Tmobile blocking tether now. Anyone else? - G1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm running chromatic and as of 3 this morning tmobile is blocking my tether. Has this happened to anyone else yet? They want to upsell me to add tethering for 15 more a month and it still has the 5gb cap (Total BS) The built in wired tether and pdanet both aren't working, don't know about wifi tether yet but I'm assuming its blocked too. I found some posts by some g2 users this has happened to. Any one else? I'm glad im paying $30 for "unlimited" data. Aholes.
Thanks!
Sent from my Chromatic Dream using XDA App

Wireless tether aka wifi tether for rooted phones from code.google.com should still work. I've seen other reports of such blocks with market programs.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

They popped me last night. G1 rooted running wifi tether for root users and pdanet. This sucks REALLY bad.

im using tether now to be on xda and facebook. im in new mexico and the only message ive gotten from tmoblie was there were slowing my download speeds for hitting my cap with unlimited data plan lol.

I have a rooted G1, and I usually use wifi-tether or Barnacle. Tried PDANet as well.
I've received 8 text-messages from Tmobile regarding my tethering being blocked. Odd thing was, I was streaming pandora-radio on the phone during a long car drive (~5 hours) while these things beeped away at me. I had tethered earlier for a few minutes to check my gmail.
Later when I tried to tether to check my email, any http requests direct me to an upsell message. However, Remote-desktop still works, FTP still works, and most everything except plain webpages work. Tmobile is asking $15/mo for 200MB of data, with $0.10/MB overage charges ontop of your 10GB "unlimited" plan.
I'm unsure of how they detect tethering. It seems to be based off of bandwidth usage, as there's no way for them to discern whether this is phone traffic or laptop traffic. The other thing that could be a possible giveaway is the number of connections that are open. I'd imagine the laptop has a few things open for windows update, msn messenger and who knows what, whereas the phone has Browser and Lattitude.
Regardless, this is balls.

user agent string
If they are blocking web browser traffic, but not other TCP/IP services like FTP or remote desktop, there's a chance they are fingerprinting non-phone web requests by looking at the user agent string. An interesting test would be whether or not you're able to still make HTTPS-only requests with the web browser on your desktop or laptop. It would take some evil hackery for them to be able to retrieve the user agent string from an HTTPS request.
See 14.43 of the HTTP 1.1 spec for a description of the user agent string.

Got around it by setting up an openvpn on cyanogen 6.1.0. Even if im not using tethering, im still gonna use openvpn for my data traffic, as they are probably using deep packet inspection, which means we no longer have any privacy on tmobiles network.
Im thinking about changing the default port to 443 so as far as they are concerned, im just browsing ssl sites on my phone (port 443 is the default ssl port for web browsing and openvpn uses ssl for encryption).
If you use this method, just be sure to reset you dns to to googles (8.8.8.8) otherwise they can still tell whether or not your tethering based on my experience.
Im seriously considering switching to sprint as i would actually be willing to pay for their tethering, i get 4g in my area and i have a lot of respect for sprint for not capping their 4g.
Maybe if tmobile offered more bandwidth or other features for their 15 bucks a month I would actually be willing to pay for it, but i AM NOT paying for data that I allready paid for. Data is data to them, my cap isnt changing, why should i pay more to pipe my data to my computer.

Correct me if I'm wrong but tethering for $15 essentially removes the 5gb throttled cap. Its the same as Sprint and their $10 fee. The 200mb plan is just a lower tier.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

JustinTArthur said:
An interesting test would be whether or not you're able to still make HTTPS-only requests with the web browser on your desktop or laptop. It would take some evil hackery for them to be able to retrieve the user agent string from an HTTPS request.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Https to mail.google.com works just fine!
funkeee said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but tethering for $15 essentially removes the 5gb throttled cap. Its the same as Sprint and their $10 fee. The 200mb plan is just a lower tier.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
last time I was working the tmobile call-center for T3DS (spring 2010), the cap was 10GB. Although, that was nearly a year ago now. Samson had a lil' checkbox for "throttled" that was enabled at 10GB. perhaps a year and a half ago, maybe two now, they had disabled tethering previousy system-wide. Although back then I had a Motorola Krzr with no data, so I really had no clue what was affected.
The $15 thing is to enable tethering. two days ago it was offering me something around 40-50 dollars for "unlimited" (atop the $30 i pay for unlimited data), and $15 for 200MB (atop of the $30 i play for unlimited data). Of course, you must have a data-plan already in place. Looking at it again today, the page is different. It presents me with a mini terms of service, a button to add this package to my plan to enable tethering. No mention or word of cost.
And, visiting my.tmobile.com like it suggests... there's nothing on the official Tmobile website that I can find for the tethering package.
So, being the typical t-mo customer that I am, I called up the 1-800 number to whine and complain. I mostly want these annoying text-messages to stop. The rep said he could add on the tethering package for me, but I declined. He also offered to hand this over to his buisness group to see if these messages are being sent out in error.
TLDR: If I have to pay $85/mo minimum for smartphone with tethering abilities, i'd rather just give Verizon a call.

starnostar said:
Got around it by setting up an openvpn on cyanogen 6.1.0. Even if im not using tethering, im still gonna use openvpn for my data traffic, as they are probably using deep packet inspection, which means we no longer have any privacy on tmobiles network.
Im thinking about changing the default port to 443 so as far as they are concerned, im just browsing ssl sites on my phone (port 443 is the default ssl port for web browsing and openvpn uses ssl for encryption).
If you use this method, just be sure to reset you dns to to googles (8.8.8.8) otherwise they can still tell whether or not your tethering based on my experience.
Im seriously considering switching to sprint as i would actually be willing to pay for their tethering, i get 4g in my area and i have a lot of respect for sprint for not capping their 4g.
Maybe if tmobile offered more bandwidth or other features for their 15 bucks a month I would actually be willing to pay for it, but i AM NOT paying for data that I allready paid for. Data is data to them, my cap isnt changing, why should i pay more to pipe my data to my computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never successfully set up openvpn before, could you assist with this? Or is there a guide you recommend for beginners?

work around
was cut off last night.
tried the "user agent switcher" plugin for firefox to see if they are blocking browsers rather than the tethering itself.
With limited testing, i found several agents that work. iphone 3.0 to name one... Now to figure a way to keep the web looking nice using these agents.

I just received my first text warning and was cut off immediately....the 5gig throttle was already a huge kick to my nuts...now they want me to pay to tether and still be under the same cap?! I hit 5gigs WITHOUT tether...I really don't know how tmo expects to keep any smartphone customers like this...
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

The solution to this is very easy;
EVERYBODY needs to call up tmobile and tell them that you were NOT tethering, but changed the USER AGENT ON YOUR PHONE in order to make websites actually work since douchebag websites read that the user agent is for MOBILE and send you to their crippled mobile websites.

dhkr123 said:
The solution to this is very easy;
EVERYBODY needs to call up tmobile and tell them that you were NOT tethering, but changed the USER AGENT ON YOUR PHONE in order to make websites actually work since douchebag websites read that the user agent is for MOBILE and send you to their crippled mobile websites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... You can call them all you like. Previously working for a tmobile call-center, I can assure you little will be done. If I received the call, I would be opening up samson and checking your usage history. The billing system logs just about every bit of data transfered, although I cant remember if it lists URL's anymore. I would suggest telling them that you were tethering, decline on the upsell offer of the tethering package because you feel your "unlimited data" package actually means unlimited, then you can also tell them that it is interfering with the phones operation by itself even when you arnt tethering, and request some sort of further troubleshooting/ticket creation.
If you say you arnt tethering, but DID tether, we could usually see judging by how many connections were initiated over a period of time... There's only so much an android phone can do at once. Regardless, as a data/tech rep, the next step would be filing a network trouble-ticket and putting in your information for an "engineer" to review over. Theres little (if not nothing) for the follow-up/callback process. At this point I would be telling you an engineer/tech would review over it, and try to end the call by up-selling you a newer phone.
TLDR: Unless things have changed in the past year, You will only talk to customer-care rep's, and have no chance of getting your concerns to those who have any power over these decisions. However if you do call in, please be polite and patient with the rep. I've called in and informed them that these are being erroneously generated, and they've taken the time to make a ticket for me. (they were, I got 8 of the damned things while listening to pandora on my phone)

hauppage said:
Well... You can call them all you like. Previously working for a tmobile call-center, I can assure you little will be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not for a single call, but if EVERYBODY called and complained about it, it WOULD be dealt with.
If I received the call, I would be opening up samson and checking your usage history. The billing system logs just about every bit of data transfered, although I cant remember if it lists URL's anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go ahead and check the usage history. A smartphone is capable of generating EXACTLY the same data use as a tethered computer.
I would suggest telling them that you were tethering, decline on the upsell offer of the tethering package because you feel your "unlimited data" package actually means unlimited, then you can also tell them that it is interfering with the phones operation by itself even when you arnt tethering, and request some sort of further troubleshooting/ticket creation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that is EXACTLY what you do NOT want to do, because as soon as you do that, all discussion is over.
If you say you arnt tethering, but DID tether, we could usually see judging by how many connections were initiated over a period of time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That might have been the case in years gone by, but no longer.
There's only so much an android phone can do at once.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh? The limiting factor here is the NETWORK, not the hardware. It is TRIVIAL to open up dozens of connections for lots of different services on lots of different servers. Just because it is beyond YOU does not mean that **I** can't do it.
Regardless, as a data/tech rep, the next step would be filing a network trouble-ticket and putting in your information for an "engineer" to review over. Theres little (if not nothing) for the follow-up/callback process. At this point I would be telling you an engineer/tech would review over it, and try to end the call by up-selling you a newer phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And once that request has been filed, you don't think that statistics will be run on the nature of the various requests? 200 thousand complaints about this nonsense knocking out normal phone data traffic, you don't think that would be noticed?
TLDR: Unless things have changed in the past year, You will only talk to customer-care rep's, and have no chance of getting your concerns to those who have any power over these decisions. However if you do call in, please be polite and patient with the rep. I've called in and informed them that these are being erroneously generated, and they've taken the time to make a ticket for me. (they were, I got 8 of the damned things while listening to pandora on my phone)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I've said, numbers talk. I certainly don't advocate calling up and threatening anyone, but if the numbers are overwhelming, then corrective actions MUST be taken.

Please look at my post regarding T-mobile tethering
[/COLOR]I'm pretty sure I know what T-Mobile did.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26649587#post26649587

Related

wm6 grps doesn't work (tmobile)

All of a suddden today my internet won't work (tzones 5.99 plan). I have the 2.19 cingular rom and it has been working great till today. I did many soft-resets and wanted to hear other suggestions before I do a hard-reset or possibly a downgrade to aku3.3..
any suggestions?
commit dat
hiimcliff said:
commit dat
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry, wtf is that? I am running pdaviet3, if that is what you're asking.
have you set up tzones to work with your wm6?
yea it has been working for over a month on wm6 now. I had a issue last week and a softrestart fixed it. The problem was with spb insight which I uninstalled now. Softrestarts don't do anything now.. not sure what happened.
wierd.. ok.. and its working again. That was odd, I hope it stays functional now.
frayes said:
wierd.. ok.. and its working again. That was odd, I hope it stays functional now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get it to work? Im having the same problem.
tzones no longer works check www.howardforums.com tmobile section for details. they blocked all ports and only allow limited wap access, u need to change to the 19.99 blackberry plan inorder to use the inet on ur mda.. ****ty i know.
It seems full access is back on for the moment with TMobile. There are several dozen threads in many forums about access being turned on and off as apparently TMobile works on the network.
The only official statement I have seen TMobile make is that 3rd party apps are going to be disabled soon.
My guess is they are preparing their system for the new highspeed band and using the current one to test various methods of restricting access. This may possibly mean adding more payment tiers or levels of speed. Just a guess on my part but in my opinion a welcome feature. To be able to pick and choose several features (push email, msging, speed, or data caps) tailored to individual usage would be ideal.
Tmobile seems to be frustrating a lot of people by turning on and off access to their system without any public notice. Seems like they should just make a statement on their intent.
Posts on Howard forums and here confirm TMobile is tightning up internet access. Recent "internal memo leak" indicates they were attempting to stop access for 3rd party apps. Also attemping to stop people on tzones sbility to recive anything but wap material.
Just be aware the "free ride is coming to a end soon".
As a bonus they also appear to be messing up the paying customers and aggravating them too.
Please save the messing with a loyal customer talk or for xxx speed and price I'm leaving for the Tmobile csr's because no one here cares if you lost your free or discounted access.
i posted the info here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=295792
if u look in forums its titled
""Say Goodbye To Using Tzones Or Blackberry Internet On Mda/dash/sda""

Disabling GPRR/GPRS while able to get MMS?

Is there a way to disable the GPRR/GPRS data transmission/usage while being able to maintain it? I tried searching but nothing comes close to it any solution that is applicable.
kaisertweak was the answer interestingly.
GPRR Charges In Your Phone Bill
You need to review your phone bills. ATT is ripping people off. If you have purchased a phone like a black jack, blackberry, any type of PDA that has internet access, it will charge you a ridiculous amount of money, even when you don't use the internet. The phone supposedly goes onto the internet by itself to find new updates and it charges for data transfer. Also, multi media messaging is considered data transfer therefore it uses the internet, so it as well charges, even though multi media messaging is covered under your plan. I'm considering a class sue against AT&T. If this has happened to you please join this discussion.
I've got the bogus bills too.
We need to resolve this. I have heard of people with multi thousand dollar bills!
This application might be able to answer all your questions...!! there is no harm in trying it
and also as a supplementary application
i share this pain how do i join your class action law suit

Data usage

Apologies if this is not the right place to ask but....
I am considering getting an HTC Diamond Touch and I am on O2. Their "unlimited" data plan has a fair usage policy of 200Mb per month. Is this enough? I intend using push email, my personal IMAP email (with regular polling) and some web browsing, perhaps the odd bit of YouTube etc etc.
Also, if I am connected to my WiFi router at home and browsing the web, I assume that O2 dont know anything about that and it does not form part of the 200Mb.
Thanks
The Jones said:
Apologies if this is not the right place to ask but....
I am considering getting an HTC Diamond Touch and I am on O2. Their "unlimited" data plan has a fair usage policy of 200Mb per month. Is this enough? I intend using push email, my personal IMAP email (with regular polling) and some web browsing, perhaps the odd bit of YouTube etc etc.
Also, if I am connected to my WiFi router at home and browsing the web, I assume that O2 dont know anything about that and it does not form part of the 200Mb.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Each person has different requirements, however in my opinion, its no where near enough.
Will O2 care if you go over though?...
For everything you mentioned, except YouTube, I think 200Mb/month would be enough. But of course, it depends on HOW much YouTube you are planning to 'use'.
I don't have any numbers on how much data I use though, since my operator (Tele2Comviq, Sweden) allows up to 5Gb before they limit the transfer speed to 30kb/s.
Thanks for the responses, but not sure if it clears things up for me! I do wonder what O2 will do if I start to go over, might be worth a try!
As for the WiFi access, is my assumption correct?
The Jones said:
Thanks for the responses, but not sure if it clears things up for me! I do wonder what O2 will do if I start to go over, might be worth a try!
As for the WiFi access, is my assumption correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct!
Thanks again. I think I will take the risk and try it. I will try and remember to post back here with my results (if O2 have not already cut me off)
If you go over the fair usage limit, they are liable to start charging you £7.50Mb
chriswren said:
If you go over the fair usage limit, they are liable to start charging you £7.50Mb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't go barmy ouch
I don't know specifically about O2, but pretty much everyone, unless you're paying an extra premium for a "more unlimited than unlimited" internet access, block or exclude in the T&Cs streaming media like youtube. Check the small print.
You will definitely need more than that - but speak to them first if you are re-negotiating your contract. I was with them and they gave me a free data bundle which was much more than 200mb when I threatened to go to T-Mobile but then I did anyway as I could do without the hassle.
I do know though that with any 'fair usage' you can not simply be charged straight away, you should be given warning that you are approaching your limit. Having just checked my O2 conditions (which could be out of date) they will contact you to discuss your plan and if you continue to go over they have the right to request you stop or they can charge you. I've yet to hear of any of my friends being charged and I know they go over.

ATT Tilt Connection Sharing/Tethering Question

I used a downloaded CAB to enable Internet Connection Sharing on my Tilt.
I selected "MEdiaNet", turned off USB Connections in ActiveSync, and it's working as a modem. Congrats right?
Well, I'm worried that if I use it I'm going to get a monster bill from ATT.
I already use the browser on the phone all the time. Sometimes for hours at a time when I'm on the road, so I already have an unlimited PDA data package. I'm pretty sure there's some rule where I have to add laptop connect, but I'm wondering if anyone else has done this without having laptop connect and what the result was, billing wise.
I don't want to pay $60 just to use my PC to logon to non-mobile/flash sites, but it sure would be handy.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Yeah others have done this and we have talked about it in previous threads.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php?searchid=24147543
yea this has been discused many times.
My good friend works direct for ATT corporate, att doesnt care how you use the data as long as you dont go over 5gigs in a month, once you hit the 5 gig limit you are put on a watch list to see if you do it again, if you do it again then they send you a letter saying hey your using to much data, if you do it again after the letter they make you upgrade or discontinue your service. they have no way to check if you are tethered.

[Q] Thinkg of converting from WM6.5; some questions

Been using a HTC Tilt2 for over a year. WM7 looks DOA, interested in Android anyway. I two things I just gotta have or a deal breaker are: decent sync to Outlook Calendar and Contacts and the equivalent of WM-Wifi (phone becomes a wifi hotspot without tethering). Need the hotspot to connect my tablet PC to the internet, avoiding tethering limits and charges. Searches seem to come back with a mixed bag of answers.
Hi:
I just got the Captivate after having the Tilt2 for the past year. I can honestly tell you the Captivate makes the Tilt2 seem like a big, outdated dinosaur. It is so much faster, lighter, and the screen is amazing.
As far as the WMwifi which I too used on a regular basis, there is a great app called wireless tether which does exactly the same thing. You do however have to root your phone to use it.
Not sure about Outlook sync, because I just transferred all my Outlook stuff to Google calendar, and now sync with that.
So, you are able to do internet access without a tethering account (AT&T)?
I reROMed my TILT2 like crazy, so not worreid about rooting, etc, just want to know I can do the two things I need before making the purchase.
OldMike60 said:
So, you are able to do internet access without a tethering account (AT&T)?
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi:
Well, wireless tether is just like wmwifi router. You can take the chance on using it without a tethering account (which I do), but you are technically not supposed to.
Are you using an Exchange account for Outlook?
That works well for me, although there are not as many folder options unless you load an app such as touchdown.
The mobile access point add-ons are really good.I'm using the one packaged with the Cognition ROM.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
My understanding is that tethering is a different process than access via WMWifi, and that it requires a tethered data account. Tethered is $60 and has a monthly maximum, and one still needs a separate data account to get emai at $30, which is an unlimited monthly useage. BTW: ATT now has smaller caps, etc, but I checked at the ATT store and they stated that that only applies to new accounts, so I stay unlimited if I do not reduce my plan.
My email is currently POP3, but my son is going to put us on a MAPI(?) system soon using Google apps. We have our own URL.
WMwifi is for tethering, as is Wireless Tether for Android. Same process.
And, yes you can keep your old unlimited data plan if you already have it. Although, keep in mind UNLIMITED plan has a 5 GB soft cap. I've heard of people exceeding that without problems, but if AT&T chooses they can do something about it (ie. charge you extra).

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