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Tethering how could they say anything for $40.00 bucks a month

I read on here how people are afraid to tether and wonder if you're gonna get in trouble. AT&T harrased the bejesus outta me when they tried to hand over a rediculous $7000.00 phone bill that I hadn't even tethered once. NOT ONCE. What did I do, well nothing. The phone bill was all their fault and they appologized and peaid dearly for it. All is forgiven. But what stands out about the situation is how much they asked me if I was just on my PDA for internet usage. I said, DAMN IT YES. I listen to the internet radio and use orb to access my files from home. The internet radio thing is probably what really did it. So, how can they say anything about usage and what you are doing when you are paying for unlimited access. Screw the machine I'm gonna tether my little heart out.
p.s. these are the speeds i'm getting from Barnes and nobles on USB... bluetooth is just as fast but why use BT when pluggin in your USB charges the phone at the same time... DUH
Oh and one more thing. I am at Barnes & Nobles doing it too. Take that At&T

What plan or the the lack there of were you on wnen you got the 7000 dollar bill and where the hell are you that you get 1.7 mbits I can only get 1.1

How hard is it carriers, you make 1 and only 1 unlimited plan and you stick to it. Screw this Unlimited but can't tether crap.
I just read an article about a candian dude who got a $8000+ bill from Rogers. He talked them down to to like 1700 or something like that and he was just using what he thought he was allowed to do. he thought UNLIMITED meant UNLIMITED.

sprice82 said:
What plan or the the lack there of were you on wnen you got the 7000 dollar bill and where the hell are you that you get 1.7 mbits I can only get 1.1
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Ummm, you see, what had happened was. LOl, no seriously, what happened is I had a business account, that got switched to a national business account so I could have phone numbers for anywhere in the U.S. Didn't know they had seperate business accounts for that but ok. When they switched me over they stripped my entire plan naked. I was thinking I was on my regular unlimited plan and really was on NO plan. All the internet radio streaming was just RACKING up my phone bill.
Ha, one poster said talked them down to 1700.00. I flipped out so bad I swear to you I haven't paid a bill in about a year. The reason was mostly because even when they were supposed to refund everything they kept messing that up too shutting off all my phone lines. They just kept refunding and refunding. They also sent me four new tilts. TALK to managers only the other idiots in customer service know nothing.
I am in florida for the speeds I am getting. I am super happy with this new tether thing.
Cheers.

smittyofdhs said:
How hard is it carriers, you make 1 and only 1 unlimited plan and you stick to it. Screw this Unlimited but can't tether crap.
I just read an article about a candian dude who got a $8000+ bill from Rogers. He talked them down to to like 1700 or something like that and he was just using what he thought he was allowed to do. he thought UNLIMITED meant UNLIMITED.
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wow.
then what does unlimited mean? lol

yea IMO companies are going to far with this crappolla

Hey christian15213, Ive been thru the similar situations with cingular/att about 3 times. To make a long story short. In store reps kept tampering and slamming my account on 3 different occasions. I found out when i recieved a $3500.00 bill due to very large data consumption. Went without paying my bill, and argued with reps and managment for about 6months or more on refunding my account, how the charges got there and, and replacing my gf plan(19.99=unlmtd data, 1500 txt, 150 mms). Well after I finally got them to make my account whole, I made them note onto my account not to make any changes on my account without customer permission! Since then I've been streaming movies and downloading like crazy, and no one has ever harrassed me about it! I monitor my data usage on a monthly basis, and i tell ya, its extremely high, as if i was tethering!

Christian, what browser are you using speedtest.net with? I can't get it to work with IE or Opera.

i am using internet explorer 7. I am tethering via bluetooth or USB... the Speed I got up top was posted via a usb connection while sitting off Glades and 95 in Barnes & Nobles sticking it to Att and the Man. YEA baby.
Yea, I don't know if that site has a way of getting on your mobile device you're gonna have to tether to use it.

Internet Sharing Experiences

I know this has been addressed already, but I was wondering what every one's experience has been with Internet Sharing with AT&T. I'm wondering if you don't have tethering added on to your account will they charge you extra on you bill for using internet sharing. I have heard some people say yes they do (On this forum) and some people say no they don't (On this forum) so I am just trying to figure out which one is true hopefully the latter of the two

well, i've got the $15 media net package on my phone, and they have never complained about that (since you are supposed to have the $30 pda personal plan).
And occasionally I tether to my laptop when I absolutely need to. (I always connect to the wap.cingular access point)
I think as long as you don't go completely crazy with your data usage, they don't complain. I think I average 100 to 150 MB per month.
But if your data usage is big (over 1 GB?) I think that raises some flags.

I've used my 19.99 media max package for downloading large files from my PDA as well as tethered to my laptop. The previous poster summed it up quite nicely. However there are some rumors that AT&T will be changing their whole unlimited data system, but it's unclear when.

Ok, that gives me a better understanding of what the other posters were talking about. I think at&t already changed their media max plans, but if you already have the old one they wont make you change it. (or at least they didn't make me I have unlimited.)

I forgot to say thanks for you guy's help. Thanks

I have the $30 "Unlimited" package, but it's the same story with all the providers (as far as I know, or at least Verizon and AT&T) where there is a limit of 5gb a month. If you go over that they have the right to terminate your service as well as then charging you the $200 dollars or so for an early termination. In all honesty though you'd have to be trying to go over 5gb.
The other plans that aren't "Unlimited" have a specific limit per month that they will straight out tell you.

wizardlizard111 said:
I have the $30 "Unlimited" package, but it's the same story with all the providers (as far as I know, or at least Verizon and AT&T) where there is a limit of 5gb a month. If you go over that they have the right to terminate your service as well as then charging you the $200 dollars or so for an early termination. In all honesty though you'd have to be trying to go over 5gb.
The other plans that aren't "Unlimited" have a specific limit per month that they will straight out tell you.
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Thank you thats the plan I have and thats info I needed.

I am Paying 15 dolars for ATT tilt internet, starting today :)

for the last 12 months I have been paying 30$ for my ATT Tilt internet, because on the internet I couldn't add the cheap 15 version of medianet. and on the phone they said because I have a pda I have to have a PDA plan which is 30$ min.. well today I tried a different method. called and asked if I could get the 15$ internet and she said if I updated my phone on my account. meaning if I give them a different IMei number other than a PDA to add it to my account than they can add the 15$ plan..so I had an extra Sony ericson flipphone. I just told her I wanna use my Sony phone and add it to my account. I did it she put me on 15$ plan. she said it wouldn't work on the tilt...well guess what? it is the same internet on my Tilt..I am in los angeles..I have HSDPA all the time..speed is the same..it is plain old PDA plan..it is I think to supsidy the costs of the PDA phones, they are doing it to make more profit..on my account it is showing now i am using a regular phone...and if something happens to my Tilt, she said i could update my account to tilt so I can return for warraty changes..I can't believe I have been paying double for my internet for no reason...hope it helps some of the people who didn't now about this..Good luck..
Hayati

hayaticik said:
for the last 12 months I have been paying 30$ for my ATT Tilt internet, because on the internet I couldn't add the cheap 15 version of medianet. and on the phone they said because I have a pda I have to have a PDA plan which is 30$ min.. well today I tried a different method. called and asked if I could get the 15$ internet and she said if I updated my phone on my account. meaning if I give them a different IMei number to add it to my account than they can add the 15$ plan..so I had an extra Sony ericson flipphone. I just told her I wanna use my Sony phone and add it to my account. I did it she put me on 15$ plan. she said it wouldn't work on the tilt...well guess what? it is the same internet on my Tilt..I am in los angeles..I have HSDPA all the time..speed is the same..it is plain old PDA plan..it is I think to supsidy the costs of the PDA phones, they are doing it to make more profit..on my account it is showing now i am using a regular phone...and if something happens to my Tilt, she said i could update my account to tilt so I can return for warraty changes..I can't believe I have been paying double for my internet for no reason...hope it helps some of the people who didn't now about this..Good luck..
Hayati
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nice to know man ... well i have to keep the 30 dollar plan for six months (2 more months) and i already have another line on my account so i guess i'll cancel the plan on my tilt and get it on the other line and than use that sim in my tilt to get the access ...

are you talking about unlimited data plan?

antihrist said:
are you talking about unlimited data plan?
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yes.i am talking about internet.

I have always known this, i used the media net on my old palm treo. I'm paying $30 a month now since i got my tilt.
EDIT: this below doesn't seem to work for everyone...
However, for you brave souls. There is a way around it, you can add the $15 plan on their website. (of course if you do this, log in and cancel your current PDA plan)
Do not log in, stay logged out
Go to Shop/Features/View All
Click Media Net Unlimited, "current customers purchase here"
And then follow the steps.
Not many people know about that, you can't add it if your logged in, because it recognizes what phone you have.
(it may take up to 24 hours to update your account this way,)

hayaticik said:
yes.i am talking about internet.
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well... i understand that you are talking about internet, but i don't understand if this is unlimited data or you have some limitations (like amount of data, port restrictions,...).
not that this is important to me since i don't live near US or at&t, but i was just wondering because here in croatia we pay:
- 391kn (85$) unlimited data (flat)
- 291kn (63$) 3GB
- 191kn (41$) 1GB
- 91kn (20$) 512MB
so if you pay 15$ for unlimited data i just don't know what to say. not to mention average monthly pay here in croatia being way below 1000$.

It's unlimited (up to 5gb). I have been using it for months now and have had zero problems. People claim that if you exceed 5gb of data usage, AT&T will get suspicious.
Jeff

antihrist said:
well... i understand that you are talking about internet, but i don't understand if this is unlimited data or you have some limitations (like amount of data, port restrictions,...).
not that this is important to me since i don't live near US or at&t, but i was just wondering because here in croatia we pay:
- 391kn (85$) unlimited data (flat)
- 291kn (63$) 3GB
- 191kn (41$) 1GB
- 91kn (20$) 512MB
so if you pay 15$ for unlimited data i just don't know what to say. not to mention average monthly pay here in croatia being way below 1000$.
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i can't believe you guys pay that much over there. it is for unlimited..about ATT being suspicious if we pass 5gb is not so much what happens. i use so much every month. they don't care about it. there are enough people paying double anyways. if it is unlimited it doesn't matter wich phone u use..plus they wil blame us with what? nothing. so yes i wil pay 15 dollars a month for unlimited internet. ohh i didn't know about buying it without logging in..it is good to know.

i just called att and updated my plann, they said it would take in effect immediately but i will wait till tomorrow morning to see for sure.
thanks a lot for the tip guys saved a bunch of money on my bill
i use to have $30 unlimited PDA for 2 phone so that means $60 total, now its $15 unlimited internet each, for 2 phone so thats $30 total

lol
haha thats great! i dont have a unlimited data plan because of the $30 price. its ridiculous
now i might consider doing this trick to get that $15 plan.
thanks
just hopefully no att representatives are viewing this forum.

they also have a "media max 200" plan which gives you the $15 unlimited data plan plus 200 text messeges for and additional $5. So your total a month would be $20. Have done that after reading a thread back in December time frame. Currently in Peru on Vacation but when i get back in Sept. I will reactivate the media max 200.
also i have tried the internet sharing and no suspicion with ATT. So i love it.

Sheesh, that's quite a vacation.
Fwiw, for years i've used media max unlimited (since I had a wizard) and i've never had a problem.

hayaticik said:
for the last 12 months I have been paying 30$ for my ATT Tilt internet, because on the internet I couldn't add the cheap 15 version of medianet.
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I think AT&T insists on the $30 plan because it's their way of offsetting the cost of the phone. Most customers will obtain the Kaiser from the operator rather than an OEM HTC model. And because AT&T discounts the phone heavily, they have to build in a way to get the phone to a price point that most customers will want to pay. They write it into a contract so that they can recover the expense of the discount they offered you when you bought the phone.
In my case, I had the MEdia Max bundle for my RAZR, so when I got my TyTNII it carried over. But at least one workaround would be to borrow a friend's phone, put your SIM in that phone, go online to change your plan and then put the SIM back into your phone. Many times the phone will identify itself to the network so you don't even have to manually change it.

Welcome to about a year ago everyone.

hayaticik said:
i can't believe you guys pay that much over there. it is for unlimited..about ATT being suspicious if we pass 5gb is not so much what happens. i use so much every month. they don't care about it. there are enough people paying double anyways. if it is unlimited it doesn't matter wich phone u use..plus they wil blame us with what? nothing. so yes i wil pay 15 dollars a month for unlimited internet. ohh i didn't know about buying it without logging in..it is good to know.
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neither i can believe. we have 3 mobile operators here and prices are still outrageous. i guess there is some problem with my country in general, not only operators.
looks like i'm going to keep paying so much for mobile internet for some time...unless i decide to move in US.

ThatGuy16 said:
I have always known this, i used the media net on my old palm treo. I'm paying $30 a month now since i got my tilt.
However, for you brave souls. There is a way around it, you can add the $15 plan on their website. (of course if you do this, log in and cancel your current PDA plan)
Do not log in, stay logged out
Go to Shop/Features/View All
Click Media Net Unlimited, "current customers purchase here"
And then follow the steps.
Not many people know about that, you can't add it if your logged in, because it recognizes what phone you have.
(it may take up to 24 hours to update your account this way,)
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Click to collapse
I got up to the part where it asked me for my info, i'm going to try this tonight and update throughout the week, i doubt that this would hold though, but it's worth a shot. It did however prompt me for the $15 data plan instead of the $30 so the future is bright...so far.

people have been doing it for awhile now. Nothing new.

BillTheCat said:
I think AT&T insists on the $30 plan because it's their way of offsetting the cost of the phone. Most customers will obtain the Kaiser from the operator rather than an OEM HTC model. And because AT&T discounts the phone heavily, they have to build in a way to get the phone to a price point that most customers will want to pay. They write it into a contract so that they can recover the expense of the discount they offered you when you bought the phone.
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Nah, it's simply because PDAs use data connections much much more than non-PDA phones. Just wait until the day after tomorrow when the iPhone 3G starts hitting the streets, I expect quite a bit more of att's 3G bandwidth will be in use.

This has been known for months and discussion of this deal is in many threads.

yup, I remember when I first did this on my 8125/wizard... Only thing you might wanna watch for is the IMEI sweeps that I'm sure they don't do intentionally... I've had mine set up for my old 551, but mysteriously it will change in the OLAM to my 8525... and now with my Tilt as well... They've never changed my bill, or sent me a notice, but they know what everyones doing...

Overages and $15 plan

ok i had the media net unlimited ($15) with my kaiser for like 6months w/out a single problem or xtra charge. i used the upgrade option i had and ordered a fuze but to be used on another line in the fam plan, yesterday i used about 60mb with slingplayer.. today i got a text saying data disconnected due to high charges i called and they told me i didnt have a data plan and i was going to be charged about $1000 i added the $30 data plan and was wondering is there a way to fight the upcoming bill?

I did something like that once with my Razr but I was only like $80 in data that I had to pay. I dont really belive theres a way out of it other than not paying and trashing your credit.

yea call customer service and play stupid and say you didnt know and that if you would have known it uses internet you would have op'ed for the data plan... i'm sure they will work with you, if not ask for a manager... just be calm thoughout the entire ordeal. Its not like you did irreversable damage that needs to get paid for...
Also, was that unlimited data plan on the line u used the phone? If so, just say you didnt know that unlimited data plan dropped off...
Like i said play stupid, but be kind and pleasant to talk to, you'd be surprised how far a smile on the phone will get you... I've gotten outta $900 worth of roaming charges like that (back when they had regional plans)
Also asking questions that make them agree will gain you sympathy, like asking the rep "how would you feel about this if this happened to you? wouldnt you just rather pay the $30 a month rather than $1000 for one time use" etc.... basically manipulating their thoughs

Guess you should have swapped sims before downloading all that data. How could you not know that you didn't have a data plan on the fuze line?

So was the $1000 charge for using the Slingplayer for the Fuze (with no data plan) or the Tilt (with $15 plan)? Also, do you still have the $15 plan onm the Tilt or did that get taken away in the process?

cesar2010 said:
ok i had the media net unlimited ($15) with my kaiser for like 6months w/out a single problem or xtra charge. i used the upgrade option i had and ordered a fuze but to be used on another line in the fam plan, yesterday i used about 60mb with slingplayer.. today i got a text saying data disconnected due to high charges i called and they told me i didnt have a data plan and i was going to be charged about $1000 i added the $30 data plan and was wondering is there a way to fight the upcoming bill?
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Speaking from experience [family, not me ], I can tell you that playing "dumb" and then offering to sign up for a data plan will lead to AT&T dropping the overage charges.

It also might be helpful to tell them on the phone that'll you'd like to sign up for the 30 a month data plan. I've heard others say this was helpful.

NotATreoFan said:
Speaking from experience [family, not me ], I can tell you that playing "dumb" and then offering to sign up for a data plan will lead to AT&T dropping the overage charges.
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i strongly agree, works like a charm, give it a shot...sooner the better

well i used the upgrade option on my tilt, but da was just to get a discount. My line with the Tilt was never changed for anything das why i didnt worry about using the media net since it was working perfectly it just seems like when i did the upgrade my media plan got removed, the fuze is being used in another line and i added media net to that line... I called att and added the 30 plan..after being disconected and notified. Just gotta wait for the bill and call back the lady said just wondering whats good to say .

cesar2010 said:
well i used the upgrade option on my tilt, but da was just to get a discount. My line with the Tilt was never changed for anything das why i didnt worry about using the media net since it was working perfectly it just seems like when i did the upgrade my media plan got removed, the fuze is being used in another line and i added media net to that line... I called att and added the 30 plan..after being disconected and notified. Just gotta wait for the bill and call back the lady said just wondering whats good to say .
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So were the charges for data you used on the Tilt, or data you used on the Fuze?

the tilt...i wouldnt trade it for the fuze...i like the tilt way better...

Here's a warning about the Media Unlimited plans and roaming. It is a violation of the terms of the unlimited data contract to exceed 6mb of data 'off network' in a month. If you exceed 6mb off network two months in a row you are invited to get off AT&T (without early termination fee) or they will place a roam restriction on your specific account (tied to your SSN) that will never go away. The restriction locks down all lines in a family plan. This restriction means no calls or data off network, and also prevents any future discounted phone purchases via 'upgrades'. Nasty, nasty. Apart from the 'triangle display' for voice signal, there often is no indication on a TILT that you are off network, the H, 3G, and E look the same on or off netwrok, and the carrier name displayed in plug ins like Homescreen ++ shows the carrier name from the SIM, not from the tower. So let's be careful out there!

I think the real sin here is that the carrier can charge $1000 for 60 MB of data. At that rate, it would cost around $83,000.00 to download a single movie.

Jim_R said:
Here's a warning about the Media Unlimited plans and roaming. It is a violation of the terms of the unlimited data contract to exceed 6mb of data 'off network' in a month. If you exceed 6mb off network two months in a row you are invited to get off AT&T (without early termination fee) or they will place a roam restriction on your specific account (tied to your SSN) that will never go away. The restriction locks down all lines in a family plan. This restriction means no calls or data off network, and also prevents any future discounted phone purchases via 'upgrades'. Nasty, nasty. Apart from the 'triangle display' for voice signal, there often is no indication on a TILT that you are off network, the H, 3G, and E look the same on or off netwrok, and the carrier name displayed in plug ins like Homescreen ++ shows the carrier name from the SIM, not from the tower. So let's be careful out there!
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I love ATT...never had a "roaming issue". The simplest thing to do is get their national plan........ then roaming is null and void lol
As far as the data usages go, did you get them to refund the charges? I would blame it on an att rep that you got the phone from for not pointing it out....or even yet, tell them the rep put the sim in the wrong phone

Vungtau said:
I think the real sin here is that the carrier can charge $1000 for 60 MB of data. At that rate, it would cost around $83,000.00 to download a single movie.
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Yep, ATT is stuck in the stoneage. It's really disturbing they can get away with this robbery. 20 bucks a month for texting? they're barely moving any data, it's text! Ahh, don't get me started

Overages and $15 plan (lololol)
Same thing append to me. I stil have my tilt and got a Fuze for my Girlfriend.
I payed $197.XX.
That sucks cuz I have 3 lines in my account and now I'm paying over $280 a month for all of this. At the end of the day I mainly use the WiFi anyway cuz its a lot faster.
Man Obama should do something about this. Bad economy and this BS.

Love
AT&T...
But those ridiculus charges have got to go
$20 unlimited text, pic, that's BS
Sprint has that included in their $99 plan
Unlimited EVERYTHING,,,, right??

[Q] Is Wifi Tether illegal without a plan?

What I mean Is., I use a Tether app often on my capty.
I still have the old unlimited data plan. but no tether plan....do you think they will catch on if say i were to use my 3g wifi to download movies or whatnot...?

You're definitely not supposed to be doing it, but Ive been doing it for over 3 years now and have seen 100+GB in a month with no problems what so ever. Just don't give up that unlimited plan!

yes the unlimited plan is a must have.!!!! i have had it for 5 years now

This is an interesting question... I wonder if the recent update to the DMCA that allows for jailbreaking would have any affect on whether or not you'd be allowed to tether with out a tether plan.

I think they get away with a lot more "illegal" pratices than you doing tether so to me, you are just fine.

"illegal"
NO
"Outside of your contract terms"
YES
Which means they can drop you at their discretion. I have heard of excessive users getting notices. I see someone claims 100gb a month. That sounds like flags to me, but if you can make it work, then more power to you.

yeah just imagine if they dumbed your unlimited data plan and left you with the option to get the 250 MB plan only.
that would suck.

AT&T's "Unlimited" Plan has what they call a 5GB "Soft Cap". If you use over 5GB in any given month, AT&T flags your account for review. If this happens many times over, your account will be flagged for no further upgrade eligibility. At that point and time, they have the option to drop you completely. They also reserve the right to drop you to a limited plan and charge you overages (currently $10-$15 per GB). Tread lightly. 100+GB will possibly come back to bite you. 5-10GB will probably not cause much of a problem...they are looking for people that use their bandwidth to serve their entire house, not occasional "tetherers".

Apparently unlimited has a different definition in their dictionary....

shaolin95 said:
Apparently unlimited has a different definition in their dictionary....
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Sure does!!!

Definitely be careful with that unlimited plan. Twice now at&t has removed my unlimited data plan without giving me any notice what so ever. When i called them they always gave me the excuse that it was changed many months ago and i had to wait 2 weeks for my case to go through.