Mobile AP Tethering questions - 5 devices? - Networking

We have three lines with Verizon that have tethering plans. This is our home internet connection. Satellite is our only other alternative - no cable or DSL where we live. (We previously had satellite but got fed up with it and cancelled.) All phones use custom roms and are rooted, etc.
We have quite a few network devices in the house. Desktop PCs (with virtual machines), laptops, Android tablets, wireless printer, and other devices that use Wi-Fi.
My understanding (and experience) is that mobile AP tethering is limited to 5 devices. This causes problems a lot. Invariably, something we need to access on the home network is unreachable or some device doesn't have internet connectivity because of the limit.
What causes the 5-device limit? Is it a DHCP limitation on the device acting as the AP? Is it an ARP table limitation? Routing table limitation?
Is there a way to get around this 5 device limitation? Would static IP assignments make any difference? A particular custom ROM (the phones are two Captivates and an Infuse all currently running Serendipity)?
What about an app to better manage the mobile AP? Something that would allow us to see the devices connected to the AP and kick them off so another device can connect? Or something to change the AP's network settings? Is something like that available?

I've heard of some dedicated mobile hotspot devices having the capability to tether up to eight devices. (Verizon has a Samsung made one, I think) ....as for the ability to get around the limitation, I am unable to assist you. Sorry.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

Just a question, you had 2 Captivates and an Infuse running on Verizon? Huh? Lol.
Anyways, I think it's a limitation of the actual chip that allows you to broadcast a signal for other devices.

Babydoll25 said:
I've heard of some dedicated mobile hotspot devices having the capability to tether up to eight devices. (Verizon has a Samsung made one, I think) ....as for the ability to get around the limitation, I am unable to assist you. Sorry.
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We gave Verizon's MiFi device a test run. Maybe it was a fluke, a bad device, or something, but the speed on it was absolutely horrible. I was getting 1/4 the speed with the MiFi device as I got with satellite. With my phone sitting right next to the MiFi device and Mobile AP enabled, I was getting 3 to 4 times the best speed I ever got with satellite. We tested over a few days, putting it in different places, etc. So we cancelled and returned the MiFi and got the 3rd line for our son (and in the process upgraded my wife from her Captivate to the Infuse and our son got her Captivate).
Longcat14 said:
Just a question, you had 2 Captivates and an Infuse running on Verizon? Huh? Lol.
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What's the question and what's so funny? The Infuse is my wife's. One of the Captivates is mine. The other Captivate is our son's.
Longcat14 said:
Anyways, I think it's a limitation of the actual chip that allows you to broadcast a signal for other devices.
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I had a feeling it was something like that. I was hoping for a more specific and certain answer. Mainly to satisfy my curiosity. I'd love to get around the limitation, but figured it would have been done if it were possible.

Longcat14 said:
Just a question, you had 2 Captivates and an Infuse running on Verizon? Huh? Lol.
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D'oh! I'm an idiot! LOL
Uhm, yeah, we have AT&T...
(I can't stop laughing at my own stupidity now!)

Related

[Q] Is the 3G model going to be worth it in the USA?

Anyone have any ideas if the 3G will be worth it, there are some discouraging posts over at the notion ink blog, in the comments section, about the bandwidth limitations on the 3G models and them being selected for you, instead of allowing us to pick our own.
(I am one of the ones that did not get a pre-order in on time)
It would be considered a new contract on AT&T so you would not have unlimited data. Also in the US it is only for AT&T
Why thank you for that, being a sprint person, and an Android lover, AT&T is certainly not something I want to deal with, at least that helps me with my decision, I'll just have to use a USB Sprint 4G adapter... :
finndo said:
Why thank you for that, being a sprint person, and an Android lover, AT&T is certainly not something I want to deal with, at least that helps me with my decision, I'll just have to use a USB Sprint 4G adapter... :
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Click to collapse
If you have an android phone I would recommend root it and install wifi tether. Rooting is a very simple process for the EVO at unrevoked.com and I am not sure if it will have support for a usb adapter. You might get the MiFi that is coming to Sprint soon.
Interesting topic. Since I am also on Sprint, its probably better off just getting the Wifi version and wifi tether to the EVO or pdanet. Now when Traveling overseas where Sprint doesn't work (except Jamaica and Taiwan) I guess the wifi will have to just do.
TS
smedley.jason said:
If you have an android phone I would recommend root it and install wifi tether. Rooting is a very simple process for the EVO at unrevoked.com and I am not sure if it will have support for a usb adapter. You might get the MiFi that is coming to Sprint soon.
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Click to collapse
twospirits said:
Interesting topic. Since I am also on Sprint, its probably better off just getting the Wifi version and wifi tether to the EVO or pdanet. Now when Traveling overseas where Sprint doesn't work (except Jamaica and Taiwan) I guess the wifi will have to just do.
TS
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Can you tether an Android device to an Android device? I have purchased EasyTether, I use it for work when I have to drive between states, but did not know they made an Android app to tether to, I thought it only worked on PC's. I'll have to go to their website and look into it.
On Android if you root it you can install a WiFi Tether application that allows you to turn your phone into a hot spot without having to pay Sprint.
http://lifehacker.com/5447347/how-to-tether-your-android-phone
smedley.jason said:
On Android if you root it you can install a WiFi Tether application that allows you to turn your phone into a hot spot without having to pay Sprint.
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Click to collapse
oh ok, yeah I forgot you can make it a hotspot... since I don't need that function right now...
good call. Yeah, I'll stick with the wifi model.
You are correct, I keep forgetting that pdanet only has the PC drivers.
TS
Or if you don't want to root and get good T-Mobile service, the Nexus One/S can be a Wifi hotspot out of the box.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Vandalet said:
Or if you don't want to root and get good T-Mobile service, the Nexus One/S can be a Wifi hotspot out of the box.
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Click to collapse
If you are on T-Mobile you can specify the overseas version by emailing them and it is capable to connect to T-Mobile.
Vandalet said:
Or if you don't want to root and get good T-Mobile service, the Nexus One/S can be a Wifi hotspot out of the box.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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I thought WifI Hotspot tethering was a standard feature in Froyo...
I have it on my Desire (yes it's rooted, but I think the hotspot functionality was part of the original ROM).
litening said:
I thought WifI Hotspot tethering was a standard feature in Froyo...
I have it on my Desire (yes it's rooted, but I think the hotspot functionality was part of the original ROM).
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It is a standard feature but the service providers locked it down so you would have to pay them to use it. The nexus one and s are the only ones that have it enabled.
You can pick your carrier with the adam
Rohan's interview on Android Police states:
AP: Regarding the 3G model, how many frequency sets are being offered? In the US, AT&T and T-Mobile run on different 3G bands, necessitating at least two US 3G models.
Rohan: Initially we offered only one 3G module which was suited for AT&T, but then when customers requested we changed their models. From next pre-order everyone will be given an option of deciding their own 3G module for a specific frequency.
So, if you have already pre-ordered but want a different carrier...email them and provide your order info with your carrier preference. If you pre-order now you will have an option to indicate your choice
Data limitations will be determined by cell carrier not this device. And yes, every company but Sprint has a limit on data right now. Come to think of it, Sprint might have a limit for their USB hotspot and for the devices that have an EVDO radio in them, not sure on that.
Regardless as others stated, if this bothers you just wifi tether. But I have a Chrome Netbook with a verizon connection in it and I love it. Not having to deal with wifi tether all the time is nice.
webs05 said:
Data limitations will be determined by cell carrier not this device. And yes, every company but Sprint has a limit on data right now. Come to think of it, Sprint might have a limit for their USB hotspot and for the devices that have an EVDO radio in them, not sure on that.
Regardless as others stated, if this bothers you just wifi tether. But I have a Chrome Netbook with a verizon connection in it and I love it. Not having to deal with wifi tether all the time is nice.
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i'm jealous, i have been hoping everyday a cr-48 would be waiting for me when i get home.
Crimton said:
i'm jealous, i have been hoping everyday a cr-48 would be waiting for me when i get home.
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Don't worry he only has a 100Mb of data.
smedley.jason said:
Don't worry he only has a 100Mb of data.
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but it was free! free things are my favorite
Crimton said:
but it was free! free things are my favorite
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Click to collapse
I know i'm jealous as well.
I just ordered my Adam and the only model left was the Pixel Qi 3G version. If I had a choice, I would have gone wifi only because I don't have AT&T as a carrier (I have Verizon). Was it just me that found a lack of info on the website about the 3G carrier requirements? It wouldn't have changed my order (because I ordered to late), but it seemed a little vague. I'm still stoked to get the adam though.
Cheers!

[Q]Tethering and worrying about getting charged.

I am getting my tablet tomorrow, and had a quick question about tethering. I have had friends get notices about tethering when doing it with a laptop, but would I have to worry with a tablet as much? I don't have any idea how they check, but figured it being an android based device, it wouldn't set off any alarms.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
papertreeprophet said:
I am getting my tablet tomorrow, and had a quick question about tethering. I have had friends get notices about tethering when doing it with a laptop, but would I have to worry with a tablet as much? I don't have any idea how they check, but figured it being an android based device, it wouldn't set off any alarms.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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Click to collapse
What exactly do you mean? The Transformer doesn't have data so you can't use it as a mobile hotspot and if you're talking about using your phone to tether to it, then that has nothing to do with the TF.
Tethering from your cellphone to a pc/laptop is no different then tethering to a tablet. Not sure how you were caught as it's fairly unheard of to get caught while tethering on a rooted cellphone, but if you were caught and are worried then your best bet is not to do it again.
Once again, the TF is just doing the "receiving" part of the data. You won't get in trouble for using your TF what you would allegedly get in trouble fir is using your cellphone to tether to other devices, doesn't matter if it's a laptop or tab (unless you pay for the service)
They probably noticed your friends tethering cause the sites they were accessing looked like something a PC would access. Like playing a MMORPG, or attempting to download large files.
frosty5689 said:
They probably noticed your friends tethering cause the sites they were accessing looked like something a PC would access. Like playing a MMORPG, or attempting to download large files.
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I strongly suspect they're not doing deep packet inspection or anything else that would allow them to know this.
What is more likely is that your friends were gobbling a lot more data than a smartphone user should and that trigger an automatic message on the (correct) assumption they were tethering their device.
I've tethered both my laptop and my tablet to all of my Android phones and have never been notified. Of course, YMMV
sassafras
sassafras_ said:
I strongly suspect they're not doing deep packet inspection or anything else that would allow them to know this.
What is more likely is that your friends were gobbling a lot more data than a smartphone user should and that trigger an automatic message on the (correct) assumption they were tethering their device.
I've tethered both my laptop and my tablet to all of my Android phones and have never been notified. Of course, YMMV
sassafras
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also tethered for over a year, light browsing/emails of course, and haven't seen any charges. If you take it too far (think torrents/video streaming), would you be surprised that someone would notice?
I was asking here because it in my mind had more to do with tablets in general. And yes I am talking about tethering with my Nexus One.
And my friend was running a stock vanilla N1 when he got the notice. I have not, and I have on occasion tethered my laptop when I needed a real computer for a minute.
As for the amount of data used, I know I gobble it up on my phone since most of my time at work is spent surfing the web, or watching netflix. And as for the tablet, I just want the internet on it for the same stuff i do on my phone, like Google Reader, and apps like that. I have no plan on doing things like downloading torrents or anything that like that.
Damn US isp and cellphone companies has the worst deals
Backwardsblade said:
If you take it too far (think torrents/video streaming), would you be surprised that someone would notice?
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But streaming is also something done on a phone all of the time...like youtube or netflix or Pandora...
Why would high usage (under the data plan cap) cause anyone to flag anything?
I believe that AT&T and Verizon have anti-tethering measures in place
Tortel1210 said:
I believe that AT&T and Verizon have anti-tethering measures in place
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I'm tethering on my AT&T phone...
rpavich said:
I'm tethering on my AT&T phone...
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Hmm, well they both block tethering apps in the market (Which doesnt do much).I guess Verizon is the only one that actually tries to prevent tethering.
Older versions of tethering programs for the iphone actually tagged the data as tethering data via the tethering dta route hence people were caught tethering without a tethering plan. The new version of pdanet (i forgot if this was the one) routes the data through the same route as normal phone data so its harder to detect. The old programs did this because it was easier to code i think.
Thats is all i know in regards to carriers and tethering as i had to research it for my dad and his ipad. Sprint as far as my own experience is concerned hasnt dinged me personally and i tether all the time, however my usage is within the realm of normal for a smartphone.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
My understanding of those getting hit with charges or letters from carriers that are tethering has to do with their LARGE consumption of data. For example someone who uses his/her cellphone data to turn their house into a wireless network running laptops, computers, etc.
I hardly doubt that if you're tethering here and there to download something to your TF when you have no wifi access that it will be of concern.
Take a look at your average data consumption on your phone and make sure you continue to stay in that range and you dont have anything to worry about.
I 4g tether all day erryday to my xoom, laptop, and all my friends ****. I use in upwards of 7gb of data a month on my phone. Man I love sprint
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
branshaw09 said:
My understanding of those getting hit with charges or letters from carriers that are tethering has to do with their LARGE consumption of data. For example someone who uses his/her cellphone data to turn their house into a wireless network running laptops, computers, etc.
I hardly doubt that if you're tethering here and there to download something to your TF when you have no wifi access that it will be of concern.
Take a look at your average data consumption on your phone and make sure you continue to stay in that range and you dont have anything to worry about.
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Click to collapse
Big ISPs are able to do deep packed inspection and there are ways to to identify much of the tethering traffic. As noted, though, if your usage is not abnormal (and I mean ABNORMAL) they have little incentive to piss you off and stop it. The people that WILL get dinged, and dinged hard are those using their service to provide access to many others. Say, an office buying one phone and tethering their office to it. Or worse, someone re-selling access via their tethered device.
Us geeks tethering our tablets to our phones (likely already on an upgraded plan) are not threatening. Yet.

Sprint tethering

I've been tethering for a while now with my phone and I noticed that lately it seems like my internet stops working after a while. Sometimes it will let me download as much as 2GBs then it starts kicking me off minutes after I begin tethering.
Is Sprint able to see if I'm tethering now? I don't care to much either way I'm fine using my phone to download the things I need. It's just sometimes my downloads fail after reaching 100% so I like to use my PC more.
I have noticed that I've used 50GB this month .
method115 said:
I've been tethering for a while now with my phone and I noticed that lately it seems like my internet stops working after a while. Sometimes it will let me download as much as 2GBs then it starts kicking me off minutes after I begin tethering.
Is Sprint able to see if I'm tethering now? I don't care to much either way I'm fine using my phone to download the things I need. It's just sometimes my downloads fail after reaching 100% so I like to use my PC more.
I have noticed that I've used 50GB this month .
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So its because of people like you I get slow connections whenever I try to open any website on my phone if I can't use a wifi.
Ever heard of cable internet?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
obsanity said:
So its because of people like you I get slow connections whenever I try to open any website on my phone if I can't use a wifi.
Ever heard of cable internet?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
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That's BS. Don't throw claims around no one knows are true. I tether and the other sprint 4g phones in my household don't take a hit in bandwidth. The amount of people that tether alot or a small minority compared to people that don't. Blame sprint for not giving you a good connection, not us. Anywho, back to this torrent...
sent from my Touchwiz'd Nexus S 4g
Sprint told me to root my phone and tether.
I don't think they check.
RushAOZ said:
That's BS. Don't throw claims around no one knows are true. I tether and the other sprint 4g phones in my household don't take a hit in bandwidth. The amount of people that tether alot or a small minority compared to people that don't. Blame sprint for not giving you a good connection, not us. Anywho, back to this torrent...
sent from my Touchwiz'd Nexus S 4g
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actualy they can tell and torrent downloaders are so easy spot, and im pretty sure torrent downloading might be in the fine print somewhere.
Oh also your so cool bro replacing home internet with sprints weak 3g/4g service that does not have any net neatrilty laws lol you will be gone sooner or later
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
I read recently sprint was pulling tethering apps from the market so they may be trying to weed out some in addition the recent 5GB cap on hotspot, i'm sure they are fine tuning their system to track data in different manners. Currently they cant even separate hotspot and phone data, that should serve interesting to how they implement overages.
Yeah. Eventually when all the unlimited plans are gone at least we'll know why.
Also, sprint can tell your tethering, they're just not actively doing anything about it yet. After all when you are on 3G or 4G you go through their IP gateway and they can control what you see and can tell what you're using to see it. The only way to prevent that would be through vpn and maybe some https but headers still have to go through clean.
P2P is probably the easiest to detect even if encrypted so good luck trying to get your number back after they close your account.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
True, i would hope the systems are able to track it with all the tracking a smartphone is capable of especially just knowing the browser type they should be able to see who's tethering. I'm really curious to see how this plays out over the next year or two with data usage.
RushAOZ said:
That's BS. Don't throw claims around no one knows are true. I tether and the other sprint 4g phones in my household don't take a hit in bandwidth. The amount of people that tether alot or a small minority compared to people that don't. Blame sprint for not giving you a good connection, not us. Anywho, back to this torrent...
sent from my Touchwiz'd Nexus S 4g
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Click to collapse
No definitely you guys
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
searchfirst said:
I read recently sprint was pulling tethering apps from the market so they may be trying to weed out some in addition the recent 5GB cap on hotspot, i'm sure they are fine tuning their system to track data in different manners. Currently they cant even separate hotspot and phone data, that should serve interesting to how they implement overages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually they can
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
Don't believe anyone who says they cannot tell if your tethering. All they have to do is check what the source and destination mac address using a program such as wireshark to sniff the IP of your phone.
Also don't believe anyone who says your phone is affecting their bandwidth. Bandwidth depends on signal strength and how much bandwidth they are using on their 3g 4g frequencies they use. Its different everywhere for every tower and has to do with the type of license they were able to obtain from the fcc for the tower you are using.
As far as your question regarding sprint killing your downloads, you would need to find a way to sniff you phone's 3g/4g connection to find out whats killing the packets. i would guess that its probably an issue with the connection(s) timing out for high ping times. i don't know if there is a way to manually adjust the ttl in android.
obsanity said:
So its because of people like you I get slow connections whenever I try to open any website on my phone if I can't use a wifi.
Ever heard of cable internet?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Guess what jackass not everyone has cable availability. I live in the county and I don't have cable, or DSL available. In fact as of this year I can no longer get a phone line to my home. The only options some of us have are satellite internet or tethering.
They may be able to on a backend but sprint.com and their billing system doesn't show the difference. Currently if you call sprint and ask for your hotspots usage they cannot provide an answer.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
cteneyck said:
Don't believe anyone who says they cannot tell if your tethering. All they have to do is check what the source and destination mac address using a program such as wireshark to sniff the IP of your phone.
Also don't believe anyone who says your phone is affecting their bandwidth. Bandwidth depends on signal strength and how much bandwidth they are using on their 3g 4g frequencies they use. Its different everywhere for every tower and has to do with the type of license they were able to obtain from the fcc for the tower you are using.
As far as your question regarding sprint killing your downloads, you would need to find a way to sniff you phone's 3g/4g connection to find out whats killing the packets. i would guess that its probably an issue with the connection(s) timing out for high ping times. i don't know if there is a way to manually adjust the ttl in android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but torenting is easy to spot due the way it downloads parts of bytes from different spots
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk
Windst said:
Sprint told me to root my phone and tether.
I don't think they check.
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Click to collapse
Really????
My wife hates XDA
dowmace said:
Guess what jackass not everyone has cable availability. I live in the county and I don't have cable, or DSL available. In fact as of this year I can no longer get a phone line to my home. The only options some of us have are satellite internet or tethering.
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Click to collapse
There are means to tether when you have no options. I was pointing out the ops ignorant approach to data usage since he clearly has a different internet connection but still chooses to use the phone.
Keep your jackass to yourself.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
obsanity said:
There are means to tether when you have no options. I was pointing out the ops ignorant approach to data usage since he clearly has a different internet connection but still chooses to use the phone.
Keep your jackass to yourself.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
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Click to collapse
You blamed him for your data speeds. If he is causing low data speeds, then how do the people legitimately tethering not effect your speeds?
obsanity said:
There are means to tether when you have no options. I was pointing out the ops ignorant approach to data usage since he clearly has a different internet connection but still chooses to use the phone.
Keep your jackass to yourself.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
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Click to collapse
I never said I have another internet connection. I said I could simply just download the files with my phone. I preferred to use my PC instead because I can avoid having to transfer files.
Thanks for the help everyone.
dowmace said:
You blamed him for your data speeds. If he is causing low data speeds, then how do the people legitimately tethering not effect your speeds?
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Click to collapse
Sprint would accommodate for that. But because people abuse the otherwise would be fair use type of tether system, soon people such as yourself, who can't have any other access will be either limited to a ridiculous 5GB per month or not have the ability at all.
For people like myself who ocasonally use tether without tether plan (because of root access) to check some emails/web when stranded without wifi access, Sprint may disable that all together and we'll be forced to pay the $30 per month fee for the 1 or 2 times a year of 100-200MB of data used.
That's why I can't stand people abusing it. And for the op... if you truly do not have any other means of getting a wired data line, I hope you are at least paying for it even though it may no longer be unlimited.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
obsanity said:
Sprint would accommodate for that. But because people abuse the otherwise would be fair use type of tether system, soon people such as yourself, who can't have any other access will be either limited to a ridiculous 5GB per month or not have the ability at all.
For people like myself who ocasonally use tether without tether plan (because of root access) to check some emails/web when stranded without wifi access, Sprint may disable that all together and we'll be forced to pay the $30 per month fee for the 1 or 2 times a year of 100-200MB of data used.
That's why I can't stand people abusing it. And for the op... if you truly do not have any other means of getting a wired data line, I hope you are at least paying for it even though it may no longer be unlimited.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G
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Click to collapse
Obsanity, Were I can definitely understand your frustration with sprints slow network (I feel the same way), Sprint advertises unlimited data on smartphones. regardless of him paying for tethering (which he should pay for), data is data, and its all 1's and 0's and therefor is a mute point. People that tether without paying for it are not cause of slow data, however they will be the cause of tiered data plans. Until that happens chill out and relax. If you have a signal , -60db or better, then call sprint and have them take a look at the tower. if they insist its your phone, have them replace it. if they won't look at the tower, thank them for their time and file a complaint with the fcc.

Anyone tethering with Note on ATT? Are they detecting it?

As many of you know att was busting users tethering. I dont really use it all that often and since all the talk about att catching people tethering, i thought i would never be able to use it ever again, IF i needed too. Some times share with the klids phones if we are mobile. They dont have data.
Ive turned it on a couple times testing. I connected the laptop to it and loaded "a" page. I havent gotton any emails yet, or ever.
I was just wondering, since this is not an att phone, and there is no tether manager, should we be able to tether without getting detected?
I thought for sure there was going to be a topic already here, but theres not???? my search didnt turn up andything!!
carhigh said:
As many of you know att was busting users tethering. I dont really use it all that often and since all the talk about att catching people tethering, i thought i would never be able to use it ever again, IF i needed too. Some times share with the klids phones if we are mobile. They dont have data.
Ive turned it on a couple times testing. I connected the laptop to it and loaded "a" page. I havent gotton any emails yet, or ever.
I was just wondering, since this is not an att phone, and there is no tether manager, should we be able to tether without getting detected?
I thought for sure there was going to be a topic already here, but theres not???? my search didnt turn up andything!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made mine a wireless hotspot for my friends for about an hour and a half like two weeks ago and they didn't say anything to me or kick me off my data plan.
Thank for posting this! I was wondering as well!
They probably won't say anything so long as you keep within your data cap. Going over it and they will likely scold you...
Brian
No issues here...tethering away and remembering not to be a hog. Don't abuse it.
inurb said:
No issues here...tethering away and remembering not to be a hog. Don't abuse it.
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Click to collapse
Thank you!
When I had the HTC Evo I also had the tethering option ($30/month) but, fortunately, my company was picking up 90% of the tab. Now that my Evo is gone and I have a company provided iP4 I can't tether.
I have mixed feeling about tethering as it is a useful tool to have but also very easy to abuse. The problem with the abuse is that it eats into the bandwidth that I need for more casual usage and therefore negatively impacts my usage. I have heard of folks using of 50GB/month and if even a very small fraction of people did that there would be no cellular network that would survive.
When I get the Note I will probably go with the 4GB plan and have tethering. During my time with the Evo I averaged about 600MB/month including tethering, but with the Note I think the data use will go up because it will be far more useful and practical to surf the net and I think I'll probably go over 2GB/month. I will have to see what my data use actually is and if 2GB/month is enough and I can still tether than maybe that will be the way to go.
I don't see the need to try to game the system all that much and am willing to pay for what I use...
Brian
I've tethered with my Dell streak for over a year, never had an issue.
You just have to stay under the radar. Start downloading ISO size files, and you can bet you will get dinged.
I have been tethering illicitly for almost a year, first on my rooted SGS and now my Note, because that's been my only available "broadband" connection where I live (and I only get about 300kbps down even on HSPA 3g... very oversubscribed towers around here).
I got the dreaded warning letter from AT&T a couple months ago, where they politely suggested that I need to upgrade my plan to include tethering...and if I continue tethering, they will eventually do it for me.
That was a few months ago and they haven't done it yet, though I did back off on my data consumption after I got that letter (I stand to lose my unlimited data plan as well as seeing my monthly bill go up by $30).
I suspect that they infer that you're tethering based on your traffic, and that they can't actually tell whether you have tethering enabled on your rooted phone. E.g. if you're doing a lot of bittorrenting and connecting to sites like Windowsupdate.com, those would be pretty big clue that you're running a PC over your connection.
I rarely use my PC any more, and no more bt :-( so I am hoping they will continue to let my occasional small amount of tethering slide. And if they don't, I may just upgrade to a Verizon 4g LTE mifi instead, since that is now available in my area
HTH
I'm on att and with android phones I've been tethering for almost two years with no problem. It included the Nexus one, the galaxy tab, the inspire 4g, the unlocked sgs2 and now the Note. I frequently used the tethering option to connect my galaxy tab 10.1. I average 5GB a month and have never gotten any warning.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
I'm based in the UK so i don't have any useful input, I just find this article interesting. Your guys network operators over in the US sound like nazis. and I thought ours were bad?
I've seen a few networks over here include tethering as a "bolt-on" style upgrade to a price plan, but my question is, how the hell do they know? like with my SGS, tethering is part of the phone, so it was my understanding that they couldn't tell (unless you had anormal traffic - but with phones getting better processors surely that kind of traffic will very soon, if not already, be possible without tethering?)
calin75 said:
I'm on att and with android phones I've been tethering for almost two years with no problem. It included the Nexus one, the galaxy tab, the inspire 4g, the unlocked sgs2 and now the Note. I frequently used the tethering option to connect my galaxy tab 10.1. I average 5GB a month and have never gotten any warning.
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Click to collapse
yeah, like I said: I don't think they can actually tell you have tethering enabled, so if the only devices you're connecting to your AP are other phones, they likely will never figure it out. But if you connect a Mac or PC much, watch out.
UPDATE: AT&T finally forced me into their tethering plan. I put my SIM into an old dumb phone, went online and changed the phone model on my acct, and they automatically dropped me back into my old unlimited data plan. Swapped the SIM back into the Note, all better again
We'll see how long it lasts, but since I'm not tethering anymore (just got a Verizon LTE Mifi) I will probably drop my data pan down to the minimum 200mb and save another $15/mo.
I'm seriously looking into switching all four of my lines over to Verizon now!

Since T-Mo is carrying the Nexus 4...no tethering without the proper plan?

Right now I have no problem tethering off my Galaxy Nexus on T-Mobile with an unlimited plan, whether on my tablet, laptop, or desktop. The Nexus 4 looks pretty nice, but my concern - since T-Mobile is also carrying it, does that mean it'll have the capability to block tethering without the proper plan, even using the Play unlocked version? Does the T-Mobile one even have anything confirmed other than a higher price? Apparently 42Mbps speeds are confirmed on the Play version through the Google press release and the Play Store specs are wrong.
I know its all speculation at this point since nobody has the phone, but that'd be a huge factor as to whether I sell my Galaxy Nexus now and go back to my HTC G2 until I get the Nexus 4 (while I can still get a decent amount for it), or just get my high-performance fix with the Nexus 10 (which I'd be planning to get regardless after selling my Toshiba Thrive).
If you can root it, you can tether w/o being charged a fee. True story.
WiredPirate said:
If you can root it, you can tether w/o being charged a fee. True story.
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Click to collapse
If you buy it from T-Mobile, they will have the IMEI and can track it. Better get it from the PlayStore.
WiredPirate said:
If you can root it, you can tether w/o being charged a fee. True story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except I've had issues tethering with a rooted/ROM'd G2 occasionally, and have had friends having issues with tethering on rooted devices, so I can't say that's entirely true.
eksasol said:
If you buy it from T-Mobile, they will have the IMEI and can track it. Better get it from the PlayStore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But if T-Mobile ends up carrying the same unlocked version (just upcharging for whatever reason), then wouldn't they be able to track the IMEI or whatever of the unlocked version too?
magus57 said:
Except I've had issues tethering with a rooted/ROM'd G2 occasionally, and have had friends having issues with tethering on rooted devices, so I can't say that's entirely true.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say it's entirely true. No problems tethering with root on ATT or VZW with my Captivate, Atrix or Gnex using either WiFi Tether free app or built in AP via AOKP or CM for 3+ years in at least 2 states. So if you are having problems, you are doing it wrong.
magus57 said:
But if T-Mobile ends up carrying the same unlocked version (just upcharging for whatever reason), then wouldn't they be able to track the IMEI or whatever of the unlocked version too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile only knows the imei of the phones they sell. They can't and don't have access (unless it's currently connected to their network) of any other imei.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
WiredPirate said:
I can say it's entirely true. No problems tethering with root on ATT or VZW with my Captivate, Atrix or Gnex using either WiFi Tether free app or built in AP via AOKP or CM for 3+ years in at least 2 states. So if you are having problems, you are doing it wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How exactly can you root "wrong" like you're saying? Fact is, I've gotten the "get a hotspot plan" pages when tethering to my laptop/desktop numerous times while I had my G2, running both CM7 and CM9. Maybe T-Mobile is just more stringent about sniffing out tethering?
magus57 said:
How exactly can you root "wrong" like you're saying? Fact is, I've gotten the "get a hotspot plan" pages when tethering to my laptop/desktop numerous times while I had my G2, running both CM7 and CM9. Maybe T-Mobile is just more stringent about sniffing out tethering?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one said you were rooting wrong, they said if you're having tethering issues then you're tethering wrong. But it just depends on the current tower you're on as well as traffic at the time, as well as luck.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
geoffcorey said:
No one said you were rooting wrong, they said if you're having tethering issues then you're tethering wrong. But it just depends on the current tower you're on as well as traffic at the time, as well as luck.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. So while tethering is possible on rooted devices, its not guaranteed to work 100% of the time, which is what I'm trying to get at.
magus57 said:
Exactly. So while tethering is possible on rooted devices, its not guaranteed to work 100% of the time, which is what I'm trying to get at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, no. My VZW LTE tethered from my Gnex is more reliable than my Charter cable internet, in fact I use it as a backup when Charter goes out. (which is a few time a month.) If you don't have data it is because of your carrier. And when I said doing it wrong I meant tethering not rooting. There are many many threads on how to properly tether. When done properly tethering works 100% of the time, not having data to tether is a different issue altogether.
WiredPirate said:
No, no. My VZW LTE tethered from my Gnex is more reliable than my Charter cable internet, in fact I use it as a backup when Charter goes out. (which is a few time a month.) If you don't have data it is because of your carrier. And when I said doing it wrong I meant tethering not rooting. There are many many threads on how to properly tether. When done properly tethering works 100% of the time, not having data to tether is a different issue altogether.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I'll have to look into it then, thanks.
If you have any specific questions or errors tell me. I'm not sure why you've had a less than stable experience with tethering, but if you can note specific issues we can try and help you troubleshoot to get it working properly.:good:
I wonder how much they will sell it at a T-Mobile store off contract 350$ I hope
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Jasonhunterx said:
I wonder how much they will sell it at a T-Mobile store off contract 350$ I hope
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Way more than what Google selling it for
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
raymond4 said:
Way more than what Google selling it for
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I'm thinking just don't like using me credit card and shipping charges
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
It seems to be pretty well established that T-Mobile is packet-sniffing to detect unauthorized tethering. It appears that they detect the User Agent string if you are using Internet Explorer or Chrome (but apparently not Firefox, I imagine because Android Firefox is able to pretend to be the desktop version with one tap). Changing the User Agent string for your browser or using a VPN tunnel circumvents the detection, and non-browser access (SSH, SMTP, etc.) is not checked, either. All that's independent of whether you are rooted or not.
just install a user agent add on or extention on your laptop. Firefox and chrome both have them, i set mine to nexus 7 user agent and the tether blocking pages go away for good.
FREEE
basementalism said:
just install a user agent add on or extention on your laptop. Firefox and chrome both have them, i set mine to nexus 7 user agent and the tether blocking pages go away for good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it works with out root or any app im using it right now on my comp with my nexus 4 free i have tmobile truly unlimited plan
mrot978 said:
it works with out root or any app im using it right now on my comp with my nexus 4 free i have tmobile truly unlimited plan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good to know. Thanks
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
geoffcorey said:
T-Mobile only knows the imei of the phones they sell. They can't and don't have access (unless it's currently connected to their network) of any other imei.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMEIs are assigned in blocks. Even if they don't have access to the info from the manufacturer, (they almost certainly do), they can still figure it out. If, for example, they've sold Nexus 4s with IMEIs 1001 and 1003, and you log onto their network with 1002, they can draw a pretty solid conclusion.
The hard part is figuring out if you're tethering or not, which requires invasive packet sniffing if the phone itself doesn't report tethering (that's how they track tethering with branded devices). I don't believe, based on my quick research, that T-Mo is sniffing everyone's packets. Which means they probably aren't watching you unless you are streaming 20GB a month. They are tracking user agents on branded phones, it seems.

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