VZW disabling tethering apps from market

[wingdo]

Man, I wish I could go to the gas station and say "you're charging too much, so I'll only pay $3 a gallon....or I'll buy 10 gallons and steal 2"

That would be nice and all, but what about this scenario.

You go to fill up your car with $30. You want to use some of that $30 in your portable gas tank, but the station wants a $20 fee to be able to do that. I believe in that case one should hide behind their car and fill up the portable without the station knowing and be on their merry way.

Just so you know you should not play the analogy game as you totally s*ck at it.

 

[NeoandGeo]

How are you getting your way again? You're paying them, they're in control of their network, they're going to stop unauthorized tethering, and you're going to continue to pay them...and you are going to whine while you visit verizonwireless.com to pay your bill...lol...yes...you are getting your way.

When one way to tether is shut down, more will arise. Just like the past few days. It's fruitless, but it gives them something to do.

They are not going to shut down tethering. They like the other carriers will do away with unlimited data, or throttle it. That is how they will stop you.

All four of the major carriers expressly prohibit tethering in their contracts. AT&T has totally done away with unlimited data. T-mobile slows you down to 3G (or slower) speeds after 2GB. Verizon isn't far behind. Unless you resign shortly, your current contract will be your last with unlimited full speed data.

Like I said before, I can't wait for tiered plans, and/or throttling bandwidth hogs. I don't use much data (1-3GB a month with tethering and Slingbox/SiriusXM use) so I would save money if they implemented this.

 

[hookbill]

Threads merged. Please keep it civil. Emotions are riding high on this issue and I don't like to see people who are doing the right thing being talked down to. On the same token I don't want people who are on that side putting down people who feel differently. So treat each other respectfully so we can allow the discussion to continue.

 

[NeoandGeo]

Man, I wish I could go to the gas station and say "you're charging too much, so I'll only pay $3 a gallon....or I'll buy 10 gallons and steal 2"

That would be nice and all, but what about this scenario.

You go to fill up your car with $30. You want to use some of that $30 in your portable gas tank, but the station wants a $20 fee to be able to do that. I believe in that case one should hide behind their car and fill up the portable without the station knowing and be on their merry way.

Just so you know you should not play the analogy game as you totally s*ck at it.

Don't throw the sack card.

 

[Josefius]

Yes, installing the PC app installs the application to the phone. I was just curious to see if there was a loophole around VZW and the Android Market and the PC to Phone text messaging seemed cool. Other than that, I'm not interested. I don't see a reason to use it unless I was in a pinch with my laptop and needed internet access, which I really wouldn't need if I had my phone, since I can do all my email etc with that anyway.

 

[NeoandGeo]

Yea, the SMS thing tripped me out one day when I was tethered during a power outage. I didn't know what popped on the screen at first. Haha.

 

[TheOldFart]

It was a matter of time before vzw made this move and I sort of applaud them. Though, I find it ridiculous that a carrier can charge me twice for using the same data, because whether a person views a site on a phone or computer, they are using the same data (bigger screen size don't equal more data). I also think many people in our community abused it. There is a difference between tethering every now and then, and racking up outrageous amounts of data through tethering. So kiss this app good-bye, for you will not be able to install it on Verizon phones from the market.
​

I agree, although I can see why Verizon has done this with unlimited data contracts. If they allowed tethering with an unlimited data contract then many more people would abuse it and the network would be so slow that it would be useless at times. I am hoping that they will allow tethering without additional cost once they transition to tiered pricing. Since we will be buying a certain amount of data we should be allowed to use it however we wish, including tethering. I, for one, will welcome tiered pricing if the cost is reasonable and tethering is allowed.

That's not going to stop much. You can get the apk from a quick google search.

QFT

This will stop no one except people too technically ignorant to have been using it in the first place...

Or people who are honest enough to honor the contract that they signed. Honest people are not automatically ignorant, just as some technically proficient people are ignorant.

 

[xan]

This thread is under review.

By whom? verizon, or google? Lol.

tiered plans can't come soon enough...

 

[freezyfreaky]

I have to admit, when I was younger and broke, I would be taking full advantage of unauthorized tethering. I would probably justify my actions with all sorts of Robin Hood reasons, but deep down inside, either my parents raised me up well enough or the Saturday morning cartoons I watched, I would know what I was doing is inherently wrong. Not that it would of stopped me. $20/month is a lot of money if you are broke and there was an easy way to get it for free.

Now that I'm older, and not as broke , I understand that paying for things is good for society and stimulates the economy. Amazing what a little age and perspective can do, especially now with having offered goods and services myself before and having full expectations to be paid for it. But If I was still broke... well, let's say all bets are off.

For all those who are riding the fence regarding tethering, please educate yourself on the risk/rewards. Nobody here can definitely say what Verizon will do exactly if they catch you. It can range from sending you a notice to stop, putting you on a tethering plan, terminating your contract and charging you an ETF, dropping a big bill in your lap, or even drumming up some kind of criminal charge as remote as that might be. Who knows. Sure, some are more likely than others but just understand that the bigger your data usage, the more likely you will be on Verizon's radar. Since I love analogies, especially on this thread, I'll leave you with this. Don't be the guy who learned to be a good crook after they go to jail.

 

[NeoandGeo]

I think it's good enough for society that I donate $50 a month to Verizon for minutes, and don't clog up the airwaves.

If Verizon doesn't like me tethering and keeping well below 5GB, maybe I can not tether and utilize my Slingbox app and use more than 25GB a month? I mean, it's allowed since it's an app that is allowed in the Verizon Android market?

 

[freezyfreaky]

I think it's good enough for society that I donate $50 a month to Verizon for minutes, and don't clog up the airwaves.

If Verizon doesn't like me tethering and keeping well below 5GB, maybe I can not tether and utilize my Slingbox app and use more than 25GB a month? I mean, it's allowed since it's an app that is allowed in the Verizon Android market?

The TOS does explicitly allows the download of video direct to your phone. LOL

 

[catib999]

Though, I find it ridiculous that a carrier can charge me twice for using the same data, because whether a person views a site on a phone or computer, they are using the same data (bigger screen size don't equal more data).

 

[NeoandGeo]

___Owned___

 

[GDP]

Though, I find it ridiculous that a carrier can charge me twice for using the same data, because whether a person views a site on a phone or computer, they are using the same data (bigger screen size don't equal more data).

If you think it's ridiculous that a carrier charges for tethering then you are free to sign up with a carrier that allows you to tether for free. Because Verizon does not as far as I know.

 

[kodiak799]

Though, I find it ridiculous that a carrier can charge me twice for using the same data, because whether a person views a site on a phone or computer, they are using the same data (bigger screen size don't equal more data).

What if I charge $1 for smartphone data and $20 for tether? Are you really paying for the same data twice, or is the carrier pricing services according to demand?

Presumably, tether uses additional bandwidth and warrants an additional charge because if you wanted to view that data on your smartphone you wouldn't be tethering. So I charge a LOWER price for people not in that group and then offer a premium service to cover my marginal bandwidth costs.

Just another lame justification for stealing bandwidth. People act like they are already paying for tether when clearly, if you look at mobile broadband plans, we are not. So data is not data or you wouldn't want/need to tether in the first place AND you haven't paid for it once, much less "twice" if you're stealing.