well to tether. I was only using 1GB a month on my unlimited plan anyhow.
Did the same here recently as well. Looked at my past usage and since the iPhone 4 I have averaged about 500MB of usage. So pretty much a no brainer on the data side. My highest was almost 1GB back when I jailbroke the phone and torture tested the tethering option. I was able to save $15 a month dropping my unlimited plans on both the iPhone and iPad.
If you exceed 4 GB, it's not like they sock you with a lot of penalties.
They just add another $20.00, 2 GB bucket of data, automatically.
Not so bad.
For many of us not a bad deal in the end. That is how I looked at my savings by dropping the unlimited plans and going tethered. Owning 300+ movies and having a 32GB iPhone 4 and a 64GB iPad; with data management I figure that I can have some 20+ odd movies between the two devices and still have more music than I might be able to listen to on most any trip.
Everybody says that Bluetooth takes less battery power, but that it is slower than Wifi.
Have to test this out this weekend maybe. So far I tether via BT to my iPad. So far I find it as snappy as 3G on the iPad, and maybe a bit faster.
After seeing how well the hotspot fearure is setup and the lack of battery drain i switched off my unlimited and MyWi combo. Now i dont have to screw around with the resprings and issues JB brings and enjoy tethering any device vs just the ones that decide to work with MyWi. Well worth the extra $15 a month for 4gigs when looking back ive only gone over that a few times in well over a year. 4 gigs still gives me approx. 30 hours of slingbox streaming and other than the NCAA Tourney i rarely stream that much.
That is why I am happy to see a reasonable tether plan from ATT. I tried the jailbreak just before the update to IOS 4 after the iPhone 4 launch. Got tired of waiting for the new jailbreak; and the cat and mouse game that seems to be going on with Apple and jailbreakers.
So glad so many criminals willing to drive up the price of my wireless data service.
Thanks thieves.
A little harsh there, but understand the feelings there. We are a gluttonous society here in the US IMHO. Just say the word "unlimited" and folks will try to take advantage of it.
More to the point, those folks that are treating unlimited 3G service as their replacement for a broadband home based replacement are hurting the rest of us with slower DL speeds.
....and I don't regert it. Had iPad 1 with 3g unlimited and iPhone with unlimited data. Checked my usage for the last year and neither device ever went over 1 gig of data. I figured 4 gigs was more than enough, so I bought the iPad 2 wifi only and tether to iPhone when needed outside of the house. Figure I'm never without my iPhone anyway, so no problem. It also saves me money per month....the 4 gig tethering plan is cheaper than both unlimited plans.
BTW, I did some unofficial tests on the bluetooth vs. wifi tethering, and web pages definitely loaded faster when on wifi, so I use that setting.
+1 on your first comment.
Like I mentioned I will have to do some tests to see which tethering option is the best. I selected BT since it seemed easier and more secure than wifi. I use tethering for my iPad when at work during my lunch breaks and such. Nice to turn it on, and have the iPhone in my pocket. For my serious usage I might try the USB tethering option down the road.
Who is a criminal again? How exactly can you prove that THEY are the reason for driving up the price?
Limited band width on the 3G network requires something to give. And the easiest is to increase the price to limit usage. Sort of like the HOT lanes for our road ways (otherwise known as Lexus Lanes).
I work in the Tyson Corner area of Virginia; and will say that at certain times of the day 3G is VERY slow. I can only guess that it is for those that hog the network with their unlimited plans streaming Netflix, Pandora, and the like.
I too have the unlimited plan and use less than 2GB of data each month, so I probably would be fine with a 4GB tether plan.
But here's my concern: while I only use less than 2GB with the iPhone, how do I know how much more data I'd use while tethering an iPad or perhaps a laptop? How do I know if 4GB will be sufficient or if I'll go over (and kick myself for giving up the unlimited plan)?
Know what I mean?
Unfortunately iPad users don't have the same tools to look at their data usage as iPhone users do.
All I can offer is look at how much data you have been using on the iPhone. I probably use about the same or maybe in the worst case double that with the iPad. As for tethering to a laptop, that depends on how much data you might need to send.
Being a photographer, I do have lots of data that needs to be sent at times. But I made the choice to end my unlimited plans with the idea that there enough free wifi spots around if I need it.
