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tethering question (contract breech)

A

almostaskater62

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 15, 2007
205
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I've read that thethering is a breech of contract, at least with ATT. My question is how would they know you've thethered the connection, and given I have unlimited data what would the fine/punishment be?


Thanks
 
almostaskater62 said:
I've read that thethering is a breech of contract, at least with ATT. My question is how would they know you've thethered the connection, and given I have unlimited data what would the fine/punishment be?


Thanks
Click to expand...

It's possible they could tell by seeing your phone's connection is using a browser that's not iPhone Safari, but I'd be enormously surprised if they would ever check this, and moderately surprised if they actually -can- do this. The biggest worry is probably going over the 'unlimited' data plan, which is actually 5 gb/month.
 
It would be hard to go over 5 gigs wouldn't it? Assuming you don't download movies and stuff over the edge connection?
 
almostaskater62 said:
It would be hard to go over 5 gigs wouldn't it? Assuming you don't download movies and stuff over the edge connection?
Click to expand...

Probably as long as you're not downloading torrents or constantly watching streaming TV you'd be okay.

You can always check how you're doing on bandwidth by going on your iPhone to Settings > General > Usage and scrolling down to Cellular Network Data and adding up the Sent and Received values (although this will tell you what you've used and not how much you have left, it should give you a pretty good idea).
 
evangw said:
It's possible they could tell by seeing your phone's connection is using a browser that's not iPhone Safari, but I'd be enormously surprised if they would ever check this, and moderately surprised if they actually -can- do this. The biggest worry is probably going over the 'unlimited' data plan, which is actually 5 gb/month.
Click to expand...

Other programs on your phone access the internet too.

They can not tell. They probably wouldn't even care if you went into an AT&T store and told them you tethered.
 
it's actually surprisingly easy, i got it working. it sometimes messes up and i have to quit terminal and reenter the command, but overall easy.

i'm posting this from a tethered macbook at an airport actually :)
 
from what I have ben told by my friend who owns a cellphone store att can tell becouse the computer will pull down information or try to pull down information at a faster rate. second the statement about 5gigs is wrong according to my info. if you look at the att website is says 5gig limit but if you click more info it shows that there are no charges for overage there by making it truely unlimited.
 
?

Does the old tethering process take advantage of new 3G technology? Perhaps a stupid question, but I am curious.
 
assuming at&t offers free wifi to iphone customers in starbucks can you tether this way and eliminate the 5GB cap and get better speeds.
 
eckstei4 said:
from what I have ben told by my friend who owns a cellphone store att can tell becouse the computer will pull down information or try to pull down information at a faster rate. second the statement about 5gigs is wrong according to my info. if you look at the att website is says 5gig limit but if you click more info it shows that there are no charges for overage there by making it truely unlimited.
Click to expand...
It might be "unlimited" but if you start going over 5gb a month, I bet they get a flag and keep a closer eye on you.
 
sooo im wondering what if you tethered your phone, and got caught and AT&T decided that you have breached your contract. What then? They just terminate your contract and you walk away with a subsidized iPhone?

Sounds like a good plan to me....
 
wako said:
sooo im wondering what if you tethered your phone, and got caught and AT&T decided that you have breached your contract. What then? They just terminate your contract and you walk away with a subsidized iPhone?

Sounds like a good plan to me....
Click to expand...

no they will ETF you because you broke the contract
 
magiic said:
no they will ETF you because you broke the contract
Click to expand...

EDIT: i realize you were talking about breach of contract based on tethering... sorry.

this isn't correct. i've seen AT&T initiate terminations based both on off network roaming and excessive data usage. in all cases at&t did not charge the customer an early termination fee. doing so would likely lead to a costly (and righteous) class action suit and at&t knows this.

what typically happens is at&t will send correspondence (a letter) stating the excessive usage is extremely costly and doesn't generate positive revenue. they first ask that you reduce usage. if you do not they send one more warning letter and someone from customer service calls you. if you don't reduce after that they send a letter explaining their intent to discontinue service and the simply close out your account. they make no attempt to recover the cost of the phone or the phone itself. i've seen them do this 3 times for off network roaming and 2 times for excessive aircard data usage. it's a very cordial process and the customers are usually pretty understanding. kinda like "hey thanks for your business, but you cost too much money to maintain. good luck with a different carrier."
 
Some people around here have answered this question for me and others. Frankly I guess it comes down to AT&T noticing an increase in usage or something. I wouldn't think of tethering and downloading torrents or anything like that. Maybe a song file here and there, but I do that now on my phone via wifi. That said, I called AT&T about another unrelated issue and asked about tethering.

You see, if you're nice and perhaps slightly...well, nice, on the phone with these people then they usually help you out a bit. This guy told me they can tell but it has to be excessive. At that point they will rip your data plan away from you and start charging by the KB. :eek: Then he asked for my number...considering my phone provider had to ask for my number I declined. Too bad he was stupid. Stupid isn't cute.
 
I'm currious as to why you'd want to tether if you had an iPhone... I can do everything I want on my phone already. The only things that, in a pinch, I would bother with tethering for would be, email, checking an important website, or getting a video stream. The only thing you can't do on the phone right out is play flash...
 
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