Related
I have recently discovered how to use my phone as a modem on my laptop, and use the dataplan. I have unlimited data usage. the question i'm asking is: would they do anything when they find out there's a lot of data being used on my behalf. Also i've looked through O2's t&c's and all it says is fair usage, no actual figure of how much data per month you are allowed. could someone just give me some insightful info.
Thanks,
Joel
Also would using a bluetooth connection maybe make me less inconspicuous as there is a maximum data transfer rate of 56 kilo BYTES using bluetooth, where as O2 has a maximum HSDPA speed of 1.8 mega BITS (around 180 kilo BYTES per second). So maybe staying away from a cable would be slightly beneficial?
from their side it should just show that it's your phone which request and recieve all the data your laptop request thats the nature of using it as a router/modem
what do you mean?
Whoa!!
I used my phone with the Internet Sharing for a couple of days just to check my email and do a little browsing (While I was away in Cornwall).
And I got charged even though i've got unlimited data plan.
According to the O2 they can charge me if I use the phone as a tethered modem. As to how they know the difference between the phones browser and a laptop using it's connection I don't know
blink182_joel said:
what do you mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He means they won't know a thing!
Basically, using laptop to access is the same as using the phone but plus convenient.
THJahar said:
Whoa!!
I used my phone with the Internet Sharing for a couple of days just to check my email and do a little browsing (While I was away in Cornwall).
And I got charged even though i've got unlimited data plan.
According to the O2 they can charge me if I use the phone as a tethered modem. As to how they know the difference between the phones browser and a laptop using it's connection I don't know
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May be you could try changing UserAgent on you browser to match opera and see if that works.
I've recieved a warning.. kind of
It reads
O2: Due to your daily data usage being extremely high following our previous warning
Thats it!
I've had no other warnings to my knowledge.
I called to enquire what the meaning of the above message. The call centre op said it was to do with my data usage and Asked me if i was using my phone as a modem
I've been with o2 for many years, and have used my phone as a modem for the entire time
I don't fully believe they can tell what you're doing with your phone, surely if they knew the call centre op would have pointed this out.
But I do believe i have put myself above the radar by DLing the latest episode of Heroes on Tuesday night!! (I was stopping in a hotel and I was bored!)
ha ha brilliant. so... has anyone measured their download speed if so what's the highest you've achieved? i'm intrigued...
I was told the "unlimited" plan was subject to a fair usage policy which was around 300mb a month or so, up to 400 would not be unreasonable the chap said... but I have not even got near that yet... yet...
The only way they can tell your phone is being used as a modem is as a result of the high usage. There is nothing to say that you cannt use your phone as a modem and the only restriction is the unlimited data plan bolt-on's fair usage policy. The policy isn't a set figure from what I have been told, it's a determined level of data allowance based upon your tariff, minutes and texts and your usage on the contract. What I'm not sure of id whether the fair usage figure goes up as you use more minutes and texts. However, I think it is raised by how much your tariff and average monthly spend is.
All I can suggest is not using a phone as a modem other than in an emergency, such as in a power cut....which there are barely any of in the UK.
I work for o2...The official line is your not supposed to do it.
Fair usage policy is 230 MB. It has been set at an amount that a phone alone would never use in a month.
Problem with laptops and PC's is they consume much larger quantities of data, when browsing. The biggest culprit is Auto Windows Update, you can be unaware that this can run in the background downlaoding updates for programs.
If Microsoft releases a service pack for windows or office, that can easily be more than your whole monthly allowance in a matter of minutes.
Theoretically they can charge you £3 for every MB you go over...thus a windows service pack could cost you up £200 to £300.
In the UK they dont often do this, they send polite text messages instead. However do this abroad and they will charge you every time.
Dont worry I wont tell
berrrtie said:
But I do believe i have put myself above the radar by DLing the latest episode of Heroes on Tuesday night!! (I was stopping in a hotel and I was bored!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YOU MUPPET!
Seriously, torrents are huge hogs of bandwidth so it's no wonder that O2 latched onto you. 350MB seeded back to 1:1 is 700MB total. Even if you got it from newsgroups it would still kill your bandwidth allocation. I know it's not what you want to hear but READ your terms and conditions in future! It's made quite plain that you're not to use the phone tethered to a laptop.
I've been using my mobile internet quite heavily and my account panel says I'm hardly using anything (maybe 5MB per day if I'm lucky). 230MB/month sounds like a reasonable level and thank you for confirming it Mark. Everyone knew it was *around* 200MB but no-one seemed to know exactly how much.
Mark A Cilenti said:
I work for o2...The official line is your not supposed to do it.
Fair usage policy is 230 MB. It has been set at an amount that a phone alone would never use in a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would think that with todays phones (especially like the x1) they would up this... eg if I use Edge or HSDPA and I would like to download some of the RSS feeds i have and some of them have podcasts (Chinese for language learning) then I can use that allowance in a very very short time... all with just my phone... is the allowance a hang over from the wap type of phones...??
BBC had to stop iplayer going out over GPRS because of download quanitities.
o2 have another data bolt on called Web Max, and its £30 and I think the domestic UK limit on it is around 3GB, it was the for-runner to USB Mobile Broadband.
Data Bolt On Terms
* A maximum of one Data Bolt On can be added at any one time.
* The Web Bolt On allows you unlimited use of Telefónica O2 UK Limited's Edge/GPRS/ 3G networks (as applicable to your handset), for personal internet use via your mobile phone. All usage must be for your private, personal and non-commercial purposes. You may not use your SIM Card:
o in, or connected to, any other device including modems;
o to allow the continuous streaming of any audio / video content, enable Voice over Internet (Voip), P2P or file sharing; or
o in such a way that adversely impacts the service to other O2 customers.
Source : o2.co.uk
I am on the web bolt-on and I have used VoIP and streaming of video and music over the HSDPA network of O2 and I have not seen them charging me in my monthly bill.
I guess they have a way to detect if the device is being used as a modem but the question is how?! Perhaps the only curlprit here is the excessive usage that flagged it up on the system but the same usage could be done using the X1i with a torrent client on the actual device, no?
No such thing has unlimited...
altho o2 still states unlimited, 200mb has also been mentioned on the website..
I guess it just depends how lucky your are..
mkouk said:
I am on the web bolt-on and I have used VoIP and streaming of video and music over the HSDPA network of O2 and I have not seen them charging me in my monthly bill.
I guess they have a way to detect if the device is being used as a modem but the question is how?! Perhaps the only curlprit here is the excessive usage that flagged it up on the system but the same usage could be done using the X1i with a torrent client on the actual device, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whilst the easiest way will be useage, they can also spot which ports you are using, so stuff like BitTorrent should be detectable.
on o2 uk it says you must not connect it to a laptop
Hi,
my mobile service provider sent me a bill, wich contains 6GB data transfer (and I have no flat-rate). I'm 100% shure, that I didn't caused that data traffic.
Are there log-files for data transfers at the Touch HD device? I used the "standard" ROM with no traffic manager installed.
Thanks for you help.
Regards
hqqh
hi, as far as i am aware, there is no inbuilt logs of data transfer
but 6GB?!?!?!?!? what on earth have you been doing with your device? using it as a modem for a desktop pc???? downloading loads of video on it?
i thought i was pretty having at surfing, emailing (no attachments thats just silly) etc etc and i dont get through my allowance of 500MB per month
seems an awful lot of data transfer, if you are not sure you've used this up, then i would challenge your service provider
an idea of data usage is here:
http://online.vodafone.co.uk/dispat...fpb=true&_pageLabel=template09&pageID=MB_0005
but also consider that this is a 3g usb stick for a full size pc, the data usage on a pda should be considerably less for the same sort of usage as you are less likely to have such big files going back and forth
i used that to guestimate that to use 6gb you must have.....
surfed for 5 hours daily, sent 30 emails daily, downloaded 100 mp3 each month, downloaded 50 high res pics each month and downloaded 4 movies each month
that or youve been watching shed loads of streaming porn!
seriously, its not unknown for service providers to get their data billing wrong.....
just a thought, you havent got it setup as a mobile hotspot or something?
Sh*t - 6GB Data transfer?? Reply to Thread
Hi,
thanks for you answer.
I don't use the HD as modem or mobile internet device. Only if I have a wlan connection, I check my emails or some news pages!
This 6GB download should be taken place at one day according to the bill. If you take the theoretical download speed of 7,2MBit/sec this should have taken about 2 hours. But I this under real conditions a bandwidth of 7,2MBit/sec * 0,5 or 0,3 --> I should have downloaded or streamed 5 - 7 hours.
So my plan is to do not pay for these 6GB (580€) and then the moblie service provider has to check the technical equipment. Hopefully there is an error .
Does someone has experience with not correct bills?
Regards
hqqh
i had an incorrect bill, hence my reply
i told them what you are saying basically... that i could not have shifted that much data overnight while i was asleep (i cant remember how much it was now, several hundred MB i think.... which while possible i knew i did not do due to the times the data was transferred.... that was with the HTC Charmer which didnt havent wifi so couldnt have been hacked over wifi somehow (bluetooth was permantly off and unless you were stood outside my front door, you would connect via BT anyway)
they didnt argue and credited my bill
as you are talking about 580euros, then persoanlly i would put a block on the direct debit or however you pay your bill to make sure they dont take the payment then challenge them... this action could mean you breach your contract though
what ever you do dont just not pay them and wait for them to contact you... i would ring your service provider now if i was you
I do a lot of browsing and I often watch a few YouTube videos each month and I've never really gone over 1GB, so something very strange must have happened for that much data to have been used, especially if you don't even browse the web or anything.
Can they deliver to you a detailed bill with when you have downloaded these 6gb.
I use internet access alot, and I reach my 5OOmb limit only one month over 12. It was when I have used alot poping email with big attached files.
You said you that you sometimes alless the net on wifi. But are you sure that you are using only wifi and not gprs.
The best solution for you for the future is to deactivate gprs data access. You will find tools to do it like HDTweak or others.
hi
as you can usually see sms volumes in and out or call durations called and received on standard mobile, can you view the current or total data volumes sent/received in the hd2...im sure my reasonable usage contract is going to be challenged this month having just got ny hd2 and cant stop playing with it...thanks
Try this...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=4980517&postcount=2
Edit:
The developer's website http://www.efficasoft.com/
thanks. ill give that a try
I had a reasonable usage data plan from o2 for 3 or 4 years now.
No problems there and I used all my HTC devices as internet dongle.
Boy do I abuse it however for me it is fair usage I use it fairly for my entertainment.
cool...i'll keep hammering my data usage then...resonably of course
do you keep your data connections open all the time...as im currently turning them off when im done via comms mgr? all my time/weather updates are set to manual
PTK100 said:
do you keep your data connections open all the time...as im currently turning them off when im done via comms mgr? all my time/weather updates are set to manual
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He no, can not be bothered. Auto logon to facebook, youtube, auto download for weather and internet time sync. QuickGPS is also set to download when needed.
All, except quickGPS, have one exception and that is if roaming do not do anything.
Their main problem is skype phone calls (not chat) and if you start downloading torrents or other big files.
As my previous job was mainly away from home for a week and back on weekend at those times I did even get some torrents going but only at night.
O2 are the best for "fair use" though. Most (NB not all!) of the others offer between 512MB and 1GB per month. O2 offer 3GB.
I do about 1-2GB a month, so that's perfect for me. Might start downloading Lost on my phone when it comes back on next month lol
johncmolyneux said:
O2 are the best for "fair use" though. Most (NB not all!) of the others offer between 512MB and 1GB per month. O2 offer 3GB.
I do about 1-2GB a month, so that's perfect for me. Might start downloading Lost on my phone when it comes back on next month lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no limit on o2?!
I have unlimited web bolt-on. Key word unlimited. However in small text there is a fare usage policy but I always ignore those as fair for one is not so far for other so you can argue that.
ruscik said:
There is no limit on o2?!
I have unlimited web bolt-on. Key word unlimited. However in small text there is a fare usage policy but I always ignore those as fair for one is not so far for other so you can argue that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's not unlimited. The fair usage policy is what stands. They basically say "it's unlimited if you don't go over a certain amount". You still have to be careful, but at 3gig, I don't think I'll be worrying about it much!
johncmolyneux said:
Yeah, it's not unlimited. The fair usage policy is what stands. They basically say "it's unlimited if you don't go over a certain amount". You still have to be careful, but at 3gig, I don't think I'll be worrying about it much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No word of 3gig so maybe we have not the same plan:
2.
Use of the O2 Web & Wi-Fi Bolt On is subject to an excessive usage policy as explained in point 3 below.
3.
The O2 Web & Wi-Fi Bolt On allows you unlimited use of O2 UK's Edge, GPRS, 3G and HSDPA networks, The Cloud's UK Wireless LAN network and the BT Openzone UK Wireless LAN network, for personal internet use and email. All usage must be for your private, personal and non-commercial purposes.
You may not use your SIM Card in any device to allow the continuous streaming of any audio / video content, enable P2P or file sharing or use them in such a way that adversely impacts the service to other O2 customers. If O2 reasonably suspect you are not acting in accordance with this policy O2 reserves the right to impose further charges or disconnect your tariff at any time, having attempted to contact you first.
The fair usage policy is in a seperate document to the t&c for your contract. It mentions fair usage, but then it's up to you to go look for what that means!
We may have different contracts anyway. Who knows!
johncmolyneux said:
The fair usage policy is in a seperate document to the t&c for your contract. It mentions fair usage, but then it's up to you to go look for what that means!
We may have different contracts anyway. Who knows!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if I do not have the same contract then cool if I do I have used over 3GB's in many months.
O2
Just had a quick check on O2 and their reasonable usage bolt-ons are:
Web - 200Mb
Web and Wifi - 3Gb
PTK100 said:
Just had a quick check on O2 and their reasonable usage bolt-ons are:
Web - 200Mb
Web and Wifi - 3Gb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I must be on the hate, to kick out list
got a text at 12:08am saying it may be shut off and then at 12:19am they did.
thanks T-Mobile for nothing i got this phone just for that reason (hd2 leo)
If your contract states tethering is allowed then point that out to them and demand they reinstate it.
Similarly if it doesn't mention it at all, or doesn't say they can withdraw unlisted services.
If it states it is not allowed then go sit on the naughty step you bad boy. Then call them and sign up for their tethering tarrif which other members in your position have mentioned.
I know I have unlimited with them and have tethered a good bit. I even had a rep say something to the effect " wow looks like you use your data plan !" and no other word was said. Usually when you get those texts it's because you haven't paid the bill.
Not saying you haven't payed it but you might want to make sure they see it as up to date. You may have exceeded your plans limit? You might want to check into that.
I have not checked my T&C, but am pretty sure that with T-Mobile in the UK, using your data connection for tethering is an extra cost and is thus not allowed on the normal data connction. I have a friend (what do you mean imaginary?) who uses their phone as their main connection to the internet for their computer for the last 4+ years and T-Mobile haven't written to her.
Curious, how can they stop tethering? This is a legit question from the technical side of things. I was under the impression that tethering is a local phone function which ports data to and from the attached computer. Other than your service provider noting data usage, how can they determine what you have attached to your phone?
Experienced XDA Guru's, please enlighten me!
are you sure that you are not past due?
GulDucat said:
Curious, how can they stop tethering? This is a legit question from the technical side of things. I was under the impression that tethering is a local phone function which ports data to and from the attached computer. Other than your service provider noting data usage, how can they determine what you have attached to your phone?
Experienced XDA Guru's, please enlighten me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhmm because when you are browsing the web you are sending information about what type of system you are using. If you are browsing with your phone the information being sent and requested is for a phone's OS or mobile web site. When you are tethering you are sending and requesting information for a PC. It's that simple.
OP here
My bill is up to date and paid, have yet to call and chew them out, but I got this phone just for that reason so it should be in my agreement (no contract just bought the phone outright)
but fyi when I try to tether with either the usb or wifi it comes up with a page on my browser(on my comp) of a t-mobile website saying that its no supported and to call for a the +$14.99
heres a pic of it
QazQaz3 said:
OP here
My bill is up to date and paid, have yet to call and chew them out, but I got this phone just for that reason so it should be in my agreement (no contract just bought the phone outright)
but fyi when I try to tether with either the usb or wifi it comes up with a page on my browser(on my comp) of a t-mobile website saying that its no supported and to call for a the +$14.99
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so are you using a stock rom? I am very curious as to weather they are only picking up the usage data from stock roms or custom roms as well.
Thanks,
Jeff
innovator8 said:
so are you using a stock rom? I am very curious as to weather they are only picking up the usage data from stock roms or custom roms as well.
Thanks,
Jeff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does not matter what rom you use as they can analyze the data packets sent along from the phone via packet sniffing. As noted above your browers sends all sorts of information such as OS and browser in use
see more here
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/pki/psm/help_21/privacy_help.html#privacy_visit
innovator8 said:
so are you using a stock rom? I am very curious as to weather they are only picking up the usage data from stock roms or custom roms as well.
Thanks,
Jeff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, stock but a few cabs on top (cookies and similar)
called T-Mobile and all they said was that they have "never" supported tethering but yet when asked then why was it on my phone when i bought it they quickly changed the subject.
2. Protective Measures
To provide a good experience for the majority of our customers and minimize capacity issues and degradation in network performance, we may take measures including temporarily reducing data throughput for a subset of customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth; if your total usage exceeds 5GB (amount is subject to change; please periodically check T-Mobile.com for updates) during a billing cycle, we may reduce your data speed for the remainder of that billing cycle. We may also suspend, terminate, or restrict your data session, Plan, or service if you use your Data Plan in a manner that interferes with other customers’ service, our ability to allocate network capacity among customers, or that otherwise may degrade service quality for other customers.
http://www.t-mobile.com/Templates/Popup.aspx?PAsset=Pln_Lst_DataPlan
Try changing the apn to internet2.voicestream.com
Some users from the vibrant section seem to get it working again
The internet2 apn does work, but is not as good as the epc apn in terms of quality. Speed is fine. I keep getting time outs and all my IM programs go haywire sometimes. wap apn is affected. Have not tried the internet3 apn (vpn)
I'm on Energy ROM and decided to try turning off my LAN and turn on USB Tethering from my HD2 just to see what would happen (TMOUS), working fine as usual, no problems and no errors. Streaming Jim Rome, checking my email, and posting this reply all tethered.
Maybe try flashing NRG and see what happens?
Maybe t-mobile did this manually maybe you kept tethering and passing 3gb led them to believe your tethering. I use alot of data on my phone and I only gotten close to 2.5gb max so maybe their checking people who are using more than certain amount of data to get them to pay for the tethering plan but who knows I'm just wondering.
What is T-Mobiles Fair Usage Policy for internet WRT WP7 phones?
saldawop said:
What is T-Mobiles Fair Usage Policy for internet WRT WP7 phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Two different T-Mobile CS people have stated to me that it's the same as they offer for Android phones - 3GB. That's what http://www.coolsmartphone.com/news6340.html were told too.
Nothing in the website terms and conditions to confirm or deny that though.
i bought mine in the t-mobile store (UK). They guy said its definitely 3GB fair usage and if you go over it they normally do not care.....[said a guy came in with a letter from t-mobile saying not to do it again when he used 96GB!!]
The problem is if you have bought yours through a website tht is not t-mobile then you will get the crappy data speed and 1GB limit....so watch out
T-Mobile will send you a text when you use 80% of your 3 gig limit. After you go over the limit you'll be limited to web browsing only during peak hours (4pm - 12am) from memory.
I just called T-mobile, because i had a text message saying im on 80% fair usage policy im like WTF!!?!? ive got free internet booster (even though i know its just for browsing and stuff) .. ive hardly downloaded anything. Im pretty sure most of the time the apps ive downloaded were off marketplace on zune (PC) . I think maybe the odd few times ive downloaded few apps like Hydro thunder from my phone, which may have may have done the damage (i had to due to hard reset and some apps dont automatically load up) . Unfortunately i do not own a wireless router...yet, i have to buy one .
At first i thought t-mobile may have made a mistake, but saw somewhere an app like Hydro Thunder is like 230MB , thats a large file certainly on a phone's data usage. The lady at T-mobile said im on 430MB and 570MB left ...which makes you wonder why the hell do they say ive used 80% in the text message .
I should have not bought my omnia 7 from buymobilephones . I would have had 3GB allowance if went directly with t-mobile
btw how does one find out the size of these apps you download? im shocked Microsoft haven't given us a right click type feature for the windows phone 7 ..that would be such a vital feature. I like to check on the size of pics, apps, movie clips etc ... you want to know the dimensions too like so and so clip is 1280 x 720p etc .
sid8810 said:
I should have not bought my omnia 7 from buymobilephones . I would have had 3GB allowance if went directly with t-mobile
btw how does one find out the size of these apps you download? im shocked Microsoft haven't given us a right click type feature for the windows phone 7 ..that would be such a vital feature. I like to check on the size of pics, apps, movie clips etc ... you want to know the dimensions too like so and so clip is 1280 x 720p etc .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to get an Omnia7 from T-Mobile directly on their £15/month tarrif with Internet bolt-on. If I am not mistaken that entitles me to 500 MB internet monthly allowance. Si if I exceed those 500 megs of data, I am not charged till the limit of fair usage policy??? Is that limit 3000 MB? I'm not talking for the £25+ tarrifs that were recently changed to include trully unlimited data...
As far as your comment about the right click / properties type of key I totally agree. Over-simplification is not good.
chemeng said:
I'm going to get an Omnia7 from T-Mobile directly on their £15/month tarrif with Internet bolt-on. If I am not mistaken that entitles me to 500 MB internet monthly allowance. Si if I exceed those 500 megs of data, I am not charged till the limit of fair usage policy??? Is that limit 3000 MB? I'm not talking for the £25+ tarrifs that were recently changed to include trully unlimited data...
As far as your comment about the right click / properties type of key I totally agree. Over-simplification is not good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah good idea get it directly from them, they told me if i exceed my fair use policy..they just charge £1 a day after that (when u use data) ..and you can use as much as you want ..until the new month comes and it all refreshes back to the start. Its every start of the month the free data allowance starts. You should get something with at least 1Gb Internet booster , 500mb will go easily. But ideally a router is best so you dont have use the free allowance ..only for situations when your not near your PC.
yeah i wish MS adds that, you need that right click feature ..so you can find out how big apps and other file are
New official T-Mobile UK Data policy
As far as T-Mobile Data allowance is concerned I found the following on their site...
''... If you join T-Mobile before 30 September 2011 and select a 24-month price plan of £25 a month or more, the good news is that there's no fair use policy. Remember that you can only use internet on your phone in the UK and you can't use your phone as a modem (tethering) or use internet on your phone for peer-to-peer file sharing or making internet phone calls...''
Comment: do they block voip packages????
''... If you're choosing any other pay monthly plan (<£25), please see the fair use policy below.
However much you use the internet, you'll never get charged extra
We're the only operator to offer you a fixed price for browsing and emailing on your phone with no limits and no extra charges. Use 3G for getting online on your phone when you're out and about. Never pay more than your monthly fixed price. You can always browse and email with no limits.
Is there an allowance?
You can browse and email as much as you want. There is a 500MB allowance for streaming videos and uploading and downloading files. If you hit this limit during the month, you won't be able to do this stuff again until the next month.
For the best internet on your phone, connect to your home WiFi, so you won't even touch your 500MB allowance.
What about using apps?
Some apps use a normal internet connection, so they will work just like your browsing and email allowance. But there are some apps that use streaming connections, so these will fall into the 500MB allowance...''
So their new fair usage policy discerns between ''normal'' data and ''streaming'' data''. (packet inspection??) Web browsing and email sync fall into normal data category that is unlimited and does not count towards your 500MB download data allowance
When downloading a file off the internet (let's say an app off the MarketPlace), or streaming a movie, you are consuming data from a 500 MB data ''pool''. If you exceed tgis limit, you cannot further download/stream, but you can still continue to have data access for http/browsing data. apps like netflix, vevo, youtube fall into that download data category, I assume.
One question arises, what happens with voip data packages (if there are any voip apps for wp7 for the time being, anyway there is a google voice client I recon)