How to Tether and go unnoticed by AT&T?

[macintologist]

I'm not asking HOW to tether, but rather when I do tether, what steps should I take to make sure that AT&T never finds out?

What settings should I use in Safari/Firefox? What should I avoid? Any particular ports I should close, or does it not matter? Is there any piece of software that can help me see how many MBs I'm using in a particular month so that I don't go over a certain amount?

 

[markgamber]

Seriously? Use T-Mobile, then AT&T won't care. Otherwise there's always the risk. Practically, just keep your usage below 5gb a month. There's safety in numbers.

 

[rotobadger]

They probably employ software that looks for specific patterns or spikes in data usage. If that software flags your account they look more closely at it. I think there is no way of hiding what you are doing other than keeping data transfer down to a minimum.

 

[macintologist]

Is there an app on the Mac that can block all ports except 80, 25, etc?

 

[TheConfuzed1]

Just make sure that you're not running any bandwidth hogs.

Turn off any P2P, don't stream a lot of video/audio, and stay away from WoW.

If you're just checking/ sending email, and surfing the web, you'll be just fine.

 

[ViViDboarder]

Yes. There is an app. System Prefs. You can setup the firewall to block all traffic other than those ports.

Go to System Preferences and then Security, then Firewall. You can then set specific apps or whatever you want.

 

[firstapple]

I would agree.. The best way to be sure AT&T doesn't catch on is by not racking up a lot of Data transfer GB's every month.

If they see you racking up 10GB/month, then you will probably be caught.

 

[plumbingandtech]

ATT is installing new profile technology to go along with the official tether rollout.

Enjoy it while you can I guess, since if they catch you when the new tether/profile is launched, they will give you a warning, then close your account if you continue.