Windows XP Dial up networking bluetooth or tethering

[kareljack]

The question I'm asking - to no one specifically - why risk drawing attention and the possibility of extra charges by using tethering?
It sucks that AT&T are such hard asses about this. I understand the issues regarding overloading the network... but geez.

[ninjaap]

Originally Posted by jasoninaz

Thats the thing, PDANET sucks, I've looked at the code and it just doing a piggyback on the internet share, its no difference than I what I posted.

Why would you pay for something that you can do yourself? Don't get suckered into buying that pos program.

My point exactly!

[jasoninaz]

Overloading the network, ok they are no where near hitting the overload on the network. When I was in Japan you would be getting 2.4 mpbs download and upload was just as fast, we are ass backwards when it comes to wireless here in the states.

The whole time I was in Japan because (With AT&T World Traveler, calling while in Japan is only $1.69/minute!) I used skype and it was clear as a usual cellphone.

Also AT&T owns more fiber than anyone else. Now google owns more dark fiber than anyone else and I'm very interested to see how that turns out.

Right now there is a ton of overhead on the network, we are no where near the breaking point.

Do not feel sorry for them!

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by ninjaap

No offense mexiken, but that doesn't make sense to me. The phone is already capable of tethering out of the box. The only difference is that PDAnet configures the settings for you automatically. Why pay someone to do that when you already know the settings and able to configure it manually. It's like paying for tethering twice. The issue is not whether an app or you are tethering. The issue is that your comp is tethered to your phone and is accessing the carrier's network. And that's what the carrier wants you to pay for. Which is bull ish!

I have used the above method already. Haven't got billed yet. But then again I rarely use it as I leave my laptop at home most of the time.

Im fully aware of the phone being able to tether out of the box. But if you read the stipulations of the contract, which you sign to sign up for service, it strictly states that the internet services are intended for the PHONE only, and tethering is NOT allowed without paying for it. I forget what the ramifications are for violating the rules, but I believe it includes, but is not limited to, cutting off your internet service, or billing you for it.

The ICS shortcut that everyone uses is not readily available. Its a hidden app in the Windows folder. People find it, make a shortcut, and start using it. You're circumventing the device to fit your needs, which, while I agree is crap that you can't use it, technically isn't right. In the end, you own the phone yes, but AT&T owns the network.

The settings above are also not readily available. They're for customers who have the tethering plan.

Thats where PDAnet comes in. You could make the ignorance plea, and say because PDAnet circumvented those methods, and did the work for you, you are absolved of the violation. Its a long shot, but its better than saying, "I read on some forum that I could use the ICS shortcut to tether", or, "I read on a website how to set up a DUN connection" That puts the blame square on you.

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by jasoninaz

About two months ago I got a call from them about my data usage downloading books from audible.com. There is a smartphone feature called audible air. I download my books and podcasts via audible and they end up on my sd card. They started to talk about policy and this and that, I said well I signed up for unlimited data. So if you want to cancel my contract you can do that. But I'll post the conversation and outcome on digg.com, you see I told the lady, image is everything, and with the new Iphone if you start telling everyone that the unlimited is not really unlimited people will think twice about AT&T and they won't pick AT&T as a carrier.

You're not the only one. There's a lot of horror stories out there, about customers getting billed THOUSANDS after the fact....

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by kareljack

I think I'll just play it safe and just forget about tethering. Even if I get PDANet working (I neglected to mention that I tried it but couldnt get it to work) just the fact about the huge discrepancies in page view sizes is enough to concern me.
I appreciate everyone's input in this matter. Thanks.

I wasn't even quite aware of HOW much of a difference the pages were. It was quite shocking to me too.

Just proceed with caution is my best advice.

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by kareljack

The question I'm asking - to no one specifically - why risk drawing attention and the possibility of extra charges by using tethering?
It sucks that AT&T are such hard asses about this. I understand the issues regarding overloading the network... but geez.

Its also a matter of not paying for something you should normally get elsewhere, or even internally. AT&T offers DSL service in its landline areas, so obviously it doesn't benefit them to let you just run wild with your PDA plan.

But also, if you can imagine. In LA alone, there are more than 5 million AT&T customers. If even a half of million of them tethered their phones as permanent ISP for their PC/laptop, it would just be chaos. The network isn't built to handle that much data. Thats why WAP was invented in the first place. The network has been built with certain parameters, not able to handle PC like data transferring.

[mexiken]

Originally Posted by jasoninaz

Overloading the network, ok they are no where near hitting the overload on the network. When I was in Japan you would be getting 2.4 mpbs download and upload was just as fast, we are ass backwards when it comes to wireless here in the states.

The whole time I was in Japan because (With AT&T World Traveler, calling while in Japan is only $1.69/minute!) I used skype and it was clear as a usual cellphone.

Also AT&T owns more fiber than anyone else. Now google owns more dark fiber than anyone else and I'm very interested to see how that turns out.

Right now there is a ton of overhead on the network, we are no where near the breaking point.

Do not feel sorry for them!

I believe you are confused on how the 3G networks data streams work. They work like FiOs in the sense that user experiences are meant to be similar. In that, there is no "sharing" of the line like on GSM networks, or cable internet. So the fact that you get such good speeds is a result of the protocol used by both your phone (and Motorola is ahead of the curve in this respect) and the tower. Not because of how many people are on it. Yes, if there are A LOT of people on the network, it may slow down your speeds some as the towers various processing machines will obviously start backing up, but the speed itself is not designed to suffer. Or at least, thats the way the technology was theorized. It seems to pretty much work that way however.

[ninjaap]

Originally Posted by mexiken

Im fully aware of the phone being able to tether out of the box. But if you read the stipulations of the contract, which you sign to sign up for service, it strictly states that the internet services are intended for the PHONE only, and tethering is NOT allowed without paying for it. I forget what the ramifications are for violating the rules, but I believe it includes, but is not limited to, cutting off your internet service, or billing you for it.

The ICS shortcut that everyone uses is not readily available. Its a hidden app in the Windows folder. People find it, make a shortcut, and start using it. You're circumventing the device to fit your needs, which, while I agree is crap that you can't use it, technically isn't right. In the end, you own the phone yes, but AT&T owns the network.

The settings above are also not readily available. They're for customers who have the tethering plan.

Thats where PDAnet comes in. You could make the ignorance plea, and say because PDAnet circumvented those methods, and did the work for you, you are absolved of the violation. Its a long shot, but its better than saying, "I read on some forum that I could use the ICS shortcut to tether", or, "I read on a website how to set up a DUN connection" That puts the blame square on you.

Exactly! AT&T owns the network, not tethering. Some of us already subscribe to an unlimited data plan just to access their network. Now they want to own how we access that same network. Doesn't make sense. It's like charging us bluetooth. I'm sure as some are aware, the handsfree law is taking effect in california in july. What if, because of the necessity, AT&T decided to charge us bluetooth connection between our headsets and phone? Would people be as accepting then.

And as far as the function being readily available, it is documented in the phone's PDF manual file found in the motorola website. All we need is the user name and password from AT&T. So in that sense, they are charging us twice to access the same newtwork.

I guess in the end I can argue and argue about how wrong it is. The fact remains, we are unfairly charged for a feature that we own. I'm all for capitalism, not exploitation. Just doesn't seem right. So I will screw them over every chance I get, because they always find ways to do the same.

[tendomentis]

I wonder how my VPN usage looks to AT&T when I use my phone to tether onto my corporate network. Do they just see one HUGE block of data? And, since it's all encrypted, they couldn't tell if it's my phone or my laptop?