PDA Net And Verizon Billing...

[DAVPX]

What people don't seem to understand is the meaning of bandwidth. Bandwidth, is the scope of signal frequency used in transmission, has little to do with speed or data usage as you may know it. A more accurate word in this case would be Throughput, is the ammount of data you can push through the pipe at any given time. Sure it's limited but Verizon owns their own circuits. They are an ISP after all. No one sends them a larger bill when their customers use 5GB as opposed to 500MB. It doesn't cost the company a single extra penny to pass more data from one month to the next. Now imagine a feature like speedboost (offered by COX) which for a moment increases your individual throughput. Something like that can cost extra money because one guy is taking up more of the pipe than the next at that given moment. Think of the internet as an endless pipe. Verizon doesn't pay for the length of the pipe they use, they pay for how thick their portion of the pipe is.

 

[zenman77]

Use it like crazy, they aren't gonna do anything. Anyone who disagrees, I'd like to see a screen shot proving me wrong. I tether like crazy and use tons of data every month. Nothing is going to happen to you, as I have been doing it for many months with no issue. Enjoy, and ignore anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

Brilliant........ It's wizards like this that cause problems for others.

 

[takeshi]

If you use pda net is there any chance of being billed?

They should bill you whether you use it or not (you have to pay for your service). If, instead, you mean hit you with fees/penalties, there are no guarantees. Just be aware that it's against their TOS.

 

[ChugIt]

Still, I use it all I want.

 

[erikfig]

Still, I use it all I want.

Same here!

 

[kodiak799]

Verizon CFO John Killian:
"We have indicated in the past, as we move to an LTE world and LTE pricing, we will probably look very hard at tiered pricing, and that continues to be our thinking right now. So more to come on that. By the way, I should say that all of our efforts, all of our plans on getting LTE launched in the fourth quarter are on schedule."

And tiered LTE makes perfect sense. At down speeds of 5-12mbps, tethering as a broadband replacement becomes a viable option for many consumers (not everyone has high speed internet at 15+mbps). And that alternative has real value to the consumer who might drop their home internet bill, and it would be perfectly fair for VZW to share that savings with the consumer. There's no bait-and-switch here - tethering has been explicitly excluded from your unlimited plan.

However, unless you can still send & receive calls while tethering on LTE I don't see how it can be a viable broadband replacement (I don't think you can use the phone while tethering 3G can you?)

 

[AzJazz]

While Verizon has been quiet on this in the past, Android 2.2 (Froyo) may be a game changer.

Previously, Wifi tethering on your smartphone required some technical expertise. The first passes at tethering required rooting before PDA Net & Easytether arrived on the game. WinMo tethering also required some tech knowledge as well. Thus, the number of people using their phone for free tethering was relatively small.

Things are different now with Froyo - Tethering is built right into the OS. The number of folks tethering may start to climb to the point where Verizon starts taking action. When I bought my wife's Incredible, and added my wife to my plan, I verbally had to agree to the VZ sales rep that her phone wouldn't be used for tethering without purchasing a broadband plan from VZ.

Unless you get routed to a nag page from Verizon when you try tethering without paying (which may still occur when Froyo is officially released), you may find VZ starting to pay a lot more attention to "free" tethering.

When I heard that Froyo included tethering in the OS, I was actually a bit pi**ed off - since I realized that there could be unintended consequences from adding this feature.

As the old adage goes, "Be careful what you wish for."

 

[erikfig]

Verizon CFO John Killian:
"We have indicated in the past, as we move to an LTE world and LTE pricing, we will probably look very hard at tiered pricing, and that continues to be our thinking right now. So more to come on that. By the way, I should say that all of our efforts, all of our plans on getting LTE launched in the fourth quarter are on schedule."

And tiered LTE makes perfect sense. At down speeds of 5-12mbps, tethering as a broadband replacement becomes a viable option for many consumers (not everyone has high speed internet at 15+mbps). And that alternative has real value to the consumer who might drop their home internet bill, and it would be perfectly fair for VZW to share that savings with the consumer. There's no bait-and-switch here - tethering has been explicitly excluded from your unlimited plan.

However, unless you can still send & receive calls while tethering on LTE I do

n't see how it can be a viable broadband replacement (I don't think you can use the phone while tethering 3G can you?)

No you can't...

 

[pc747]

While Verizon has been quiet on this in the past, Android 2.2 (Froyo) may be a game changer.

Previously, Wifi tethering on your smartphone required some technical expertise. The first passes at tethering required rooting before PDA Net & Easytether arrived on the game. WinMo tethering also required some tech knowledge as well. Thus, the number of people using their phone for free tethering was relatively small.

Things are different now with Froyo - Tethering is built right into the OS. The number of folks tethering may start to climb to the point where Verizon starts taking action. When I bought my wife's Incredible, and added my wife to my plan, I verbally had to agree to the VZ sales rep that her phone wouldn't be used for tethering without purchasing a broadband plan from VZ.

Unless you get routed to a nag page from Verizon when you try tethering without paying (which may still occur when Froyo is officially released), you may find VZ starting to pay a lot more attention to "free" tethering.

When I heard that Froyo included tethering in the OS, I was actually a bit pi**ed off - since I realized that there could be unintended consequences from adding this feature.

As the old adage goes, "Be careful what you wish for."

Untrrue, Pdanet and easytether works with out root. But you may be right about 2.2 being a game changer, since installing it pdanet and easytether quits working after awhile.
I see both sides. I think its outrages for vzw to charge people an extra 20 bucks a mnth on top of the already high bill. I say give a limit, example if you pay for a plan with 3gs a mnth, you can use it how you like whether tethering or not. That will limit those who abuse it. And if you want to use you device as a ISP then you charge them for an unlimited data plan of 45 bucks a mnth. Those who have internet at the house and do not use as much pay less. Those that say use it to no limit can pay more. Its a fair deal for every one. I use to be against the tier plan, now I am all for it.

 

[kodiak799]

When I heard that Froyo included tethering in the OS, I was actually a bit pi**ed off - since I realized that there could be unintended consequences from adding this feature.

Good points, but I'm wondering how VZW can really determine this outside of going to websites on a computer the Droid can't use (which with flash would seem to drop drastically in number) - and some people do full HTML browsing on the Droid so that doesn't cut it, either.

Even shifts in usage aren't a good indicator, because there are valid reasons people might increase usage (i.e. traveling more, a new internet radio app, etc...)

And the final question would be if VZW will split out tethering on the bill (maybe they do?). Tether plans are either 2GB or 5GB. I suppose if I use the USB tether and go through the official Froyo feature, then VZW can track my usage. But if you use PDA Net or Wireless tether, how would they ever track your usage other than to flag a few of those non-Droid sites? The sinister solution would be to get Google to kill those apps (which I'd bet Google won't do), but that's a bad PR move especially for people who only use them in the "spirit of fair play" in a pinch or on rare occasions.

I say just make it all inclusive, but the problem is VZW could lose money on that with people who have the $30 smartphone plan and also have a wireless card for their laptop. A 2GB LTE tier, for example, could be sufficient for both uses and VZW loses money. It will be interesting to see what they come up with. At the end of the day, bandwidth is bandwidth but tethering is a convenience VZW can charge for with alternatives (such as hotel or airport wifi) being rather expensive.

 

[gatecitycanes]

I don't know that adding tethering on the Droid will make them care anymore about PDANet than they do now.

You've been able to tether officially through Verizon on Blackberrys for years now and Tetherberry and PDANet were still available for those. I never heard of a BB user of those services catching grief from VZW.

Of course the Droid phones are more mainstream so maybe they will be more vigilant about going after users who utilize free tethering services, but I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[kodiak799]

Of course the Droid phones are more mainstream so maybe they will be more vigilant about going after users who utilize free tethering services, but I'll believe it when I see it.

You may be right. Maybe not a big enough % of users to worry about, especially if it isn't causing any bottlenecks. For the 95% of users who don't user or aren't aware of these programs they can still make plenty of money on the tethering option.

And it really is a non-issue if LTE is tiered. If people do a lot of tethering, they'll have to pay for it even if indirectly. 4 gigs is 4 gigs whether you tether a lot or a little.

 

[mcatdtDroid]

Verizon CFO John Killian:
"We have indicated in the past, as we move to an LTE world and LTE pricing, we will probably look very hard at tiered pricing, and that continues to be our thinking right now. So more to come on that. By the way, I should say that all of our efforts, all of our plans on getting LTE launched in the fourth quarter are on schedule."

Verizon CFO John Killian:
"We have indicated in the past, you can tether all you want, there are no consequences to it, and when I say unlimited, I mean unlimited"


wow, see what I can do when I don't have to provide a link to verify my statements...


iTether

 

[pc747]

Verizon CFO Denies Tiered 3G Data Plans are Imminent | Droid Life: A Droid Community Blog

 

[JCo352]

Verizon CFO John Killian:
"We have indicated in the past, as we move to an LTE world and LTE pricing, we will probably look very hard at tiered pricing, and that continues to be our thinking right now. So more to come on that. By the way, I should say that all of our efforts, all of our plans on getting LTE launched in the fourth quarter are on schedule."

Verizon CFO John Killian:
"We have indicated in the past, you can tether all you want, there are no consequences to it, and when I say unlimited, I mean unlimited"


wow, see what I can do when I don't have to provide a link to verify my statements...


iTether

Except Kwy's quote is real, and has been linked to many times on these forums.