T-Mobile Tethering question for a T-Mobile rep

[Miz.Michele]

I read an article on CNET which talks about Verizon adding tethering for it's DROID phone. The article then mentions that Tmobile either doesn't allow tethering or will soon restrict it. Any truth to it? The link is below. It's in the 7th paragraph.

Verizon promises tethering for Droid | Signal Strength - CNET News

[berryite]

Originally Posted by Miz.Michele

I read an article on CNET which talks about Verizon adding tethering for it's DROID phone. The article then mentions that Tmobile either doesn't allow tethering or will soon restrict it. Any truth to it? The link is below. It's in the 7th paragraph.

Verizon promises tethering for Droid | Signal Strength - CNET News

Of course I'm not a T-Mobile rep. And I can't say anything about any future plans to restrict tethering but I can say that the claim that they don't currently allow it is completely false.

[Miz.Michele]

Thanks. I use it too...not very often but it is certainly a great convenience to have so I was just curious if this is in their future plans. We'll see.

[NorrisCell]

I've heard rumors fly outside the company, but I haven't heard anything directly from T-Mobile about restricting it. We're still releasing phones that will do it, like the new Dash and TouchPro2. I just received an internal memo about setting up BBs for tethering as well and it made no mention of changing our tethering policy. It's possible that the writer of the article knows something I don't, of course. I've heard nothing to support that though

EDIT: Just read the article. It says we already don't allow it, which isn't true. It's not restricted on any of the handsets we've released.

[Miz.Michele]

Thanks for the insight!

[stret]

Well I think that article was mostly about Android phones. Tmobile doesn't have any android phone that can tether unless you pay for an app like pdanet ($30) or "root" you phone and void your warranty.

And if you follow the links from that article, it'll lead you to tmo's tos which states "Unless explicitly permitted by your Data Plan, other uses, including for example, tethering your device to a personal computer or other hardware, are not permitted". I don't think any phone plan or services actually mentions tethering.

[NorrisCell]

Originally Posted by stret

Well I think that article was mostly about Android phones. Tmobile doesn't have any android phone that can tether unless you pay for an app like pdanet ($30) or "root" you phone and void your warranty.

Very true. JuneFabrics, PDAnet, or tossing your warranty out the window are the main ways to tether your Android device. I rooted my G1 and the tether worked great. It actually tethered over wifi. The downside was that it sucked the battery flat pretty quick.

[Artemis68]

Yeah tethering is currently allowed on high end plans like BB/Android/Total Internet/Smartphone...not the 5.99 Webzones though!

I don't see tmo getting rid of it. VZW and ATT and even Sprint make you get a separate, restricted plan to tether on top of the data plan. It's expensive. Being able to tether over tmo for free is a GREAT selling point.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Why would they get rid of something they have cornered the market on? Everyone else is charging add-on fees - those kids will jump on over to TMO, when their contracts expire, once they justify the unnecessary p!ssing-away of monies ... Just sayin'

[Brandon26pdx]

I read that too and it's garbage info and bad reporting. We all know Tmobile doesnt charge extra for tethering. Wether or not they'll continue to be so generous is anyone's guess however...

[Armando175]

I tether everyday on my BB since I don't have cable or DSL. It's included in my BB for FREE. It's nice because I thought I would really miss my cable internet but I don't as much. It's just slower but I can manage to pay bills online, do online banking, post on CB, etc. LOL If TMO decides to get rid of it then I won't be a happy TMO customer.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Artemis68]

I personally couldn't see them changing the tethering policy...from free to restricted and/or add-ons to the data plan.

They would be changing the TOS for everyone and a change in contract = ability to leave T-Mobile without an ETF. They could stand to lose a lot of customers.

If they were to implement restrictions, I'd see them offering a new data plan that doesn't include it to new customers, and GF the older one.