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Is AT&T still cracking down on jailbroken/tethered iPhones?

K

karsal

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 9, 2012
46
1
I remember a few months back I had my iPhone jailbroken and I was using MyWi to tether to my iPad. I got a message from AT&T that said something like "You must have the tethering plan to tether to a computer" or something like that, so I removed MyWi so I don't lose my unlimited data plan.

Is AT&T still cracking down on jailbroken iPhones or is it safe to jailbreak and use MyWi again?
 
AT&T doesn't care if you jailbreak your iPhone. They only care if you tether and don't have a tethering plan. Yes, they will still catch you for force a tethering plan onto your account.
 
I tether every once in a while. Mainly in situations where I just need connection for a moment on my laptop. I've use TetherMe & MyWi. I never had a problem yet with AT&T. I think those who use it too frequently or download large enough files on tether are most likely to get caught.
 
I've been tethering for two years. Some months I ran up XGBs of data, but mostly I only use close to 2GBs now. I haven't received a notice yet.
 
karsal said:
I remember a few months back I had my iPhone jailbroken and I was using MyWi to tether to my iPad. I got a message from AT&T that said something like "You must have the tethering plan to tether to a computer" or something like that, so I removed MyWi so I don't lose my unlimited data plan.

Is AT&T still cracking down on jailbroken iPhones or is it safe to jailbreak and use MyWi again?
Click to expand...

How much did you tether back when you got the notice?
 
Just got my first notice today... I called AT&T, asked about the e-mail, there was no blaming, the service rep simply said, "It doesn't matter what 3rd party app you used, MyWi, tetherme, etc, the system knows there was tethering, just don't do it again before the end of the billing cycle and nothing will change."

I don't do it frequently, maybe once every couple of month or so, but looks like I'll be giving it a break for a while - I like my unlimited plan. This past weekend I was forced into attending a dance competition so I tethered to my iPad for some internet surfing for an hour or so... That must have put up a red flag. Oh well...
 
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Do you have an unlimited plan? If not, don't worry about it. Worst case the system changes you to the unlimited plan and you manually change it back. You get prorated the tethering plan for the number of days it was on the tethering plan that month. Whenever it gets auto swapped, ATT sends you a text notification, so you will know you have to go in and change it back.
 
I do have the unlimited plan... Thats why I'm going to give the tethering a break for a while.

I dont use it that often, so I doubt I'll miss it.
 
I downloaded a legitimate tethering app from the APP store a few months ago. It was only on the APP store for 19 hours. I have only used it twice and after each use I received a notice from AT&T telling me that I was in the upper 5% of users. They did not mention anything about tethering, just the upper 5% nonsense. I;m not sure it if is related or not. I thought that since I was using a legitimate app on a non hacked, non jailbroken phone that they could not scold me for using the app, and that is why they sent the 5% message as a way to stop my throttling.
 
I don't think they have to crack down on it considering the guaranteed throttling. I'm sure there's a lot of people that just won't bother with it if speeds are abysmal.
 
pooleman said:
I downloaded a legitimate tethering app from the APP store a few months ago. It was only on the APP store for 19 hours. I have only used it twice and after each use I received a notice from AT&T telling me that I was in the upper 5% of users. They did not mention anything about tethering, just the upper 5% nonsense. I;m not sure it if is related or not. I thought that since I was using a legitimate app on a non hacked, non jailbroken phone that they could not scold me for using the app, and that is why they sent the 5% message as a way to stop my throttling.
Click to expand...

I thought I since I was using a legitimate, non-hacked, non-modified car, that the police couldn't scold me for driving over 100MPH.

Just because the app is official, it doesn't mean that AT&T (or other providers) will allow you to use it... especially when it's sole purpose is a violation of their policy.
 
karsal said:
I remember a few months back I had my iPhone jailbroken and I was using MyWi to tether to my iPad. I got a message from AT&T that said something like "You must have the tethering plan to tether to a computer" or something like that, so I removed MyWi so I don't lose my unlimited data plan.

Is AT&T still cracking down on jailbroken iPhones or is it safe to jailbreak and use MyWi again?
Click to expand...

This is one reason why I am glad I stayed with VZW and didn't switch back to AT&T. I've got a 4G LTE phone, albeit it's not an iPhone but will get it when/if it comes out this fall, and can swap SIM card out in my iPad (even though it's a pain) and tether with no repercussions.
 
pooleman said:
I downloaded a legitimate tethering app from the APP store a few months ago. It was only on the APP store for 19 hours. I have only used it twice and after each use I received a notice from AT&T telling me that I was in the upper 5% of users. They did not mention anything about tethering, just the upper 5% nonsense. I;m not sure it if is related or not. I thought that since I was using a legitimate app on a non hacked, non jailbroken phone that they could not scold me for using the app, and that is why they sent the 5% message as a way to stop my throttling.
Click to expand...

I have a question for you.
I too have this Tether app but I've never received any text notification from AT&T after using it.
Did you get the message because you were close or over the 2GB or 3GB limit?
Because the 5% message is sent to people that have used more then the 2GB limit in the past (3GB now).
If you've gotten the tether message, it should have been something along the lines of "you need a tether plan to use tethering on you phone".

Please clarify.
Thanks.
 
I wish AT&T offered a way for unlimited plan users to tether and keep the plan. For example, keep your $30 smartphone unlimited plan but pay $10 for 1GB which would be used for tethering. I'd be all over that. I don't need 5GB of data for $50/mo.
 
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