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Sensation tethering

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dilgreene

Lurker
Hi--

I'm wondering what success/failure people have had tethering with the Sensation 4G--I'm looking at switching over (I'm in a good T-Mobile 4G coverage area), but being able to tether my laptop is pretty crucial. Thanks.
 
I used WiFi hotspot using Barnacle on my old phone, but only needed it rarely. Does TMO require a tethering plan with WiFi hotspot?
 
I did not sign up for any service, nor plan change, in order to get the connection to function. Whether or not I would get charged later on I'm not sure. I haven't used it much.
 
You may either tether or use the Sensation as a WiFi hotspot.

I do the latter.

My 3G Slide would give me 1-2 Mbps down and I get at least double that with the Sensation. Also I am in an area I traditionally find very difficult for 3G connections. In fact in this area I typically get no ATT connnection and very slow Verizon and pretty slow Tmo.

The Sensation is doing just fine.

Perry
 
Just picked up the Sensation 4G this weekend... so yay. Unfortunately I'm on AT&T, so not yay.

The native wi/fi tethering app is sitting there staring at me in the face. Does anybody know if/what AT&T does when you enable this?

(My apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, as stated earlier I'm kinda new around here)
 
bluevillain said:
Just picked up the Sensation 4G this weekend... so yay. Unfortunately I'm on AT&T, so not yay.

The native wi/fi tethering app is sitting there staring at me in the face. Does anybody know if/what AT&T does when you enable this?

(My apologies if this has been answered elsewhere, as stated earlier I'm kinda new around here)
Click to expand...


FWIW, I have accounts with both carriers, and I've used the built-in wifi hotspot on my T-Mobile branded Moto Defy on AT&T (since it has AT&T 3G bands), and I have not been hit with any tethering fees. I've also been on the MediaNet Plan "with the Defy", for the past few months.

Conversely, I used to have the full smartphone data plan, with an AT&T branded smartphone, which I no longer use. I recently put my AT&T SIM card back into the AT&T phone, and a minute later, I get a text from AT&T stating that I am now back on the "smartphone plan".

YMMV
 
I use Sensation WIFI hotspot on Tmo. The pseed is great! Many times, it's faster than the free WIFI offered at McDonald, Starbucks, and some hotels.
 
bdc said:
I used WiFi hotspot using Barnacle on my old phone, but only needed it rarely. Does TMO require a tethering plan with WiFi hotspot?
Click to expand...

As of about a year ago, technically, T-Mobile does "require" a tethering feature in order to tether. It's 14.99/mo. However, a lot of people are able to tether without it for months without having any problems. You're not charged extra or anything if you tether without it, but you run the risk of it suddenly not working anymore because eventually, they'll block it and you'll get a message saying something about adding the tethering feature. If the ability to tether isn't a life or death situation for you most of the time, I wouldn't bother adding it until it stops working. ;)
 
I would say Tmo is the only good guy here won't nickle and dime for data plan we already paid for. I have been using tethering since G1 and hotspot since Jan 2010 with Nexus One.

I have referred a few friends to ditch AT&T to Tmo because of these features. very happy with the service.
 
Not to highjack here but Im curious what tethering offers over just using the portable wifi hotspot feature? I use the wifi hotspot all the time with my Dell laptop with great success & an extremely fast browsing experience.....thx
 
theoretically speed with physical tethering should be higher than WIFI. But I doubted the difference is significant. Since WIFI hotspot drains the battery faster, I always connect my laptop USB port to charge battery while using WIFI hotspot.
 
Thanx for the input LunchBB, interesting.....I hook my data cable in as well to charge my Sensation when Im browsing for an extended period of time (if i remember to grab my data cable. Ive walked out the door so many times remembering my laptop but not the data cable, heheh, keep saying Im going to throw my spare in the glovebox...)
 
I use those very very cheap retractable micro USB cable. They are cheap like a $1. no cable tangling as it's retractable. But they won't connect as data. So it's only for phone charging. Buy a few more and keep one in car, work, home... one in each girl friend's home.
 
LunchBB said:
... one in each girl friend's home.
Click to expand...

heheh....

I have 4 of them at the house 3 wich I use regularly (laptop, wall charger & external battery), 1 as a spare and 1 at work. Ive been meaning to throw the spare I dont use in the truck months ago (purposely got the spare for my Vibrant for this very same reason, lol)
 
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