Lets me start by saying ignorance is acceptable as long as you have never been taught the facts. But after you have learned the facts and continue with ignorance then it becomes stupidity.
Tethering 101 - The Facts and Myths.
The statement:
Verizon can tell your are tethering and they also can tell what type of device is getting the data.
Lets break this down into two parts.
1) Verizon can see your are tethering.
2) Verizon can tell what type of device is getting the data.
Item number one is only 10% subjectively correct at best.
Item number two is only 50% subjectively correct.
Lets explore why I gave those numbers.
Verizon can't directly tell, using only one packet captured, if you are tethering. The simple answer for that is NAT.
NAT = Network Address Translation. It is the process of taking an IPV4 address and translating it between one or more internal IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. That translation is done by the tethering software. It uses stateful translation to make sure all packets are routed to the proper device. Since the software has the translation of internal IP + Port + Packet Type to Droid IP + Port + Packet Type, the only thing the outside world sees is the Droid talking, IE Droid IP + Port + Packet Type.
Read the following if you want the really long answer beyond my Reader Digest version:
Network address translation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Now how did I figure that 10% of the time they can catch you? Easy. If you make the mistake of hard coding a DNS address for your tethered device. The second you do a UDP with port 53 to a DNS address not controlled by Verizon, they know you are tethering. And they got you dead to rights.
Now the second answer is all about data modeling. If they inspect certain packets, lets say TCP on port 80 or 443 and manage to catch the Web Browser identifier, odds are it isn't going to be the built in one from the Droid. And hence they have you SORT OF dead to rights. The reason for the sort of? How many browsers are already on the Droid legally? Have your browser mimic any one of those and you start to reduce the exposure.
Next in line then is where you go and what type of content is being requested. That takes TONS of computer horse power to sift thru. They would probably spend more money than they were making. But one of the tests they could watch for is Windows looking to see if your install needs an update. That would sort of be a dead give away.
The last thing they could try is actually looking at how much bandwidth you use. And because the sales people all say that the Droid data plan is UNLIMITED, and so does our billing statements (both online and paper with no asterisks), they technically can't even use that against you unless they want a class action lawsuit on their hands.
So there you are.
And btw I tested all of this with a quick packet capture on one of my web servers to make sure that NAT tethering was being done properly.
OH before I forget, for all of you that are yelling "But it still breaks the ToS/Contract". You are 100% correct. But they would need a warrant to legally inspect your phone. I can be back at 2.0.1 unrooted in less than four minutes. Good luck with that. And do you really think a judge is going to grant a warrant in the first place with Verizon saying "We think he hacked his phone and he is using too much data"?
