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No one knows if this is true. Please stop spreading lies.
Until somebody knows for sure, it's best not to create a false sense of security. The prudent action is to acknowledge these 'stealth' modes as unproven and understand that even if the are found to work, they may not provide a permanent shield.
 
Until somebody knows for sure, it's best not to create a false sense of security. The prudent action is to acknowledge these 'stealth' modes as unproven and understand that even if the are found to work, they may not provide a permanent shield.

Where did I say they were 'proven', they 'work', or they 'provide a permanent shield'? Answer: I didn't. Therefore, I didn't create a 'false sense of security'.

FACTS, for the millionth time.
1. Only ATT knows how they are identifying tethering.
2. Only ATT knows the timeframe of the data they are using.

Therefore, it is equally wrong to claim the masking technologies do not work (which is what I replied to) as it is to claim they do.
 
Just got an email from AT&T about my tethering today. Funny thing is, I haven't even tethered since I got home from college, at least 3 weeks ago. I guess I'll just play it safe and not tether again for a couple months? Or can I actually never tether again?

For the record -- When I did tether, I never did it enough to put me over my data limit. I would use it 5 minutes tops a day, just to use dropbox on my laptop or something of the sort.

Same here. I'm disturbed a little. Will switch to VZW if I they change my data plan. I won't tether for at least another 3 weeks. Been using MyWi. Bough PDANet just prior to ceasing tether activity about 1 1/2 weeks ago.
 
She was actually quite earnest in explaining that there are many app store apps that could trigger tethering...I found that confusing!

!

I heard accounts of CSRs claiming using Pandora was tethering! Could this be what your CSR is referring to? :confused:
 
Same here. I'm disturbed a little. Will switch to VZW if I they change my data plan. I won't tether for at least another 3 weeks. Been using MyWi. Bough PDANet just prior to ceasing tether activity about 1 1/2 weeks ago.
welp better hurry, vzw is about to end unlimited data too and as of right now we don't even know if people will be grandfathered in.
 
so is PDAnet confirmed as a solution to this issue?

I made that TTL change to 65 in my registry several weeks back, have been doing light tethering(less than an hour per week), and have only used 4.7 gigs since my last reset; still got a text today reminding me that tethering costs money. I'm guessing thats the warning text since it doesnt mention them charging me.

anyway, i'll switch to PDAnet if its a confirmed solution. been using MyWi all this time.
 
My $.02

I just wanted to chime in with what info I have.

I have tethered in the past (last time was 6 months ago) and did 1.5gb in three days.

On average, I use 6gb/month.
Yes, per month.

I commute 150mi round trip to work (streaming podcasts and Slacker). When at work, I stream Slacker and am using my phone for emails and browsing all day.
Plus I use Netflix alot.

With all that stated: I have not received a tether text or email.

Seems, to me at least, that there is something else besides just data usage that is triggering these text/emails.

Again, my $.02
 
For whatever reason I haven't received a text and I'm a pretty heavy data user. I checked my usage on the AT&T website and found that I've averaged about 9 GB/month for the past year. I stream Slacker radio on my iPhone and browse on my iPad using MyWi. I'm not shy about streaming movies on Netflix or AirVideo.
Maybe AT&T sees the 4-line wireless Family Plan along with the U-Verse TV and Internet at home and let's me slide ;)
 
so is PDAnet confirmed as a solution to this issue?...anyway, i'll switch to PDAnet if its a confirmed solution. been using MyWi all this time.

Seems, to me at least, that there is something else besides just data usage that is triggering these text/emails.

These posts are what happens when a thread gets this long, i.e., people don't read the thread, or even the recent posts.

It has been said, multiple times, that;

  • No, PDAnet has NOT been confirmed as a solution.
  • No one knows what ATT is using to identify tethering.
 
I've tethered a couple times here and there in the past, maybe once a month, rarely ever need to. My usage is always between 1 and 2 GBs. I just moved a week ago and I'm not getting internet access until tomorrow, so I've been tethering all week (commcenter hack, still on firmware 4.0.1 if that matters). I've used over 6GB in that week. No text or email or anything yet, we'll see if anything comes of it.
 
I still haven't received any type of tethering notice. I've used both MyWi and TetherMe. After upgrading to 4.3.2, I have only used TetherMe. Probably 2-3GIG tethering per month over the past 8 months and typically 20-25GIG overall data usage per month (due to no WiFi at work and letting Slingbox run news/sports in the mornings while I work). I always use my strongvpn.com VPN account when tethering, but I still haven't received any notice from AT&T :confused: Not sure what AT&T is doing to flag accounts for tethering, as I should probably have been flagged already.
 
Sorry if this has been discussed but do you suppose being a paid iOS dev makes any difference? I keep wondering why some heavy users skate and many 1-2 time offenders get tagged?
 
I have an account with 4gb + tethering... How can I differentiate between tethering and phone activity on my bill???

Thanks
 
got my letter on friday. spoke with ATT on Saturday. CSR said they are auditing all iphone accounts to check if they have ever tethered since the account has been active. Asked if i was jailbroken. Said they are not trying to get people off of unlimited plans.

I hardly ever tethered. my data went up since i got a slingbox and use netflix when at work. Never over 4GB. Twice over 3 GB.

will need tethering later this year. No longer want to deal with ATT. Switching to sprint and evo 3d ( pre ordered )
 
got my letter on friday. spoke with ATT on Saturday. CSR said they are auditing all iphone accounts to check if they have ever tethered since the account has been active. Asked if i was jailbroken. Said they are not trying to get people off of unlimited plans.

I hardly ever tethered. my data went up since i got a slingbox and use netflix when at work. Never over 4GB. Twice over 3 GB.

will need tethering later this year. No longer want to deal with ATT. Switching to sprint and evo 3d ( pre ordered )

Yeah, that's what I suspected AT&T was doing -- auditing all accounts for unauthorized tethering, and not simply "targeting" high-data users. As I've mentioned before, they are most likely going to get around to all users who have tethered, and those who haven't received notices yet are mostly likely farther down the list of those yet to be audited. Sucks.
 
If a compete lack of logic and common sense is your thing. Starting a tin foil hat site would be the next step.

Actually, there was a bit of both. As a dev, I've had interaction with Apple dev support in the past that lead to this thought. I've been asked to try things in pursuit of bug fix data using tethering in the past. It's not completely the realm of the tin foil hats to think that perhaps Apple has passed a list of paid devs to AT&T so that they can ignore dev activity. Is it a stretch? Sure. But not impossible.
 
Yeah, that's what I suspected AT&T was doing -- auditing all accounts for unauthorized tethering, and not simply "targeting" high-data users. As I've mentioned before, they are most likely going to get around to all users who have tethered, and those who haven't received notices yet are mostly likely farther down the list of those yet to be audited. Sucks.

It's logical to think that they are somewhat preferentially targeting the high data users since the cost-benefit ratio increases as they go after people that use less data (they have to pay people to actually do this, however it is done.) I have tethered via TetherMe very sparingly, probably only used it a handful of times in the last 6 months. My usage is between 200 MB and 300 MB every month. For someone like me, I'm not at all convinced it's worth their time to go back into my usage history and look for a few MB of transferred data via tethering once every couple of months.
 
I used TetherMe in Feb and April and received texts, emails and letters. The most I used was 4GB and since I don't have unlimited data anymore, I incurred two $10 charges for the extra 2GB so AT&T ended up getting their money anyway.

I honestly don't see why AT&T would come after me. Is it really that big a deal for them to screw me out of $20 in the months when I don't use internet tethering rather than charging me in a pay-as-you-go fashion when I go over my cap which I surely will when I tether?

When I got my iPhone4 last year, I had to accept:
1. Unlimited Data plan taken away and replaced with a plan with a 2GB cap that costs $5 more.
2. 1500 text messages went up from $10 to $15 (from obscene to criminal).
3. Now they want to charge me an extra $20 a month for the option of hitting my cap sooner??? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr :mad:
 
Question...

When you are forced into accepting their tethering plan does that mean you are officially out of their "unlimited data" plan?

I would hope that tethering and normal data usage on the iPhone are counted separately.
 
Actually, there was a bit of both. As a dev, I've had interaction with Apple dev support in the past that lead to this thought. I've been asked to try things in pursuit of bug fix data using tethering in the past. It's not completely the realm of the tin foil hats to think that perhaps Apple has passed a list of paid devs to AT&T so that they can ignore dev activity. Is it a stretch? Sure. But not impossible.
Nothing like a good conspiracy theory to get the whack jobs excited. Grassy knoll, anyone?
 
Nothing like a good conspiracy theory to get the whack jobs excited. Grassy knoll, anyone?

Reading comprehension not a strong suit huh? Where did I ever say conspiracy? Like everyone else, I'm trying to explore ideas to help unravel a mystery. Guess you've got it all figured out already.
 
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