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iPhone 3.1 Beta 2 Disables Unauthorized AT&T Tethering
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Here are the problems:
1. Despite how crappy AT&T is, will people leave? Nope. Sales of iPhone 3GS is AT&T's best sales ever. So if I'm AT&T, why should I should do any better if people are still flocking and giving me money?
2. Will people get the tethering plan? This is a catch 22. If many get it, AT&T will say "Oh, that means the price is right." If nobody get it, AT&T will simply say "See, there's no demand for tethering, so to get more revenue, we should price it even more."
1. Despite how crappy AT&T is, will people leave? Nope. Sales of iPhone 3GS is AT&T's best sales ever. So if I'm AT&T, why should I should do any better if people are still flocking and giving me money?
2. Will people get the tethering plan? This is a catch 22. If many get it, AT&T will say "Oh, that means the price is right." If nobody get it, AT&T will simply say "See, there's no demand for tethering, so to get more revenue, we should price it even more."
Exactly. I'm really sick of this behavior. First they advertise "unlimited data", but in reality anything over 5GB is "abusive use" and is charged more. Then they tell you that you cannot use said connection for "real-time video streaming, server applications, data acquisition, etc" which is just as ridiculous -- trying to mandate what you can do with your 5GB. DATA IS DATA!
AND THEN they have the nerve to charge you $30 more a month to tether your phone to your computer despite it using the very same 5 gigabytes in the first place! And they ALL do this!
This in unacceptable and if they don't change this, their hand needs to be forced. Overall. The USA badly needs more telecom competition. A country and economy so big should have far more providers.
TeliaSonera in Sweden used to have unlimited data, and when they said unlimited it was literally unlimited. They had that for years, up until a couple of months ago. Sadly they couldn't keep it up, because all it took was one or two bittorrent junkies hogging all the bandwidth 24/7 to make it suck for everyone else in that area. The current technology simply isn't built to handle large numbers of users who are all downloading like mad. You still need wired broadband for that.
Once TeliaSonera capped it at 5GB they immediately stopped using the term "unlimited" in their marketing. The laws are very strict on that issue. For example, broadband carriers aren't allowed to use the maximum theoretical speed in their advertising. They can't say "24 Mbit" if it's not 24 Mbit at all times, they have to label it "12-24 Mbit".
Alright, US and UK. Tethering is free in Canada and most of the EU, though.
I'm sure O2 won't be so cocky once one or two more carriers are allowed to sell iPhones.
Exactly and agree! I don't use tethering for every day use. It's mostly when I'm stuck in an airport without wifi or something. I think the last time I tethered (with NetShare) was back in January.
AT&T really needs to come up with a plan for occasional users.
Has anyone actually been charged for going over 5 gigs? I went over last month and didn't get any extra charges. Does anyone actually have evidence of this so called soft cap or is it all just a bunch of hot air?
I suspect the latter. Peace out.
I suspect the latter. Peace out.
That's opinion. There are many people that don't think AT&T is crappy. If they truly were crappy, the iPhone wouldn't help them.
See the big misconception is that they're losing money. Every year, as they increase their rates and complain of infrastructure up-keep, the construction of new infrastructure becomes cheaper and cheaper--and they get greedier and greedier. And we're left crappy service because the industry is monopolized.
Nope, people switch to AT&T because the iPhone is a good phone.
You can only argue that if the iPhone is available carrier-agnostic.
I'm going to wait for the official release of tethering... They said "late summer" so I'll be waiting about another month or two for tethering and MMS.... damn you AT&T, damn you! 
That is the biggest load of freaking bullcrap that I have ever heard, and I'm pissed that someone would tell you such a blatant lie.
My wife has an iPhone 3gs without ANY data plan AT ALL. Nothing. No data has been sent from or to her phone, and we haven't been charged for any data either, even when she had a iPhone 3g without a data plan.
The following is a copy of a note on the ATT website where you can buy an iPhone:
Go to http://www.wireless.att.com/ and look at what it says if think making the above quote up. It is "unlimited data" also; I didn't got through the whole process to get the final version of the contract. On the web though... this is a nonoptional addition to your account.
Now I suppose you might be able to go to a ATT store and browbeat someone into cooking up a contract without a data plan (e.g., buy the most inexpensive, freebie phone. Pay the early cancel/upgrade fee into a new GS to attach that data free account to an new iPhone. Or perhaps there is a contract buried in some submenu that effectively the same thing without the throwaway phone. ) . However, I suspect they make that very hard to do at this point to do. Additionally suspect, the only reason why your wife isn't dinged for a data plan is because has avoided doing any data over 3G (explicitly sets 3G off and never turns it on). Also wouldn't be surprising if this wasn't a loophole for 1st gen phones that is now gone. (got the 3GS phone by extending the old 1st gen contract two more years.). It is also common, if the carrier changed when evening minutes started, to get the terms of the previous contract to carry over also.
Since time machines aren't not commonly available.... going back to get grandfathered 1st gen contracts isn't an option for everyone. Or not on ATT already to backdoor an data free account onto an iPhone.
Lies. I have one of the 2nd chocolates and have transferred pics and such over bluetooth several times. If you get the right software, you can copy a great deal of the phone over BT (address book, call log, texts, pics, MP3's, etc, etc). I've done it many times.
I used to think I wanted to switch to AT&T for the iPhone, but with the number of people saying how poor their service is, I'd rather have a normal cell phone on Verizon that I can actually use almost 95% of the time (it's kind of hilly in areas so the towers can't always reach the phone, but that's rare).
Now ... if Verizon were to ever get the iPhone, as soon as my contract is up for renewal I'll probably be getting one.
Otherwise ... my iPod Touch 2G will do justtt fine (though Apple better fix the countless bugs they brought to the device with 3.0!!).This is really SAD. I have an old tablet which has issues with WIFI Windows7 drivers, so I was improvising by using my iPhone tethered taking advantage of the iPhone's WiFi connecting to my network...
In my case, I wasn't even using 3G data...and simply using the teathering feature to use the Internet on my laptop via the iPhone's WiFi at coffee shops or other WiFi areas...and now this will no longer be the case.
In my case, I wasn't even using 3G data...and simply using the teathering feature to use the Internet on my laptop via the iPhone's WiFi at coffee shops or other WiFi areas...and now this will no longer be the case.
Agreed. Still works on my phone after the 3.1 upgrade. It appears to be a difference in the carrier file.
