Resolved Tether Me

I think only AT&T is catching people. I have not heard of Sprint sending nasty grams.

 

All of the carriers have their way of detecting tethering. Including Sprint. Sprint some time last year decided to enforce the 5GB cap on their $30 hotspot plan. The cap had always been there but until late last year they had no ability to detect who went over. Now they do.

That said, I also chose TetherMe after doing my research. I could not find too many people complaining about being caught with it so I went ahead and got it.

In my case I may have some small protection in that I already pay Sprint an extra $20 for a 2GB hotspot on my iPhone. So, if Sprint DOES see me tethering…well, I already have a legal tethering plan - up to 2GB anyway.

To use TetherMe make sure WiFi is off first. If you are in an area that has a WiFi network you've connected to you will either want to move out of the area or find some other way to disconnect from that network. before you turn WiFi off.

Go to Settings>TetherMe and press the Peronal Hotspot button. That should take you to the hotspot area where you can turn on the hotspot (note that this is grayed out if WiFi is on). Choose your method, WiFi, USB, etc. If you choose WiFi the iPhone will create a new wireless network.

Connect your laptop to the new wireless network using the password you set up. Once that's done, you're online.

The hotspot (not TetherMe itself) uses your cellular connection. That's 3G, EDGE, LTE or whatever it is that your iPhone is using in your area. That means that if the connection on the phone itself is bad or slow, data transfer to your laptop will also be poor.

 

This doesn't happen to me. I can have wifi on and the hotspot area is not grayed out. I can also be connected to a network and it will also enable the hotspot. Perhaps you have an older version?

I'm on verizon and I have never seen anyone getting caught tethering with TetherMe.

This one of my favorite tweaks and Sam the developer is a cool dude.

 

Well, I have a unique situation I think. Possibly, it's down to the carrier. The way it works for you may just be because of Verizon. I'm on Sprint, as is the OP.

In any case, I already had a hotspot with Sprint when I installed TetherMe so that may be affecting things. All I know is that for me, I have to be off a WiFi network in order for the phone to create it's own WiFi network. Otherwise it just connects to the last network I was on and things go sideways. When my WiFi is on and I am connected to a WiFi network, the hotspot is greyed out. I suppose that may be because of Sprint.

As to not being caught, this is why I did my reasearch and chose TetherMe. It seemed the best candidate.

OP, you want to move to an area that has no WiFi networks or forget the one you are currently on. Full bars are simply an indication of the strength of your VOICE connection and NOT your data connection. You can have full bars and slow data.

3G will be as fast for your laptop as it is for your phone. If you have slow data on your phone where you are on 3G then the data will be slow for the laptop. Theoretically, 3G maxes out somewhere between 2-2.5GBmbps. You are extremely fortunate if you are getting anywhere near that speed on Sprint.

Basically, if you cannot stream music on your phone, do not expect your laptop to be any faster. Tethering does not make anything faster, it just connects you to your phone. You are limited by the speed of your phone's cellular connection.