Tethering and my iPhone.

[mcapanelli]

Hello all,

Sorry for all the noob questions lately, I just unlocked my phone and am just finding my way thanks to the help of this community. Anyway I was considering downloading MyWi 4.0 to use with the ipad and computers when we're on the road but I don't want to be hit with a surprise $20 tethering fee or any overage charges from my buddies at AT&T. Would I be hit with this charge? Would they even know I was tethering? For reference I have the old $30 unlimited plan and I'm using an unlocked iPhone 4 running 4.2. Thanks in advance for everyones help

 

[Applejuiced]

No, they wont charge you for tethering and they will not even know.

 

[Howdr]

No, they wont charge you for tethering and they will not even know.

They will "Suspect" if you go over the 5gb every month.

It is easy to look at your past usage and then plot the increase.

If no past usage it is then compared to the average user which falls between 100mb to 2gb a month

5gb is the secrete cap for unlimited.

Also if you are on the 2gb then constantly going over will cause a flag.

At&t has a flag system as does Verizon.

I post these warnings so you know what they do and avoid problems.

At&t charge $2 per mb penalty at times, they did this to my son by mistake for 110 mb they thought was off plan........... 210 USD. I was able to clear this up. But it was shocking.

I have read other horror stories.

 

[Applejuiced]

They will "Suspect" if you go over the 5gb every month.

It is easy to look at your past usage and then plot the increase.

If no past usage it is then compared to the average user which falls between 100mb to 2gb a month

5gb is the secrete cap for unlimited.

Also if you are on the 2gb then constantly going over will cause a flag.

At&t has a flag system as does Verizon.

I post these warnings so you know what they do and avoid problems.

At&t charge $2 per mb penalty at times, they did this to my son by mistake for 110 mb they thought was off plan........... 210 USD. I was able to clear this up. But it was shocking.

I have read other horror stories.

The op has unlimited data so he won't go over his amount.
Posting warnings is fine and always good not to abuse it but we heard of many people going over 10-15GB per month and never have a prob.
Actually I never heard of anyone on AT&T getting a warning or anything for tethering unofficially with unlimited data plans and packages like MyWi, tetherme, PDAnet etc...

 

[Howdr]

The op has unlimited data so he won't go over his amount.
Posting warnings is fine and always good not to abuse it but we heard of many people going over 10-15GB per month and never have a prob.
Actually I never heard of anyone on AT&T getting a warning or anything for tethering unofficially with unlimited data plans and packages like MyWi, tetherme, PDAnet etc...

Yet others have had this warning in writing and charges.
Look I tether and have unlimited but the 5gb is real, I have had many off the cuff IM's and PM's with employees of both At&t ( because thats my carrier) and Verizon.

both Companies do "Spy" on your usage and look for people to scare or make examples.

How many people DL music? How many are caught? Few are caught yet you do not want to be the one they pick on.

I post the warning because people need to know its a real danger although small.

I'll go as far as JB and using MyWI is my right and the Carrier charging me extra to use my already paid for internet is not double dipping for them and not legal. It has not been challenged in court for a judge to agree yet, but I think its true and a good case.

 

[jshel1024]

tethering

Hi,

Apparently they do know. I received an email message and a text message this morning saying that i was using tethering and was not signed up for tethering. I have been using tethering from a jailbroken iphone 3 and now from an iphone 4 for over a year. I have never had any warnings or charges and have never checked my usage. I stream netflix a lot so I assume it is high. The message said that if I wanted to continue to stream I would have to sign up for tethering and their datapro plan. I currently have the unlimited plan and use a usb tether. I wonder how many others have gotten this message and if it depends on which tethering app you are using? I have not seen this mentioned on any of the mac sites yet.

 

[Applejuiced]

Hi,

Apparently they do know. I received an email message and a text message this morning saying that i was using tethering and was not signed up for tethering. I have been using tethering from a jailbroken iphone 3 and now from an iphone 4 for over a year. I have never had any warnings or charges and have never checked my usage. I stream netflix a lot so I assume it is high. The message said that if I wanted to continue to stream I would have to sign up for tethering and their datapro plan. I currently have the unlimited plan and use a usb tether. I wonder how many others have gotten this message and if it depends on which tethering app you are using? I have not seen this mentioned on any of the mac sites yet.

I never heard about any of this before.
You got a copy of the email?
And you registered just now to post this?
Weird......

 

[Howdr]

I never heard about any of this before.
You got a copy of the email?
And you registered just now to post this?
Weird......

yeah this is what I have read, there are people saying this the last 2 years.

The scoop I got was the amount of Data you use per day and total. As I posted its based on a profile, you start to use a lot, it trips a flag, the account is then reviewed by At&t, this is randomly done.

If they see that you are consistently using a lot of Data ( over 2gb all the time and over 5GB secrete Cap for unlimited) they threaten you for tethering.

Streaming can be done on the Iphone so I have no idea how streaming is not allowed.

 

[Applejuiced]

ok.....

 

[h1r0ll3r]

I've exceeded 5GB of data probably 3 out of the last 5 months. The other two months I limped in with a paltry 3GB's or so. I've never gotten anything from AT&T about it. I'm on unlimited as well. I think the "5GB rule" is a misnomer for those with the unlimited plans otherwise I probably would've heard something from AT&T. If that's not reason enough then the previous month prior to the GB's of data usage, my max was about 50MB a month. So going from 50MB one month to close to 5GB the next, if there was some flagging system over at AT&T, pretty sure this kind of data spike would've set that off BIG TIME. I use both TetherMe and MyWi and I've yet to receive any sort of message. I'm JB on 4.1 and been using both apps for awhile but, as my data usage would indicate, I've been hammering them quite recently

 

[Howdr]

I've exceeded 5GB of data probably 3 out of the last 5 months. The other two months I limped in with a paltry 3GB's or so. I've never gotten anything from AT&T about it. I'm on unlimited as well. I think the "5GB rule" is a misnomer for those with the unlimited plans otherwise I probably would've heard something from AT&T. If that's not reason enough then the previous month prior to the GB's of data usage, my max was about 50MB a month. So going from 50MB one month to close to 5GB the next, if there was some flagging system over at AT&T, pretty sure this kind of data spike would've set that off BIG TIME. I use both TetherMe and MyWi and I've yet to receive any sort of message. I'm JB on 4.1 and been using both apps for awhile but, as my data usage would indicate, I've been hammering them quite recently

LOL read this: At&t's current TOS

6.11.1 What Are the General Terms that Apply to All DataConnect Plans?
Print this section | Print this page

A voice plan is not required with DataConnect plans.

We may, at our discretion, suspend your account if we believe your data usage is excessive, unusual or is better suited to another rate plan. If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly MB/GB allowance and additional data usage rates, you agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month; provided that, prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your Data Service.

from the "]terms and service At&t 6.11.1

"If you use more then 5gb a month" there in black and white, this was covered a few years ago when At&t and Verizon added this language to the TOS

Also:

6.12.2 AT&T DataPlus/AT&T DataPro Plans With Tethering
Print this section | Print this page

AT&T DataPlus/AT&T DataPro plans with Tethering may be used to tether such SMARTPHONE and BlackBerry devices to a personal computer. If you are on a data plan that does not include a monthly megabyte allowance and additional data usage rates, the parties agree that AT&T has the right to impose additional charges if you use more than 5 GB in a month. Prior to the imposition of any additional charges, AT&T shall provide you with notice and you shall have the right to terminate your Service.

[/URL]

 

[Applejuiced]

How many times does the same topic has to be discussed and argued over finally?
The 5GB softcap is for data connect cards, aircards etc.....
You're bringing up terms for that and for the data plus and data pro plans that are not relevant to this thread for unlimited iphone data.
People dont seem to get it. There's plenty that use 5-10 and 15GB per month with no problems for years.
What's the point of trying to scare off people with what if and maybe's and if they want they could etc.....
Look at these threads below with info and graph's where some use 90GB per month on an unlimited data plan and so on.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1082690/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/864214/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1068081/

 

[Howdr]

How many times does the same topic has to be discussed and argued over finally?
The 5GB softcap is for data connect cards, aircards etc.....
You're bringing up terms for that and for the data plus and data pro plans that are not relevant to this thread for unlimited iphone data.
People dont seem to get it. There's plenty that use 5-10 and 15GB per month with no problems for years.
What's the point of trying to scare off people with what if and maybe's and if they want they could etc.....
Look at these threads below with info and graph's where some use 90GB per month on an unlimited data plan and so on.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1082690/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/864214/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1068081/

What? these are also on my plan?
At&t Grandfathered my data plan but that does not change the TOS, its not an argument but a fact.

how do you get off as the authority on At&t?

I don't care about one person who claims to use a lot of Data and claims At&t doesn't do anything? People speed and do a lot of things for years and until they get caught this is what they say, once caught At&t can back bill for all that data for months..........

He will cry then.

It is relevant to the question of tethering.

Why do you want to tell people there is no way you will get caught and go ahead and do illegal things? LOL really?

 

[Applejuiced]

What? these are also on my plan?
At&t Grandfathered my data plan but that does not change the TOS, its not an argument but a fact.

how do you get off as the authority on At&t?

Just read the threads and look at the graphs before you post other "myth's" as facts.
People have been tethering and do so for years way over 5GB per month or unlimited iphone plans with no problems. Even though you claim that its not possible or they will flag you and other nonsense.
Where, show me someone who got caught or in trouble for tethering on an unlimited plan.
Look at this guys usage.
But whatever say what you want, maybe you'll scare off some more people into paying
Breach of contract is not illegal, and its not one person getting away with tethering lots of data.
I never said they will never or can never get caught but so far noone has ever been bothered.
Get it thru your head.
Or make up some more users with 1 post to help you out on your argument

 

[Howdr]

Just read the threads and look at the graphs before you post other "myth's" as facts.
People have been tethering and do so for years way over 5GB per month or unlimited iphone plans with no problems. Even though you claim that its not possible or they will flag you and other nonsense.
Where, show me someone who got caught or in trouble for tethering on an unlimited plan.
Look at this guys usage.
But whatever say what you want, maybe you'll scare off some more people into paying
Breach of contract is not illegal, and its not one person getting away with tethering lots of data.
I never said they will never or can never get caught but so far noone has ever been bothered.
Get it thru your head.
Or make up some more users with 1 post to help you out on your argument

There are some posts on ModMyI
if you google there are posts on other forums.

Its BS to say "No One" how could you know? You know millions of users?

Not true some have had these letters, and I posted the only links to the terms and services for all At&t services, its the at&t legal link on my account and the site.


It's against At&t policy and abuse of use to use 90gb like in the thread.

its wrong At&t will never tell anyone its ok to use 90gb a month, its BS, you and I know it.

Why should I go to that thread and post its BS.

Useless.........

I have used 4 to 5gb tethering myself for months and "nothing" happened.

but it doesn't mean I want to get caught, and people should be aware of what they are doing.

At&t can decide your abusing, I said this in the beginning.

 

[err404]

I have spoken to capacity engineers at ATT in the NE area, and according to them, they are logging tethering usage as a part of their routine health monitoring. It's not hard to analyze a packet header to see if it is being routed to another address.
That said, these logs are not used for anything other than capacity planning. I don't think they are seen by anybody outside of the infrastructure teams. Their position was that it's not worth the PR headache to crack down on the small percentage of tethering users.

In short; yes they can see, but don't worry about it. They don't care.

PS. Take this with a grain of salt since I obviously can't back any of it up.

 

[Applejuiced]

I just agreed with you above that it is against their policy and yes it is a breach of contract to tether to other devices without having a tethering plan.
Not illegal like you stated.
Can they do something about it and start cracking down? Yes, offcourse they could.
Till now they havent and many many people have been tethering with JB iphones for free for years that's all.
No need to argue, its a fact that people have been using tetherme, MyWi, PdaNet and many other tethering hacks over the years without a problem and without paying anything extra to AT&T.
Go look at those threads and people's usage graph's if you dont believe.

 

[err404]

Breach of contract is not illegal...

I just want to point out that in a hypothetical situation where a carrier did pursue legal action, it would probably not be for breach of contract. It would be under Theft of Service, a felony...
Your friends at the cable company pushed this through to prevent customers from using the cable signal coming into you home to view content you didn't pay for. There is a strong analogy for Tethering, since you are also going out of your way to obtain a service that you didn't pay for (defined by your TOS). AFAIK this has never been tested in court for cellphone tethering.

I'm not trying to scare anybody, in fact I would be shocked if a carrier took any action at all beyond canceling service. I simply find it interesting.

 

[Applejuiced]

I just want to point out that in a hypothetical situation where a carrier did pursue legal action, it would probably not be for breach of contract. It would be under Theft of Service, a felony...
Your friends at the cable company pushed this through to prevent customers from using the cable signal coming into you home to view content you didn't pay for. There is a strong analogy for Tethering, since you are also going out of your way to obtain a service that you didn't pay for (defined by your TOS). AFAIK this has never been tested in court for cellphone tethering.

I'm not trying to scare anybody, in fact I would be shocked if a carrier took any action at all beyond canceling service. I simply find it interesting.

Yes, that's the beyond extreme case that wont happen.
Most likely they would just terminate your service.

 

[jshel1024]

tethering email

Hi,
I had assumed the Netflix streaming would be safe once they had once it was available for the iphone. I was streaming Netflix long before the app was available.

Here is the email:

We've noticed your service plan may need updating.

Many AT&T customers use their smartphones as a broadband connection for other devices, like laptops, netbooks or other smartphones– a practice commonly known as tethering. Tethering can be an efficient way for our customers to enjoy the benefits of AT&T's mobile broadband network and use more than one device to stay in touch with important people and information. To take advantage of this feature, we require that in addition to a data plan, you also have a tethering plan.

Our records show that you use this capability, but are not subscribed to our tethering plan.

If you would like to continue tethering, please log into
your account online at www.wireless.att.com, or call us
at 1-888-860-6789 Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. CST
or Saturday, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. CST, by March 27, 2011
to sign up for DataPro 4GB for Smartphone Tethering.
Here are details on the plan:

DataPro 4GB for Smartphone Tethering
• $45 per month
(this gives you 4GB in total, combining both your smartphone data plan for $25 and the tethering feature, $20)
• $10 per each additional GB thereafter, added automatically as needed
• Mobile Hotspot capabilities are included for compatible Smartphones
If we don't hear from you, we'll plan to automatically enroll you into DataPro 4GB after March 27, 2011. The new plan – whether you sign up on your own or we automatically enroll you – will replace your current smartphone data plan, including if you are on an unlimited data plan.

If you discontinue tethering, no changes to your current plan will be required.

It's easy to track your usage throughout the month so there are no bill surprises. For example, we send you free text messages when you reach 65, 90, and 100 percent of your plan's threshold. If you would like to monitor your account more closely, go to www.att.com/dataplans to learn about other ways to track your data usage.

As a reminder, our smartphone data plans also include unlimited usage of Wi-Fi at no additional charge. AT&T smartphone customers can use Wi-Fi at home or on-the-go at any one of our more than 23,000 U.S. hotspots already included in your data plan.

Thank you for bringing your account up to date. We appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve your mobile broadband needs.

Sincerely,

AT&T


The text message I received an hour later simply says:

AT&T Free Msgid you know tethering your Smartphone to a computer
requires a tethering plan? Pls Call 888-860-6789 for details or visitatt.com/dataplans.

 

[err404]

@jshel1024
Let me apologize in advance for still being a bit skeptical. I'd like to see if we get others reporting similar responses from AT&T before drawing any conclusion.

That said, with the official tethering option having been just released for iPhone devices, the timing does make some sense. (They can't force a customer to add a feature that isn't offered)

 

[CylonGlitch]

Another thread saying that they got the same thing : https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1119488/

 

[Jtony]

@jshel1024 Let me apologize in advance for still being a bit skeptical. I'd like to s

I received both email and text, I called they told me to discontinue practice , or they will remove my unlimited status on plan , I never admitted to using my phone as a hot spot or tether to a computer , my usage was actually down this month

 

[Howdr]

I just agreed with you above that it is against their policy and yes it is a breach of contract to tether to other devices without having a tethering plan.
Not illegal like you stated.
Can they do something about it and start cracking down? Yes, offcourse they could.
Till now they havent and many many people have been tethering with JB iphones for free for years that's all.
No need to argue, its a fact that people have been using tetherme, MyWi, PdaNet and many other tethering hacks over the years without a problem and without paying anything extra to AT&T.
Go look at those threads and people's usage graph's if you dont believe.

Hey I'm sorry if I got mad, I just think its reasonable to caution people.

I truly think caution is wise.

Also all of sudden there are new posts of the At&t catching people it seems?

 

[Howdr]

I have spoken to capacity engineers at ATT in the NE area, and according to them, they are logging tethering usage as a part of their routine health monitoring. It's not hard to analyze a packet header to see if it is being routed to another address.
That said, these logs are not used for anything other than capacity planning. I don't think they are seen by anybody outside of the infrastructure teams. Their position was that it's not worth the PR headache to crack down on the small percentage of tethering users.

In short; yes they can see, but don't worry about it. They don't care.

PS. Take this with a grain of salt since I obviously can't back any of it up.

New posts make it seem they are using that data to send new emails now.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12184152&posted=1#post12184152