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is usb tethering a free feature?

L

lolbug

Banned
this is with sprint obviously

when i plug my phone in to charge or access data over usb i see the option, but if i click it it requires me to log in.. what exactly is the deal with that? is it trying to charge me? can third party apps share net access across usb?
 
Download PDANet off Market...and Download the PDANet software on the computer you want to use and you'll be good to go
 
I just up-graded from the HTC Mogul with phone as modem plan (unlimited data) which required a $30.00 "Pro-pack" and a $15.00 "Phone as modem" charge.

I now have the Evo with wi-fi hotspot unlimited data plan for $30.00 per month. I'm happy paying less per month for an internet connection that is, at its slowest, 10 times faster than my old 3G connection.

I am happily streaming Netflix to my 50" plasma with my Evo but can't help wonder if I could be doing so with pdanet with no additional charges.

The way I see it, I'm using quite a bit of bandwidth and I'm happy to pay for it, but free? Nothing is free. Is it?
 
tmwilsoniv said:
I just up-graded from the HTC Mogul with phone as modem plan (unlimited data) which required a $30.00 "Pro-pack" and a $15.00 "Phone as modem" charge.

I now have the Evo with wi-fi hotspot unlimited data plan for $30.00 per month. I'm happy paying less per month for an internet connection that is, at its slowest, 10 times faster than my old 3G connection.

I am happily streaming Netflix to my 50" plasma with my Evo but can't help wonder if I could be doing so with pdanet with no additional charges.

The way I see it, I'm using quite a bit of bandwidth and I'm happy to pay for it, but free? Nothing is free. Is it?
Click to expand...

PDANet is a free way to tether thru usb...And as long as you dont have a data cap on your Web Plan it will stay free and unlimited

As Far as Sprint is concerned when u use PDANet to tether to a computer they will think your just using ur phone 3G Data Connection for phone use.....

If you want free Wifi Tether your gonna have to root your phone then download "Wifi Tether for root users" off Market and same rules apply Free to use and unlimited use......

Sprint will just think your using your phone alot...no harm no foul

I use "PDaNet" for USB Tether and "Wifi Tether" for Wifi Tethering and i pay nothing extra to use those features........0.00 a month is better the 30.00 a month:cool:
 
I'm using the paid version of Easy Tether which is cheaper than PDA Net. They both have free versions but I need to access secure sites occasionally so I paid the 10 bucks.
 
Can you do this - yes
Is it free if you use pdanet - yes
Is this legal with sprint - no

Don't let people convince you that tethering with pdanet or rooting your phone is "right" because its not under sprints contract. You have to pay if you want to use the method otherwise you wouldn't have to go about round about methods. But despite that you still have to choice to do it or not.
 
I though all the htc evo have unlimited data. Isn't that why we paying the extra 10$ a month?

I don't get why people are paying for the sprint hotspot especially when they don't have 4g service available :)
 
Yea its kinda pointless unless your sure your in a 4G area but then again your gonna have to make sure your always in a 4G area to justify your 30 bucks a month:(
 
So... is wired tethering free with Sprint or not?

Do they charge you if you use the "Internet Sharing, share phones mobile network with PC"
 
bigdogdan2 said:
Can you do this - yes
Is it free if you use pdanet - yes
Is this legal with sprint - no

Don't let people convince you that tethering with pdanet or rooting your phone is "right" because its not under sprints contract. You have to pay if you want to use the method otherwise you wouldn't have to go about round about methods. But despite that you still have to choice to do it or not.
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me paying for an unlimited data plan and still getting gouged for another 30 a month. yes that is right thing...i am more than willing to pay for services games and apps but an extra 30 a month for no other reason that to let you link your phone to your pc for on the go web use when it is just allowing you to view the same content i get on my phone just a larger size. there is a word for this high way robbery. 10 maybe even 15 more would be a fair price but even if you used it every day all day clear wire or some other is still cheaper and in a lot of places faster.is it something sprint doesn't want you to do Yes. is it right or wrong? neither this is a gray area.

it's a simple case of supply and demand
you demand they supply but gouge you for it cause the figure they can get away with it.
so the rest of us choose free cause we figure we can get away with it.

you say something is wrong cause it's written on a peace of crappy white paper in fine print.
i say it's wrong to force someone to pay more than what is fair cause you wrote it on that same peace of crappy paper.

history shows us what is right and wrong ask the members of the Boston tea party weather it was right to be unfairly taxed for something just because they were a country away. they were happy to pay what was fair but when push came to shove what was right and what was morally right was decided wasn't it.

*hops off soap box*
 
Jack Daniels said:
me paying for an unlimited data plan and still getting gouged for another 30 a month. ...

*hops off soap box*
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I can understand your frustration, but I might suggest that you hit on the most likely explanation in your post. I use the Hotspot service as my internet connection for home and work. I can assure you that I much prefer using my laptop with a fifteen inch screen than my Evo for casual surfing, word processing, reading & writing e-mail, generating and e-mailing invoices, etc.

I can't imagine watching a full length movie or even a news broadcast on my Evo, but I use its great 4G speeds to connect my laptop and television to the internet, and use a hell of a lot of bandwidth in the process.

Unlimited data to the phone, $10.00/ month.
Unlimited data through the phone, add $30.00/ month.

Yea, that's fair.

I just hope that there is enough bandwidth available after all of the hackers get done stealing it so that those of us who are willing to pay for it can enjoy it.
 
Does PdaNet or Easytether work with 4G? If either does, could Sprint be able to detect this 4G tether any easier than 3G tether (which apparently they don't)?
 
Joey47 said:
I called sprint concerning this issue and made sure that tether through usb was free. And it is as long as you have unlimited data no other charges will be applied
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if they never change this i will be happy.... if i want the wifi hotsopt, paying is reasonable. convenience costs money, that's a fact. the hotspot is not only convenient, it provides you with an avenue to multiply your bandwith and data usage by 8 times.... if that keeps them from putting us all on some at&t style tiered data plan, i'll agree to it.

why do i care if i have to use usb to tether my laptop, or desktop pc, as long as the single device is still free.

thanks for calling them. everyones so scared of getting "caught" no one took the time to just ask.
 
cabbie said:
im baffled at anyone who would complain about free wired tether.
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me too. i do belive that is my right though, as it won't increase my data usage by that much to use the full version of sites on my pc, while at home or away. the content is much the same as what's available on my phones browser. when you talk about having 8 connections by wifi, it's reasonable for sprint to draw the line there and charge a fee.

and though i don't mind if people root and use it for free, because they take other risks that are inherent with rooting and pay a "price" in the warranty side. and many of them bought their phones outright also.

I do fear that if sprint believes they can not stop them, that it will cause them to restructure data plans the way at&t has as a result of their network saturation, and the growth of iphone. unlimited is not unlimited then.
 
i am more than willing to pay for wifi but not at 30 a month for somthing i will never use near enough to justify it nor will i pay 30 a month when i am no where close to a 4g network
 
I believe charging an extra $30 a mo, for this feature is totally wrong. Why? Compare it to buying a car. The dealer tells you that you can use the car for unlimited miles, but if you want to use reverse gear you need to pay extra... Why do you need to pay extra for something YOUR phone already has integrated in the system?

BTW I talked with sprint and they told me that any kind of tethering that doesn't involve the sprint mifi app is totally fair play and wont go into extra charges, they even suggested I use a 3rd party app in the app store.
 
All these replies and nobody mentioned the obvious. HTC provides free software that enables USB tethering. It's called HTC Sync and I've linked it below. You don't need to install anything on your phone. Install this on your computer and when you plug your phone in select the internet sharing option. Done. It's that simple. I tested it for a couple hours via 4G and everything just worked with speeds of around 3.5Mbps.

HTC Mobile Phone Support - HTC EVO? 4G (Sprint) - Downloads
 
motoman740 said:
I believe charging an extra $30 a mo, for this feature is totally wrong. Why? Compare it to buying a car. The dealer tells you that you can use the car for unlimited miles, but if you want to use reverse gear you need to pay extra... Why do you need to pay extra for something YOUR phone already has integrated in the system?
Click to expand...

I think the key difference is that if a lot of ppl started opening up sprint's bandwidth in the form of wifi hotspots, their infrastructure wouldn't be able to handle the load. That's why they charge the $30. It has nothing to do with whether the phone is capable of being a hotspot. Our phones are CAPABLE of making phone calls. Why do we have to pay for it? :)

And I think they're counting on the vast majority of Evo owners not figuring out how to get tethering enabled, either by root, or by a third party app.
 
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