AT&T network still hindering iPhone tethering?
AT&T still remains reluctant to introduce US iPhone customers to tethering and judging from their latest response to Engadget's inquiry, we wouldn't expect it anytime too soon.
"iPhone tethering has the potential to exponentially increase traffic, and we need to ensure that we're able to deliver excellent performance for the feature – over and above the increases in data traffic we're already seeing – before we will offer the feature."
Admitting their network is not up the challenge of providing tethering to iPhone users just yet gets them some points for at least being honest. However, with Verizon now offering MiFi-like free mobile hotspot service to all Palm Pre Plus owners, however, and Sprint intending to paid hotspot service for the EVO 4G when it arrives, the competitive ball is racing towards AT&T's court.
Here's an idea -- how about this June/July when the iPhone HD/iPhone4G AT&T gives us a mobile hotspot app for that?
[Engadget]
| Tweet |
|
|
← Previously
Adobe CEO responds to Steve Jobs open letterLeave a Reply
Note: Comments must be civil, respectful, and on-topic. If a comment does not add to the conversation, if it contains spam advertising, or inappropriate language or content, it will be removed. Insulting the topic, author, staff, site, network, or other commenters will result in the comment being marked as spam and potential prevent future comments from appearing on the site. Do not post as a business or your comment will likely be confused with spam. Comments containing links may be held for moderation. Relax, enjoy, and share in the discussion.
1 word...jailbreak!!!
Tethering's overrated. The iPhone is a pretty good internet laptop replacement. If you need a connection for your laptop just get a usb connector for free with a contract. and it's still like 30-60 bucks. The same price for tethering. Still, I don't see what the problem is with not allowing tethering. The majority of iPhone owners won't tether. And the ones who do probably already tethered on their previous smartphones.
Jailbreak iPhone 3GS, $10 miff, + iPod wifi only rocks.
No tethering, but let's help the already overwelmed network with ipad 3g coverage. AT&T = dumb A??
You can go to iphonehacks.com and search tethering. Then just do it. I've been tethering for about a year now.
Right now I'd be happy with consistently working 3G.
True. He teethering is useless for me. I can't play with it's spEed and 3g doesn't allow most gaming protocols to access servers and that stuff. Btw. AT&T it's so trash I mean explan me how cheap Internet companies can affort wireless Internet and AT&T can't.
It seems we're the victim of the success of the iPhone. I can believe it when they say that if iPhone tethering was enabled on AT&T tomorrow a large portion of people would start using it and their network would grind to a halt (and would probably do the same to any other network with a similar number of iPhone users).
The Palm Pre, however, hasn't been selling well of late and so Verizon doesn't have to worry about a large user base overloading their network...
@MrC, the first Droid is outselling the iphone, Verizon also have over 100 Mil 3G data cards on their network. I guess you didn't get the memo, Sprint and Verizon accounted for 63% of all data last year. The truth is, At&t has a inferior network, GSM sucks in America.
@Noodles: Pulling numbers out of thin air? References please. That's the first I have heard of a single Android phone outselling iPhone and nearly a 3rd of the US population has Verizon data cards????
Air card = no reason to ever tether anything.
@MrC, I guess this site will not allow me to post links, you have to look it up yourself. Yahoo finance has the info for Sprints and Verizons data.
@Noodles: You mean like the report on several tech blogs today saying that Apple sold more phones in the US last quarter than any other company, including Motorola (who have several Android phones in the US on multiple networks as opposed to the iPhone on one network)?
Even if Sprint & Verizon accounted for 63% of all mobile data, T-Mobile is much smaller so AT&T would account for a lot of the rest of that 47%. If the 63% was split evenly between Sprint & Verizon that would be 31.5% each. In any case that doesn't matter, even if Verizon does carry more mobile data than AT&T that still doesn't mean their network would have spare capacity to suddenly support an extra 2 million tethering users.
...sorry, that would leave 37% for AT&T and T-Mobile... not that it matters
@MrC, you seem to be the only one who lives by At&t's crappy network, that being said, keep commenting, it's comical. LOL
An aircard means buying an additional device (even if subsidized, that cost is coming from somewhere), carrying an additional device everywhere, which is constantly being plugged and unplugged, and having two separate data plans. My "unlimited" data plan on my iPhone gives me theoretically 5GB, most of which I could never use without tethering, but I'd have to pay another $60 (plus taxes) to get access to 5GB on an aircard.
I have used tethering the way it's meant to be on the iPhone and it's awesome. I would much rather pay additional money on my existing bill, and have the simplicity of plugging my phone in, or touching a few buttons to connect wirelessly, and be done with it. Either way it's the same amount of data. Why does it bother AT&T so f-ing much that those same bits and bytes go through an iPhone rather than an aircard, or a different brand of phone? Do they really think that if they charged $30 for tethering that every iPhone user would start paying for it, and all use up 5GB per month? And if they did, let's say conservatively that's $200 million/mo., I think they could use that money to increase their bandwidth.
@Noodles: Nope, I'm no AT&T fanboy. If a Verizon iPhone came out and it worked well on their network and they had free or reasonably priced tethering I would probably switch. The only downer would be if it was a CDMA-only phone as that would limit international roaming.
So I'm not saying that AT&T's network is great (it's not) but I highly doubt any other network is much better and I could see Verizon having network issues if they got the iPhone and it was a massive overnight success.
@MrC, you just do not get it, do you?? API concluded it's not the iphone hindering At&t's network, it's At&t's network. Many-many current and former iphone owners can attest to that. Your opinion does not change that. Saying other networks are not much better, only shows how delusional you are. Did you not read the article above? Sprint and Verizon have loads of data cards on their networks, which are used with Laptops and PC's, there is no way a so-called iphone pulls the data a Laptop or PC pulls.
@Noodles: Yes I do get it and yes I read the article, but personal attacks will not make your interpretation of the facts any more true.
So I repeat, current data usage does not give any indication as to spare capacity on any network. The data users that are on Verizon and Sprint have been built up gradually over several years (more than the lifetime of the iPhone) and have paid for that data an hence funded gradual network upgrades. The iPhone on the other hand has burst on to the scene and dramatically changed usage patterns. Have you seen the charts from AT&T that show data usage growth on their network since the iPhone was launched? It is staggering in the mobile world. So yeah AT&T is playing catchup and could probably be doing a better job of it, but that doesn't mean that any other network could handle a sudden influx of iPhone users any better.
And like I said, if I'm wrong I'll jump ship if/when a Verizon iPhone ever comes out. But I prefer iPhone over Android at present and have had no issues with AT&T 3G just on my iPhone and would only use tethering occasionally anyway.