Tethering

[Goldenbear]

...Tethering is prohibited on the iPhone plan so be prepared for your service to be dropped or you to get a massive bill when AT&T finds out. The only plans that allow tethering are $80/mo and up for the data. You can bet on a $20 data plan for a phone that has no ability to tether, they're going to be watching for overuse like this. Seeing as the iPhone plans are so cheap because you are not accessing the 3G network, a lot of 3G useage could get you in deep with AT&T.

I was wondering about this. As is typical for most people, I didn't bother fully reading the details of my contract. Where does it specifically prohibit tethering?

As mentioned in another thread, I used to tether to an old Siemens S56 over GPRS for free (yes, it was slow, but it worked fine for email). Cingular specifically told me it was OK to do. I'm on the same family plan, except one line was upgraded for the iPhone. I suppose there could be new limitations because of that.

I'm eligible for a "free phone", so I was thinking of picking up a refurbished Samsung SYNC for $20. I'm tired of paying $10/day for broadband access while traveling.

 

[Juvenile]

Juvenile - How is it a pain to tether to a laptop with the BlackJack? Just the PITA of swapping the card or something else?

This would be for a PC laptop with hopefully a Mac down the road. IDK if there's a difference in difficulty between the 2. This wouldn't be done on a daily basis, etc. Just once in a while. 2-3 times a month for a few minutes, etc.

Just a PITA like you said. Finding a paperclip, swapping the card and waiting for the (very slow) Win Mobile to load on the BJ.

As to AT&T blocking service, i highly doubt that will happen. They should offer a soution to tether or just charge me $50 for the data plan as they did in the past.

 

[badtzmaru]

wait wait wait, forgive me for being slow...so i can pop the SIM from my iPhone and put it in another phone and use that one for tethering??

 

[Juvenile]

Yes, as long as the phone you install the sim card in is a tethering compatible phone. That is, until AT&T blocks that function.

One thing I failed to mention. After I first tethered on my BJ, i got a text from AT&T that was illegible (numerous random characters). It seemend like a "what the heck are you doing" message to me. I also am unable to view my data usage on the cingular site due to "recent change in your rate plan", although that may be for everyone.