We hear from MobileCrunch [via] that official iPhone tethering will be coming soon to AT&T. How soon is "soon" we don't know, whether data will be capped or unlimited is a mystery, and exactly what sort of plan will be involved is also up in the air.
It's a safe bet to say that AT&T will not be including tethering in the standard iPhone plan. Tethering costs in the US generally run a minimum of an extra 20 bucks a month, depending on carrier, business, and the phase of the moon. In other words, you may still want to think about jailbreaking and tethering on the sly with PdaNet - just don't tell 'em we told you.
How much would you be willing to pay for laptop tethering?
Reader comments
iPhone Tethering Coming Soon!
How much? Nothing! I have ATT for my home internet (DSL), and only would use tethering when I'm traveling (1 -2 times per month). As much as I'm paying for home and iPHone data, I'd expect it to be free. They ought to have a 'bundling' plan if you've got both home and iPhone where it's free (or their WiFi spots should be, or both)...
I hope this comes out as a worldwide app as I'm in the UK and have an (apparently) unlimited data plan for my iphone. Most of the time when I'm out I just use my iphone to access webpages but there are quite a few times in my week when it would be really useful to access the internet on my laptop.
Dalekkiller: agreed, hope it comes out worldwide!
I'm not willing to pay an extra monthly fee for tethering FUNCTIONALITY on the iphone either; I can do that today with any old windows mobile device. Paying (once) for the app that does this is OK, as is paying for extra traffic (I'm not on an unlimited plan).
I'm just disappointed that the iPhone has to suffer world-wide, just because AT&T do not seem to have thought their pricing principles through.
I don't have to pay an extra tethering fee on Rogers. Rogers already allows tethering (on my iPhone plan), so I'm just waiting for Apple to unlock the feature (and I guess somehow I'm waiting for AT&T because somehow they seem to control what Apple does)...
$20/ month I would pay for (or I could get my boss to pay for) PDANet works great but if given the choice, I would rather make it legit.
I would pay $1 a month. It makes up for my already expensive cell phone bill.
I'll stick with pdanet if there is a fee. As long as I've had this phone, I've only feathered like 3 times with pdanet
I would pay up to $20 a month. I use pdanet now but would rather be legit.
For once, Canadian carrier Rogers has it right, with no extra charge for tethering. Coupled with that copy of NetShare I purchased back when it came out and I've already been enjoying this for some time on a non-jailbroken iPhone. <3
I tether constantly and it's an absolute requirement for any phone I own. PDAnet has made it much less hassle than it used to be, and I'm pretty happy with that. The only reason I would pay for it is if the legit method were seriously one click. Press the icon on the phone to activate, connect with one command on the laptop, and it worked 100% of the time. For that, I would definitely pay $10. I would think about paying $20, but no more than that while a jailbreak solution exists.
I would pay $0 per month because the iPhone already has broadband, and I use it quite a bit more than I had originally expected. As far as actual tethering though, I would only use tethering about once ever two months or so.
It'll probably be the same as for existing AT&T data planes - remember this is about getting extra revenue from every possible source; especially since most iPhone users are already tied to AT&T and can't easily leave unless they are willing to forgo the iPhone and pay the termination fee.
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