Verizon to stop jailbreak tethering on its network from today?
According to a report by Forbes, Verizon will be rolling out a system to prevent jailbreak tethering apps like MyWi from working on its network. As of today, when using one of these apps, you will be redirected from the webpage that you wanted to visit to a specially prepared Verizon webpage where you will be asked to upgrade to an official tethering plan.
AT&T has also confirmed that it would be forcibly switching habitual jailbreak tetherers to its tethering plan but never given a date. It now looks like Verizon are following that lead. The slightly better news for Verizon users is that it will cost them an additional $20 a month for a tethering plan where the AT&T tethering plan is $45 a month.
If you are a Verizon iPhone subscriber and use MyWi to tether your device, have you noticed the webpage redirect?
[Forbes] p;
UK editor at iMore, mobile technology lover and air conditioning design engineer.
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Your AT&T tethering price is incorrect. Tethering for AT&T is also $20 a month more than the usual 2GB data plan. The biggest difference here is that AT&T tethering also comes with more data (4GB for $45 instead of 2GB for $25).
Verizon also comes with 2GB of tethering data.... AND, you can keep your unlimited plan while having personal hotspot but you get 2GB for tethered data and unlimited from the phone.
You get unlimited tethering on VZW if you already have unlimited its another 30.
I thought Verizon had stopped the unlimited phone data plan as that was a promotional thing only.
The tethering cap for Verizon is also a separate bucket of 2GB whereas AT&T effectively gives you 4GB for use with your phone or tethering so it is a little more flexible in that sense.
no one new can get unlimited.
it's 5gb for $30.
Isn't AT&T an additional $20 per month also? for a total of $45 for 4GB?
Yeah. Sloppy reporting.
correct. it costs $50 to get data + tethering from verizon.
the number that matters: Verizon is $10/gb AT&T is $11.25/gb but is faster (for the iphone)
Been using PDANet all day today and nothing. They implemented an option to hide your tether with some toggle buttons. As far as I know MyWi hasn't. In sure they'll find away around being caught.
When it comes to tethering.... They are acting like you are using one of THEIR services illegally... Which is not the case at all. You are enabling a feature on an OWNED device, not their network.
You don't lease your iPhone.... There is no title-ship to it. They have no say how you use it. This is a very clean cut way to look at it. If they disrupt your service for using it for what it is: an Internet connection, they are seriously in the wrong.
The second you start stealing THEIR SERVICE, not a feature of a 3rd party's (or your) device, is the point where lines are crossed.
Tethering is not a provider service, it is a device feature.
People need to get their heads out of their asses I swear!
It's a point of control they wish to have. Albeit solely to profit... It's very unjustified.
Feels great that my carrier gives me free tethering forever.
Figured this would happen, it was only a matter of time. All of the carriers are screwing us at this point. I know we shouldn't use tethering to replace a cable modem but if I'm at a train station or airport I would use it to get on for a few minutes. The carriers need to offer a daily option. The fees for their "official" tethering are ridiculous.
If you are at the train station or airport there is a 99% chance there is WiFi there that you can pay for the single day or by hour to use.
Still, I'd rather spend $1 per day of tethering with automatic billing by my carrier rather than have to pay another company. For the price most airports and train stations charge it just isn't worth it, I'd rather go without then spend $7 for about 15 minutes of slow internet usage. That isn't worth it.
My carrier still gives free tethering, I'm happy.
Feels great that my carrier gives me free official tethering.
I still don't get how they are allowed to get away with doing this, jailbreaking isn't illegal and using the net you've paid for isn't illegal so who are they to tell you what device you can use a service you have paid for on ?? Greedy fu**ers they are in America, if they tried this in the UK i'd just switch carrier but it seems the people in the US don't have many options as far as carriers and all seem as bad as each other.
I've been "paying" for your "free" tethering for months now. I pay for Tethering on 2 lines, and hardly use it. But when I need it, I need it. I'm sorry you feel that it should be free, but whether it should be free or not, that is what the wireless companies have decided. When you decide to start your own wireless company and offer everyone free tethering, PLEASE let me know, I'll be the first to sign up...
Ha so true and I'm sure someone will jump all over saying they pay for unlimited blah blah blah. People just think everything should be free and benefit them.
They did NOT / are NOT paying for tethering. Maybe they (even you) should try reading the contract sometime. Unauthorized tethering is a breach of contract...the contract they signed and agreed to. They do not have any "rights" to tethering unless they are on a tethering plan. Simple as that.
Get off my lawn!
True, it's not illegal, but it's also not illegal to block against it or not support it. Once you jailbreak, you give up any rights to services or support from either your carrier or the manufacturer. You won't get sued or fined or kicked off the network, but they're not going to support you nearly as much as they would a paying customer.
Can't wait for all the conservatives to jump on here claiming its their network and they have the right to do whatever they want to screw you. Also the obligatory, if you don't like it then you can go somewhere else (disregard the fact that the wireless cartel colludes with each other to make sure that somewhere else is not an option).
It's not called being conservative. It's called protecting their network from unauthorized access. People who tether without the tethering plan do not have the 'right' to tether - thus why they have to jailbreak to do it. It's called ethics - but you liberals definitely lack that these days.
Get off my lawn.
Not before I shit on it.
Typical Repub. reply....smh
Right lb - because if you're not liberal, you're a "Typical Repub". I'm neither.
Tren, I'd call you an idiot but you'd probably think it was a compliment.
Pot - meet kettle.
It could be worse. They could have a moronic sense of entitlement.
Greatest reply ever. Fact.
That Verizon page redirect has been in place for over a month now.
I'm using MyWi as we speak. and its still operational. Someone will createa tweek or hack to keep it going. FREEDOM
Yes you're paying for unlimited data, but it's for your PHONE, not your computer. Tethering is a separate feature and if you're doing it without the proper feature you deserve to have it forced on your plan.
But when i connect my phone to my computer, my phone is still using the data!
You agreed to the terms of the contract. Tough shit.
My contract terms actually gave me free tethering. :p
Well, my point still stands.
your contract doubtless lets them change the terms at any moment.
Only if I change my phone, which does include a BYOP change as well.
This sucks. I know it's against the tos to tether with out the plan, but the plan is outrageous. Lat month with the amount of tethering I did included, my data usage on my iPhone plan was 198 mb. My only option to go legit is to pay 45 instead of 15. That's lame.
I think $1,800 for that television I want is outrageous. Should I go steal it?
Because thats the same thing as tethering, how about this if I buy a loaf of sandwich bread should I have to pay an extra free to make French toast with it? What is your deal? You are responding to everyone's comments with things like "tough shit" or the like, are you a moral crusader or do you work for a phone company?. Violating the tos is not stealing, we are still paying for the service be it 200 mb of data or 2gb of data IMO we should be allowed to use it as we wish, but we can't so I'm going to bitch about it on a blog.
My point was, just because you don't agree with the price of something - doesn't mean you have the right to find a way around it. If siding with the carriers is being a 'moral crusader' than I guess I am one. It's a shame these days that ethics have lost their meaning. No wonder this world is such a mess. Everyone thinks they are entitled to everything. They think they somehow have rights to everything as long as it's convenient for them. Sorry - the world doesn't work that way - and shouldn't. If you agree to the TOS that says "NO TETHERING" and you do it, then you are essentially stealing data, whether your small mind believes it or not.
Verizon restricts 4g tethering which they are NOT allowed to do. When they bought the LTE spectrum, part of their contract said that they could not restrict any apps function and that includes tethering.
Why is it OK for Verizon to break their contract but we can't break ours?
I found what you are referring to - however, you are only speaking the half-truth on the matter. According to Verizon, they allow 4G subscribers to tether at no additional charge. It appears that Google is responsible for certain applications not being in the Market, because THEY control the market. Only 3G devices are blocked from tethering (unless you pay for tethering).
Nice way to prove your point, with a personal attack. My "small mind" is capable of understanding what I'm doing. At it's core you are right, the tos says no tethering, so I shouldn't tether, but I do minimally, it doesn't make it right, but it also isn't everything that is wrong with society either like you would like to make it out to be. I don't take any issue with the terms or them being enforced, I would simply like my carrier to create a middle ground that would allow tethering on a plan that doesn't make me purchase 4 gb of data when all I want is a few hundred mb. If my wish for more tired options makes me someone who feels he is entitled to everything then so be it.
But the problem isn't how you feel jmewing - the problem is that because you don't agree with something, you do what's wrong to benefit you...no matter "how minimally" that is. Thank god there are more people not with your mentality than with...I can only imagine how much more chaos there would be in society if more people thought and acted upon those thoughts like you do. Wishing for more options is not entitlement - breaking contracts, agreements, laws, or whatever else to get what you want - that is entitlement (and also the very greed you like to put upon the shoulders of these 'evil' corporations. Hypocrisy isn't it?).
Android - According to the actual incident, Verizon has not restricted access to anyone. According to the report - Google is the one responsible for it. Verizon has stated that they have a tethering application that allows people with the LTE plan to tether devices at no additional charge. However, this doesn't apply to 3G access.
http://www.ppcgeeks.com/2011/06/07/verizon-blocking-tethering-apps-fcc-gets-involved/
@trenen I'm not replying anymore after this because your argument is all over the place. . But I disagree with AT&T's terms of service regarding tethering, so I am simply stating I believe it would be better for them and the consumer to offer more choices in their data plans. That sucks for us as consumers that they don't/won't. AT&T cracking down on violators of their tos does not suck, it's just a fact of the matter and im completely fine with it, I don't know why you keep insulting me and drawing hyperbolic comparisons to grand theft when discussing this. And if you are arguing against a consumers right to voice opinion, well then I really don't know what else to say to you.
People stole it for years in the 90s and no one cared. I'm sure you enjoyed watching someone else's stolen cable service if not your own at the time. I'm in the middle on this issue tho. Tethering isn't illegal but them blocking it isn't either. If they can block the holes that allow people to do it then they w/e block it. Just like blocking jailbreaks, if you can stop us then stop us, but if you can't then oh well people will keep doing it.
Come iPhone 5 with sprint. i will say bye bye to att. F..k them.
You think Sprint is gonna give it all away?
Don't fool yourself. Sprint will not allow unlimited "traditional" data usage and tethering without an extra charge.
I jsut tested, and it still works for me.
I don't understand why MyWi doesn't update the app to include some sort of masking or patch to prevent carriers from redirecting tethered traffic to these sites. Is that possible or am I totally naive?
Whatever they change, verizon will find a way to redirect again. Or verizon could be worse and just charge people 2$ per megabyte.
The networks probably look at the IP address of the requesting device. I'm not totally sure if you can mask that or not.
you sure can...
Trenan's bitter comments are due to the fact that he bricked his iPhone while using the jailbreakme.com method. He clearly has every right to be pissed, because only an idiot with a sub-50 IQ could screw up the jailbreak.
Since I had to replace the phone out-of-pocket, I decided to ground trenan for the remainder of the summer.
Please ignore his tantrums and have a nice day.
-Trenan's Mom
Wow...even my own "mother" can't spell my name. Shame on you, hag.
Poor little guy forgets about his low IQ and the fact that he spells his name differently every week.
I beat myself up every day for that condom breaking, getting pregnant and not having an abortion. Now look at what I have to deal with!
Well people, vote with your wallets. Drop your data phone services and pick up prepaid MiFi devices and services. If the national carriers want to be jerks about this, then show them you're not interested in their services anymore and move to friendlier service providers.
Do you live in America? Prepaid phones are extremely expensive and you won't get data in as many locations.
I do live in America. I however do not live on the western plains which is the primary area where that statement would be true.
However, in those areas you'd probably want to look to a regional carrier over a national carrier anyways.
Not really. Only the high end smartphones. they are expensive because you are paying full price for them
I meant the data plans could get expensive.
I don't understand why you people have trouble with the concept that unlimited data should equal unlimited data for whatever we choose. If you went into McDonalds and they offered unlimited ketchup BUT they wanted to charge you if you were going to put them on fries, you definitely would have a problem with that. It's the same thing. I bought into and paid for unlimited data.
Right - but not without signing a contract that denies you access to tethering. You guys are ridiculous in your justifications.
McDonalds gives you unlimited Ketchup for your meal. It's more like if you started pumping the ketchup into an empty bottle and taking it home. Why do you think some are starting to put it behind the counter.
Just because I get unlimited data on my phone doesn't mean I should be able to get wifi for every device I own. Data rates would skyrocket and the network would be slower as people would start replacing their home internet with it. I DO however believe that if you pay for 2gb of data, you should be able to use it how you want.
"I DO however believe that if you pay for 2gb of data, you should be able to use it how you want."
Except for in cases where you sign a contract agreeing to the TOS that has jurisdiction over proper usage. Right? The core of the argument isn't whether someone 'believes' they have that right, but whether they actually have that right to begin with.
"Data rates would skyrocket and the network would be slower as people would start replacing their home internet with it."
The problem with that statement is that they claim only 5% of users use the most data. So why not just throttle those 5%?
Your employer pays you to work, so they should expect you to do everything for them, right? Wrong. If they want you to take on more of a workload, it should come with a promotion or at least a raise, so they are paying you more for more work. Same concept applies. If you want the network you're on to work harder for you, expect to pay for it, especially when the contract YOU signed and agreed to specifically said you are not entitled to unofficial tethering.
So what about where you signed up for only a voice/text contract but if you brought your own data phone with no actual intention to use data on the cell network the providers force you on to a data plan? You didn't sign a contract allowing them to do that but they force it on there anyways because you started using an "advanced device". Seems about as fair as you being hired, then later your boss tells you to need a computer to do your job but the cost is going to have to come out of your pocket.
Carriers, especially the large ones, are going to try to nickel and dime you where ever they can even if something they are charging you for costs them no extra to actually provide. It's plenty easy to burn through tons of data in a month without ever tethering to your phone.
Now that I can agree on. I don't really agree that they should charge you just for a having a data phone on their network when you have absolutely no intention of using it. In the old days, they used to just block the devices unless there was a data package added on (which of course, puts you into a ToS contract and you would then be under the jurisdiction of that contract). Of course - most of the smart phones now are always accessing data, even if you're not using it - so I guess to some level I can understand them requiring at least a minimal amount of data to cover that usage.
No. No smartphone NEEDS to be always using data. It's quite simple to disable cell data on a smartphone or for the carriers to simply not provide the data connection to the phone if you're not paying for it.
I never said NEEDS to be. But regardless - most people are not having an iPhone (or whatever device) with no intent to access the web - so this whole thing is kind of mute anyway.
I don't know what working world you live in - but that is definitely not the truth in most every job I've had. More work does not automatically equal more pay or promotion - especially on salary, like me.
More work does not mean you get more pay or a promotion. I worked at this one place for a year and a half and I did a lot of hard work and I never once got a pay increase.
to think this you must be in lala land.
The Verizon tether is 2gb for 20$ if on unlimited data on te phone. If you have a tiered data plan it's a pooled amount. And u add 2 gb for 20$. Ex if u have 2gb for 30$ and add 2gb for tethering/hotspot you have a total of 4gb to use on phone or thru hotspot/tethering
I dont give a shit about the tethering. I just wanna know what kind of case is on that phone.
The tethering built into my MIUI rom works. I'm using it right now!
I'm sure an update will come where they will go around all this web page redirection. Verizon can't stop us, they can only hope to contain us. TIP keep your tethering data usage down to remain undetected and not cause them to send you a $1,000 bill.
While you people bicker about 2gb and 4gb caps and who is better, the real issue here is both Verizon and ATT are nothing more than a legalized mafia.
Their capped plans are unrealistic and will be come even more so as time goes on when people use their mobile devices for more than sending a fucking email.
The prices and caps are ludicrous.
Watching Netflix using MYWI at this moment on my laptop. Let's see what tomorrow has planned!
I think it's understandable to block free tethering for people who are on unlimited data plans. However, if you have a data cap plan, then what difference does it make how you use the data? 2gb is 2gb is 2gb. By blocking free tethering, would that many more people actually pay for it? I don't think so anyway. it's too expensive.
I think that the phone companies are being unreasonable about this particular situation.
Still using TetherMe, I don't like MyWi anymore.
In Canada we either have unlimited data + tethering for $20 with small carriers or $30 for 6GB data + free tethering and that's on the HSPA + 42 network with bigger carriers ex Telus, Bell, Rogers