Verizon Blocks FoxFi Free Wifi Tethering!

[SquireSCA]

For work, that is blocked by a firewall. That's about the only time I tether or when I'm traveling and the hotel wants to charge me $4.99 a minute or some stupid amount for WiFi.

Tethering is fine. If you are on a tiered plan, VZW will let you tether all day long with no added fees.

But if you are on Unlimited, it is and always has been a violation of the TOS and the contract that you signed with them...

There really is no justification for stealing tethering, in a strictly legal sense... I mean, you signed your name on a contract that said that you can't do it... If you were not willing to adhere to it, you shouldn't have signed it, right?

 

[jtpowell]

So if Kroger catches you stealing food from their store and they ask you or make you stop, you blame them and refuse to shop there any more? LOL

Except your data isn't free. You've already paid for it. If you haven't paid for it you're going to. That's Kroger coming to my house and telling me how to run my kitchen, what I can and can't cook, when, where, and how to cook it. Big difference between that and getting something free.

They should just sell the data and how one uses it is how one uses it. To disable a feature built into the OS/Device then charge monthly for it not even prorated by usage is the real theft. How do you all not see that?!?

 

[SquireSCA]

Except your data isn't free. You've already paid for it. If you haven't paid for it you're going to. That's Kroger coming to my house and telling me how to run my kitchen, what I can and can't cook, when, where, and how to cook it. Big difference between that and getting something free.

They should just sell the data and how one uses it is how one uses it. To disable a feature built into the OS/Device then charge monthly for it not even prorated by usage is the real theft. How do you all not see that?!?

They do, it is called a tiered plan.

You buy 20GB a month and you can use it however you want.. tether away! VZW doesn't care.

If you are on unlimited though, that's a different story, and that is the only reason that people use FoxFi... to get around and exploit the hotspot on unlimited plans...

 

[Wadman]

They do, it is called a tiered plan.

You buy 20GB a month and you can use it however you want.. tether away! VZW doesn't care.

If you are on unlimited though, that's a different story, and that is the only reason that people use FoxFi... to get around and exploit the hotspot on unlimited plans...

Which is not illegal...at all. The FCC ruled that cellular companies cannot block the use of third party apps for tethering. I have spoken with numerous reps and upper level techs the last 2 weeks. They reassured that using foxfi was not stealing data. The exact words they used were, "it's your data that you pay for and if you want to use a third party app, then you should have the right to do so by the law!" I have seen you on here and it seems as if you are on a campaign to right the injustices that have absolutely no effect on you. We get it! You think people are theives and that they are stealing. I rarely comment on this but I can say that my rooted galaxy note 3 still will tether. My wife's unrooted galaxy note 3 will not. Oh and if you have an unlimited plan that is from before 2011, then you cant add the hotspot by paying the 30 dollar fee. I have been trying to do that for 2 weeks now. Last night I was told that they could add it, then they just put me on a 4gig tiered plan and I lost my unlimited data even after I told them 5 times that I didn't want to lose it. They assured me that I would not not lose unlimited and then I did. I have been on the phone all morning about this issue and it apparently is being taken care of because they changed my plan without my consent. So in other words they stole my data from me without my consent. Foxfi is something I have always used and I hate to see that it is no longer an option. But don't come on here and defend a company that does it's fair share of shady practices.

 

[cynkrzy]

Perhaps it's because VZW offered "$30.00/mo for unlimited data" and at the time I believe I paid a small extra fee to use HotSpot... I signed the contract and paid in good faith.

Later they change their minds, and do everything in their power to get me to give it up.. kinda like making someone who works for you so miserable they quit, instead of you having to fire them and pay the unemployment claim.

and now they upped the cost to $50.00/mo - They can kiss my Rebel Rear End!
I use it as a backup for WiFi when I work at home. If I have a WiFi outage, I can fall back on the Hotspot!
Am I letting the world stream movies on my data, not... but I did pay for it.

Feel free to get all High and Mighty, but in this case, I really believe we're the victims, not the perps.

 

[Wadman]

I made sure that in every call I made to Verizon that I prefaced with, "I have unlimited data, and I can't lose that." With which every single person replied, "you will not lose unlimited data." The woman I spoke with today said that a price ticket was put in in and that another department would have to take care of this and back date everything to restore my unlimited data. She also asked me...point blank...if I had tried to use a third party app like foxfi.

 

[SquireSCA]

The FCC ruled that they cannot block tethering in *tiered* plans, because you are paying for an actual amount of data, and so how you use it is up to you. They cannot charge you for the same 20GB, twice. That was what the FCC ruled, and that is why they still block tethering on tiered plans.

You might want to read up on the law before misquoting it. Just sayin...

If you are on Unlimited, they have the right to block tethering, and if you circumvent it, they have the right to kick you off for violating the contract that you signed...

 

[SquireSCA]

Tethering apps must be allowed, FCC tells Verizon

Notice that it does not apply to Unlimited, only tiered plans...

 

[PereDroid]

People of a certain age (mine) that I talk to often tell me that the generations behind us feel so damn entitled. Like everything is owed to them and they should have it all.
I always argue that this is not true.

Feel free to get all High and Mighty, but in this case, I really believe we're the victims, not the perps.

And then there's you.....

 

[SquireSCA]

The Right to Tether: What the Verizon/FCC Settlement Means to You

From the article:

• Customers with non-unlimited plans can tether for free. If you use Android's built-in tethering or a third-party tethering app like the ones we mentioned, you're in the clear—just don't go over your data cap. If you have a new "Share Everything" plan, tethering is rolled into the base price of your plan. The upside is you can use whatever app you want. The downside is you're essentially still paying for tethering in some fashion, it's just obfuscated. If you already pay for Verizon's Mobile Broadband Connect service or use Verizon's own app to tether, Verizon says the extra bandwidth their $20/mo plan offers is worth paying for, but that's up to you.
• Current customers with grandfathered unlimited data plans still have to pay. Unfortunately, if you want to tether with your unlimited plan, you have to either upgrade your plan to one of the new, Share Everything plans (which include tethering), or pony up $20/mo for Verizon's "Mobile Broadband Connect" service. You can still tether off the books and hope you don't get caught, but if they catch you, Verizon will either sign you up for Mobile Broadband Connect, put you on a Share Everything plan, or terminate your contract. Sorry.
  

So my question to you guys on Unlimited... are you paying the $20 surcharge to tether, or paying for their Mobile Broadband Connect?

No?

Then you are "illegal" in the eyes of VZW, and of the contract that you signed.

Case closed.

 

[SquireSCA]

People of a certain age (mine) that I talk to often tell me that the generations behind us feel so damn entitled. Like everything is owed to them and they should have it all.
I always argue that this is not true.



And then there's you.....

LOL. Now that I am in my 40's I see the world a little differently... Everyone seems to think that they are owed...

If I sign a contract, I am bound by that contract. If I am gonna demand that the other party lives up to their end of the bargain, I need to be adult enough to know that they have the right to demand the same of me.

It says right in there, that tethering on Unlimited without paying the fees(if even offered) is a violation of that contract. If I went in front of a judge, I would lose. He couldn't care that "I don't live where I can get easy internet access"... That's not his, or VZW's problem. Either move, or pay for the services that I want with VZW. Stealing them may not be a major crime, but it is a violation of my contract and VZW has every right to crack down on it, or kick me off.

If you want to tether, get on the appropriate tiered plan and tether till your heart's content.

But people who are in essence stealing, calling themselves the victims because VZW expects them to pay for what they take, is just silly...

 

[Wadman]

I tried to pay the 30 dollar surcharge and it won't let me. They tried to add it 10 times and it won't work. So i tried to be legal, but I can't. Then they changed my plan to a 4 gig plan in order to add the tethering. They admitted that they were wrong, and that they would fix it and they are in the process of doing so. Why would they tell me to use third party apps? I had at least 5 upper level techs and reps tell me to use foxfi.

 

[SquireSCA]

I tried to pay the 30 dollar surcharge and it won't let me. They tried to add it 10 times and it won't work. So i tried to be legal, but I can't. Then they changed my plan to a 4 gig plan in order to add the tethering. They admitted that they were wrong, and that they would fix it and they are in the process of doing so. Why would they tell me to use third party apps. I had at least 5 upper level techs and reps tell me to use foxfi.

Not every tech or employee is as up to date on the policies as they should be, that's just life...

Being that Unlimited plans are being phased out, they may no longer offer the mobile broadband connect any more...

The reality is that you are a small minority clinging to a plan that went the way of the dodo years ago... You will be pushed off at some point... So it makes sense they they might no longer off those old peripheral plans to the few Unlimited plans still out there.

 

[Mustang02]

IBTL.

 

[SquireSCA]

IBTL.

Hehe, its the same thing every time...

VZW makes such an announcement, and the people that are guilty of it immediately post their mock outrage and anger over getting caught stealing, and the adults try to weigh in with some common sense, and then the thread gets locked.

Wash, rinse, repeat.