AT&T cracks down on tethering cheaters

All utilities should be co-ops.

The telcom tyrants are deeply in debt. Just a few months of everyone not paying them would bring them to their knees.

I say the US should be grateful they can even get 2GB of data for use in 1 month… all UK carriers cap the maximum you can buy to 1GB/mth, with some even limiting the max you can buy in one month to 500MB, not to mention the ridiculous overages… I pay £5 for 500MB/mth, yet if I go over that, they then charge £2/MB overage. Not to mention there’s no video streaming etc (you gotta pay £7.50 for a tethering bolt-on for that, that costs MORE than the darn data I bought, so I pay an extra 1.5x of my data cost just for the right to tether said 500MB)…

Charging more for the tether service than the cost of the most data you can buy in a month is daylight robbery, not charging to tether. Data is data yes, but seriously, let’s terminate all service contracts (so everyone has their contract cancelled without ETF), and then start only selling contracts with 50MB/yr (not 500) costs £2.5 million a day, with tethering setting you back £2 million a day. (we’d soon get out of debt then!)

How anyone call shrill for AT&T and say users are screwing the network over is beyond me. That 20 bucks goes no where near infrastructure upgrades, naive to believe otherwise. AT&T run a string and can network, and I-Phone fanboys bend over for it.

At&t is so money hungry if I could get off the plan completely I would but that’s all that works in my area! 

Its not cheating because its already paid for!

Well, the law does state that if one panda touches another pandas’ panda, said panda panda- they are in violation of the law, and that makes me a /sad/ panda!

hehe, there will always be some new way around the work-around AT&T is using.

i would drop these stupid fuckers within 5 mins of receiving that email, how many times do i have to pay for a data plan before i actually get to use the data?

good thing im in canada and on wind, i dont mind capping or throttling once you reach a high amount of data use, but seriously? forcing a new plan with out your authorization? fuck you all…

I have the unlimited plan without tethering, and I won’t tether, but if AT&T ever sends me a text message or email such as the one above, I’m going to plug in my iPhone 4 so it will continuously charge because it’s going to need some extra juice when I set it up to stream a laundry list of Netflix playlists with WiFi turned OFF.

Instead of MyWi, I’ll use My3G, the jailbreak app that checks as to whether or not the iPhone is on WiFi or 3G, that it is indeed on WiFi. AT&T thinks we don’t deserve the best viewing experience on the go!? I think I deserve that and a whole lot more, especially when I burn through an excessive (no…that doesn’t describe the brutal nature of my data onslaught) …more like repulsive…a repulsive, repugnant amount of data to give me a crystal clear picture of whatever movie I’m not watching when I go to sleep each night…

The TTL won’t change because I won’t be tethering. It’s going to be so much worse. AT&T will pay ME an ETF and BEG me to switch to another carrier. HAHAAA…

It’s our data, let us use it how we want. This concept that mobile data is somehow different than any other data is just asinine.

I’m curious how this applies to people like me, who are not on contract with AT&T (any longer), but use an unlocked phone, which they *didn’t* subsidize to me, on their network, on a month-to-month basis.

And yes, I tether with it.

Just something to consider….
AT&T probably doesn’t care how you use your data, as much as they care about the odds of you using all the data you pay for.
Everyone is assuming that if you pay for 2GB of data and use your full 2GB (regardless of how you use it) AT&T has still made money off you for that purchase of 2GBs of data. I was told by a friend that works in a finance department of AT&T that once a customer passes the 1.6-1.7GB point of their 2GB plan AT&T has passed the break even point and is now losing money on that customer.
1.) I realize that doesn’t make any logical business sense but neither does airlines selling 110 seats on a plane that only has 100, doesn’t mean it still doesn’t happen.
2.) I am aware that I am citing a source that I can’t link you to the information, doesn’t have a name, and comes off as heresay, but it wont be the first or last comment on this blog to do so and to me makes a lot more sense than those that say AT&T’s cost is around a penny per GB. (If they had profit margins like that, their stock would be worth a lot more.)
3.) Assuming this comment is true, I am also aware that it’s not the consumer’s fault that AT&T is selling a product at a loss but its more about total averages and playing the numbers similar to how a casino opperates. While a few players win big and the house loses, at the end of the day enough other players lose for the house to win.
So hear me out…
AT&T has said that approxamitly 60% of its smartphone customers use less than 200MB and only 2% use more than 2GBs. Now I barely break 1GB of data and would think it’s safe to say that the 38% of customers over 200MB but under 2GBs are in similar situations.
However, if one was to tether their device (be it by cord or mobile hotspot feature) their likelyness to use more data increases. Even if they were to remain under the 2GB cap, they would be more likely to fall into that 1.6 -2GB range where AT&T is losing money.
AT&T is aware that a percentage of customers will fall into that category of using almost all of their 2GBs and they will lose money, but they want to manage and keep that percentage as small as possible.
This is my theory as why it doesn’t matter how you use your data as much as it matters the odds of you using all the data that you pay for. You signed an agreement stating that you wanted 2GBs of data each month and plan on using that data on your smartphone only. Under those conditions and playing the odds that the vast majority of smartphone users won’t hit anywhere near that 2GB cap, AT&T will be able to make a profit on you at $25/mth. When you change the varibles of that equation (such as tethering) AT&T is less likely to be able to make a profit on you at $25 even if you stay under the 2GB cap.
So that’s my theory. I’m sure others will post on how it doesn’t make sense, I’m full of shit, AT&T can go suck a bag of dicks and how I am wrong because of your unique situation. If you are this upset by what AT&T is doing than odds are you probably fall into the catogory of those illegally tethering and while AT&T would never say it, they want you to cancel your service and go somewhere else cause no one is making any money off you any way. But that’s the part I don’t understand. There are 4 major national carriers and probably countless regional providers, so you have a choice. Why complain when you can just switch carriers. If its because your still in a contract the ETF’s are usually only a couple hundred bucks, and its not like you can’t sell you jailbroken phone on ebay for twice that?

I think I see a class action lawsuit in the making here. There has to be at least one attorney out there combing through the legalize of ATT’s contract in an attempt to find a part that could be argued is violated by the company automatically enrolling its users in a premium plan without their consent.

To claim that you have given implied consent to the new plan by appearing to use the tethering option on a phone that does not have a tethering plan, presents the possibility of ATT charging for other services it believes you have given consent to based on your usage.

I don’t have a smart phone but I use my samsung mythic to bluetooth tether internet to my mac. Would they still charge me?

Thats bs I’ve been trying to play xbox live for 2 years I finally find a way by buying a 20$ app and now I can’t use it

AT&T needs to just get rid of the unlimited plans that would get the people who abuse tethering to pay more. I have the unlimited plan and I tether but I only use it for surfing with my iPad when I travel or just want a bigger screen. My bet is these letters are going out to people who dl huge amounts of data.

Anyone dumb enough to still use att well your just stupid.ATT worst ever.Wouldn’t use it or crappy iphone1,2,3,4,5Nothing to offer.

Wouldn’t use that crappy ATT anyway.Couldn’t even face time on network.WHAT A JOKE… Ol you can face time on Verizon network..
And my evo that kicks iphone to the curb and makes them bleed.I can use UNLIMITED DATA on sprint and for cheaper.

F**KING ATT i hate them more and more, I just recevied this message today and they’re starting to piss me off. If They make me switch to 4gb tethering then I am just going to cancel using there service and get something else. Unlimited data and the ability to do what ever the hell you want with your phone is what the customer want. Freedom is what we want but I guess ATT are a bunch of commies. We had the unlimited data plan so we should be able to do what ever we want.

A couple thoughts:
First of all, by jailbreaking your iPhone or rooting your Android and getting relatively free internet access to your laptop / 360, you’ve broken AT&T’s terms of service and they’re going to take some sort of action on you. Upgrading your account makes perfect business sense.
However, I agree with the sentiment that if you buy a phone, it’s yours to do with as you want, including jailbreaking / tethering. As long as you stay within your monthly contract, you’re doing OK. It’s only when you break the rules of your contract that you get an email such as the one above.
If you don’t want to deal with this kind of situation, find a different provider. There’s plenty of cheaper alternative cell companies that give you unlimited data, if you’re willing to deal with less coverage.

This may force me to move.  I’m on the 200 mb plan since I mainly use wifi, but once in a while I need to tether while out.   Going from $15 per month to $45 per month just for once in a while use, I might as well get an unlimited plan elsewhere and not worry about use at all.