They might be OK with that. The nature of the cell service business can make a single high usage account more expensive to maintain then the plan costs. They may be happy to give a low-negative value customer to the competition.
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Questions for those that received TETHERING notice from AT&T
- Thread starter NJRonbo
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They might be OK with that. The nature of the cell service business can make a single high usage account more expensive to maintain then the plan costs. They may be happy to give a low-negative value customer to the competition.
ill be ok with it too, since verizon is still offering unlimited data plans, and i can continue to use mywi with it. plus they have better service.
I've heard that if you're using MyWi, and have 3g unrestrictor and make sure that MyWi is unrestricted. that you will be fine? have been using it for only a few weeks as i heard that it will work from a guy using it for a while now. I also have unlimited data
I think when you go into the unrestrictor, and make sure it is unrestricting MyWi, it makes MyWi also think that it is using wifi, thats how it works for me, i haven't used My3g but im sure it is similar.
If I only tether with tetherme and using an iPad, will this get picked up? Many opinions on how they are detecting this, but nobody really seems to know. Has anybody figured this out yet? Or is it targeting only mywi or did people with tetherme gets notices too?
My guess is that they're going off data usage alone, since a lot of people seem to be able to get away with saying they use a lot of Netflix or some other data intensive application that runs natively on the iPhone. I personally have been tethering in small amounts here and there and have yet to get a notice from at&t (my monthly usage even with tethering is usually under a gig)
Me too my usage is usually under a gig (I'm just around wifi all the time). Thought about changing my unlimited plan since I rarely use the data. My friend on the other hand uses 50gb+ every month smh.
Just installed 3G Unrestrictor and added
MyWi to the list of unrestricted apps.
I am also running My3G. Hope both can
be run at the same time.
...but it kind of makes sense that perhaps
with these two programs running, the
3G usage will be calculated as WiFi usage.
I know, for the moment, this is not true
with just running My3G as my data usage
meter continues to climb when using MyWi.
Let me see if it does the same with
3G Unrestrictor.
(and again, running both programs same time)
MyWi to the list of unrestricted apps.
I am also running My3G. Hope both can
be run at the same time.
...but it kind of makes sense that perhaps
with these two programs running, the
3G usage will be calculated as WiFi usage.
I know, for the moment, this is not true
with just running My3G as my data usage
meter continues to climb when using MyWi.
Let me see if it does the same with
3G Unrestrictor.
(and again, running both programs same time)
I suppose this could work but as far as i know, my3g just tricks apps that you instruct to think you are on a wifi connection instead of 3g so that you can do things like facetime, skype, download apps over 20mb, etc on a 3g connection. The data consumption is still going to be the same though so att is still going to see how much data you have used and you will still receive the warning if you are a heavy data user.
It's not like my3g is going to magically hide that you were using att 3g instead of wifi, they still know how much data you are using.
Still Tethering and what AT&T knows
I received the email and text from AT&T and I'm still tethering. Here's why...
We can discuss the legality or morality of tethering or not tethering all day long. You signed a two year contract for the service and for most of us on the unlimited plan, the contract is up unless you purchased a new phone and AT&T made you up your commitment. The contract is in place so you don't bail on them after getting a great "deal" on a new phone. The contract you sign is different than the TOS. The TOS is an ever changing document created by AT&T. Did anyone look at the TOS when they first got unlimited? I did and there's no mention of tethering. Why? Most phones couldn't tether, including the first generation iPhone. Violating the TOS isn't violating a contract. What it might lead to is AT&T changing the terms of your service. They can do that at anytime. AT&T could send a letter to all customers on unlimited and say effective next month, there is no unlimited plan and everyone will be converted to a limited plan. They are well within their rights; however, they are not doing that. With the currect email/text, AT&T is banking on people switching to a limited plan or reducing their data usage. AT&T didn't think through the unlimited plan when offered or they didn't realize the popularity of the iPhone, Pandora, Netlix, etc. These services just didn't exist for phones. This is AT&T's problem.
I contacted two representatives with AT&T when I received the email. They said they thought I was tethering because of my high data usage and a spike in my usage. True. I was using about 1-2 GB and then went to 5 in February 2011. That's because I started using Pandora and Netflix more on my iPhone.
My wife got an email and doesn't tether. She uses less than 500mb per month on her unlimited plan. My guess is they are targeting high users and those on unlimited plans.
AT&T can check to see where the data is coming from, but my guess is they aren't since that would involve "packet sniffing" and be an added cost to them. That would violate your privacy as they would be able to see what addresses you are visiting. There are FCC regulations against that. I was told by the second rep that they don't know for sure if we were tethering, but my usage fit the profile of someone who tethers.
I played dumb and said I didn't know what AT&T was talking about and said I use Pandora and Netflix all day. She said they would note the account and remove the flag and I shouldn't receive any further emails. I've still been tethering and have used almost 5G since that call and no notices from AT&T.
An interesting side-note... the AT&T rep explained that tethering was connecting your iPhone to any other device whether or not that devices transmits or receives data. She said you can't connect your iPhone to your TV to watch Netflix on a larger screen, you can't connect bluetooth devices. I asked about bluetooth headsets and iTunes. She said that iTunes is okay since you need to do that to update and sync your device. Bluetooth headsets they weren't worried about. Syncing your iPhone to iTunes over wifi, not okay. That's when I realized that AT&T's definition of tethering is all over the place. I read several other posts on this topic and it sounds like different reps are giving out all kinds of erroneous information. It could be that the reps don't know because AT&T isn't telling them either. If AT&T really knew who was tethering or not, they would just convert your plan and be done. Why the opportunity to call in? Oh yeah, that's an opportunity for the service rep to guilt you into changing plans.
Bottom line... continue tethering, call AT&T and let them know you are a high data user and have fun.
I received the email and text from AT&T and I'm still tethering. Here's why...
We can discuss the legality or morality of tethering or not tethering all day long. You signed a two year contract for the service and for most of us on the unlimited plan, the contract is up unless you purchased a new phone and AT&T made you up your commitment. The contract is in place so you don't bail on them after getting a great "deal" on a new phone. The contract you sign is different than the TOS. The TOS is an ever changing document created by AT&T. Did anyone look at the TOS when they first got unlimited? I did and there's no mention of tethering. Why? Most phones couldn't tether, including the first generation iPhone. Violating the TOS isn't violating a contract. What it might lead to is AT&T changing the terms of your service. They can do that at anytime. AT&T could send a letter to all customers on unlimited and say effective next month, there is no unlimited plan and everyone will be converted to a limited plan. They are well within their rights; however, they are not doing that. With the currect email/text, AT&T is banking on people switching to a limited plan or reducing their data usage. AT&T didn't think through the unlimited plan when offered or they didn't realize the popularity of the iPhone, Pandora, Netlix, etc. These services just didn't exist for phones. This is AT&T's problem.
I contacted two representatives with AT&T when I received the email. They said they thought I was tethering because of my high data usage and a spike in my usage. True. I was using about 1-2 GB and then went to 5 in February 2011. That's because I started using Pandora and Netflix more on my iPhone.
My wife got an email and doesn't tether. She uses less than 500mb per month on her unlimited plan. My guess is they are targeting high users and those on unlimited plans.
AT&T can check to see where the data is coming from, but my guess is they aren't since that would involve "packet sniffing" and be an added cost to them. That would violate your privacy as they would be able to see what addresses you are visiting. There are FCC regulations against that. I was told by the second rep that they don't know for sure if we were tethering, but my usage fit the profile of someone who tethers.
I played dumb and said I didn't know what AT&T was talking about and said I use Pandora and Netflix all day. She said they would note the account and remove the flag and I shouldn't receive any further emails. I've still been tethering and have used almost 5G since that call and no notices from AT&T.
An interesting side-note... the AT&T rep explained that tethering was connecting your iPhone to any other device whether or not that devices transmits or receives data. She said you can't connect your iPhone to your TV to watch Netflix on a larger screen, you can't connect bluetooth devices. I asked about bluetooth headsets and iTunes. She said that iTunes is okay since you need to do that to update and sync your device. Bluetooth headsets they weren't worried about. Syncing your iPhone to iTunes over wifi, not okay. That's when I realized that AT&T's definition of tethering is all over the place. I read several other posts on this topic and it sounds like different reps are giving out all kinds of erroneous information. It could be that the reps don't know because AT&T isn't telling them either. If AT&T really knew who was tethering or not, they would just convert your plan and be done. Why the opportunity to call in? Oh yeah, that's an opportunity for the service rep to guilt you into changing plans.
Bottom line... continue tethering, call AT&T and let them know you are a high data user and have fun.
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You're cherry picking your facts... You can't on one hand claim that the AT&T reps are giving out erroneous information and then rely on the same person for accurate technical details. If they get the basics wrong, there is little hope for them understanding the underling process. The reps see a flag on your account and probably have little to no understanding as to the actual trigger. They are probably just making something up so they don't have to say "I don't know" or escalate to their manager.
The reps are clearly misinformed and under trained on this issue. This leaves a windows of opportunity to exploit the system, but does little to provide clarity on the methodology used in the scanning.
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I agree with you that the reps aren't trained. I was just relaying what the reps told me. I don't know what to believe. I don't know that anyone really knows until AT&T issues other letters stating how they know and I don't think that will happen.
Tried this... didn't work...
Let me preface all this by giving my facts. I'm a consultant so I'm on the road and traveling 3/4 weeks a month and since 3G is usually better than hotel wifi and I have slingbox... i tear through about 8-12 gigs a month, even without teathering. I now use my ipad and since using mywi, haven't noticed any huge jumps in data usage... still average 8-12 gigs. I had been laying off the mywi and hadn't used it for about 2 weeks when the first batch of notices started rolling in. I didn't recieve anything. I finally got brave enough to start using mywi again late last week and only used it lightly... low and behold i get the email yesturday!
I called in, played dumb and went through the whole "i use a ton of data" and I travel alot, i don't know how i could teather since i'm still on the original OS and havent' upgraded to the one where apple enabled it... yadda yadda...
The rep seemed VERY smart and knew what she was talking about. I doubt she was buying my playing dumb but she iterated to me multiple times that it has nothing to do with the amount of data being used or spikes in data usage, that they were able to detect how the data was used and at some point i had used my phone to transmit data to something other than my phone. She said I don't need to do anything and my account wouldn't be touched... as long as i don't teather anymore.
I wasn't a believer that they were actually doing packet sniffing or anything like that, I was convinced it was entirely data driven, but seeing that they caught me litterally days after using mywi for the first time in about a month, and i was blatently told that they could see my data... I'm now confident they CAN detect teathering and they will eventually nab everyone who's currently doing it.
It was a fun ride while it lasted, and my ipad just took a big usability hit, but oh well. I'm willing to pay for teathering, but not at the expense of $40 more a month just to go from unlimited data to 2 gigs with only 2 more gigs to teather. With my current usage and overage fees, it would cost me over $100 more a month to keep doing what i've been doing..... no thanks!
Just figured I'd inform you all of my scenario since there seems to be a lot of confusion out there right now!
It could be a coincidence... I got the message the very same day I upgraded to 4.3.1 and tethered with mywi.
Then people here were getting the txt/mail with 4.2.1 also... just coincidence... With the many users doing this.. its just a statistical fact that some will do something and the txt sms will arrive.
Then people here were getting the txt/mail with 4.2.1 also... just coincidence... With the many users doing this.. its just a statistical fact that some will do something and the txt sms will arrive.
I received the email yesterday and called them and I got the same experience you did, spoke to Sue and also played dumb and she reiterated the same thing the person you spoke to said. Maybe same person? Anyways I only started using tethering for the first week of April because we moved into a new home and needed to connect my laptop to the net. I only used it to fill out some forms for work that was it, I didn't surf the web or downloaded anything. Will wait to see what happens here before trying to use tethering again.
I have MyWi, but haven't used it since ATT started this "gonna get-ya" campaign.
I literally use it only when I need it (maybe 3 times a YEAR) because I prefer wi-fi over cellular (assuming the network behind wi-fi isn't garbage).
So, let's say I go ahead, get caught by ATT and am "forced" to switch to a tethering plan or I go ahead and request it. Is it the kind of service that I can add/remove each month as needed?
I had a month where I was in a pinch and needed automated text messages from work computers to be sent to my phone (I'm on the 200/month plan) and I went over a lot. I changed the txt plan to unlimited for that month (was cheaper than paying the over-limit fees) after the fact but before the billing period ended, and after I payed that bill, I switched back to the 200/month plan with no fees/penalties/etc. Does anyone know if tethering would work the same way with regard to billing?
I literally use it only when I need it (maybe 3 times a YEAR) because I prefer wi-fi over cellular (assuming the network behind wi-fi isn't garbage).
So, let's say I go ahead, get caught by ATT and am "forced" to switch to a tethering plan or I go ahead and request it. Is it the kind of service that I can add/remove each month as needed?
I had a month where I was in a pinch and needed automated text messages from work computers to be sent to my phone (I'm on the 200/month plan) and I went over a lot. I changed the txt plan to unlimited for that month (was cheaper than paying the over-limit fees) after the fact but before the billing period ended, and after I payed that bill, I switched back to the 200/month plan with no fees/penalties/etc. Does anyone know if tethering would work the same way with regard to billing?
Yes, that I realize. I'm referring to the bogus $20 extra fee just for the privileged of having tethering available. It irritates me. I can see having a fee for unlimited tethering, but since they have caps it shouldn't matter if I use that data from the phone alone or a tethered device.
While I agree that tethering should be included in the 2gb plan, the tethering plan does more then just add tethering. It also adds additional data. The cost of using 4gb of data is the same regardless of which plan you have.
I suspect that AT&T is withholding tethering from the 2gb plan as a legal stategy. Withholding tethering from the 2gb plan helps them reinforce their claim that tethering is a feature separate from regular data. If they allowed tethering on the 2gb plan, it would strengthen the claim that all data is equal. It would make it more difficult to justify restricting tethering from unlimited plans.
Since when do companies need to consider a legal strategy when designing and pricing their product?
got my email and txt msg yesterday, i laughed and called in and said dont change my plan i will be a good boy....at least for a little bit lol
