Verizon iPhone Wireless Hotspot to Cost an Additional $20/Month

dbales said:
From what I've read, Taiwan is LIGHT YEARS ahead of the US in telecommunications.
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Pretty much all of the developed world is...

So not only do the phones come locked down to one provider (illegal in plenty of countries) but they also get to tell you how to use your data that you've paid for. What do they care if you're tethered or using the data on your iPhone?

The US is good at making selfish gadgets and then marketing them. In terms of infrastructure, public services, public transport *gasp*, regulating and providing good telecom and broadband services, etc, it's at the bottom of the heap, and getting worse all the time.
 
I would have occasional use for tethering, but not too often. For this I don't want to pay $20 a month. This might be a good deal for tethering power users ... I would like to see some plan where you buy some MB/GB of data with no expiration, something like that would make me switch to whoever is providing it. Or something they have for some (prepaid) 3G Sticks in Europe, where you pay based on usage (15min=xx EUR, 1h=xx EUR, 1week=xxEUR) but not mare than xxEUR per month.
 
WOW! I'd say there is VERY EXPENCIVE in the USA!

I pay 6,90 euros (about same in USD) for my contract witch includes unlimited data at unlimited speed (no tethering restrictions). SMS costs 0,066 euros each and calls 0,066 euros per minute. And got an Android phone for free (HTC Blade)... :D

I thought I never say this but happy to live in Finland :)

Ok, this is maybe the only thing (after health care) which is cheaper here...
 
I left AT&T a year and a half ago when my original iPhone contract ran out. I loved the phone, but I could not get any service at my place of work and in half of my house I got dropped calls too much. So I went to Verizon and got the Droid. I didnt like the phone as much as the iphone, but it was worth having because I got service all the time, and it is actually a pretty good phone, just liked the iPhone better. I paid an extra $100 for my Droid so I could have a 1 year contract instead of 2. Now my contract has been up 2 months and I dont know what I am going to do.

Now that the time has come, I am still debating whether I am going to get it or not. I would have to make another 2 year commitment on a phone that will most likely refresh in 4 months. They are charging for this tethering, which you cant get around without jailbreaking. It was extremely easy for me to download an app on my android phone to use it to tether, for free. But it wont happen with apple and their app store.

/ramble

I know I will get the iphone in 2 weeks. But I know I am a sucker and I shouldnt.
 
dwsolberg said:
When the average user buys 1 GB of data, they tend to use much, much less. Since the mobile company needs to support actual usage (rather than your 1 GB cap), their costs are lower. When you add tethering, data usage on average goes up, and costs go up.

Maybe an analogy would help. Let's say you go to a restaurant that is all-you-can eat up to 6 plates. On average people eat 2 plates of food, but some larger people will eat 6 plates of food. By the above logic, you should be able to take a friend to the restaurant for free because you both will just eat 3 plates of food. If everyone got to bring a friend for free, then the restaurant's food costs would triple (2 plates up to 6 plates).

In this case, the extra friend is equivalent to the extra phone usage of tethering. Technically, you're not going over your limit, but the restaurant or the phone company would still need to spend a lot more money on food or minutes on average.

Your free tethering is just priced into your existing bill. The mobile company must spend money to support the higher data usage of tethering one way or another.
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This analogy sucks....

If you have a 2gb data plan... and add tethering why should it cost you MORE if the data is coming from the same place(or resturant in your example)

Your buffet example would be perfect for unlimited data(which verizon will have temporarily for iphone new comers)

But on a 2gb cap... why does it matter that my data is being used by 5 people instead of one? Once I hit my 2gb limit I am either cut off or charge accordingly?
 
dwsolberg said:
When the average user buys 1 GB of data, they tend to use much, much less. Since the mobile company needs to support actual usage (rather than your 1 GB cap), their costs are lower. When you add tethering, data usage on average goes up, and costs go up.

Maybe an analogy would help. Let's say you go to a restaurant that is all-you-can eat up to 6 plates. On average people eat 2 plates of food, but some larger people will eat 6 plates of food. By the above logic, you should be able to take a friend to the restaurant for free because you both will just eat 3 plates of food. If everyone got to bring a friend for free, then the restaurant's food costs would triple (2 plates up to 6 plates).

In this case, the extra friend is equivalent to the extra phone usage of tethering. Technically, you're not going over your limit, but the restaurant or the phone company would still need to spend a lot more money on food or minutes on average.

Your free tethering is just priced into your existing bill. The mobile company must spend money to support the higher data usage of tethering one way or another.
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No, that's not an accurate analogy because I'm not asking for all you can eat, i'm asking for two meals. If I eat both meals on my iphone or one one on my iPhone and one on my laptop is irrelevant to the restaurant. My 1GB was an example, it could just as easily be 100MB, but which i'd like to use my laptop to access.

Here's an accurate analogy: it's like paying the water company $100 a month for X amount of water, but that only covers baths; if you want to use your water allowance for showering you need to pay the water company $20 a month extra.
 
Ping Guo said:
Pretty much all of the developed world is...

So not only do the phones come locked down to one provider (illegal in plenty of countries) but they also get to tell you how to use your data that you've paid for. What do they care if you're tethered or using the data on your iPhone?

The US is good at making selfish gadgets and then marketing them. In terms of infrastructure, public services, public transport *gasp*, regulating and providing good telecom and broadband services, etc, it's at the bottom of the heap, and getting worse all the time.
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It's real easy for a country the size of a very small US state to have multiple carrier options and vast competitive forces driving down prices. The cost to develop a cellular network that covers the country is miniscule compared to trying to cover a land mass the size of the US. I know it's not the only factor but it is a big one.
 
It's not surprising from either company

jclardy said:
Well, there goes my hopes of free tethering.

I should have figured, it is Verizon we are talking about here.

Now I am just hoping enough iPhone users jump ship from AT&T that they will reduce their tethering charges.
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I knew Verizon would slap on a fee,

but since I'm okay with AT&T, if I renew my iPhone contract in September I'll stick with them.

It is ridiculous and sleazy that both companies charge such a high fee for something they do not offer directly.
 
dwsolberg said:
When the average user buys 1 GB of data, they tend to use much, much less. Since the mobile company needs to support actual usage (rather than your 1 GB cap), their costs are lower. When you add tethering, data usage on average goes up, and costs go up.

Maybe an analogy would help. Let's say you go to a restaurant that is all-you-can eat up to 6 plates. On average people eat 2 plates of food, but some larger people will eat 6 plates of food. By the above logic, you should be able to take a friend to the restaurant for free because you both will just eat 3 plates of food. If everyone got to bring a friend for free, then the restaurant's food costs would triple (2 plates up to 6 plates).

In this case, the extra friend is equivalent to the extra phone usage of tethering. Technically, you're not going over your limit, but the restaurant or the phone company would still need to spend a lot more money on food or minutes on average.

Your free tethering is just priced into your existing bill. The mobile company must spend money to support the higher data usage of tethering one way or another.
Click to expand...


Your buffet analogy makes sense for unlimited data because with unlimited data carriers expect most people to use a small amount. And with unlimited data I would be fine with an additional tethering charge because you are using more data. But AT&T no longer does unlimited data, and with Verizon's plan you are essentially buying 2GB of data to use for tethering, separate from your unlimited data on your phone.

AT&T's deal is like going to a normal fast food restaurant. I pay a set amount for some food ($25 for 2GB). If I want more I have to pay for more ($10 for 1GB extra). At said restaurant they allow me to share my plate of food with my friends because I paid for that food and can do whatever I want with it (Tethering). In fact I could even take it home and eat the leftovers tomorrow. But AT&T does not have rollover data or free tethering at this point.

My complaint is simple, with unlimited data you don't expect everyone to use an infinite amount of data each month, which is a fine assumption. But if you are specifically selling a set amount of data (2GB) you should expect the user to use all of it. If you can't handle that then maybe you should change your data allotment to something you can handle and charge accordingly.
 
DiamondGCoupe said:
Can't accept calls or SMS while you're using the Hot Spot feature.. Seems pretty lame to me!
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/sigh

As has been stated MANY times, calls, text, notifications will come through while tethered or while using data on the phone. The data session will pause and the call will be delivered.
 
My Hotspot is free

I got tired of waiting for the iPhone to come to Verizon, so I bouth a Palm Pre Plus. It was not my first choice, but the price was right and I liked the WebOS.

With my plan I have the Mobile Hotspot for free and a 5GB limit on data through the Hotspot feature. My regular data is unlimited.

It does not surprise me that Verizon wants to charge for the feature for the iPhone. Simply put: because they know people will buy iPhones anyway. The Pre wasn't selling, so they offered it as an enticement.

Capping the Hotspot is no surprise as well. Unlimited data for one phone is much less of an impact than 5 tethered devices pounding the network.
 
Benjy91 said:
I'm just amazed people expected it to be free...
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I'm just amazed people are cool with getting raped.

It's NOT FREE.

I already have a data plan and 2GB.

But if I want to hot-spot you are telling me I need an additional 2GB plan?

So at the end of the month I use say, 500MB of data on my phone, and 500GB on my hot-spot, I'm billed for 2 data plans and I left 3GB on the table, or 1.5GB per data plan.

Just insane that people are fine with that, and even sticking up for the man in a case where the man is bringing the rape stick to bear.
 
May have been asked before, but will this tethering mow through the battery like MyWi does? I would think it is a function of having both radios going so it wouldn't be any different.
 
snouter said:
I'm just amazed people are cool with getting raped.

It's NOT FREE.

I already have a data plan and 2GB.

But if I want to hot-spot you are telling me I need an additional 2GB plan?

So at the end of the month I use say, 500MB of data on my phone, and 500GB on my hot-spot, I'm billed for 2 data plans and I left 3GB on the table, or 1.5GB per data plan.

Just insane that people are fine with that, and even sticking up for the man in a case where the man is bringing the rape stick to bear.
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everyone charges for services like this these days. i bet your employer does it as well and everyone thinks it's OK when they do it
 
I'm looking forward to this feature - it could definitely be useful at times.

Since Australian providers all have free tethering (At least, Vodafone and Optus and 3 definitely do - but Telstra may not) so I hope this is free as well.
 
alent1234 said:
everyone charges for services like this these days. i bet your employer does it as well and everyone thinks it's OK when they do it
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I did not say I was surprised, just there is no real justification for it.

Everyone charges for services like these?

If I buy a banana at the grocery store, I get to eat the whole thing whenever, wherever I want. I don't have to buy the banana again just because I choose to eat it at work for lunch instead of at home.

If I buy a car, I don't have to buy it again, just because I crossed state lines.

Usually, when you buy something, you get to use it.
 
snouter said:
I did not say I was surprised, just there is no real justification for it.

Everyone charges for services like these?

If I buy a banana at the grocery store, I get to eat the whole thing whenever, wherever I want. I don't have to buy the banana again just because I choose to eat it at work for lunch instead of at home.

If I buy a car, I don't have to buy it again, just because I crossed state lines.

Usually, when you buy something, you get to use it.
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Class-Action against these business practices! We shouldn't be able to be bent over like this.
 
Management said:
Class-Action against these business practices! We shouldn't be able to be bent over like this.
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If they can get away with it, they do.

baggage fees for instance

Makes it hard to vote with your wallet when they are all in cahoots until someone breaks the solidarity.
 
Hi- new here. And I am your typical run-of-the-mill consumer, meaning I have no technical knowledge about cell carriers, infrastructure, cell technology, etc.
I'm a VZW customer, and plan to pre-order the iPhone next week. No, I don't care to wait to see what happens this summer. As I said, I'm your typical consumer. I have no idea what the differences are between iPhone versions, so it makes no difference to me. Besides, I have a CrapBerry that's on it's last breath. I am surprised it has lasted this long.
So here's my 1st question...what is this going to end up costing me monthly? We have a family plan right now, and the total cost (including taxes and fees) is around $140. That's unlimited data for two Blackberrys, unlimited texts, and 750 minutes split between the two. We have a work discount of 22%.
When I switch, it's going to be $30 a month for unlimited data (which I like having) and $40 for the voice plan (the cheap one, which we may need more but not much more), and another, what? $10 for unlimited texts? So I'm up to $80 a month just for my phone?
Here's my 2nd question: What exactly counts as a text? For instance, twitter messages and facebook notifications...I have both apps on my phone, but are these counted as texts?

Thanks for the help! As I said, I have no technical knowledge, so your help is appreciated!
 
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