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Has anyone on AT&T given up their unlimited data plan for the $50/5gb tethering plan?

B

Big.Mac.Daddy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2012
629
0
I am a college student (out of the house alot for study groups w/ my netbook) and I was recently thinking of switching from my $30/unlimited data plan to the $50/5gb tethering plan but I feel just terrible giving up my unlimited data on AT&T :(

I have a 15% fan discount so it would really be a difference of about $17/month for the ability to tether ($25.5 vs $42.5)

I guess the unlimited data plan isn't worth that much though now that they throttle you after going over 3gb (5gb for LTE) but I just can't help the feeling that Im somehow making a big mistake :(

Anyone out there who was in a similar situation and switched from unlimited to the Tethering plan on AT&T?
 
I changed to the 5gb plan earlier this year and I don’t have any regrets. I was going on a trip and wanted to be able to use my wifi only iPad on the trip so I switched from the unlimited plan to the 5gb plan. I only used it for that month and then switched to the 3gb plan because I don’t see the point in paying an extra $20 every month just for the option to be there. I have another trip planned for November so I will be switching back to the 5GB plan for that month. I only use around 1GB per month so I don’t miss the unlimited plan like I thought I would. I figure they will make everybody switch over at some point so you might as well do it if you need to.
 
i got the throttling text 2 months in a row, and then just said to hell with this crap. I ditched my 'unlimited' plan, and went with the 5gb with tethering. i also get a FAN discount. Now, i make sure i use every since byte of that data every single month even if i dont need to.

I need tethering occasionally, but i'll be damned if i'm going to JB for it. No thanks.
 
lazard said:
as long as you're not obvious (i.e. downloading 50GB a day), they won't be able to differentiate between tethering and regular mobile use.
Click to expand...

You have no idea what you're talking about. I used to tether about once a week. I'd use about 2-4 GB a month of data, and only about 1 GB of that was due to tethering. I got the text twice.
 
Simm0nS777 said:
You have no idea what you're talking about. I used to tether about once a week. I'd use about 2-4 GB a month of data, and only about 1 GB of that was due to tethering. I got the text twice.
Click to expand...

I guess you're unlucky. I've been tethering on my JB iPhone for almost 2 years and never got a text warning.
 
Simm0nS777 said:
You have no idea what you're talking about. I used to tether about once a week. I'd use about 2-4 GB a month of data, and only about 1 GB of that was due to tethering. I got the text twice.
Click to expand...

lazard said:
I guess you're unlucky. I've been tethering on my JB iPhone for almost 2 years and never got a text warning.
Click to expand...

Which tethering app were / are you both using? PDAnet, MiWi, or Tetherme?

I've read that Tetherme uses the iPhones own data apn to mask the tethering activity.
 
Just this week I gave up my unlimited to tether my wifi iPad. It was hard for me to let it go, but I reviewed the last six months of my data and I only used barely 2gbs. I have wifi at my office and at home. For an extra $20.00, I think I am getting a good deal. 5gb is more than enough. I absolutely love being able to use my iPad anywhere!
 
Since the "unlimited" is really 3GB due to throttling, the alternatives for me were the $30 3GB plan or the $50 5GB with Personal Hotspot plan.

However, I have a 23% FAN discount which applies only to the 5GB plan lowering it to $38.50 (vs. $30 for the 3GB).

So I'm happy to pay $38.50 for 5GB with the hotspot feature. I never get around that limit, but if I go over, it will be $10 per additional GB. I did not get the mobile share plans since they are not good for only 1 line (my case). Each additional GB in the mobile share plans are $15.
 
I gave up my iPhone for an unlocked HTC one x because I can tether all I want, plus I use it with the non smartphone data plan that costs $10. My bill is now $50 a month before my fan discount, and I now have unlimited data.
 
I have 3 iPhones on a Family plan. 2 were on grandfathered unlimited data and the other was on the 200mb plan. That with a 1400 minute voice plan, $30 unlimited text, and a 24% FAN discount. I was paying $195/month.

I switched to the 10gb plan, which comes out to $210. After the discount, my bill should go down to $180 before taxes. So for roughly the same price, I greatly increase the amount of data available to the 3rd line. I have never went over 3gb in a month on any line, so this is a big win for me.
 
I just gave my unlimited plan up the other day for the 5GB plan. Get a discount on it and AT&T agreed to credit my account $20 for 3 months. I figured it was time and it wasn't even unlimited. If the throttle slowed down around 10GB I would have kept it.

I also kind of wanted to jump on ship with the 5GB plan before they eliminated that one.

Still a little shocked I actually did this but I really didn't loose anything valuable.
 
To me, I feel that the unlimited plan is worth it if you have (or will be going to) an LTE devices because it isn't throttled until 5GB. $30 for 5GB of data is a hell of a deal compared to any of the individual or rip off share plans.

As for tethering, I would stick with the apps that route data through the normal iPhone apn. I haven't gotten any texts from them but I only really use it when the internet/power goes out for short periods of time.
 
I've been using the iTether app that hit the app store a few months back and haven't received a text. I haven't used it too much, but I think enough to be noticed.

I know iTether still makes something for the iPhone. It's like $25 a year, but I believe it's only for computers, so if you have an iPad you would be out of luck.

OP: I thought about doing in at the beginning of the year. AT&T even offered it to me 3 months free, but I just couldn't get myself to do it not knowing if the unlimited plan will carry on to the next iPhone.
 
Hell to the no.
Im keeping my unlimited data forever:D
I been using facetime over 3G for a long time and tethering for free using MyWi here and there.
I see no reason to switch and lose the unlimited data. Especially now with LTE its gonna go up to 5GB unthrottled.
 
Yeah but once iPhone users start to flood the LTE network who says they won't change it to 3GB??? Where is it written in stone at they have to keep it at 5GB for LTE devices???

I bet they change it by Christmas.
 
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