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Tethering Prorated?

V

vtstarck

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 16, 2009
218
8
I was wondering if anyone knows if tethering is prorated on AT&T? For example, if you start tethering half-way through your billing cycle - will you only be charged $10 extra? Similarly, what happens if you cancel tethering half-way through?

If tethering is prorated, it seems like a no-brainer to sign up for it the day you need it and then go back to the 2GB plan when you don't. Assuming you have either lost the unlimited data or you don't come close to reaching that cap, it really makes it seem like tethering is a good deal.
 
I asked the same question a while ago, but got no answer.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1113702/

Hopefully someone can answer this. I'm pretty sure that turning it on was prorated, as the myAT&T app says that it can't show my data useage. I get the message "Due to the recent change to your data feature, we are unable to display usage information until after your next billing cycle begins. (UD1536)"

I wonder what the data allowed is. Is it prorated as well? I rarely go over 2GB and would only tether occasionally...so I wondered the same thing. And it's extremely easy to change your plan with the app. I could just turn it on for a day or two and than turn it back off when not needed. I was thinking of turning it off before the end of the month just to see how it's handled on my bill.
 
Exactly.

Are the costs prorated?
Is the data prorated?

If costs are prorated that works out to about 67 cents per day of tethering.
If data is prorated that works out to about 68 MB per day of tethering.
 
All of my data plan changes have been pro-rated to that day of the cycle, both in terms of cost and data allotment.
 
I just went back from the tethering plan to the standard 2GB plan using the myAT&T app on the phone. Takes just a few seconds to change your plan. So I had it for about 14 days of the billing cycle. Will see how it works out on the bill. May try to turn it on and then back off again one more time before the end of the month.

Once I turned it off, I went into Settings on my iPhone. The Personal Hotspot line was still there, but as soon as I clicked on it, it went to the Personal Hotspot page for just a second and then disappeared. Now Personal Hotspot no longer appears in my Settings menu.

If indeed the charges are prorated on my bill, I'll post here. It would be great if the feature could be turned on and off just on the occasional times it's needed.
 
I turned it on on 3/10 and back off on 2/25 and this is what shows on my bill. So it seems that everyting is prorated....I can't imagine how long this would be if you did it several times per month.

Adjustment for DataPro 4GB for iPhone 03/25-04/01 -10.50 -10.50
Includes:
4 gigabytes of domestic data including tethering and mobile hotspot, $10 each additional 1 gigabyte of data , unlimited domestic data on the AT&T Wi-Fi Basic Network, Visual Voicemail.
DataPro 4GB for iPhone 03/10-04/01 33.00 33.00
Includes:
4 gigabytes of domestic data including tethering and mobile hotspot, $10 each additional 1 gigabyte of data , unlimited domestic data on the AT&T Wi-Fi Basic Network, Visual Voicemail.
Adjustment for DataPro 2GB for iPhone 03/11-04/01 -14.00 -14.00
Includes:
2 gigabytes of domestic data, $10 each additional 1 gigabyte of data, unlimited data on the AT&T Wi-Fi Basic Network, Visual Voicemail.
DataPro 2GB for iPhone 03/24-04/01 6.67 6.67
Includes:
2 gigabytes of domestic data, $10 each additional 1 gigabyte of data, unlimited data on the AT&T Wi-Fi Basic Network, Visual Voicemail.
DataPro 2GB for iPhone 04/02-05/01 25.00 25.00
Includes:
2 gigabytes of domestic data, $10 each additional 1 gigabyte of data, unlimited data on the AT&T Wi-Fi Basic Network, Visual Voicemail.
 
Applejuiced said:
Yes you gotta give it up, you cant keep the unlmited and add tethering.
You gotta drop down to the 2GB plan.
And if you do there's no going back to unlimited.
Also all services and charges on AT&T and most carriers are prorated.
Click to expand...
I know that this is minor point, but this is not quite accurate. I mention this because people have suggested that it is unfair for tethering to be an 'option' for the 2GB plan, but not for the unlimited plan. Strictly speaking, this argument is not valid. Tethering can not be "added" to either the 2GB plan or the unlimited plan. In fact tethering is not an add-on feature at all. Rather there is a separate 4GB plan that includes tethering as a standard component.

This changes the nature of the 'fairness' question. The correct question is whether it is fair for different data plans to include different features. Unfortunately this argument isn't nearly as strong.

And yes, I can confirm that the change is prorated.
 
Last edited:
However you want to say it, it still stands that tethering is not an option for people with unlimited plans. There is no unlimited on phone+2GB tethering. If it was offered or the user didn't have to lose their unlimited if s/he temporarily switched to the 4GB tethering plan, there would be a stronger argument against the use of the tethering programs.
err404 said:
I know that this is minor point, but this is not quite accurate. I mention this because people have suggested that it is unfair for tethering to be an 'option' for the 2GB plan, but not for the unlimited plan. Strictly speaking, this argument is not valid. Tethering can not be "added" to either the 2GB plan or the unlimited plan. In fact tethering is not an add-on feature at all. Rather there is a separate 4GB plan that includes tethering as a standard component.

This changes the nature of the 'fairness' question. The correct question is whether it is fair for different data plans to include different features. Unfortunately this argument isn't nearly as strong.

And yes, I can confirm that the change is prorated.
Click to expand...
 
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