confused about tethering

[sniper8752]

I was reading a post about tethering, and noticed you defined it as not "illegal". isn't at&t against this, and you guys are an at&t phones support forum? just curious. i was reading that if you were caught by at&t, they would send you a notice that you were tethering, and should not be, and ask if you would like an unlimited data plan, and they may even go ahead and sign you up for one!

 

[lunatic59]

Tethering is a controversial topic, especially for U.S. members where most of the major carriers require an additional plan to allow your phone to be tethered. Each carrier's plan is a little different, so make sure you understand it completely.

Android Forums is the largest and oldest Android user support forum as is completely independent of any carrier or manufacturer affiliation. While we respect the carriers terms of service, we do not enforce them. You can read the Android Forums policy on tethering discussions here.

We have had long discussions about the legality of tethering without a required plan. What seems to be universally agreed upon is that it constitutes a violation of your terms of service agreement with your carrier if you bypass their restrictions. It might possibly be illegal in some jurisdictions, but I have never seen a case even being initiated, let alone taken through to a conviction, so for all intents and purposes, it's strictly a civil matter between individual and corporation. As I said, opinions vary.

There have been reports of users getting a notice about tethering without a plan and having that plan added to their contract, but I haven't heard of anything recently which means that either people aren't abusing data and AT&T is turning a blind eye, or it's not as easy to identify as they'd have you believe.

 

[sniper8752]

alright. i tether my phone to my laptop, and don't see why it is wrong. i have the 2 gb data plan, and i usually never even get close to that! i find that when i tether though, i don't get good service because if i am not actively doing something on my phone that keeps my connected to the towers, then i am not able to do anything. i have to open up a browser or a program, so then i can surf on the laptop. is there any way to change this? is there a program out there that will constantly refresh the page for me? =D