[webmeister]

Time to stop using the Tether app for now!!! I've been using it off and on for the last few months and it would seem that Bell Canada has recently found a way to track its (mis)use. Obviously you take your chances with this type of app. I got slapped with a huge bill by Bell, my first indication that something was wrong being some courtesy text messages from Bell telling me that my data usage had exceeded $500 and that I should call ASAP. For those that don't know, the Tether app (Tether BlackBerry | BlackBerry Modem | Tether) is an application that allows you to use your BB tethered as a modem without your carrier's knowledge as it masquerades as a web browsing session.

I called the supplied 1-800 number, and after spending a long time on the phone with a Bell CS rep, he offered to change my data plan to one that includes tethered use retroactively to a date before the charges took place. Do the math. 500 MBytes of tethered use at $6/MByte was over $3000!! He changed me to a 1GB data plan which erased the bill since the 1GB data plans now include tethering. If I'd waited two more days I would have been out of luck since I only had that many days left in my billing cycle and he couldn't have made the retroactive change. I've been sitting pretty on an unlimited data plan that I've had since I bought my 1st BB just over 1.5 years ago and which only costs $65 inclusive of my voice plan but which doesn't include tethering.

Net result, spending just over $10.00 to "upgrade" to the 1GB plan (which includes NHL Unlimited, TeleNAV, Voicemail-to-text and other cool "features") saved me a lot of money.

My advice: Check your usage page on your carrier's billing portal regularly if you're using this app to make sure you're not getting charged for tethered usage.

[bighap]

You should know that using Tether eats up data. Did you have no data package at all prior? No problems with Verizon and their 5GB plan here.

[webmeister]

You should know that using Tether eats up data. Did you have no data package at all prior? No problems with Verizon and their 5GB plan here.

Yes. I had an unlimited BIS data plan (per my post) but which didn't include tethering. Of course Tether uses data.

[biznatch]

Did they actually say they know for sure you're using tethering, or did they just assume it from a jump in BIS data usage? It would seem odd that Bell is able to detect tethering in this case but no other carriers are, or do other carriers just not care?

[Bla1ze]

The suggestion to stop using Tether is a little overboard. You just need to be aware of the TOS in place by your carrier. In my case, I have 1GB of tethering included and have never been charged a penny for doing so, while using Tether. I use Tether cause overall it's a way faster connection then using desktop managers IP/Modem.

If your plan never included tethering in the first place, then attempting to circumvent the system is well, never really a good idea.

Glad they pulled back the charges for you though.

[webmeister]

The suggestion to stop using Tether is a little overboard. You just need to be aware of the TOS in place by your carrier. In my case, I have 1GB of tethering included and have never been charged a penny for doing so, while using Tether. I use Tether cause overall it's a way faster connection then using desktop managers IP/Modem.

If your plan never included tethering in the first place, then attempting to circumvent the system is well, never really a good idea.

Glad they pulled back the charges for you though.

Tether's stated purpose is to circumvent the carrier's restrictions against tethering in the first place. It's hardly over the top to state the obvious, which is that when the carrier has detected this data use (somehow) and the product is no longer delivering on its promise to give you free tethering that you may incur some rather hefy data use charges.

How they figured out that I was using it I don't know, but as you say I'm grateful that I didn't have to pay $3,395.00 in data use charges. I've used the product for about 200MB on average per month for the last 6 or 7 months. Whatever the method they used to detect (or infer) its use, it was certainly a good thing that the CS rep found a way to retroactively "forgive" the charges as you pointed out.

/ES

[webmeister]

Did they actually say they know for sure you're using tethering, or did they just assume it from a jump in BIS data usage? It would seem odd that Bell is able to detect tethering in this case but no other carriers are, or do other carriers just not care?

No. I imagine they might have inferred its use when I used approximately 500 MB last month and my monthly average has been ~ 200 MB. I'm not being alarmist and clearly its the subscriber's responsibility to know their terms of service with their carrier. It's worth repeating that I had an *unlimited* BIS data plan but without tethering, so the upgrade to a 1 GB data plan that includes tethering might be seen as a downgrade.

/ES

[Blacklac]

sounds weird. you average 200MB/month and you happen to use 500MB last month so they hit you with fees? that doesn't make sense. you didn't even pass your plan allowance. have you talked to the Tether makers about this? Did you ask your carrier why you got the charges? kind of sounds like they were fishing and you took the bait and mentioned tethering. I don't know...

[webmeister]

sounds weird. you average 200MB/month and you happen to use 500MB last month so they hit you with fees? that doesn't make sense. you didn't even pass your plan allowance. have you talked to the Tether makers about this? Did you ask your carrier why you got the charges? kind of sounds like they were fishing and you took the bait and mentioned tethering. I don't know...

Absolutely I think it's possible Bell Canada was fishing! ;-) I didn't tell them I was using Tether, but tethering did come up in the conversation. I was not, however, going to push back too hard since it's David vs. Goliath and $3395.00 is a lot of money. Wasn't about to wage war against this particular windmill!


/ES

[webmeister]

This is already a hot topic over at the Tether.com forums. See....I wasn't smoking funny cigarettes!!!!
Bell Mobility - Tether usage now showing up as Pay Per Use ($6/Meg) | Tether

This might be sloughed off by some as a Bell Mobility only issue, but don't be so sure! Check your bill before your bill date to avoid huge $$. It should be worth noting (and yes, I'm pointing the finger at myself, too) that you pay your $$ and you take your chances.....

/ES

[valorian]

You should know that using Tether eats up data. Did you have no data package at all prior? No problems with Verizon and their 5GB plan here.

But if all you have with Verizon is the $30 Smartphone data plan you will get charges a /MB fee if you tether. Some people are not realizing that the $30 unlimited data plan from Verizon does not include tethering.

[webmeister]

But if all you have with Verizon is the $30 Smartphone data plan you will get charges a /MB fee if you tether. Some people are not realizing that the $30 unlimited data plan from Verizon does not include tethering.

Yes, but per my first post the Tether application (Tether BlackBerry | BlackBerry Modem | Tether) is a paid application which circumvents tethering charges. This is a different animal. Certainly people should read the fine print on their contracts when it comes to other forms of tethering including using Desktop Manager to perform this task.

/ES

[kccman]

The issue arose with an update to Tether IMHO. A friend of mine updated to version 1.1.0.6 and started to see the charges on Bell for Tethering. Same unlimited BB BIS plan as above, which does not include tethering. Same thing happened. The 1GB data plan which includes tethering was offered and backdated. A test was done with an older version of Tether (1.1.0.2)and no tethering data charges were incurred. Watch your data if your using Tether and your Blackberry Data plan does not include tethering is the message here.

[piwh1000]

Patrick here from Tether. Recently, we added a feature that enables APN automation for certain North American Carriers. This was simply to make the overall simplicity of our product better. It seems like the version 1.1.0.6 we released was using the wrong APNs for Bell and was immediately resolved and fixed with 1.1.0.7.

This issue would have only been for any Blackberry on the HSPA network, so only a very small fraction of our users. It went undetected in our testing because in Atlantic Canada, Bell's normal data plan includes usage of this APN with no additional charges. So, it wasn't a matter of the carrier detecting Tether application usage but a matter of them detecting data passing through an APN that they charge for. If a Bell user was to set their APN to the same APN and used any other application you would have been charged for that data as well.

[webmeister]

Patrick here from Tether. Recently, we added a feature that enables APN automation for certain North American Carriers. This was simply to make the overall simplicity of our product better. It seems like the version 1.1.0.6 we released was using the wrong APNs for Bell and was immediately resolved and fixed with 1.1.0.7.

This issue would have only been for any Blackberry on the HSPA network, so only a very small fraction of our users. It went undetected in our testing because in Atlantic Canada, Bell's normal data plan includes usage of this APN with no additional charges. So, it wasn't a matter of the carrier detecting Tether application usage but a matter of them detecting data passing through an APN that they charge for. If a Bell user was to set their APN to the same APN and used any other application you would have been charged for that data as well.

Patrick, Thanks for chiming in.

So, no manual changes needed? Do I need to download/install new versions of Tether for both my BlackBerry Bold 9700 and my laptop? I don't want to risk mucho $$ again! Are you confident of this solution? I know your Terms of Service protect you against legal remedies by your subscribers, but I don't feel very confident that this will work and don't feel like being a lab rat in this experiment. By the way, I was in Halifax the week that these charges showed up so I don't understand why I was charged if, as you say, Bell's normal data plan includes usage of the affected APN in Atlantic Canada. Can you please explain?

[Pete6]

Have you actually called Bell Mobility to ask what this bill represents? Whay did they bill you? WHat happened to make this month different from preceding months?

You may have simply gone over the top of their "unlimited" but "fair usage" dataplan.

I have been using Tether for a long time on 3 different carriers and to date I have never had a supplementary bill.

[webmeister]

Have you actually called Bell Mobility to ask what this bill represents? Whay did they bill you? WHat happened to make this month different from preceding months?

You may have simply gone over the top of their "unlimited" but "fair usage" dataplan.

I have been using Tether for a long time on 3 different carriers and to date I have never had a supplementary bill.

All fair questions but a thorough read of my posts will tell you that I spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Bell Mobility and they stated that it was for "data usage". Strange considering that I had an unlimited BIS data plan and my total usage in the affected billing cycle was just over 500 MB. I think Patrick's explanation rings true and certainly pushes all the right buttons (Tether version, HSPA network, etc.) and matches my situation. Also, there are posts on Tether's own support forums from other Bell Mobility users that support my own observations in that similarly affected users were also on Bell's (since discontinued) "Unlimited 30" BIS data plan.

/ES

[piwh1000]

Patrick, Thanks for chiming in.

So, no manual changes needed? Do I need to download/install new versions of Tether for both my BlackBerry Bold 9700 and my laptop? I don't want to risk mucho $$ again! Are you confident of this solution? I know your Terms of Service protect you against legal remedies by your subscribers, but I don't feel very confident that this will work and don't feel like being a lab rat in this experiment. By the way, I was in Halifax the week that these charges showed up so I don't understand why I was charged if, as you say, Bell's normal data plan includes usage of the affected APN in Atlantic Canada. Can you please explain?

You need to update to 1.1.0.7 on the BlackBerry. We are 100% confident that this issue has been fixed, since that was the only change in 1.1.0.6 and other users were reporting older versions were still working fine.

During our testing nothing was being reported to us because Bell Aliant's Smartphone plans are much different then Bell's Smartphone plans, outside of Atlantic Canada. So although you were in Halifax, your package still didn't prevent you from seeing those charges since your billing is outside of Atlantic Canada.

[webmeister]

You need to update to 1.1.0.7 on the BlackBerry. We are 100% confident that this issue has been fixed, since that was the only change in 1.1.0.6 and other users were reporting older versions were still working fine.

During our testing nothing was being reported to us because Bell Aliant's Smartphone plans are much different then Bell's Smartphone plans, outside of Atlantic Canada. So although you were in Halifax, your package still didn't prevent you from seeing those charges since your billing is outside of Atlantic Canada.

Thank you for your quick and informative response. I will test its use in a week or two after lurking around and listening for others' experience with the fix. I'm still recovering from my near miocardial infarction from the $3,395.00 charge for my data usage the last time.

/ES

[ahe]

In the meanwhile the few that are affected by your mistake are out of hundreds or thousands of dollars as per the TOS?

[webmeister]

Seriously, I've seen a number of replies from Tether which fall far short of offering any kind of compensation for the thousands of dollars that some poor, unfortunate souls on Bell Mobility got dinged because of their faulty product. They can say that their terms of service absolve them of responsibility (typical use at your own risk language) but the fact remains that this application's stated purpose is to do an end-around around a wireless carrier's per-use data charges for tethering and it failed. I was lucky, because I was paying attention and Bell pinged me by text messages when my data charges were getting out of hand. The right thing to do would be to a) reimburse any affected users (like me) for the price of the product + b) reimburse per-use data charges for the approximately 100 persons so affected.

Of course, they would be leary about setting a precedent should something like this happen again, but it remains the right thing to do. The forums at tether.com attest to several cases where people rang up charges into the 1000s of $$ with this faulty product.

[rlmesq]

tl;dr

Thread on the Tether forums makes it seem this problem is limited to about 100 users on Bell Canada and was resolved within days of being detected.

Bummer for you guys, but no concern for the most of us, eh?

[webmeister]

tl;dr

Thread on the Tether forums makes it seem this problem is limited to about 100 users on Bell Canada and was resolved within days of being detected.

Bummer for you guys, but no concern for the most of us, eh?

1. What new information did you just add?
2. Are you sure that it can't happen to others?
3. If my thread hadn't been moved from the general discussion forum to this backwater by the forum mods, more Bell users might have seen my warning and not incurred big charges.
4. Tether, not me, should have posted a warning and been much more proactive in their response.
5. Tether's response, like yours, lacks substance. Their response amounted to, "Sorry".

/ES

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Steemlives]

You may have crossed the maximum allowed GB's in your contract. EVEN though it says UNLIMITED data plan they still screw you over by having you sign something saying your capped at 5GB's.. at least thats what AT&T here in America does.

Might want to look into your contract and see if there is such a policy.

[cdf3]

I use Tether sparingly. I've only used it twice, for less than five minutes, each time I've used it. Hopefully that should keep me low on the radar if this is an issue.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com