[A93hunt]

Hi guys, I have a 9700 and I tether quite a bit over 3G because my home Internet is extremely slow... Slower than my 3G speeds. With that in mind, I often tether to surf the web, stream movies, and download programs. With this constant use of my phone's 3G radio, am I causing it to deteriorate or something along the lines of that? In an analogy, is my phone's radio like a light bulb that has a lifespan and will eventually fail do to heavy usage? I do not want to prematurely break my phone. Thanks guys.

[Spiral_ouT]

Never heard of the radio failing due to extensive use. Pretty sure it's impossible, as I couldn't find any information on it. I spend the majority of my time on my boat browsing while tethered. I also hook my comp up to a tv and stream netflix videos at least 3 or 4 times a week while tethered. Been doing this for a couple years and haven't run into any problems.

Tether with confidence

[dictoresno]

i would be more worried about my carrier sending me a huge bill because of the tethering, not the radio wearing out. i sure hope you have an unlimited tethering plan, as tethering/streaming movies uses ALOT of data.

[Spiral_ouT]

i would be more worried about my carrier sending me a huge bill because of the tethering, not the radio wearing out. i sure hope you have an unlimited tethering plan, as tethering/streaming movies uses ALOT of data.

The luxury of having T-Mobile. Tethering is included in our unlimited data plans.

[A93hunt]

Never heard of the radio failing due to extensive use. Pretty sure it's impossible, as I couldn't find any information on it. I spend the majority of my time on my boat browsing while tethered. I also hook my comp up to a tv and stream netflix videos at least 3 or 4 times a week while tethered. Been doing this for a couple years and haven't run into any problems.

Tether with confidence

This is a relief to hear. I use at least a gigabyte of data every month due to tethering. Btw, would you happen to know if wifi & bluetooth radios can fail due to extensive use?

[A93hunt]

i would be more worried about my carrier sending me a huge bill because of the tethering, not the radio wearing out. i sure hope you have an unlimited tethering plan, as tethering/streaming movies uses ALOT of data.

I also have T-mobile so I can use as much data as I wish without incurring extra fees.

[dictoresno]

This is a relief to hear. I use at least a gigabyte of data every month due to tethering. Btw, would you happen to know if wifi & bluetooth radios can fail due to extensive use?

i highly doubt it and wouldnt worry about it. i think you are looking to much into something that isnt much of a problem at all.

[Spiral_ouT]

This is a relief to hear. I use at least a gigabyte of data every month due to tethering. Btw, would you happen to know if wifi & bluetooth radios can fail due to extensive use?

I highly doubt it. Never seen a router fail. Or the wifi or bluetooth radio on a computer. If it can happen, it would take many many years longer than the life of the rest of the hardware on the phone. Even with extensive use.

[dictoresno]

yea its not like radio waves or the data going in and out of the phone is creating friction that can wear down the parts.

but however, lets think about it this way. most routers, computers, modems etc have either heatsinks, vented shells or fans to alleviate the increased amount of heat generated by processors and batteries under heavy load. the Blackberrys internals really dont have much of any of these. the phone was never meant to replace a real modem or computer per se. maybe it wouldnt be surprising to see failure after heavy usage due to lack of heat venting.

OP, if your internet connection at home is that bad that you need to resort to tethering, you should definitely look into other options. if you dont want a normal cable provider, look into a 3G/cell phone usb modem.

[Spiral_ouT]

yea its not like radio waves or the data going in and out of the phone is creating friction that can wear down the parts.

but however, lets think about it this way. most routers, computers, modems etc have either heatsinks, vented shells or fans to alleviate the increased amount of heat generated by processors and batteries under heavy load. the Blackberrys internals really dont have much of any of these. the phone was never meant to replace a real modem or computer per se. maybe it wouldnt be surprising to see failure after heavy usage due to lack of heat venting.

OP, if your internet connection at home is that bad that you need to resort to tethering, you should definitely look into other options. if you dont want a normal cable provider, look into a 3G/cell phone usb modem.

A valid point. Although the device was created to have the ability to use it's radio for calls for an entire battery length.. After looking at the internals of a cell, it seems the battery is nearly the only thing that produces much heat. Who knows though. Anything is possible

[Xpimp]

OP, if your internet connection at home is that bad that you need to resort to tethering, you should definitely look into other options. if you dont want a normal cable provider, look into a 3G/cell phone usb modem.

Sometimes many people who live in rural areas simply don't have a choice, or have many options readily available to choose from. Even if it's satellite, or a 3G usb modem you will be bound to some type of usage cap. Whenever I'm in Virginia at my parents my best option for me is to tether.