Surprising it is not, but unfortunate it remains. Carriers in the United States have started working together with Google to block tethering applications in the Android Market from running on certain Android devices. While this pretty much seems like a US-only thing, it's still bad.
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Member since:2006-05-12
The Verizon FAQ here: http://wirelesssupport.verizon.com/faqs/Features+and+Optional+Servi...
6: Can I use my existing email and web for smartphone plan to access 3G Mobile Hotspot?
"No, the 3G Mobile Hotspot functionality is an additional optional feature that will have a $40 incremental cost with a 5GB data allowance with $0.05MB overage rate."
So it is $40/month extra over my existing $45/month (unlimited lol) data plan and still has a 5G monthly cap.
Edit: To elaborate, as much as people complain about the 250G cap Comcast has for their $45 service the same amount of data would cost me $1,305/month if I use the Verizon tethering app to do it ($85 for the first 5G, $1,225 for the next 245G).
Edited 2011-05-04 01:22 UTC
Member since:2005-06-29
Which is exactly why I like T-Mobile USA's "unlimited" data plans. I have the $30/month plan with a soft cap at 5GB on my main line. After you reach that 5GB (which, let's be honest, you would only do by tethering A LOT), your speed is capped somewhere around EDGE speeds -- 256Kbps -- until the next billing cycle. No overage fees, no sudden loss of service, just a friendly little reminder that you're pulling down a massive amount of data. In a sense, it really is unlimited downloading, just with an eventual speed limit based on consumption.
I'm not sure what happens when you add the $15/month "unlimited" tethering plan to your account, but I do know that they don't seem to care if you casually tether without it.
And after typing all of that I just realized that the $15/month 200MB data plan that I am required to have on my secondary line (Blackberry Curve 2G) is all I would ever need in the first place, since that phone is EDGE already and never even maxes out at 256Kbps.
Member since:2006-05-12
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Member since:
2006-07-10
Hm, my HTC Thunderbolt from VZW came with a Mobile Hotspot app pre-installed that doesn't require an extra line to piggy-back on my connection...