Tethering - Here's why I wouldn't do it...

[jkwakopo]

it would be really stupid for them to to cancel me forever. my line alone costs over $60 a month. and we have 4 of those. they should like that. also, in my experience verizon reps tend to be pretty dumb (no offense).
i guess i wont just cuz i dont want to get caught, and i dont really need to that much

I use it without a fear ( and you should too!) on my iPad every day... Well if they don't want my $3000 + over the next 2 years, I 'm fine with that.. By I'll gladly pay that $350 and move on to AT&T and their iPhone 4g or Sprint and their EVO 4g.. I have been their customer for 10+ years, I doubt they will cancel my contract lol. No Fear!!!

but then, I only surf web, emails, im chat, and do facebook... I'm sure streaming netflix/hulu or playing some online game may create problems but I don't see how they will track my tethering when Im just reading google news and writing emails ( which can be done on my Droid, I just prefer them on my 9.7 inch iPad)

I wonder if this manager is the same dude from that same store... Remember?? one of our forum member installed DroidMod on testers in Verizon corp. store.. like 3 and they didn't even realized it till way later. I wonder if this manager actually knows what tethering is lol.. Maybe he is just reading from his Verizon Catalog.. All the managers I talked to around here didn't know jack.. Seriously, would you go to store and ask them questions?? or would you come here (droidforum) and ask 40,000 other EVERYDAY Droid users??

 

[jkwakopo]

If you really believe that you could be in for a rude awakening. They can access your router at any time and they can see exactly what each device is doing.

Right. The cable company can look past my router password and violate all the rules of NAT, to view my routers logs (that expire every 2 days). Sorry dude, it cant be done.

Not to mention legal issues for invading my privacy without my knowledge/consent. Besides, they got better things to do then going after wifi tethering, as you all probably know, Verizon got butt kicked and embarrassed by AT&T this first quarter (even with strong sales of Droids).

 

[aminaked]

Not to mention legal issues for invading my privacy without my knowledge/consent. Besides, they got better things to do then going after wifi tethering, as you all probably know, Verizon got butt kicked and embarrassed by AT&T this first quarter (even with strong sales of Droids).

Verizon holds all the cards. You might want to familiarize yourself with this little tidbit from Verizon:

"We may collect personal information about you. We may also gather some information through our relationship with you, such as information about the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination and amount of your use of our telecommunications services."

And they may not have better things to do than going after tethering since that is a new revenue stream for them. They have a huge incentive to go after unofficial tethering, especially if they're being "embarrassed" as you say.

You're telling people to go ahead and tether without worry but the original poster has stated that they're starting to crack down on this. I suspect that the OP isn't just spreading fear.

 

[jkwakopo]

Not to mention legal issues for invading my privacy without my knowledge/consent. Besides, they got better things to do then going after wifi tethering, as you all probably know, Verizon got butt kicked and embarrassed by AT&T this first quarter (even with strong sales of Droids).

Verizon holds all the cards. You might want to familiarize yourself with this little tidbit from Verizon:

"We may collect personal information about you. We may also gather some information through our relationship with you, such as information about the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination and amount of your use of our telecommunications services."

And they may not have better things to do than going after tethering since that is a new revenue stream for them. They have a huge incentive to go after unofficial tethering, especially if they're being "embarrassed" as you say.

You're telling people to go ahead and tether without worry but the original poster has stated that they're starting to crack down on this. I suspect that the OP isn't just spreading fear.

Yes, I agree with you.. but I use it without fear because I paid $200 (actually $100 and came with free case) for this phone with contract.. If they terminate my contract, I'll be paying $350?? How much is Droid without a contract?? about the same rite? Yeah, I'll pay that $350 without any hesitation.. And from what i remember back in Nov, 2009, when I couldn't decide between Droid and 3GS ( Stores were right next to each other !!!) and basically VZW manager was kissing my ass to keep me out of next door.. Offered me extra $50 off + $50 Online off( which you don't get if you purchase the phone from stores ) and a free case. Not to mention how we had this long relationship without any trouble. He pulled out a record and told me I never even made a single complaints past 9 years to VZW customer support (in fact I never even called them till I had to get a replacement for Droid back in Feb.). Well, this is true, I used to carry dumb phones for 9 years ( and kept myself away from Moto RazR) and VZW service is flawless. I'm not even sure how they will terminate my contract make me pay that ETF if I get caught. I mean we all know FCC is on their tails ... Not even worried lol, I just want to see it happen to me so I can prove this myth and share with you all.

BTW I'm from Korea, where phone contracts don't exist. Yes, phones cost more than $500-$1000 (iPhone 3gs goes for more than $600)... but no contracts... So I'll have my big smile on my face when they terminate my contract because I really don't mind and I'm also used to paying full price for phones in Korea.. so $350 termination fee + $100 i spent on the phone?? $450... How much is droid in full retail price?? $500+

Do I get to keep the Droid tho? I would love to sell it on ebay but if not that's also fine..I mean we all did lose our phones once right? Bottom Line is it's not my loss, it's VZW's loss. I will just have to sign another contract with other carriers and this isn't that hard.. Losing 10 year loyal customer for some wifi tether issue which they already allow on some other phones for free. Now that's really hard to do actually lol..
( and what happens to that Droid Does commercial? Droid obviously doesn't)
Nearly 10 years, more than $40 per month and $78 since last Nov, (I do get 15% off my total bill from employee discount from my school).. wow... More I think about this, I really wished I was still playing WOW so I can test my theory lol

 

[aminaked]

I think they'd rather send you a bill than cancel you.

Well, I guess we'll see if a tethering crackdown has begun. I hope not!

 

[cb2000a]

Do you work for Verizon?

Did.. until 03/38/10

Umm that date doesn't exist lol.

He is using the Vulcan calender.

 

[bL33d]

um i pay for internet from verizon and it aint cheap its $30 a month and should not matter how i use it. That being said i have cable and dont tether unless were out of town and wife wants to check fb on her laptop.

What would be better tethering to ur pc to download megaupload movie files or just downloadloading to ur phone then transferring to pc.... I dont see a difference for verizon in either options.

 

[waaplc]

When I told the verizon sales rep at the store I needed to tether when I still had my Blackberry Curve, he responded that verizon did not support tethering, but that I could use a third party app to do it. So in order to convince me to buy a droid, to make the sale, verizon encourages third party apps for tethering.

When I had a Treo a couple of years ago I tethered w/ PDAnet frequently w/ no problem from verizon. Plus I bought my droid from a third party and will be out of contract in a few months. So they can't make me pay anything if they cancelled my contract.

 

[mkzbdroid]

haha thats hilarious the day verizon stops taking my money and cancels me, I will THEN believe this. besides they are treading thin water anyway if everyone knows the deal with Comcast Fiasco with sandvine.....couple complaints to FCC can do a lot....comcast did turn me off one month lol so told them my lawyer will contact them....same with unlimited data!!! says unlimited to me, rep told me unlimited, till they turn my off my lawyer has a day off but when that day comes fat chance I get disconnected, and If I really do who cares, the most expensive carrier in the US dropped me OMG time to goto ATT I hear they getting a Samsung Galaxy XD

 

[jsh1120]

You're focused on the contract and abuse of the network. We're talking about what verizon can determine. If you tether without using a lot of data, is it their policy and practice to track people down? How do they do it? Would a proxy/encryption prevent this? The contract is just a piece of paper. I think we're trying to figure out what Verizon does in practice.

I can only conclude you have very little experience with the legal system if you believe "a contract is just a piece of paper." On the other hand, when this issue has come up in the past on this board I've noted that Verizon would be crazy to try to track down the occasional "tetherer" even if they could.

In the first place, as already noted, they don't have to "prove" that you are tethering your Droid; they only need to decide (not prove) that you are materially affecting other users. And downloading massive amounts of data fits that criterion nicely.

In the second place, VZW isn't concerned with tethering per se. They're concerned with demand on their 3G network that tethering may encourage. To that end, it's far more cost effective simply to examine the amount of data traffic on their 3G network than to examine how that traffic is triggered.

If, in fact, VZW has begun to look more closely at the issue of "tethering," they will simply look at accounts where large volumes of data are being consumed. The first step undoubtedly would be to remind a user of their contract provisions. The second would be to place additional charges on the monthly bill. The third would be termination of service and a black mark on the customer's credit. Problem solved from VZW's point of view.

 

[astevens54]

I was only gonna use it in the rare situation where my wife or son would be using the Mac in the car while I was driving - I expect maybe one or twice a year/ no biggie / never really saw the point to tethering otherwise. I mean, sheesh there are enough wifi hotspots...

You should be fine doing that. I connect with my netbook occasionally and have had no problems or complaints. This has been debated to death. If abused, you will probably be caught and or warned to stop. As posted in another posting on this, I would challenge anyone terminated to post the notice of termination and circumstances.

 

[christim]

Where do you get your information? The way you're describing it, if I rack up a lot of traffic I'll get pegged as a tetherer, even if I'm using the device as intended, say to view hi quality movies. Can that be right?

I'm just speculating, but these things make me think that tethering software that encrypts and proxies may be the future.

It may or may not be the future. The majority of people do not use proxies and they also tend to be slow enough that the purpose you want to use them for won't work out so good. Besides, who is going to put up the server farm so legions of folks can get "free" internet through their cell phones instead of using cable? Good chance you'd end up paying for such a service until someone shut the servers down.

Your contact does not allow you to use Netflix on your computer accessed through your phone and Verizon's cell towers. If you watched 20 high quality movies, in a month, in this fashion, how much bandwidth do you think you just sucked down, that came from Netflix, that your phone can't use?

I'm not saying such restrictions and repercussions are imminent. It definitely is possible. There is a chance we will read about someone getting smacked with a multi-thousand dollar bill at some point, just like you read about such huge bills happening to normal cell phone users who exceed their limits.

If you tether for emergencies and not for recreation I'd think that event occurring to you would be unlikely.

btw...would a $22,000 cellphone bill be reasonable in your opinion?
Sure, the bill got credited but the abuse also got stopped. After Dad changed his shorts.

Even a $4700 bill would freak most of us out. You have to get on the call, wait on hold, sort it out. Maybe they fix it the first call, maybe they let you sweat it out 3 months. Who knows.

At least this phone company dropped this $85k bill down to $5k

These bills are not the norm, but they do make the rest of us want to avoid a similar situation!

Btw, thanks for the link to the terms and conditions!

 

[christim]

Just thought of a situation that would be easy to monitor as far as traffic. Sure, you've encrypted all your netflix, hulu, and xbox traffic.

What about that malware program that phones home to some Russia server every hour that you got infected with last week? My son works at his college's helpdesk and just told me yesterday about 1900 different items that came up when running a malwarebytes.org on a single pc. Tether that PC and all sorts of traffic will start going out through the cell towers. If spam mail accounts for half of all internet traffic and everyone tethers their pc through their phone it sure can't help Verizon's network.

These are reasons why they may take action. At some point they probably will have to take action. Of course the easiest thing to do is just impose a cap on all new contracts and do away with the unlimited offering. Then it won't matter if your PC uses up your allotted bandwidth or your phone does.

 

[Aluminum21]

Sorry for the dumb question, but what is tethering?

 

[INSANENEIVIESIS]

anyone have any butter?