Tethering Charges

[jimleszczynski]

I've enabled tethering via the profile from the website visited on the iPhone. Everything works great! Now, I'm just curious as to wether I should be expecting a random charge on my bill this month.

Has anyone else gotten charges for internet tethering yet?

 

[SeanMcC]

If you stay under 5GB per month you should be fine. For now..

 

[-aggie-]

I've enabled tethering via the profile from the website visited on the iPhone. Everything works great! Now, I'm just curious as to wether I should be expecting a random charge on my bill this month.

Has anyone else gotten charges for internet tethering yet?

If you stay under 5GB per month you should be fine. For now..

No one really knows what AT&T is going to do. Using tethering on the iPhone is a violation of the TOS. Whether they'll do anything about that has been debated ad nauseum on these forums.

 

[Roosterfosho]

What website would you be speaking of?

 

[jimleszczynski]

If you stay under 5GB per month you should be fine. For now..

where is this statistic from? and how exactly are you supposed to determine how much data is being transfered?

 

[Kyeris]

Go online and check your usage with AT&T, click on Data, you'll get a usage in MB (or GB if you've gone over 1024MB)

 

[SeanMcC]

where is this statistic from? and how exactly are you supposed to determine how much data is being transfered?

Settings, General, Usage.

Add the Sent and Received. Just be sure to reset it when your bill turns over.

 

[jimleszczynski]

Go online and check your usage with AT&T, click on Data, you'll get a usage in MB (or GB if you've gone over 1024MB)

Ya, I just tried that. So basically as long as I stay under the 5GB soft cap. They will not review my account? and I should be ok?

If they were to notice. Obviously my contract would be in violation. But what else could/would they possibly do.

 

[SeanMcC]

Ya, I just tried that. So basically as long as I stay under the 5GB soft cap. They will not review my account? and I should be ok?

If they were to notice. Obviously my contract would be in violation. But what else could/would they possibly do.

There is no way to guarantee they will not review your account or question your activity.

They could charge you fees for excessive use and terminate your service.

 

[SpaceKitty]

Ya, I just tried that. So basically as long as I stay under the 5GB soft cap. They will not review my account? and I should be ok?

If they were to notice. Obviously my contract would be in violation. But what else could/would they possibly do.

STOP THE RUMORS! There is no 5GB soft cap for the iPhone. It is true unlimited usage with AT&T and the iPhone.

 

[-aggie-]

Settings, General, Usage.

Add the Sent and Received. Just be sure to reset it when your bill turns over.

Not true from the threads on here about tethering. Supposedly, tethering doesn't show up in usage. You can maybe see it in your account in AT&T but that's somewhat after the fact, if you can even see it there. I don't have tethering, so I'm only reporting what others have said that do.

 

[jimleszczynski]

STOP THE RUMORS! There is no 5GB soft cap for the iPhone. It is true unlimited usage with AT&T and the iPhone.

you are correct in saying that it is unlimited. However, it does not mean they may not review your account after a 5GB data usage.
(or so I've read online)

 

[SFStateStudent]

Well, if it's anything like going over on your "text messaging plan of 200 messages" several years back, then they'll charge for the overage; then threaten to shutdown your services or you can upgrade your account to the tune of an additional $30-$35 per month.....

 

[-aggie-]

Ya, I just tried that. So basically as long as I stay under the 5GB soft cap. They will not review my account? and I should be ok?

If they were to notice. Obviously my contract would be in violation. But what else could/would they possibly do.

There IS NO SOFT CAP. These are just rumors put out that keep getting repeated. NO ONE has a link to state this. The TOS does not state this.

 

[jimleszczynski]

There IS NO SOFT CAP. These are just rumors put out that keep getting repeated. NO ONE has a link to state this. The TOS does not state this.

I see. Its always a pain trying to determine the bull **** from fact.

 

[SeanMcC]

Would you rather play it safe and believe the 5GB rumors or go data-crazy and rack yourself up a $1,000 phone bill getting the attention of AT&T and having your account shut down for violation of tos?

 

[jimleszczynski]

A Better Question.

I suppose a more appropriate way to approach this question. would be...

Has anyone had charges to their accounts for tethering yet?

 

[SFStateStudent]

There seems to be a 5GB cap on phones that are already setup for tethering. Maybe this is where the cap is coming from at this time:

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/popup/dataconnect-comp-table.jsp

 

[-aggie-]

I suppose a more appropriate way to approach this question. would be...

Has anyone had charges to their accounts for tethering yet?

I don't think anyone has or we would have heard about it.

 

[SeanMcC]

There seems to be a 5GB cap on phones that are already setup for tethering. Maybe this is where the cap is coming from at this time:

http://www.wireless.att.com/businesscenter/popup/dataconnect-comp-table.jsp

The argument is that those are all non iPhone data plans, and there is no official published mention of a 5GB cap for iPhone data plans.

 

[SFStateStudent]

The argument is that those are all non iPhone data plans, and there is no official published mention of a 5GB cap for iPhone data plans.

That maybe so; I'm concerned that AT&T will follow suit with previous smartphone tethering, as they did with bumping the data plan charges for the iPhones from $20 per month to $30 per month....

 

[letsmod]

There IS NO SOFT CAP. These are just rumors put out that keep getting repeated. NO ONE has a link to state this. The TOS does not state this.

comcast doesnt say there is a limit either, but they wont hesitate shutting you off for reaching there non exitant bandwidth limit, I know this from personal experience.

 

[SeanMcC]

That maybe so; I'm concerned that AT&T will follow suit with previous smartphone tethering, as they did with bumping the data plan charges for the iPhones from $20 per month to $30 per month....

The data plan should stay the same, but tethering would be an additional fee ($55/month). So you're looking at $85/month if you want tethering..

http://www.pcworld.com/article/167001/iphone_tethering_do_you_really_need_it.html

 

[-aggie-]

From the TOS:

"Furthermore, plans(unless specifically designated for tethering usage) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device (through use of, including without limitation, connection kits, other phone/PDA-to computer accessories, BLUETOOTH® or any other wireless technology) to Personal Computers (including without limitation, laptops), or other equipment for any purpose."

The iPhone is not specifically designated for tethering.

The 5 GB limits people are putting out are for air cards and the plans that a poster posted above (thanks for somewhat settling where the soft cap limit rumors are coming from!). We know nothing about what AT&T will do for the AT&T. Anything before they tell us if pure speculation.

 

[-aggie-]

comcast doesnt say there is a limit either, but they wont hesitate shutting you off for reaching there non exitant bandwidth limit, I know this from personal experience.

You should've got a lawyer, because I wonder how they would've defended that case. At least, they might have settled with you.