[Q] T-Mobile's Unlimited Data Plan cap of 5GB data - Networking

I've been using T-Mobile for several years, and and I've gone from a RAZR to a Gravity to a Touch Pro 2 to a G2x. I've been using my G2x since May and had my Touch Pro 2 for a year. Both were on unlimited data plans. For the first time, near the end of last week, I received a text message telling me that I reached a 5GB cap on my data service and that I will have reduced speeds until September 2nd.
Naturally, I was unaware of that. It's in the TOS which I glance over. Mind you, I've been using smart phones capable of media streaming, web browsing, etc for over 15 months. On my new G2x, though, I use a lot more considering the browser has flash ability and the Youtube application is more intuitive. So, I went through 2 billing cycles on this before hitting the cap on the third. I've made up for it while I'm on the college campus by jumping on the wifi but it's frustrating until the billing period ends.
Reading some pointed out tethering is a major source of the data usage if used. I used it 2-3 times, once was mainly when a storm caused our power to go out and I was using my laptop. The wifi hotspot on my G2x works when it feels like it.
I mean, I'm waiting for GB 2.3.4 and/or 2.3.5 releases with A2DP so I can use Netflix, but I'm sure trying to use Netflix especially will shoot me to the cap in days. I love having Youtube all the time on my phone, but aside from tethering, what are some things to avoid to work around these caps?

Just use Wifi if possible.
I haven't went over in some time but I use to just turn off data during that day when I was at work. Doubt it really mattered but it saved some battery for sure. Most placed have Wifi nowadays.
Sent from my LG-P999

The only way to get out of the caps is to do some innovation and come up with some kind of app which reduces data consumption..I think it's the need of the hour for us..I hope some one comes out with such kind of an app..

Related

Heads up to HTC EVO 4G Wifi Tether people with sprint

I am friendishly warning you to NOT USE IT. It will void your contract and they will drop you. If you didnt know this before hand, you may want to stop. I love wifi tether but sadly it will end up getting me droped =/ Its in the sprint contract terms and what not
Thanks, were you dropped?
Nah. Just as a noob would, im new to all this root stuff, so i looked up if its illegal or not and it is with some companys. Especially sprint.. they can tell if your using wifi tether without paying their $30 a month for wifi. They'l drop you first off lol
ReapersDeath said:
Nah. Just as a noob would, im new to all this root stuff, so i looked up if its illegal or not and it is with some companys. Especially sprint.. they can tell if your using wifi tether without paying their $30 a month for wifi. They'l drop you first off lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's NOT illegal. Yes, it voids your contract, but as most people will tell you, you have unlimited data, they can't tell you how to use it.
And FYI, sprint can NOT tell if you are using wifi tether or not. To them, it just looks like regular data being used on the phone.
sitlet said:
It's NOT illegal. Yes, it voids your contract, but as most people will tell you, you have unlimited data, they can't tell you how to use it.
And FYI, sprint can NOT tell if you are using wifi tether or not. To them, it just looks like regular data being used on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo! Data is data no matter which way you look at it. You can lift its skirt or drop its pants, it all looks the same.
Sent from my EVO
Hmm ok. misread some info.. But you have to think.. they can notice.. When you go from suttle data usage to some rapid burning usage its sort of obvious
Yes that is correct. If your a constant 1gb user every month for like a year then jump to 10gb's they'll question that. Just don't go throwing up red flags and you'll be fine. There's been threads on here with ppl being dropped only cause in their words 'I'm gonna stick it to sprint' and they go and use 20+ gb's. And you wonder why sprint sends out the we're letting you go letter
Sent from my EVO
ReapersDeath said:
Hmm ok. misread some info.. But you have to think.. they can notice.. When you go from suttle data usage to some rapid burning usage its sort of obvious
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you don't abuse the tethering and rack up 10s of GBs of data consistently, Sprint could care less right now about whether or not people who choose to stick with them are tethering for free, as Sprint continues to lose customers.
Sprint is more concerned right now with how much data is going over the air than how people are sending it, because too much data over the air slows service to everyone.
There have been more people who have had their contracts cancelled who were paying the $30 dollars per month, but racking up enormous amounts of data (more than 10GB consistently) than people who do not pay the $30 dollars, but use tether more sparingly. In fact, there are many users right here on this site who have tethered for a long time, who Sprint has never done or said anything to.
I was about to say,i've been using my tether for over 6 months and i've never been repremanded for it,from sprint.
tethering is to risky imo.. sprint is unpredictable
Speeding is illegal too, doesn't mean I won't do it on the way home. I figure Sprint told me, that my phone would connect to their advanced 4G network, as they would eventually cover most areas with it and yet now my phone will never be usable on their 4G if they get disgruntled about my tether then they let me go to VZW
Sent from my Synergized Evo with aggressive Freedom using the XDA app
ReapersDeath said:
tethering is to risky imo.. sprint is unpredictable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you read the terms and conditions, racking up enormous amounts of data (whether you are paying for tethering or not), as well as tethering for free are both violations of your contract. However, Sprint will cancel your service quicker for the excess data usage (even if you are paying the $30 per month), than they will over free tethering, because too much over the air usage slows down service to everyone, which is one of the biggest complaints about Sprint (Service being too slow).
Well they probably would drop you if you had like 50gigs+ every month and the only way you could do that is downloading major porn or like downloading world of warcraft 3 or 4 times lol
I've been tethering since we had what seemed like a 20 step rooting sequence using adb commands. In other words ancient history in terms of the Evo. They've never given any indication of caring, but I only tether when I need to. I've downloaded torrent sized files, but never very often. I probably use more data flashing roms from my dropbox than I ever have by tethering.
I wonder if the can supposedly glean this info from CIQ. They do take user stats and most likely apps stats.
I use about 12 gigs monthly since 06. No hitch
I personally don't use the tethering all that much. I find that it decreases my battery life by like 726237x. And I don't know about you guys, but I don't bring my phone charger with me everywhere. So.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium
Doesn't matter. I can't even use Wifi tethering.
My 3G speed is honestly making me think about switching to VZW, even though I wont get unlimited data. I can literally only pull 24 kB/s down (yes, 193 kbps - TERRIBLE) during the day. At night (1am+) I can pull about 1000 kbps.
I used to be able to get way better speeds, but over the last month or two it has literally come to a crawl. I only use Wifi on my evo now, i can barely use the market on 3g. I attribute this to the recent S2 and iPhone 4s. It's probably also related to my area, Southern Cali. Very populated and probably too much traffic (no 4g either... stupid.)
try boosting your 3g. theres a thread somewhere to do it.. it like calibrates your 3g to the best it can do
Tried searching around, no such luck for this thread. All I've come across is a some other users getting speeds just as bad as me.
Can't believe I'm paying the $10 dollar data fee per month, I could probably get a better connection from dialup.

att throttled

Throttled at 10gb with 9 days left in cycle!! So sad. I got the text yesterday for the warning, and got the text today that I am throttled.
Speedtest confirms it, I usually pull 2-3 mb/s, and now at 159kb/s.
Sucks!!!
you should watch it dude. they throttled me, got about 1megabyte a second where i live, down to about 15kilobytes. They allowed me to do this for 3 months before they finally forced me onto a different plan. I am in the process of fighting for the unlimited back though. just a fair warning though, cut that **** down.
geishroy said:
you should watch it dude. they throttled me, got about 1megabyte a second where i live, down to about 15kilobytes. They allowed me to do this for 3 months before they finally forced me onto a different plan. I am in the process of fighting for the unlimited back though. just a fair warning though, cut that **** down.
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Click to collapse
.. u got throttled 3 months in a row, and then they forced you onto a different plan ? are you ****ting me? holy crap.
this is such bull****.. they throttle you if you hit top 5% of users in your area... so eventually they force you to use much less data... then eventually everyone starts using less data, and then the 5% mark gets lower, so then your forced to use even LESSER data, and so on and so on. When is this going to stop? When everyone uses under 2GB?
i mean come on, seriously, WTF.
i mean it's a good measure to prevent people like you or me from using too much data. i mean, they don't expect you to use 10gbs on a mobile device. and I was pulling at least 30gbs monthly on a connection topping out at 1megabyte in my area (600-1000kilobytes per second usually). I don't blame them for throttling at all. I do blame them for thinking that I wasn't using all of that data on the mobile device. My data usage came pretty much from illegal piracy and random netflix and pandora sessions however they still believe it was from tethering so that's why i was knocked on that plan. It's hard to explain how all that data was being used w/o saying that I pirated a bunch of stuff during those months. so yeah, just be careful what you're doing with your phone, they will cut you off if you are consistently bad. If you can't take it, then switch networks to someone who offers inferior networks with unlimited data.
On the other hand. I live in California east bay... Have used1.5 gigs. I have received a warning that I'm nearing5%.. So I feel scammed.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
geishroy said:
i mean it's a good measure to prevent people like you or me from using too much data. i mean, they don't expect you to use 10gbs on a mobile device. and I was pulling at least 30gbs monthly on a connection topping out at 1megabyte in my area (600-1000kilobytes per second usually). I don't blame them for throttling at all. I do blame them for thinking that I wasn't using all of that data on the mobile device. My data usage came pretty much from illegal piracy and random netflix and pandora sessions however they still believe it was from tethering so that's why i was knocked on that plan. It's hard to explain how all that data was being used w/o saying that I pirated a bunch of stuff during those months. so yeah, just be careful what you're doing with your phone, they will cut you off if you are consistently bad. If you can't take it, then switch networks to someone who offers inferior networks with unlimited data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you downloading movies on your phone? or streaming them from your PC? I use a ton of netflix and I have a few TV series that I stream from my PC.
My problem with being throttled is the way they are doing it.. the top 5% in your area will get throttled.
At first it may sound fair, heck, I live in MA where the top 5% puts me at 10 GB. but like i said.. once everyone starts bringing their data usage down, then the 5% cap is going to get smaller and smaller and smaller, then we'll have people getting throttled for using 1GB a month! You get what Im saying? It's BULL ****.
Eventually I will be switching carriers once the throttle point gets to about 5GB. Which.. given the way things are going, it would be about a year.
tangledskein said:
On the other hand. I live in California east bay... Have used1.5 gigs. I have received a warning that I'm nearing5%.. So I feel scammed.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See, this is exactly what's wrong with this set-up. You're not even close to the standard 2gb and already getting warnings about throttling.
This was all on my phone. Mostly when I'm put and about I'll start a p2p on my phone and it's usually done by the time I get home. Then I do alot of surfing and video playing on my phone as well. But yeah I can see where they suspect its off a tether its just hard to explain to them its not.
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium
well damn dude, I was just streaming tons of video from my home media server. I abuse my FiOS connection must like my ATT connection.
I just got off the phone with ATT. Throttling will always be determined by top 5% of users in the country. There is no number that is available to tell us what the top 5% will be, so we're just gonna be at the mercy of what everyone is using.
The rep couldn't tell me if the 5% took account just unlimited users or Tiered data users as well. Either way --- if the top 5% is using only 1gb, we are S.O.L.
I refuse to pay $60 for 5gb of tiered data, highway robbery.
I will continue to stream music as much as I can in an effort to raise the 5% cap for other users. otherwise, we're gonna get throttled at 1.5gb.

Anyone else use their phone as their main internet?

Wasn't planning on it being my main connection, but my cable got cut off a few days ago, so I got my wireless router to pick up my phone wifi that's broadcasting 3G, and I'm getting speeds ~130-300kB/s (kiloBYTE) which isn't too shabby.
Streaming videos, webpages load up quickly, I don't even notice unless I go to download a large file. Just curious if anyone else is doing this.
Sure do. At about -70DB signal strength at my house I can pull in a solid 320KBs
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I can only daydream of having that set up. I barely get enough 3g signal to use my phone at all while at home.
All of us that are irritated at verizon for taking away the unlimited plans are going to be showing up at your homes soon (rotaryboots, POQbum... looking at you).
You will know it is us as we'll be the ones with the pitchforks and torches.
just kiddin...
But for those who haven't figured out why unlimited data plans are going extinct... the topic of this thread is the reason. Myself I've only done it temporarily one night, when my wired connection went down. I usually get my phone data from the wired source when possible, not the other way around.
Sweet. Makes me happy I snagged unlimited data while it was still available.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using XDA App
I'll go further and better describe the setup, sometimes I use the wifi on my phone to broadcast the access but more often than not I plug it in to my old laptop which is plugged into my router via LAN cable then bridge the connections so that my wireless router uses the phone's internet and I can connect all my computers to my home network....winning
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I've had to do this a time or two when my main internet went down. Worked great. Now, however, I have my phone on prepaid network that offers very little data so it has to be basically an emergency for me to do this now. Still, love the fact that it can be done.
iowabeakster said:
But for those who haven't figured out why unlimited data plans are going extinct... the topic of this thread is the reason. Myself I've only done it temporarily one night, when my wired connection went down. I usually get my phone data from the wired source when possible, not the other way around.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree a little. Here's my problem I am a husband and father that is having a hard time finding work right now. I have been with Verizon or Bell Atlantic since 1992. It costs me $200 a month for our two phones and has ALWAYS been in the extreme high side. Cable package after a year is also $200 a month. Something had to go. So we now watch HD broadcast TV and get our internet from our phones. I figure after 19+ years and some roughly $45,000 of my hard earned pay, I will use my unlimited data plan the way I like. You (Verizon) have been more than willing to take my money all these years and raise the rates every time you needed to. Well now its time to give back to a loyal customer.
So yes I do use my phone(s) internet as our MAIN INTERNET! And yet I think I have only been throttled one month. Which means that even as our main we still stay under the 5gb each.
Sent from my ADR6300 using xda premium
jblack55,
Sorry to hear about the financial difficulties. I was trying to be funny more than anything. I hope your family get through it soon. I'm just saying this is why Verizon doesn't have unlimited plans anymore.
But since you are getting all delusional... and self-righteous...here's some TRUTH.
You can rationalize that paying X number of dollars to Verizon in 1995 entitles you to whatever you want to. It entitles you to nothing. It was payment for service that was rendered back in 1995. If the price was too high at Verizon, you could have gotten your service elsewhere or decided to have no service. You are explicitly breaking the contract that YOU agreed to and currently have. Rationalize whatever you want... it doesn't make it true. And now other Verizon customers are getting their prices hiked even more, to pay for your dishonesty. Please rationalize how this is fair...I want to know. If the way you deal with Verizon is typical of the way you deal with other people and institutions, your unemployment situation is... justice... in a karma type of way.
So, there's a Super Bowl tomorrow...
I have internet at home, but I'm on the road most if the time, hotel internet sucks, and I have to log in everyday, so I'm using my phone internet over 95% of the time also to get my moneys worth out of Verizon.
I work two full time jobs and on my breaks or when it's slow, I am on my Incredible utilizing the Internet. I have the unlimited access plan which gives me peace of mind knowing I will not be paying more on my monthly bill than what my plan is set up for. I don't do Pandora or hotspot. Mostly forums, Google, and YouTube. Great way to kill some time when it is a slow night at work.
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
I only use the internet from my phone when my internet goes out. Right now i am looking to get a 4g phone and will use that a lots since i have a slow connection and 4g is a lot faster.
iowabeakster said:
And now other Verizon customers are getting their prices hiked even more, to pay for your dishonesty. Please rationalize how this is fair...I want to know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just wanted to say that Verizon's decision hardly comes from this, they make billions every quarter.
Their goal like every company is to make as much money as possible, and to get more investors they need to continually be making more profit every quarter. To make sure that happens they will raise prices and cut costs, including things like capping unlimited plans. It's not others peoples fault if they use what they're paying for, even if Verizon doesn't like it, you're still ultimately paying a premium price for cell service that well covers what you're using.
If you have 4G|LTE then Definitely
Ehh, depends. If you are in a VzW 4G|LTE area I would definitely consider it, I get faster download speeds on that than my home's Cablevision connection.
I voted eh, because I use it as the main source of internet in the truck. I do have cable at home for my missus and kids, but since I am only home a few days a month it is hard to count that as my internet. I often get 1.2 MB/s down and .1 MB/s up. i normally use 2-4 GB monthly. it might be more now that my co-driver watches jetflix from his tablet through my hotspot (opengarden rules...)
I do. Use at least 20gb a month, use tv out with netflix, use a vpn to watch foreign tv, and download magazines, ect. When I need a java browser I use Alwayson PC, no video/sound but when works for what I need it for. Would love to upgrade to 4g but won't give up my unlimited data.
Luckily we got my wife's thunderbolt a day before the unlimited plans disappeared. Without a cable connection to the house yet, the two phones are our sole connection to everything. Between us, we use about 15 to 20GB per month. When Verizon starts throttling her data, I just switch my hotspot on instead, and we keep going. We've even ran torrents through our 3G connection a few times - boy is that slow! But when there's nothing good on Hulu, we can download a 700MB movie in about an hour and a half. Watching the superbowl that way was a big disappointment though - no commercials and no halftime show? Were they kidding us?
Dont use it for my main net but I have used it a few times to get back on World of warcraft and it works decent to play and be on vent when my main net goes out in the middle of a raid which has happened quite abit lately. Small town sucky cable internet company, a small breeze in the wrong direction can knock out the net for hours lol.
Also I do have a question do you use any specific program to usb tether? Currently using PDA.net wondering if there was a better way.
I tried with the incredible but its just not fast enough...

ATT can detect unauthorized tethering. Forcing customers onto capped tethering plans

I posted this on reddit aswell... I usually follow xda/reddit (android) closely and haven't heard of this so i thought i would warn others.
Well i had a feeling this day would finally come, a frustratingly sad day. This is my story so i don't know how prevalent it may be. I am running a galaxy note 3. I am part of the originally "unlimited data plan" that i have been grandfathering the past few years. My galaxy note 3 is rooted and using a SafeStrap based custom rom. Ofcourse it has all the nice tweaks/xposed modules that i have learn to love in the android community. Ofcourse it enables tethering.
I don't use tethering often (mainly when i dont have Wifi, or if in public to avoid crappy wifi coverage). So i mainly use 1-2 gb a month of random google music tethering/other misc downloads updates... so i am NOT being an excessive user. So my total usage is between 2.5-3 gigs. I was contacted from AT&T yesterday (by text 2-3 days ago, phone call yesterday). They gave an ultimatum. They called out explicitly that i was using unauthorized tether (not using a large amount of data as you can see).
The ultimatum was:
Your service is been cancelled at the end of the month.
OR
Moving to the "Family Plan" shared/capped data plan. They also required tethering to be added on to the plan since i was using it.
This is old news. The release of Android 4.1 enabled carriers to see the difference between using data, and redistributing or tethering data.
There are work arounds for this. Some devs even remove this feature from their roms. You have to do your research on it though.
This is still good info though for new users.
Wow wish they would have threatened to cancel my service. I would have said thanks.
I just switched to the mobile share 8gb plan, which includes mobile hotspot, and have never gone over 6gb for the whole family ever with my old plan with 4 lines having 3gb and my unlimited costing nearly 400 a month now costs around 300. I don't think its too bad.
440bro said:
This is old news. The release of Android 4.1 enabled carriers to see the difference between using data, and redistributing or tethering data.
There are work arounds for this. Some devs even remove this feature from their roms. You have to do your research on it though.
This is still good info though for new users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would it be frowned upon if you posted said information?
jonrobertd said:
Wow wish they would have threatened to cancel my service. I would have said thanks.
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Click to collapse
If they cancel your service you have to pay off the remainder of your contract agreement. For some it might not be to bad. But for someone that just renewed it could be costly!
krushin said:
I posted this on reddit aswell... I usually follow xda/reddit (android) closely and haven't heard of this so i thought i would warn others.
Well i had a feeling this day would finally come, a frustratingly sad day. This is my story so i don't know how prevalent it may be. I am running a galaxy note 3. I am part of the originally "unlimited data plan" that i have been grandfathering the past few years. My galaxy note 3 is rooted and using a SafeStrap based custom rom. Ofcourse it has all the nice tweaks/xposed modules that i have learn to love in the android community. Ofcourse it enables tethering.
I don't use tethering often (mainly when i dont have Wifi, or if in public to avoid crappy wifi coverage). So i mainly use 1-2 gb a month of random google music tethering/other misc downloads updates... so i am NOT being an excessive user. So my total usage is between 2.5-3 gigs. I was contacted from AT&T yesterday (by text 2-3 days ago, phone call yesterday). They gave an ultimatum. They called out explicitly that i was using unauthorized tether (not using a large amount of data as you can see).
The ultimatum was:
Your service is been cancelled at the end of the month.
OR
Moving to the "Family Plan" shared/capped data plan. They also required tethering to be added on to the plan since i was using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hotspot shield from the play store really helps in this situation...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
FWIW i'm at 110gb this cycle (8 days left) which is rather typical of my usage and haven't heard a peep. I use a Motorola Atrix running CM as a mobile hotspot, rather than my G Note 3, however.
Da_G said:
110gb this cycle (8 days left)
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Click to collapse
Geez. You have no idea how jealous I'm of people who still have Unlimited Data.
Thank you for making AT&T pay for being douche of a carrier. :good:
Da_G said:
FWIW i'm at 110gb this cycle (8 days left) which is rather typical of my usage and haven't heard a peep. I use a Motorola Atrix running CM as a mobile hotspot, rather than my G Note 3, however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha good man
I'd stick to the atrix unless you know you can spoof/vpn the traffic (or what ever preventative measures). Just frustrating cause i dont even abuse my tether... like 3 gigs a month on an unlimited plan (and using unauthorized tethering)... they should pay me for NOT abusing it... lol.
Needless to say... now there is nothing "keeping" me at ATT once my contract is up... since i dont have my unlimited plan anymore! Hopefully in next year or so the other carriers (tmobile/sprint) will be just as good at half the price... i dont mind an ocassional dropped call/spotty coverage if it means i'm paying half :good:
Edit: Also made this post so others will know... so they don't "lose" unlimited plan and get screwed if they are new to the scene
Da_G said:
FWIW i'm at 110gb this cycle (8 days left) which is rather typical of my usage and haven't heard a peep. I use a Motorola Atrix running CM as a mobile hotspot, rather than my G Note 3, however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please share your secret with me!!! I hit 5gb's and AT&T throttles me so hard it takes 10 minutes to download a 4mb app from the Play Store.
Da_G said:
FWIW i'm at 110gb this cycle (8 days left) which is rather typical of my usage and haven't heard a peep. I use a Motorola Atrix running CM as a mobile hotspot, rather than my G Note 3, however.
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Click to collapse
110 GB?! What are you doing with your phone? Streaming 4K video 24/7?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Da_G said:
FWIW i'm at 110gb this cycle (8 days left) which is rather typical of my usage and haven't heard a peep. I use a Motorola Atrix running CM as a mobile hotspot, rather than my G Note 3, however.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have these phones. Looks like I'll be flashing back to gingerbread! Woo! No more battery drain from experimental jelly bean.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app
krushin said:
haha good man
I'd stick to the atrix unless you know you can spoof/vpn the traffic (or what ever preventative measures). Just frustrating cause i dont even abuse my tether... like 3 gigs a month on an unlimited plan (and using unauthorized tethering)... they should pay me for NOT abusing it... lol.
Needless to say... now there is nothing "keeping" me at ATT once my contract is up... since i dont have my unlimited plan anymore! Hopefully in next year or so the other carriers (tmobile/sprint) will be just as good at half the price... i dont mind an ocassional dropped call/spotty coverage if it means i'm paying half :good:
Edit: Also made this post so others will know... so they don't "lose" unlimited plan and get screwed if they are new to the scene
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T mobile will pay your early termination fees if you want out of your contract.
http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/switch-carriers-no-early-termination-fee.html
To the Op, are you 100% certain that this is you very FIRST time being contacted by AT&T? I ask ask you because along with myself and several of my former GS2 users we received messages from AT&T telling us that they saw that we were tethering and told us to stop or be forced to a tethering plan.So I chose to stop and not lose my unlimited plan. We all were on unlimited and I'm still on unlimited on my Note 3.
DA_G what APN are you using on your atrix. May worth a try for those of us running SS ROMs and can change APN.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
440bro said:
T mobile will pay your early termination fees if you want out of your contract.
Only works if you give up your current phone and buy t mobile ones for a monthly charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must have been a lucky one! BUT NOT AT THE SAME TIME!
krushin said:
I posted this on reddit aswell... I usually follow xda/reddit (android) closely and haven't heard of this so i thought i would warn others.
Well i had a feeling this day would finally come, a frustratingly sad day. This is my story so i don't know how prevalent it may be. I am running a galaxy note 3. I am part of the originally "unlimited data plan" that i have been grandfathering the past few years. My galaxy note 3 is rooted and using a SafeStrap based custom rom. Ofcourse it has all the nice tweaks/xposed modules that i have learn to love in the android community. Ofcourse it enables tethering.
I don't use tethering often (mainly when i dont have Wifi, or if in public to avoid crappy wifi coverage). So i mainly use 1-2 gb a month of random google music tethering/other misc downloads updates... so i am NOT being an excessive user. So my total usage is between 2.5-3 gigs. I was contacted from AT&T yesterday (by text 2-3 days ago, phone call yesterday). They gave an ultimatum. They called out explicitly that i was using unauthorized tether (not using a large amount of data as you can see).
The ultimatum was:
Your service is been cancelled at the end of the month.
OR
Moving to the "Family Plan" shared/capped data plan. They also required tethering to be added on to the plan since i was using it.
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I was warned about 3 times about tethering with my phone. I too am an original unlimited data plan grandfathered in at $30 Bucks a MONTH! MUHAHAHA! The 1st time it happened it said on my bill "TETHERWARN" $0.00
Kind of scared me a bit but I continued to do it anyway and received 2 more warnings this way. I guess because it was only for a couple MB of data here and there. Some months nothing and other months just a tiny bit because I was scared at that point. Didn't want to lose my unlimited plan. :victory:
Unfortunately I found out we really don't have TRUE unlimited data anyway. After you go over 4.5GB used for the month you will receive a text message saying after 5GB you will be throttled big time!!! I was so SHOCKED by this! I can't believe I'm really only getting 5GB of data when it's supposed to be unlimited. I guess they changed everything after the family share crap started.
Figured I'd share this if anyone still has the grandfathered "Unlimited Data" plan. THEY ARE LIARS!
PS. I still tether THOUGH!! I have a windows surface tablet and use PDA NET for desktop and the FOXFI app in the play store! I can ONLY tether using bluetooth or USB though because the WiFi tether is disabled in settings now, which doesn't really bother me because it is fast enough to browse the web or even play World of Warcraft with the bluetooth tether option. It is actually decently fast with USB tether also. HERE'S THE BEST PART! PDA NET SCRUBS all PC data from the packets sent and received! There is an advanced addon feature you can download from FOXFI that does this for you. The free version shuts off at 50MB of data transferred and you just have to click the checkbox off and back on to get it to reconnect for an addition 50MB. OR, you can pay the 7 or 8 bucks for the full version and never be interrupted. I'm about to buy it because I haven't received any TETHER WARNS from att since I started using PDA NET! I think it does the scrubbing of PC data from the packets very well. I drive for a living so tethering for me is mandatory on my windows tablet. So if you are about to lose your data plan JUST BE CAREFUL and do your research! There is always a way with computers! Hoped this helps someone...Thanks for reading and sorry this is so LONGGGGGGGG!
missingtext said:
I still tether THOUGH!! I have a windows surface tablet and use PDA NET for desktop and the FOXFI app in the play store! PDA NET SCRUBS all PC data from the packets sent and received! There is an advanced addon feature you can download from FOXFI that does this for you. The free version shuts off at 50MB of data transferred and you just have to click the checkbox off and back on to get it to reconnect for an addition 50MB. OR, you can pay the 7 or 8 bucks for the full version and never be interrupted.
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This was what I've been looking for! Thank you.
I also have a grandfathered data plan, and get throttled after ~4.5GB of use. I've received several warnings about tethering but thankfully my family plan wasnt botched - I've just had to stop tethering... Until Now! PDA Net FTW.
Question!
If you tether from one ATT phone to another ATT phone or tablet (but not ATT), can they tell? (without having to use PDA NET)
krushin said:
I posted this on reddit aswell... I usually follow xda/reddit (android) closely and haven't heard of this so i thought i would warn others.
Well i had a feeling this day would finally come, a frustratingly sad day. This is my story so i don't know how prevalent it may be. I am running a galaxy note 3. I am part of the originally "unlimited data plan" that i have been grandfathering the past few years. My galaxy note 3 is rooted and using a SafeStrap based custom rom. Ofcourse it has all the nice tweaks/xposed modules that i have learn to love in the android community. Ofcourse it enables tethering.
I don't use tethering often (mainly when i dont have Wifi, or if in public to avoid crappy wifi coverage). So i mainly use 1-2 gb a month of random google music tethering/other misc downloads updates... so i am NOT being an excessive user. So my total usage is between 2.5-3 gigs. I was contacted from AT&T yesterday (by text 2-3 days ago, phone call yesterday). They gave an ultimatum. They called out explicitly that i was using unauthorized tether (not using a large amount of data as you can see).
The ultimatum was:
Your service is been cancelled at the end of the month.
OR
Moving to the "Family Plan" shared/capped data plan. They also required tethering to be added on to the plan since i was using it.
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Click to collapse
I received and email like that a couple of years ago except they told me to stop or else. Needless to say, I stopped.
That is a good question. I really don't know for certain because I no longer use my nexus 7 anymore since I got my windows surface. I do believe PDA Net has an android version which I would assume does the same thing as my desktop version. But then if you consider it's a mobile device with no PC info to scrub(I think that was your question) it might just look like it's your actual phone using that data. Really is a good question that I cannot answer with certainty. Sorry, I can't help with that one. :what::what::what::what:
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using xda app-developers app

Been tethering for 6 years, finally got a notice from AT&T

I've been tethering for ~6 years now and have never gotten a notice from AT&T. I rarely use it (once every 2 months?) when in an emergency. I used a few tethering Apps back on the iPhone, and then I've always used CyanogenMod's built in tethering since switching over to Android without issue. I finally got a notice that says:
Like you, some of our customers use their smartphones as a broadband connection for other devices, like laptops, netbooks or other smartphones - a practice called mobile hotspot creation, or otherwise known as tethering....
To keep your current plan you'll need to stop using mobile hotspot/tethering by the end of the month. Please remove any tethering apps and make sure anyone who uses your device understands your current plan doesn't include mobile hotspot creation.
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Anyone have any tips on this? I use it very infrequently which is why I do not want to pony up for the $50 plan, but I rely on it in case of emergency.
hedpe said:
I've been tethering for ~6 years now and have never gotten a notice from AT&T. I rarely use it (once every 2 months?) when in an emergency. I used a few tethering Apps back on the iPhone, and then I've always used CyanogenMod's built in tethering since switching over to Android without issue. I finally got a notice that says:
Anyone have any tips on this? I use it very infrequently which is why I do not want to pony up for the $50 plan, but I rely on it in case of emergency.
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Click to collapse
You didn't say,but are you on an unlimited plan? If so, and you want to stay unlimited, I suggest you stop tethering all together. AT&T is really looking hard for ways to get everyone off unlimited plans and ANY little excuse will do. Generally, small amounts of tethering just get looked over, so there is a good chance that you might have used more data tethering than you thought. That, or like I said, they aren't letting anything slip by any more. I am guessing you are "unlimited" because I doubt they would send a warning to any one on a paid plan (2 GIG, 3 GIG, etc...) per month, because every GIG over the plan limit includes an extra charge of it's own. So I don't think they really care how you use it as long as you are paying for it. The new "share" plans that AT&T offers includes tethering which further goes to show that they don't care about tethering as long as you pay for the data that is being used. So, you might want to consider switching to one of those plans. Basically, your options are to switch plans, or stop tethering because of you don't stop AT&T will switch the plan for you.
I got the same notice, but it was on a month when I wasn't tethering. I would tether other tablets and a few coworkers phones when they needed a big file.
What triggered the warning? I was watching Amazon prime streaming on my phone. Because I was going to the desktop website and streaming 4gb of movies, they assumed I was tethering.
That was 6 months and many tethers ago. And yes, I'm on the unlimited plan.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Red_81 said:
I got the same notice, but it was on a month when I wasn't tethering. I would tether other tablets and a few coworkers phones when they needed a big file.
What triggered the warning? I was watching Amazon prime streaming on my phone. Because I was going to the desktop website and streaming 4gb of movies, they assumed I was tethering.
That was 6 months and many tethers ago. And yes, I'm on the unlimited plan.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a feeling that AT&T has been slowly switching people off of the unlimited plan for a while now just to get the pool of people still on unlimited to a low number. Some, they switched on technicalities, and some switched on their own (due to throttling and things like that). They want to get the number of people still holding on to a low enough number so when they "discontinue" unlimited once and for all there will be a manageable ripple effect from it. I see that time coming very soon...one way or the other. I also think they are relying heavily on the "tethering' abuse situation in a more frequent way, even if it isn't true.
The best thing is I played dumb with the rep and asked how I could be tethering when the option tells me I don't have a tethering plan.
She proceeded to tell me all the programs I could download (by name) that I could use to get around that setting. She did tell me they just receive a report from another group and don't get the reason why tethering was detected. It was a real shame because I thought I was going to sweet talk the detection method out of her.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

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