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iPhone Tethering: Staying Hidden

T

Thepoobear

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 30, 2013
282
0
Hey guys,
I have been reading up on theory over how carriers detect tethering despite tethering apps hiding it.

Seems that carriers look for sudden spikes in usage. This got me wondering...What if I spent a week just KILLING my unlimited LTE data and THEN start tethering?

I'm on sprint and now have LTE where I live. I could run up a large data usage legit through my phone so that sprint can't claim that my sudden spike is tethering.

Anyone have any thoughts on this, outside of morality?
 
Thepoobear said:
Hey guys,
I have been reading up on theory over how carriers detect tethering despite tethering apps hiding it.

Seems that carriers look for sudden spikes in usage. This got me wondering...What if I spent a week just KILLING my unlimited LTE data and THEN start tethering?

I'm on sprint and now have LTE where I live. I could run up a large data usage legit through my phone so that sprint can't claim that my sudden spike is tethering.

Anyone have any thoughts on this, outside of morality?
Click to expand...

IMHO, moral to me. They rob us blind.
 
Here's the approach I use. I pay Sprint $20 a month for a 2GB hotspot. But I also have TetherMe. If Sprint were to look they would see that I legitimately pay for a 2GB tethering option so they can expect to see tethering data from my phone because that's what I am paying for.

As to whether it seems I'm EXCEEDING 2GB or not…well, that's what TetherMe is for.
 
eyoungren said:
Here's the approach I use. I pay Sprint $20 a month for a 2GB hotspot. But I also have TetherMe. If Sprint were to look they would see that I legitimately pay for a 2GB tethering option so they can expect to see tethering data from my phone because that's what I am paying for.

As to whether it seems I'm EXCEEDING 2GB or not…well, that's what TetherMe is for.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...I would think that tether data is sent differently than phone data.

All the apps claim to send data through phone settings rather than hotspot, yet people still get caught. Either the app devs are lying, or the carriers have another ace.

I'm up to 1.1Gb so far this month just screwing around via LTE. I'll push it to 5GB and then try out TetherMe once Cydia lets me buy it.

Anyone have a good reason why this may backfire?
 
Thepoobear said:
Hey guys,
I have been reading up on theory over how carriers detect tethering despite tethering apps hiding it.

Seems that carriers look for sudden spikes in usage. This got me wondering...What if I spent a week just KILLING my unlimited LTE data and THEN start tethering?

I'm on sprint and now have LTE where I live. I could run up a large data usage legit through my phone so that sprint can't claim that my sudden spike is tethering.

Anyone have any thoughts on this, outside of morality?
Click to expand...

You just have to be smart about how you hide your tethering, I use 30Gb - 50GB on T-Mobile Prepaid using TetherMe on a Jailbroken iPhone and passing the data using a VPN. Never been caught, warned, or terminated.
 
Just do it. I have Sprint and I use a constant 40GB or more a month and have from the Easy Tether app for a year and a half now.
 
It doesn't truly matter, they take a guess if you are tethering or not but they can't prove anything. I actually have never been caught even tho there are times i use gigs of data because i do use a lot of data regardless. And even if they were to send a text about it they can't do anything because for all they know it was normal data usage i was doing.
 
Tethering: Staying Hidden

goobot said:
It doesn't truly matter, they take a guess if you are tethering or not but they can't prove anything. I actually have never been caught even tho there are times i use gigs of data because i do use a lot of data regardless. And even if they were to send a text about it they can't do anything because for all they know it was normal data usage i was doing.
Click to expand...


With all do respect tell that to the many who have been caught and something was done or threatened to be done at least on AT&T
 
Could you post a link showing where they have actually done something other than send a text advertising their tethering plans? I never heard of them actually doing something.
 
Tethering: Staying Hidden

goobot said:
Could you post a link showing where they have actually done something other than send a text advertising their tethering plans? I never heard of them actually doing something.
Click to expand...


I should clarify that I was referring to those who have the old unlimited data plan on Att (such as myself, although I've never tethered that much on Att. I use verizon for that)

But there have been posts on forums such as this and others where such claims etc were made. Even found one on Reddit from 8 months ago but there nonetheless.

http://forums.att.com/t5/Wireless-G...ethering-and-Unlimited-Data-Plan/td-p/3413335


http://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/1df7nu/att_threatens_to_cancel_unlimited_plan_because/

Another.


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2591945
 
Last edited:
Is anyone using tetherme with T-Mobile? After I used the free 200mb hotspot that's on most t-mobile data plans, I got the upgrade screen from t-mobile. I thought tether me is suppose to circumvent this?
 
cnotes2019 said:
Big question is how many Att folks tether ridiculously and never been caught?
Click to expand...

I use a ton of data a month just using the phone alone (15 gb a month). I use MyWi to tether periodically. I only tether to my iPad, never a desktop, so I think the data usage looks virtually identical to when I am just using my phone. I hear that tethering to a desktop or laptop uses a lot more data.
 
I used a VPN for 6 bucks a month - privateinternetaccess. That masks my data so it all looks like phone data. Connect to them on all of your remote devices, not the phone. MyWi hasnt let me down yet doing this.
 
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