Verizon Tethering Crackdown?

[6StringDave]

Verizon would love it if everyone with an unlimited plan left for Sprint. Then when you saw how bad Sprint sucked and wanted to come back to Verizon you would have to sign up for a new tiered plan. This is coming from a former Sprint customer who will never go back no matter how tempting the offer. Even if Verizon throttles it speed to the proported 256 kbps its still unlimted and allows me to do a lot. I remember the day when 256 kbps was blazing fast and that wasn't too long ago.

How recently were you on Sprint? I know personally how bad they sucked a decade ago, but was it more recent than that? Do you know any who have bought the Sprint Evo? My friend and his brothers live in smaller cities (you haven't heard of them if you don't live in the region), and they are very happy with their Sprint/Evo performance. I found this out shortly after I bought my VZ DINC, which I don't regret, as DINC is a much more manageable size.

I read something of interest when I heard of so many happy Sprint users between my freind, his brother, and so many others who posted the blogs, wondering how such a sparsely-towered network could work so well for them, even in smaller cities. As it turns out, the Sprint network is on the same frequency (unlike ATT and TMobil) as VZ, so although Sprint users frequently roam off-network, they can easily piggy-back off of VZ. So if you are looking for someone other than the VZ execs to blame, there you go!

 

[varkie]

How recently were you on Sprint? I know personally how bad they sucked a decade ago, but was it more recent than that? Do you know any who have bought the Sprint Evo? My friend and his brothers live in smaller cities (you haven't heard of them if you don't live in the region), and they are very happy with their Sprint/Evo performance. I found this out shortly after I bought my VZ DINC, which I don't regret, as DINC is a much more manageable size.

I read something of interest when I heard of so many happy Sprint users between my freind, his brother, and so many others who posted the blogs, wondering how such a sparsely-towered network could work so well for them, even in smaller cities. As it turns out, the Sprint network is on the same frequency (unlike ATT and TMobil) as VZ, so although Sprint users frequently roam off-network, they can easily piggy-back off of VZ. So if you are looking for someone other than the VZ execs to blame, there you go!

I had Sprint service for about 4 years and I left 18 months ago right before the Evo came out. I live about 1 mile form a major interstate that runs between Detroit and Chicago in a fairly large metro area and the service was crap at best. I thought I was on AT&T with all the dropped calls I had. I could only make calls outside my house and then it was only 1 bar. And there was a tower about a 1/2 mile from my house so no excuse why I had such a poor signal. My ex wife lived in Virginia at the time, near Virginia Tech, and I had absolutely no service there.

Also the constant phone calls and texts from their call center in China drove me crazy, always wanting me to change plans or upgrade my phone at full price. Customer service was a joke, could never find any one who ever gave a damn. And back then they had the worst selection of phones. I wanted to upgrade to the Hero which was all they had at the time in 2010 and with my upgrades it would still have cost me $300 so I finally said thats it and left.

I had Verizon service for about 6 years before I switched to Sprint and it was like night and day. I had a customer service rep back in 2004 spend 3 days bending over backwards to help me out with a situtation with an authorized dealer who had sent us a bill for $900 when the kids moved to college and changed thier phone numbers to local numbers through Verizons easy move program. Sprint would never have done that. My ex-wife talked me into switching and when I got rid of her I got rid of Sprint. Cleaned house.

 

[6StringDave]

I had Sprint service for about 4 years and I left 18 months ago right before the Evo came out. I live about 1 mile form a major interstate that runs between Detroit and Chicago in a fairly large metro area and the service was crap at best. I thought I was on AT&T with all the dropped calls I had. I could only make calls outside my house and then it was only 1 bar. And there was a tower about a 1/2 mile from my house so no excuse why I had such a poor signal. My ex wife lived in Virginia at the time, near Virginia Tech, and I had absolutely no service there.

Also the constant phone calls and texts from their call center in China drove me crazy, always wanting me to change plans or upgrade my phone at full price. Customer service was a joke, could never find any one who ever gave a damn. And back then they had the worst selection of phones. I wanted to upgrade to the Hero which was all they had at the time in 2010 and with my upgrades it would still have cost me $300 so I finally said thats it and left.

I had Verizon service for about 6 years before I switched to Sprint and it was like night and day. I had a customer service rep back in 2004 spend 3 days bending over backwards to help me out with a situtation with an authorized dealer who had sent us a bill for $900 when the kids moved to college and changed thier phone numbers to local numbers through Verizons easy move program. Sprint would never have done that. My ex-wife talked me into switching and when I got rid of her I got rid of Sprint. Cleaned house.

Well, I know about the bad customer service, although it's a new one to hear about a company abusing your paid minutes for their ad-harassment campaign. I get enough annoyance with Verizon text ads!

I actually switched from AT&T, and although I was within a 1/4 mile of a tower, my calls were plagued by either static, or an annoying echo, when they weren't dropped completely. You report similar Sprint issues, even though at the time that my friend and his brothers picked up the Evo (about a year ago), there seemed to be fewer complaining against Sprint than AT&T, even if they were unlikely to have ever been VZ customers.

 

[fallen0127]

My thinking here though, is what is responsible use? I surf the internet, get email, use GPS, watch Netflix, and listen to Pandora on my phone. About 3 to 4 gb a month usually. How is that irresponsible? Yes, my phone is rooted, but I have never used tethering, and have no plan to. So would anyone consider that to be irresponsible? Yet if they limit after 2.5 I will lose out on some of that, and I can honestly say I don't think that is fair.

 

[iowabowtech]

Right before they pulled unlimited data they had a huge marketing campaign promoting unlimited data in an effort to secure new customers under false pretense. To me, that is a direct reflection on Verizons attitude toward their customers. That was just blatantly underhanded. Too bad all the other choices suck too. Almost makes me feel like we're headed toward another monopoly situation ala Ma Bell...caugh...ATT. They clearly control options and pricing in the major mobile market already. Every time they make a step, Verizon follows in carbon copy fashion. I'm not insinuating we are in the same position yet but there are some major signs for those who follow history. And talks of upcoming mergers only make this theory more viable.

 

[6StringDave]

My thinking here though, is what is responsible use? I surf the internet, get email, use GPS, watch Netflix, and listen to Pandora on my phone. About 3 to 4 gb a month usually. How is that irresponsible? Yes, my phone is rooted, but I have never used tethering, and have no plan to. So would anyone consider that to be irresponsible? Yet if they limit after 2.5 I will lose out on some of that, and I can honestly say I don't think that is fair.

Phone rooters don't necessarily use more data. Rooting your DINC can void your warrantee, as Verizon wants to limit it's liability with hacks, but since you can (and I have twice) reverse the rooting before returning your phone when it fails due to weak manufacturing, their flogging of this as an issue seems pointless.

Personally, there is only one thing which I despise more than dishonesty, and that is hypocrisy. Having stated that, I use DINC for some things, which include neither online radio nor tethering. I won't be the hypocrite on this, knowing that some who do use tethering and Pandora don't do what I do. As for the question of "responsibility", it is truly a joke to consider this, considering how the thought originated from an American CEO!

As for the 2.5GB limit, you could use more than that between web surfing, app downloads, and blogging.

Something I would like to know is whether making actual use of my navigation apps runs my data meter. Hey, I didn't pay the premium for a navigating phone so that I could get dinged just for using it as intended! I do hope this isn't the case.

 

[Crashumbc]

Phone rooters don't necessarily use more data. Rooting your DINC can void your warrantee, as Verizon wants to limit it's liability with hacks, but since you can (and I have twice) reverse the rooting before returning your phone when it fails due to weak manufacturing, their flogging of this as an issue seems pointless.

Personally, there is only one thing which I despise more than dishonesty, and that is hypocrisy. Having stated that, I use DINC for some things, which include neither online radio nor tethering. I won't be the hypocrite on this, knowing that some who do use tethering and Pandora don't do what I do. As for the question of "responsibility", it is truly a joke to consider this, considering how the thought originated from an American CEO!

As for the 2.5GB limit, you could use more than that between web surfing, app downloads, and blogging.

Something I would like to know is whether making actual use of my navigation apps runs my data meter. Hey, I didn't pay the premium for a navigating phone so that I could get dinged just for using it as intended! I do hope this isn't the case.

google nav uses the data feed it pulls in maps realtime. (how much data is another question)

 

[fallen0127]

Well, I know about the bad customer service, although it's a new one to hear about a company abusing your paid minutes for their ad-harassment campaign. I get enough annoyance with Verizon text ads!

I actually switched from AT&T, and although I was within a 1/4 mile of a tower, my calls were plagued by either static, or an annoying echo, when they weren't dropped completely. You report similar Sprint issues, even though at the time that my friend and his brothers picked up the Evo (about a year ago), there seemed to be fewer complaining against Sprint than AT&T, even if they were unlikely to have ever been VZ customers.

Maybe less were complaining about sprint because sprint has less customers than at&t has complainers.

 

[YamiYaiba]

Let me start off by saying that I rarely tether and almost exclusively for basic web access. I presently pay $15 a month for 5Gb for WIRED tethering. Now, can someone explain to me the justification of how the same amount of data wirelessly is twice the price? I'll keep "violating" my contact, thank you. 5Gb if 5Gb no matter how it's used.

 

[sic0048]

Just a note here. Today I watched someone tether their iPad to a DroidX (running a 2nd-init ROM) and they didn't have any problems or special screen pop up asking them to sign up for a tethering package.

I realize the original article was specific to the iPhone, but I still think that loading a custom ROM (one that is de-blurred) will prevent Verizon from effectively tracking tethering. Of course I am not an expert in this area, but my gut tells me that a custom ROM should/could remove any code that relates to Verizon tracking your tethering use.

 

[seejoshplay]

Interesting thread. I just started tethering & have had no problems. I watched an episode of star trek TNG on netflix (yesssssssssssssssss), and noticed that it was like 400mb. So this month is my biggest data use month ever at 1.29gb with a couple of days remaining before I get to the 3rd of next month.

It sounds like I'm all good as long as I don't blow a hole in the 2.5gb cap? That seems annoyingly low for video, but totally adequate for everything else I am doing (reading phandroid and email).

Still, **** big red. I really don't understand why it is that when I pay for an internet connection, somehow, I can't use said internet connection however I want. That just seems morally wrong. If I buy a broom and want to run around with it betwixt my legs playing "quiddich" then the broom company does not tell me that I am using their product in an unacceptable way.

I recognize that brooms and an internet connection are not apples to apples, but it's not entirely off base. We signed all our useful 'rights' away in the contract, and there is choice in the marketplace, but really, if they doubled the cap sizes for the pricepoint, and did away with unlimited and restrictions, 95% of their customers would be actually happy.

...gets off high horse.

 

[johnlgalt]

Interesting thread. I just started tethering & have had no problems. I watched an episode of star trek TNG on netflix (yesssssssssssssssss), and noticed that it was like 400mb. So this month is my biggest data use month ever at 1.29gb with a couple of days remaining before I get to the 3rd of next month.

It sounds like I'm all good as long as I don't blow a hole in the 2.5gb cap? That seems annoyingly low for video, but totally adequate for everything else I am doing (reading phandroid and email).

Still, **** big red. I really don't understand why it is that when I pay for an internet connection, somehow, I can't use said internet connection however I want. That just seems morally wrong. If I buy a broom and want to run around with it betwixt my legs playing "quiddich" then the broom company does not tell me that I am using their product in an unacceptable way.

I recognize that brooms and an internet connection are not apples to apples, but it's not entirely off base. We signed all our useful 'rights' away in the contract, and there is choice in the marketplace, but really, if they doubled the cap sizes for the pricepoint, and did away with unlimited and restrictions, 95% of their customers would be actually happy.

...gets off high horse.

Interesting. Where I live, August has 31 days, so that means you're 12 days shy of the 3rd of the month....

A far cry from a couple, wouldn't you say?

Perhaps the horse was too high? The air got too thin?

 

[cmhobbz]

How will this affect those, like me, who pay for an unlimited data plan... plus pay for an unlimited tethering plan? Are we subject to the 2.5gb limitation, even though we agreed to play fair with additional usage?

 

[seejoshplay]

Interesting. Where I live, August has 31 days, so that means you're 12 days shy of the 3rd of the month....

A far cry from a couple, wouldn't you say?

Perhaps the horse was too high? The air got too thin?

I copped to being on a high horse.

 

[Hemingray]

Wow, would just love to see how this works out for us who have legitimate mobile broadband subscriptions with VZW too, and I also have a smartphone with unlimited data, and I do audio streaming alot, no tethering, as mentioned before, I have a USB modem for that.

 

[UnplugMe]

I'm usually at 4-5GB just doing web surfing, watching an occasional video (under 10 mins.), streaming music for 1-2 hrs per month. Have siriusxm and am afraid to use it.

I don't see how that is overtaxing the network, it's just normal self-restricted use with an android phone.

When you offer an unlimited plan it should be exactly that. Unlimited. If you can't handle selling an unlimited plan, then don't do it. Call it what it is.

I really don't understand why everyone just bends over and takes it; if you're paying for a certain amount of data then what difference does it make if you view it on your tiny phone's screen or your netbook's? It's the same data.
The customer having to pay twice for the same data is double-dipping.

It's just like charging both the caller and the callee for the same phone call (whether it's $ or minutes). Or the sender and receiver for texts, some of that is spam.

On land lines, only the caller pays, as it should be.

Double double dip dip

 

[dirkbonn]

I'm usually at 4-5GB just doing web surfing, watching an occasional video (under 10 mins.), streaming music for 1-2 hrs per month. Have siriusxm and am afraid to use it.

I don't see how that is overtaxing the network, it's just normal self-restricted use with an android phone.

When you offer an unlimited plan it should be exactly that. Unlimited. If you can't handle selling an unlimited plan, then don't do it. Call it what it is.

I really don't understand why everyone just bends over and takes it; if you're paying for a certain amount of data then what difference does it make if you view it on your tiny phone's screen or your netbook's? It's the same data.
The customer having to pay twice for the same data is double-dipping.

It's just like charging both the caller and the callee for the same phone call (whether it's $ or minutes). Or the sender and receiver for texts, some of that is spam.

On land lines, only the caller pays, as it should be.

Double double dip dip

If you had an unlimited plan prior to sometime in July, hopefully you were grandfathered in and you still have it.

In months and years past, there weren't as many smartphones on the network, and the ones that were were either 1X or 3G. Now that smartphones are becoming a major player on the network and 4G LTE usage is on the rise, Verizon has had to rethink their unlimited data packages. Hence the introduction of tiered data and now the crackdown on customers using tethering and hotspots without paying for it. Which is the way it's always been..... even though you had unlimited data, tethering and using your phone as a hotspot was and extra charge.

No, I don't think you're overtaxing the network, Verizon is just transitioning to a plan whereby people who use large amounts of data pay for it. They're making you "pay-to-play" so to speak. But again, if you're lucky enough to be grandfathered in, good for you!

 

[IOWA]

With the proliferation of DPI technology, it is only matter of time before all tethering is put to an end. The only way around this is to us a VPN service like Stong-VPN to encrypt your traffic and therefore is not subject to DPI technology due to said encryption. You'll take a hit on connection speed, but it just might be worth it. Especially for those of us (like myself) who use VPN technology for other purposes.

 

[Nodzarf]

Isn't this throttling only for 3g data and doesn't affect the 4g plan? If so it's hard to believe that 3g data is bogging down Big Red's system. Just think how slow data speeds would be if people weren't upgrading to 4g phones. 2.5 gb makes you a data hog in Verizon's billing. Meanwhile they want you to watch movies, stream music, surf the internet, etc.... as long as you are on a tiered plan. Grandfathered unlimited subscribers will get what Verizon determines is best for the tiered users so that hopefully they will overshoot their limit. Kind of like when texting first came out.

 

[dirkbonn]

Still, **** big red. I really don't understand why it is that when I pay for an internet connection, somehow, I can't use said internet connection however I want. That just seems morally wrong. If I buy a broom and want to run around with it betwixt my legs playing "quiddich" then the broom company does not tell me that I am using their product in an unacceptable way.

I recognize that brooms and an internet connection are not apples to apples, but it's not entirely off base. We signed all our useful 'rights' away in the contract, and there is choice in the marketplace, but really, if they doubled the cap sizes for the pricepoint, and did away with unlimited and restrictions, 95% of their customers would be actually happy.

...gets off high horse.

Because using a broom to play quiddich doesn't cost the broom company money. Also, if you bought a slingshot, are you saying you should be able to use it however you want? Like shooting at street lights?

Verizon is just transitioning to a "Pay-to-play" network.... unless you're grandfathered in.... So, if you're grandfathered in with an unlimited plan..... keep it.

Best of luck to all......