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Anybody try Tethering yet?

If you want to pay them to tether by all means go right ahead. I've yet to hear of a single user being cut off due to a TOS violation. Do a google search if you want, i don't think you'll find a single instance where tether caused a termination of service from verizon. But hey its your call. Personally i don't need to use tethering very much, it will only be used a few times a month, but it will be used and i won't be paying their fee to do it. PDAnet and EasyTether are available from the appstore, i don't think google would allow these apps to be purchased if they felt it violated the TOS of any provider. It would be a black mark on google to let it happen.
 
Just because you can do it doesn't make it ok. And just because you haven't heard of anyone getting whacked for tethering without paying for it doesn't mean it hasn't happened or won't.

Again, I'm just making sure people are informed. I'm not endorsing either method.
 
Complicating the matter is that since the tethering plan was announced, VZW has dropped the monthly charge to tether the Palm Pre Plus to $0. And while it's not unusual to have different features on different phones, it's going to be difficult to enforce a $30 per month charge for the Droid but not for the Palm Pre Plus.

Now comes the Incredible with a built-in tethering app. Either VZW will attempt to charge additional monthly fees to use the app or they will likely drop the entire effort. Given the availability of apps that allow you to tether these phones and the difficulty of determining whether a phone is being used as a broadband modem for another device, it's very likely that VZW will simply throw up their hands and forget the entire issue.
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jwm2 said:
Complicating the matter is that since the tethering plan was announced, VZW has dropped the monthly charge to tether the Palm Pre Plus to $0. And while it's not unusual to have different features on different phones, it's going to be difficult to enforce a $30 per month charge for the Droid but not for the Palm Pre Plus.

Now comes the Incredible with a built-in tethering app. Either VZW will attempt to charge additional monthly fees to use the app or they will likely drop the entire effort. Given the availability of apps that allow you to tether these phones and the difficulty of determining whether a phone is being used as a broadband modem for another device, it's very likely that VZW will simply throw up their hands and forget the entire issue.
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I agree. The move to make tethering on the Palm's makes it more likely that they will do the same on other devices.

But don't be surprised that soon after doing so they will change the pricing on the phone data plans to include tiered pricing. People who use their phones as a cable modem replacement are going to see an increase in their plan.
 
I don't advocate using it as your primary method of connecting to the internet, that of course might raise a red flag. But if you are like me and only need it a couple times a month then why pay the extra high fees for something they will most likely never care about. I had a wireless usb727 modem for 2 years and rarely ever used it, but it did come in handy numerous times when i needed the internet and didn't have a connection otherwise. But i spent $60/mo for 2 years. Thats $1440 that i could have saved if i had a smartphone with tethering capabilities. Thats a good chunk of money and the whole time i bet i used less than 30gb of data transfer. So if they come to me and complain about it, i'll tell them straight up that i overpaid for 2 years and if they want me to go away and never come back, i'll gladly take my money elsewhere. My account has been paid in full every month for 10 years, if they want to loose guaranteed money then by all means, i'll oblige. But i don't think it would ever come to that :)
 
jwm2 said:
I don't advocate using it as your primary method of connecting to the internet, that of course might raise a red flag. But if you are like me and only need it a couple times a month then why pay the extra high fees for something they will most likely never care about. I had a wireless usb727 modem for 2 years and rarely ever used it, but it did come in handy numerous times when i needed the internet and didn't have a connection otherwise. But i spent $60/mo for 2 years. Thats $1440 that i could have saved if i had a smartphone with tethering capabilities. Thats a good chunk of money and the whole time i bet i used less than 30gb of data transfer. So if they come to me and complain about it, i'll tell them straight up that i overpaid for 2 years and if they want me to go away and never come back, i'll gladly take my money elsewhere. My account has been paid in full every month for 10 years, if they want to loose guaranteed money then by all means, i'll oblige. But i don't think it would ever come to that :)
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And that's the game we play. We'll tether and count on VZW not noticing. The people using it like you (and me ;) ) aren't likely to raise the flag. But you see others saying they do torrents and massive amounts of streaming.

I'm just trying to make sure that people know that it's against the TOS and don't be surprised if they get smacked.
 
Go to vzam.net if you want toget the modem drivers for the incredible.. or any other device for that matter. It does cost 25 a month currently.. when you tether with vzam it lets you subscribe on the spot if you so desire.. myself.. ill prob go with easytether or pdanet until root is available.
 
So how is anyone actually tried using PDAnet or EasyTether or went through Verizon?

Just trying to see how fast it is and if it's even worth it.
 
Been using PDANet on mine for about a week now and it works pretty good. I'm getting 1.4mbps at MobileSpeedtest and I actually played Star Trek Online at my Dr's office while waiting for my appointment which was awesome. The thing with PDANet is that every once in a while the connection drops. I had a, unlocked Imagio which would keep my laptop online for days (Yeah, I left it on when I left town for a weekend and forgot my phone)

Receiving calls and SMS messages often boots your connection even if you don't answer it, but if you ignore the call really quickly you usually get by with OK.
 
Data is data. While VZW offers a for-fee option, I really doubt they care too much if you use a third-party option. With the paid service, you are getting support from VZW for all the issues that may come about once you add a PC into the equation. You are also paying extra based on the assumption that you'll be using more data than you would be with the phone on its own.

The fact is, the standard smartphone data plans are not "unlimited". If you start downloading an unusually high amount of data, VZW is going to act - whether it's because you are using a third-party tether app or not (or at least, they threaten that they will).

Use a third party tether app, don't try to use it as your primary in-home ISP, and (obviously) don't expect support from VZW, and I really don't think you're being unethical.

"Beating the system" by installing the VZW solution and getting it to work without VZW knowing (which used to be possible, as I understand it - and may still be), on the other hand, would be unethical. And no, I don't know how it's done - nor would I help with it if I did...
 
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civicsisedan said:
So you think PDAnet is better than EasyTether or have you not tried both?
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They both run at about the same speed. PDAnet is about $30 last i checked and EasyTether is $10. Easytether for me is a name i would most likely associate with tethering so its easier for me to keep track as often as i use it (which is hardly ever. But in the times i do use it, the name lends itself to being found alittle quicker at least in my mind.

In the end you can't go wrong with either app. Both will save you money, but don't plan on using it as a full time broadband replacement. Its an add on and nothing else. Just think of it as a bonus feature.

Of course downloading torrents and such wouldn't be a good idea, but that also bring other legal issues with it as well, depending on the situation and circumstances involved.
 
But you gotta think they do expect you to do some streaming, i mean mlb at bat 2010 has live audio, the included youtube app allows for watching videos on your phone and the internet radio apps all stream data as well. So they know it will be used for streaming media and are fine with it at least on some level. They also have a built in app store, and used to have amazon mp3 preloaded, so they expect you to download files as well.
 
jwm2 said:
But you gotta think they do expect you to do some streaming, i mean mlb at bat 2010 has live audio, the included youtube app allows for watching videos on your phone and the internet radio apps all stream data as well. So they know it will be used for streaming media and are fine with it at least on some level. They also have a built in app store, and used to have amazon mp3 preloaded, so they expect you to download files as well.
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Right, but don't be naive to think that it can be used exactly the same as WiFi or your home internet.
 
jwm2 said:
They both run at about the same speed. PDAnet is about $30 last i checked and EasyTether is $10. Easytether for me is a name i would most likely associate with tethering so its easier for me to keep track as often as i use it (which is hardly ever. But in the times i do use it, the name lends itself to being found alittle quicker at least in my mind.

In the end you can't go wrong with either app. Both will save you money, but don't plan on using it as a full time broadband replacement. Its an add on and nothing else. Just think of it as a bonus feature.

Of course downloading torrents and such wouldn't be a good idea, but that also bring other legal issues with it as well, depending on the situation and circumstances involved.
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Yeah i'm not trying to replace my home internet, as I casually play on Xbox Live.

Just nice to know to have is all im saying, that one time you need it.
 
civicsisedan said:
Yeah i'm not trying to replace my home internet, as I casually play on Xbox Live.

Just nice to know to have is all im saying, that one time you need it.
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:cool:

I know the free version of PDAnet only blocks access to HTTPS sites. So if you don't need that access, it's the perfect choice.
 
Well of course, if you did that then you'd deserve whatever rath they might have in store for you. But you are paying $30/mo for each line that has a data plan, you might as well get some use out of it. Like i said i only need it a couple times a month and just for minor web browsing and checking email, facebook and etc. So its not something i personally use very often.

For example all of last month i used 250mb of data, as reported in the my verizon website. Thats 1/4 of a gigabyte, or 1/20th of the alloted data bandwidth. And that included me using it for wireless tethering for 2 days out of the month.
 
NKT said:
:cool:

I know the free version of PDAnet only blocks access to HTTPS sites. So if you don't need that access, it's the perfect choice.
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But if you check email, login to facebook, login to amazon.com or any ecommerce site to place an order you need https. You might as well just pay the $10 for EasyTether and not be bothered with the hassle of not having access to https areas. But thats my opinion.
 
Its very easy to set up, it will give you a download link for the software for your pc. Just make sure to put the device in usb debug mode, it'll tell you how to do it. Thats all you need to do. Run the pc app, run the android app and click the button to start tethering. Viola, internet access via your phones 3g data plan ;)
 
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