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AT&T to Kill Grandfathered Unlimited If You Tether Unofficially
You Shall Not Escape AT&T's $20 'Because We Can' Fee

Back in March AT&T made it clear they planned to wage a quiet war on users who jailbreak their phones and tether unofficially, e-mailing users whose usage seemed heavy that they would soon be auto-enrolled in more expensive plans. Today the company confirmed to the Boy Genius Report that they'll be revoking the grandfathered unlimited plans of users who who tether or use unsanctioned mobile hotspot apps. AT&T's statement on the matter insists that they're doing this out of a concern about "fairness for all of our customers." The AT&T statement:

quote:
Click for full size
Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but aren’t on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers. (This impacts a only small percentage of our smartphone customer base.)

The letters outline three choices:

•Stop tethering and keep their current plan (including grandfathered unlimited plan)

•Proactively call AT&T or visit our stores and move to the required tethering plan

•Do nothing and we’ll go ahead and add the tethering plan on their behalf — after the dated noted in their customer notification.


A little more than a year ago AT&T killed the unlimited plan, but grandfathered users already on it. However, if users want to tether officially, they have to give up unlimited, sign up for a 2GB monthly plan for $25 per month, and pay an additional $20 tethering fee with overages of up to $10 per gigabyte. In February, AT&T also finally allowed users to use embedded hotspot functionality, also for a $20 fee with $10 per gigabyte overages. Not surprisingly, many users jailbroke their phones and used apps like MyWi to avoid these new expensive and dubious fees and penalties -- something AT&T's now trying to stop in the name of "fairness."

Granted to see AT&T's version of "fairness" here you have to ignore the fact that AT&T is charging you a $20 premium simply to use functionality embedded in smartphones by design, pretend that being charged $10 per gigabyte is a great value, ignore the fact that jailbreaking your phone is perfectly legal, ignore the fact that AT&T has imposed some of the lowest caps in the industry, and ignore the fact that AT&T and Verizon have quietly been trying to get any and all tethering applications blocked despite professing to love device and network "openness."

You'll notice that pretty much everything AT&T does these days -- no matter how absurd the restriction or steep the rate hike -- only impacts a "small portion" of their customers and is solely focused on altruism -- not making money. AT&T might have better luck on the public image front if the company didn't assume their customers were the intellectual equivalent of walnuts.
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Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA

Gbcue

Premium Member

Clamping Down

Just another greedy money grab.

They already pay for the data, let the customer use it as they wish.
gorehound
join:2009-06-19
Portland, ME

2 recommendations

gorehound

Member

Re: Clamping Down

and that is why i use my computer at home and i use my phone as a dumb phone while millions of you run to your iphones and smart phones and then i watch you get hosed.

until i see unlimited plans for life with no bullshit charges i will stick to my dumb phone and not give these companies anymore of my money that i have to give.

nothing00
join:2001-06-10
Centereach, NY

nothing00

Member

Lower charges for the rest of us!

Because of all of the money AT&T is going to save by kicking all of the freeloaders off of the unlimited plan in the interest of fairness.. One can only assume the rest of the customer base will see significantly lower data charges! Good news.

Yeah, sarcasm.

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958 to gorehound

Premium Member

to gorehound

Re: Clamping Down

said by gorehound:

and that is why i use my computer at home and i use my phone as a dumb phone while millions of you run to your iphones and smart phones and then i watch you get hosed.

until i see unlimited plans for life with no bullshit charges i will stick to my dumb phone and not give these companies anymore of my money that i have to give.

Not on AT&T and never will be, but I couldn't agree more with your assessment!

People have gotten so ridiculously addicted to their little electronic gadgets, it's insane, but most of them will be dumb enough to keep feeding these money hungry, uncaring companies.

mod_wastrel
anonome
join:2008-03-28

mod_wastrel to Gbcue

Member

to Gbcue
at&t's motto (to paraphrase Queen): "We will, we will... screw you!"

Screavics
Premium Member
join:2011-06-23
Pearcy, AR

Screavics

Premium Member

Small Percents

Everything at AT&T is small percentages including the wireless & wire-line footprint for high speed reliable services.

All joking aside I see no real difference in the "two data plans". Data is data whether it is from a smartphone or a attached PC. Yeah PC data users use more data than smartphone but you shouldn't have to buy a separate plan, and if you are "forced to" like in this case, you should get more data than what is allotted to the smartphone.

You want to treat PC / Smartphone data separate, how about making separate plans for each rather than a carbon copy. Make it worthwhile to upgrade to tether.

r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

r81984

Premium Member

Re: Small Percents

said by Screavics:

PC data users use more data than smartphone

That is not true.
Some people use more data on their smartphones than on PCs and others use more data on a PC. Everyone uses their devices differently.

ATT sells service to a GSM device, how you use that device is not for ATT to dictate or limit. ATTs control ends at your antenna on the device that you 100% own.
If ATT wanted to limit you they would have built their own proprietary network and leased you phones and not used GSM where you can use a phone that you 100% paid for.
tman852
join:2010-07-06
Columbus, OH

tman852

Member

Explain this At&t.

So, you can do anything you want with an iPhone on the unlimited plan as long as you aren't tethering. Or tether, use the same amount of data (say 10 gigs for this example both tethered and not). What difference does it make? Why the hell should you get money for tethering? You deliver the bits from point A to B regardless of whether or not it's tethered. You did nothing to make the tethering capability possible, so if anything shouldn't Apple get the $20 since they made it?

MMMMMONEYYYYY GRABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

If anyone gets the letter, start downloading everything possible from the interwebz. Rack up terabytes of usage.

TCub
Premium Member
join:2008-09-03
Olmsted Falls, OH

TCub

Premium Member

Re: Explain this At&t.

Because the odds of you using 10GB of data on an iPhone are slim... Those odds sound much better when you're on a computer.

Believe me - I don't condone this behavior and I HATE AT&T with a passion. Yes. Literally hate.. Pure, scathing, dark hatred. They are criminals.

My solution? I use Verizon... it's nearly impossible to download even 2GB of data in a month with their 3G network!

Really though I use WiFi mostly. I was hoping to see if I could keep it under 250MB and see if I could switch plans but alas... If only Verizons 2GB plan actually cost less... sheesh... Or if they had a 1GB plan for like $15.. I'd totally do it. Not happily but it's cheaper and it fits my needs better. That is, as long as they continue to have the slowest 3G network ever.

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08 to tman852

Premium Member

to tman852
When i got the letter back then, I downloaded about 50gb in a week or so just downloading steam games over and over again. 2 days before the deadline I called in and told them i stopped tethering. Good times..........
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

axiomatic

Member

Just frickin' silly....

Yeah this just about does it for me. I think I'm ready to leave AT&T as this is ridiculous. Networks just don't work the way these idiots want to charge me for the service.

I'm already paying for the data connection, unlimited or not. What difference does it make which device generates the traffic? I'M STILL PAYING FOR IT!

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Just frickin' silly....

AT&T tried this back when they were ma bell and required you to use AT&T equipment to use the service. if you didn't it was illegal.

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

so

either way if they catch you tethering they are going to put you on a lower GB plan. So the only difference is that they wont notify you anymore?
Duramax08

Duramax08

Premium Member

Re: so

And to the people that think they can tether alittle like 200 mb or less, they know. My sister use to tether to her laptop just to do emails and such and she got the email. So yeah, watch out. Now excuse me while I replay lord of the rings over and over again with my awesome unlimited plan.

Sperkowitz
Premium Member
join:2002-03-30
Valencia, CA

Sperkowitz

Premium Member

And yet they keep gaining customers.

Unless customers leave in masses, nothing will change. With all the talk about how bad these caps are, why are people not leaving? Because of the phone they have? Contract (which are not forever, they do expire)? Sprint still has truly unlimited, but they are not gaining hordes of customers (I'm a Sprint customer, by the way). So I don't know if this really is a big deal to people. Or is this like complaining about government, and not even trying to vote?

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: And yet they keep gaining customers.

Long term contracts, ETFs, exclusive handset deals and limited competition (limited companies with quality coverage) go a long, long way in determining what people will and won't tolerate.

RRedline
Rated R
Premium Member
join:2002-05-15
USA

RRedline

Premium Member

Re: And yet they keep gaining customers.

People fall for marketing tricks as well. Excellent marketing can do wonders, even when you are selling an inferior product or service.

OMG, I can video chat with my friends with an AT&T iPhone?

"Yes...just not with AT&T's service." -- the small print at the bottom
zeddlar
join:2007-04-09
Jay, OK

zeddlar to Sperkowitz

Member

to Sperkowitz
Check Sprint's coverage map and you will find out why people are not running to Sprint in masses. It does no good to switch to them if you can't get service. Most of us out of the reach os thier network are hoping that enough people in the more urban areas that can get service will switch to them and furnish them with enough money to expand their coverage so the rest of us can switch someday but ala, they will prolly do away with unlimited data as well long before that happens.

Matt3
All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC

Matt3

Premium Member

Also ...

They also sent a notice to business customers today that if you don't perform a device wipe/reload, they will not honor your phone warranty.

Here is their exact wording:

1) Ensure that they have the mobile device in hand for full troubleshooting with the AT&T agent. (or you can bridge with the end user, since you do not allow them to process warranty exchanges alone)
2) Update or reload software to the device in most cases
3) Save data prior to the reload if a wipe and reload is required
4) If callers do not want to, or are not able to perform the above requirements, they should seek another resolution to their issue other than a warranty exchange.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran

Premium Member

Re: Also ...

And the problem with that is....what, exactly?

Edrick
I aspire to tell the story of a lifetime
Premium Member
join:2004-09-11
San Diego, CA

Edrick

Premium Member

Makes Sense

The likely hood you are going to be using 5+ GB a month just via the iPhone is highly unlikely it's also unlikely you'll be downloading for extended periods of time. However you add a computer into the mix or sharing with multiple computers now you're saturating up that pipe and causing issues for the users who a) pay for the tethering or b) don't use tethering but now are suffering poor network performance cause of the few greedy people.

Also the argument that you can use 10 GB on the iPhone but not via a PC and they should be treated equally makes no sense. As they're not equals. In fact if you're using 10 gigs of data on your phone alone i can't imagine how much more you're going to use on a PC tethered to it.

Don't like it cancel your service and stick it to them.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Makes Sense

data is data. if I watch Netflix on the phone its no different than if its watched on a tethered laptop.

the only reason they charge extra for the official tether is to make more raw profits.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska to Edrick

Premium Member

to Edrick
I can watch netflix on my android phone or i can watch netflix on my laptop tethered. Both use insane amount of data. Without netflix, i can use 5-7Gb of data between everything i do, not including tethering. Not very hard.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to Edrick

Premium Member

to Edrick
id almost compare better to state, why is it ok if a user consumes 5gb watching netflix on the phone but somehow I cause more network stress if I root and tether a phone and play WoW. which uses almost no bandwidth.
zeddlar
join:2007-04-09
Jay, OK

1 recommendation

zeddlar to Edrick

Member

to Edrick
Do some research into findings by independant researchers and you will soon learn that your accusations are largely false. So called network congestion problems called that by the companies are exposed as faulty, outdated and neglected equipment. AT&T is famous country wide for having junk equipment just look at thier landlines. I have one and every time the road grader grades the road the phone service is gone and every time it rains we either have static so bad you cant hear or the service will go out and the AT&T tech that comes out just flat says that almost all of thier rural equipment in this part of the state is 30 years out of date causing the rain problem and they wont spend the money to get the cable down into the bedrock below the graders reach to stop that problem. He says untill someone sues them from this area it is cheaper just to send him out to fix it every time or so they think. AT&T has a long history of putting things off as long as they can get away with it. It is just that now they can blame customers and get away with it and people will buy into it. Do some research.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska

Premium Member

Re: Makes Sense

said by zeddlar:

Do some research into findings by independant researchers and you will soon learn that your accusations are largely false. So called network congestion problems called that by the companies are exposed as faulty, outdated and neglected equipment. AT&T is famous country wide for having junk equipment just look at thier landlines. I have one and every time the road grader grades the road the phone service is gone and every time it rains we either have static so bad you cant hear or the service will go out and the AT&T tech that comes out just flat says that almost all of thier rural equipment in this part of the state is 30 years out of date causing the rain problem and they wont spend the money to get the cable down into the bedrock below the graders reach to stop that problem. He says untill someone sues them from this area it is cheaper just to send him out to fix it every time or so they think. AT&T has a long history of putting things off as long as they can get away with it. It is just that now they can blame customers and get away with it and people will buy into it. Do some research.

FINALLY!! Someone who actually understands what's really going on! That's what im going to miss with t-mobile. I love my 5-7Mb/s down 1.8Mb/ up on 3g.. Once at&t gets a hold of it, i expect it to go to at&t 3g speeds.. A fraction of the speed..

bbeesley
join:2003-08-07
Richardson, TX

bbeesley to zeddlar

Member

to zeddlar
said by zeddlar:

So called network congestion problems called that by the companies are exposed as faulty, outdated and neglected equipment.... Do some research.

It would probably be more appropriate for your to back up you claim with a citation or reference to the research you are quoting

btw...as an AT&T subscriber, I find it particularly annoying that they want to charge me to tether but I knew this going into the contract and I signed and accepted their terms

sadly, it was the best option available

I am hopeful that competition from emerging wireless providers will continue to put pressure on larger, more established companies to make their data plans more flexible and amenable but I am not holding my breath because I don't see it happening soon

The good news is that the availability of wireless data is much better than it was even a few short years ago. While the plans aren't exactly cheap, it is pretty amazing that we are even arguing about whether we should be able to download gigabytes of data via our cell phones
innoman
-
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
Seattle, WA

innoman

Premium Member

How can they know?

I didn't think they could tell. This is really starting to get old. It's my data plan, I should be able to use it as I please. I think the most data I have used in the past year in a given month is 4GB, usually much less than 2GB most months.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: How can they know?

they can read your packets and see what you are doing. it's pretty easy to tell what web browser you are using when you break apart http packets.

solution: secured vpn.
innoman
-
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
Seattle, WA

innoman

Premium Member

Re: How can they know?

Well yeah, they could totally do that but it's going a bit far. I do have secure VPN setup but it's flaky, I need to do some work on it.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK to innoman

Premium Member

to innoman
said by innoman:

I didn't think they could tell.

I'm sure the phone reports you.
innoman
-
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
Seattle, WA

innoman

Premium Member

Re: How can they know?

I don't think it works quite like that. But anything is possible. It is all going over the same APN.
flbas1
join:2010-02-03
Fort Lauderdale, FL

flbas1 to innoman

Member

to innoman
background windows updates (for windows or windows-only programs)

browser packet sniffing - specifically looking at user agent string - maybe get Safari on your PC and change the string to claim it is an iPhone?

•••••

quantitious
@cox.com

quantitious

Anon

Can they tell for sure?

Can they actually tell when you're using tethering or are they (like before) simply looking for the people using way more data than the rest and assuming they're tethering? Back then, I heard that some targeted customers could call them up and say that they streamed Pandora all day at work, and were let off the hook.

My iPhone is jailbroken, and I tether on occasion when necessary, but I don't replace my home Internet connection with it or anything, and I rarely go above 3 GB of data a month (5 once). Wondering if they've discovered a way to tell that you're using MyWi or if it's just a guessing game still.

•••
aximr
Premium Member
join:2001-09-28
Wood Ridge, NJ

1 recommendation

aximr

Premium Member

This is why the T-Moble deal should not be allowed.

As we go from 4 carries to 3, so does the competition. What AT&T does to get more revenue from its customers, Verizon will follow shortly thereafter. And what Verizon does AT&T will follow. Sprint is becoming more and more irreverent, and we are left with 200 million users on Verizon and AT&T.
Anyone one who thinks the AT&T T-Mobile deal will not screw us all is just kidding themselves.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer

Premium Member

One reason that I don't use an iAnything!

Sorry, iFolks, but my not so smart Samsung phones have unlimited internet access, and tethering is actually officially allowed (AT&T did after all supply the USB cables and the tethering software with the phones).

Sure, AT&T's TOS allows them to change anything they want anytime they want, but if they should arbitrarily change the rules, that will invalidate the ETF, and bye-bye AT&T.

Please don't throw me into the brier patch, AT&T...

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

Re: One reason that I don't use an iAnything!

"Earlier this year, we began sending letters, emails, and text messages to a small number of smartphone customers who use their devices for tethering but arent on our required tethering plan. Our goal here is fairness for all of our customers. (This impacts a only small percentage of our smartphone customer base.)"

Its not just about iphones, all smartphones in general. Maybe you are a lucky one and got tethering grandfathered in.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

1 edit

NetFixer

Premium Member

Re: One reason that I don't use an iAnything!

said by Duramax08:

Its not just about iphones, all smartphones in general. Maybe you are a lucky one and got tethering grandfathered in.

No, I just don't have "smart" phones, and tethering is/was officially part of the package since AT&T included both the USB cables and the software to allow local and internet tethering with the phones.

AT&T has always clearly stated that "smart" phones required a special (more expensive) tethering plan, but "not so smart" and even just plain dumb cell phones have generally been overlooked (although I suspect that if I started racking up 50 GB+ per month, it might get their attention).

I have been tethering "not so smart" AT&T/BellSouth/Cingular phones since I used a Motorola MicroTAC flip phone with a Motorola Montana PCMCIA modem back in the late 90's on BellSouth Mobility (and I purchased the Motorola Montana modem and the cell phone interface cable from BellSouth when I bought the Motorola MicroTAC). There was no separate data usage charge at that time, the dialup connections were just part of the used call minutes.

Previously posted pics here --> »Re: Your first cell phone?
jjeffeory
jjeffeory
join:2002-12-04
Bloomington, IN

jjeffeory

Member

Brazen

That's a pretty brazen thing to do for a company that wants to merge with another one. It seems VERY anti consumer! Maybe someone approving the merger should look at this?
chicknfood9
join:2007-12-06
Grand Terrace, CA

chicknfood9

Member

Catch-22

Their logic is circular. Heavy smart phone users kept their unlimited data plans at $5 extra to be able to use more than 2 GB without facing overages. Target users of data >2GB which have been shown to be a small percentage of the population. Accuse them of tethering and force them into 2 GB or more expensive plans.

Essentially there is no unlimited data anymore, AT&T has put the final nail in the coffin. Might as well just deactivate the grandfathered plans if they don't plan on honoring them anymore.
dot854jc
join:2004-06-28
Cleveland, TN

dot854jc

Member

Why can't you at least match verizon

AT&T should at least match Verizon by allowing you to pay the $20 fee for 2gb of tethering data. I would do that but AT&T doesn't give me the choice. Offer me the choice before you crack down on me tethering by other means. They should allow you to keep unlimited data and pay the fee to obtain tethering but limit the tethering 2gb.

koolman2
Premium Member
join:2002-10-01
Anchorage, AK

koolman2

Premium Member

Tethering plan is 4 GB

It's worth noting that sometime around when the iPhone got the personal hotspot functionality, the tethering plan started giving an extra 2 GB for no additional charge. So you get 4 GB now for $45 instead of 2 as before.

•••

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Just goes to show how competition in our "free market" ....

.... doesn't exist and companies can do whatever they want and know it.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Feeling S C R E W E D YET?

»www.wallstreetdaily.com/ ··· nsumers/

Lobsters never see it coming going into the pot either!
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Good

They should just kill unlimited already. It's dead. However, they should also allow you to tether on a 2GB plan, and give you the option to not have overages, but throttling on the 2GB plan, so that you just pay for what you use.
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

1 recommendation

MyDogHsFleas

Premium Member

I really don't get why Karl continues to lie in stories

He knows very well that the $20 is not a "tethering fee", imposed "because they can". The tethering plan is 4GB for $45. The non-tethering plan is 2GB for $25. The extra $20 is for the extra 2GB, and is at the standard $10/GB rate. Tethering is free, but you have to have a minimum 4GB plan.

Seriously, I am wasting too much time here for this kind of ridiculously biased reporting. It's actually worse than ridiculously biased. It's intentionally deceptive, and pandering to a stupid audience who laps it up and doesn't bother checking the actual facts.

Either that, or Karl is the laziest reporter ever.

I've tried over months to politely point out the obvious bad reporting. It clearly is being ignored.

I think I'm out. The information I get here is not worth the load of crap "reporting" I have to wade through.

•••••
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