Just received AT&T tethering notice while using tetherme..

[bmwhd]

So if I use TetherMe or MyWi just to connect to my iPad mini is AT&T really going to notice? I don't imagine there will be a huge data spike since I am not connecting to a laptop.

The important point is this: No one (on here anyway) knows for sure how the carriers detect tethering. It's likely however that it is not just data usage.

Having said that, the carriers vary greatly in enforcement, even within their own customer base.

I have been told by one carrier exec that basically 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others' when it comes to enforcing this. i.e. they may notice you're doing it but not care because you're a good customer.

 

[Sedrick]

I have tetherme on my iPhone 5 with the 3gb plan. I've tethered a little bit, but not that much. I don't think they have any motivation to send me a notice because I am not on the unlimited plan.

They shouldn't catch you and they shouldn't give a damn since you're limited to 3gb, regardless if you're using one phone or tethering a whole room of phones.

 

[pooleman]

This leaves me with an uncertain feeling.

 

[Cubs Fan]

Tethering isn't like stealing a car but it's also not like towing a motorcycle. Those are both terrible analogies.

Here's the analogy for tethering: You go with your family to an all you can eat buffet that requires every person who eats to pay, but you only pay for yourself. You even sign a contract that says nobody will share from your plate. Then, you let your entire family eat from your plate under the argument "You shouldn't care if I let them eat off of my plate because I could have eaten everything here if I wanted, it's all you can eat!"

 

[solace]

Tethering isn't like stealing a car but it's also not like towing a motorcycle. Those are both terrible analogies.

Here's the analogy for tethering: You go with your family to an all you can eat buffet that requires every person who eats to pay, but you only pay for yourself. You even sign a contract that says nobody will share from your plate. Then, you let your entire family eat from your plate under the argument "You shouldn't care if I let them eat off of my plate because I could have eaten everything here if I wanted, it's all you can eat!"

also a terrible analogy, but nice try

 

[Cubs Fan]

also a terrible analogy, but nice try

How? Explain to me why that analogy doesn't work for reasons other than "I want to tether without paying."

 

[n8236]

If I had to guess, AT&T most likely has a separate filtered DB where it has all the unlimited users and have their data usage compared.

I am also on the unlimited plan and have received a first warning from ATT regarding my tether use (which was VERY minimum). At the time, I believe I was using PDAnet w/o hiding. I've then started using Level I hiding w/o any issues.

I plan on trying TetherMe pretty soon and see what happens.

 

[solace]

How? Explain to me why that analogy doesn't work for reasons other than "I want to tether without paying."

because you're not "sharing" it with anyone else nor are you using multiple devices simultaneously. the only thing you're doing is using that data on a different size screen. now if you're using tethering to stream Netflix or Hulu from your laptop? sure, that's kinda BS, but if it's just to use my iPad to read/post on Twitter rather than my phone on the bus? big whoop imo.

as someone else above pointed out, if you're on a plan with 3GB, AT&T shouldn't give a crap how you use that data. if you go over that, then fine, pay the overage (which nets AT&T more $$ anyway).

now as far as unlimited, i agree that's a grey area. i'd argue as long as you're within your usual monthly usage (mine is currently around 5-6 GB on my phone, i don't tether), then it's not really a huge deal.

fwiw, i worked for one of the largest telecomm companies in the US for 7.5 years, people who talk about how "bandwdith is expensive and unlimited" are lying to you, and it's only gotten cheaper since i worked for them 5 years ago.

 

[PantherCreek]

How? Explain to me why that analogy doesn't work for reasons other than "I want to tether without paying."

It would be more in line to say you order 1 plate of food, and they tell you that you're not allowed to share that food. If you have food left over they throw it away, but if you ask for more food they charge you a premium - even if you throw away more than half your plate every month.

 

[Cubs Fan]

because you're not "sharing" it with anyone else nor are you using multiple devices simultaneously. the only thing you're doing is using that data on a different size screen. now if you're using tethering to stream Netflix or Hulu from your laptop? sure, that's kinda BS, but if it's just to use my iPad to read/post on Twitter rather than my phone on the bus? big whoop imo.

as someone else above pointed out, if you're on a plan with 3GB, AT&T shouldn't give a crap how you use that data. if you go over that, then fine, pay the overage (which nets AT&T more $$ anyway).

now as far as unlimited, i agree that's a grey area. i'd argue as long as you're within your usual monthly usage (mine is currently around 5-6 GB on my phone, i don't tether), then it's not really a huge deal.

fwiw, i worked for one of the largest telecomm companies in the US for 7.5 years, people who talk about how "bandwdith is expensive and unlimited" are lying to you, and it's only gotten cheaper since i worked for them 5 years ago.

The analogy is sharing with your family at a buffet is the same as sharing with your other devices (whether the device is yours or not). The point is, if your contract says you can use your data plan on your phone only, then sharing that data with another device is the same as sharing food at a buffet. In both instances, you could have consumed everything that was consumed, but whether by tethering data or sharing food, you broke the rules that you agreed to.

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It would be more in line to say you order 1 plate of food, and they tell you that you're not allowed to share that food. If you have food left over they throw it away, but if you ask for more food they charge you a premium - even if you throw away more than half your plate every month.

That analogy doesn't work if you're talking about unlimited plans.

 

[Mrg02d]

They ban tethering because they are banking on you NOT using all of your data each month. Tethering increases the likelihood that you WILL use all of your data...

Even though you PAID for xGB each month, they HOPE you wont use them. In other words, they want you to buy more than you need. Its BS and should be illegal, but its the way it is.

 

[solace]

It would be more in line to say you order 1 plate of food, and they tell you that you're not allowed to share that food. If you have food left over they throw it away, but if you ask for more food they charge you a premium - even if you throw away more than half your plate every month.

BINGO.

nailed it.

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They ban tethering because they are banking on you NOT using all of your data each month. Tethering increases the likelihood that you WILL use all of your data...

Even though you PAID for xGB each month, they HOPE you wont use them. In other words, they want you to buy more than you need. Its BS and should be illegal, but its the way it is.

Yup. The people apologizing for or feeling sorry for cell phone companies boggle my mind. They're still making bank hand over fist.

 

[Cubs Fan]

I don't feel bad for AT&T. If you can get away with tethering, I literally could not care less.

My point is that I don't feel bad for people who are getting busted for tethering. I find it humorous when they blame AT&T for enforcing the policy that they agreed to. Just because a company makes a lot of money doesn't give you the right to ignore what you agreed to.

 

[PantherCreek]

That analogy doesn't work if you're talking about unlimited plans.

Okay, one more try:

You order an unlimited amount of ice cream, and you can't share it with anybody; you own a fork, a knife, and a spoon. They give you the ice cream and tell you that you can only use your knife to eat it, and if you use your spoon they are going to only sell you 1 scoop.


:side note: I don't tether - I just like analogies.

 

[Cubs Fan]

Okay, one more try:

You order an unlimited amount of ice cream, and you can't share it with anybody; you own a fork, a knife, and a spoon. They give you the ice cream and tell you that you can only use your knife to eat it, and if you use your spoon they are going to only sell you 1 scoop.


:side note: I don't tether - I just like analogies.

Were you told before you entered the restaurant that you would only be allowed to eat with the knife?

 

[bszelda]

I wish something would be done so that users are allowed to tether no matter what the plan they have. I pay for a certain amount of data each month and I should be able to use it however I please...

 

[solace]

I don't feel bad for AT&T. If you can get away with tethering, I literally could not care less.

My point is that I don't feel bad for people who are getting busted for tethering. I find it humorous when they blame AT&T for enforcing the policy that they agreed to. Just because a company makes a lot of money doesn't give you the right to ignore what you agreed to.

well i don't feel bad for them either, i just think it's a stupid policy.

just because I started when they still offered "unlimited" plans, doesn't mean i should be dinged for that fact. if i'm using under 3GB (which costs the same amount of $$ as new plans), shouldn't matter if i'm tethering or not is my point.

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Okay, one more try:

You order an unlimited amount of ice cream, and you can't share it with anybody; you own a fork, a knife, and a spoon. They give you the ice cream and tell you that you can only use your knife to eat it, and if you use your spoon they are going to only sell you 1 scoop.


:side note: I don't tether - I just like analogies.

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i wish something would be done so that users are allowed to tether no matter what the plan they have. I pay for a certain amount of data each month and i should be able to use it however i please...

THIS.

carriers should be MORE interested in getting their users to go over their monthly limits, as that's where they truly make bank (as in you pay WAY more for your data if you go over than you would if you just had a higher monthly plan).

 

[Cubs Fan]

just because I started when they still offered "unlimited" plans, doesn't mean i should be dinged for that fact. if i'm using under 3GB (which costs the same amount of $$ as new plans), shouldn't matter if i'm tethering or not is my point.

Here's where the pro-tethering argument goes just off the rails for me. You have plan for which you agreed with AT&T would only be used to provide data to your phone. They sell tethering plans. They will gladly switch you to it. If you want to tether, get a tethering plan. It's not that hard. Anything else is trying to get something for nothing.

 

[PantherCreek]

Were you told before you entered the restaurant that you would only be allowed to eat with the knife?

I think that in the tethering argument - ice cream wouldn't be on the menu when you sat down.

What it boils down to is, I'm on your side with this one - I don't tether, because I don't pay to tether. If I wanted to tether, I would pay for it.

 

[Luis2004]

I think that in the tethering argument - ice cream wouldn't be on the menu when you sat down.

What it boils down to is, I'm on your side with this one - I don't tether, because I don't pay to tether. If I wanted to tether, I would pay for it.

Unfortunately, Verizon doesn't offer 100GB tethering plans, so. . . .

But on the other hand, when Verizon decided to change their rules about my unlimited data (meaning, they promised me unlimited data, and then they changed and decided that if I choose to upgrade my plan, they will take away my unlimited data), I decided to change my rules about whether I would tether huge amounts of data or not.

If I don't like their plan, I can kick them out of my life. If they don't like mine, they can choose the same.

 

[Cubs Fan]

Unfortunately, Verizon doesn't offer 100GB tethering plans, so. . . .

But on the other hand, when Verizon decided to change their rules about my unlimited data (meaning, they promised me unlimited data, and then they changed and decided that if I choose to upgrade my plan, they will take away my unlimited data), I decided to change my rules about whether I would tether huge amounts of data or not.

If I don't like their plan, I can kick them out of my life. If they don't like mine, they can choose the same.

I'm sorry, I missed in your post where you said Verizon promised to provide you unlimited data for life.

Because what I assume happened is that Verizon offered you a 2-year contract to provide unlimited data. You sought to change your contract which Verizon conditioned on your agreement that you give up unlimited data. Had you not agreed, Verizon would have been bound to provide unlimited data for those 2 years.

However, whether you do or do not have unlimited data now in your contract, Verizon is living up to what they agreed. You, on the other hand, by tethering, are not.

 

[Krauser]

Tethering isn't like stealing a car but it's also not like towing a motorcycle. Those are both terrible analogies.

Here's the analogy for tethering: You go with your family to an all you can eat buffet that requires every person who eats to pay, but you only pay for yourself. You even sign a contract that says nobody will share from your plate. Then, you let your entire family eat from your plate under the argument "You shouldn't care if I let them eat off of my plate because I could have eaten everything here if I wanted, it's all you can eat!"

I've got a good analogy. Tethering is like buying a phone with unlimited data and then getting to use the data that you already pay for however you want.

Seriously, does it need an analogy? It's pretty obvious why tethering shouldn't be an added fee...

 

[Cubs Fan]

I've got a good analogy. Tethering is like buying a phone with unlimited data and then getting to use the data that you already pay for however you want.

Seriously, does it need an analogy? It's pretty obvious why tethering shouldn't be an added fee...

And I paid for unlimited food at the buffet. So my family eating from my plate is just them using the food I already paid for however I want.

 

[Luis2004]

I'm sorry, I missed in your post where you said Verizon promised to provide you unlimited data for life.

Because what I assume happened is that Verizon offered you a 2-year contract to provide unlimited data. You sought to change your contract which Verizon conditioned on your agreement that you give up unlimited data. Had you not agreed, Verizon would have been bound to provide unlimited data for those 2 years.

However, whether you do or do not have unlimited data now in your contract, Verizon is living up to what they agreed. You, on the other hand, by tethering, are not.

Incorrect, but that's what happens when you assume, as the saying goes.

I did not seek to change my contract with Verizon. My contract went into effect before the tiered data plans were put into effect, and I am still in that current contract.

Regardless, Verizon made its own bed. Verizon is the only phone company that bought the Block C licenses, which include open access regulations.

AT&T, who is notorious for crushing anyone that tethers, bought some 700MHz spectrum, but from a different block.

Verizon wanted a good deal, got it, and now must deal with the consequences. Granted, it's within their right to take away unlimited data if someone upgrades to a subsidized phone, since they are not required to sell you a phone at a discount. But if I choose to get a different phone a different way, then I am also within my rights.

At least according to the U.S. Government.

 

[Krauser]

And I paid for unlimited food at the buffet. So my family eating from my plate is just them using the food I already paid for however I want.

I was joking because I really don't think the tethering debate needs an analogy. Analogies are nice for things that are hard to understand so that you can make them easy to understand. There's nothing hard to understand about tethering. You pay for unlimited data, you should get to use unlimited amounts regardless of source.

My point is that it doesn't need a forced analogy to be understood. It's pretty black and white.