how much bandwidth have you tethered?

[Uprangewilly]

Ive had my Droid for about three weeks and I use it as my only internet provider. And before everyone starts yelling "Bandwith hog!" please understand I have no other option besides dial-up.

With that said I have only used 1.6Gb since Ive had my phone. And I also play MW2 using tethering. MW2 uses about 25Mb an hour with voice. I wasnt too sure 3G would be able to handle Xbox live but it runs great. I have never had DSL, just cable internet at my old home, but I would compare a good 3G connection as being comparably to DSL. I rarely lag while playing Xbox live. And I figurd it up, it would take somone playing MW2 for 6 hours a day for a whole month to reach 5Gb.

I really dont understand why people look down on tethering, I mean whats the difference if I use MY data on my phone or my PC. I can access the same internet from my phone and PC. Im not saying go out and download Gigs and Gigs but as long as you stay under 5Gb it shouldnt be a problem. And wait till LTE comes out, everyone and their brother is going to be tethering. It will most likely replace alot of peoples DSL and Cable line internet.

 

[ruinah]

I've used really no more than 5-6GB a month and I tether my ipod touch and my laptop when I travel. I don't sit there and torrent though, if I need higher capacity I just use my home connection or the hotel at that point. I see tethering as getting me access to the net for a little while when there is no other way to do it. Like if I am mobile and need to sync up my Outlook to work on, only takes maybe 20MB or less and only a few minutes to sync it up. I use Slingplayer which does eat up a good bit though at times. I wifi when I can, 3g when there is nothing else. Using it 100% for Internet for my house though would just be dumb.

 

[kodiak799]

I've used really no more than 5-6GB a month

I don't really have an issue with such usage, I don't really care how much people use until the network starts slowing down, then they should be throttled and/or pay more.

Plans for tethering are ridiculously overpriced for what we are already paying, assuming what I consider "fair use" of a little here and there when traveling (since you can physically move files back-and-forth, it's more a convenience charge than an access charge). Limited tethering (say 250mb per month) should cost $5 a month. I bet that's a rather large opportunity for VZW - I think a lot of non-rooted users would take advantage, but they probably worry about losing too many wireless card people paying $20 a month.

Now LTE comes out I'd gladly pay $60 for unlimited and replace my home broadband and tether to my heart's content (my home internet is about 2X as fast as LTE and I think it's mostly overkill since I don't stream movies or game). But if you want to cap that at 5gigs then it's not a viable option, hence that's a lost opportunity for VZW to make an extra $30 off me.