[anon(242069)]

i don't have a BB yet (LG Voyager) and i tether to a netbook for random browsing (basically stumbleupon, facebook, and aim) 3x a week (during the summer months) on the train into work.
haven't gotten billed yet.
i'd assume:
don't download music
don't download excessively large files
don't use it as your primary internet source

and you should be at the very least OKAY. if not, you'll only get charged a months overages, which with my directions can't be all that risky for getting your feet wet.
just monitor your bills closely, and you should be okay. worst comes to worst, activate the tethering plan with them and sort out a deal. after all, we are doing something we're not supposed to be doing..

hey same here! i tether my voyager for internet for my netbook at track meets where there is not wifi and just load a websites and have not had any probs with verizon. just as long as you dont download anything larger than a few MBs you should be fine. i hope tethering on my new tour will be just as easy

[Tdubby]

I'll stick to my Cable internet

[thebignewt]

I don't think Vzn will charge you for tethering if you just do it but they'll shut off your data and then tell you that you gotta pay from now on or use XX amount of data. If you exceed XX the light goes on with your account. Tmobile doesn't charge for tethering if you're into that service btw. Verizon wrings every last nickel out of you, but everyone knows that by now. They have the best and most expensive network, and the oldest beater phones. The Tour is one of the newest good phones they've ever had. The Storm was a 1+ year old iPhone wannabe/beater and they got the pearl/curve like a year+ after the fact. Get the Tour, it's only like 5-8 months old now.

[vatothe0]

I don't think Vzn will charge you for tethering if you just do it but they'll shut off your data and then tell you that you gotta pay from now on or use XX amount of data. If you exceed XX the light goes on with your account. Tmobile doesn't charge for tethering if you're into that service btw. Verizon wrings every last nickel out of you, but everyone knows that by now. They have the best and most expensive network, and the oldest beater phones. The Tour is one of the newest good phones they've ever had. The Storm was an iPhone wannabe/beater and they got the pearl/curve like a year after. Get the Tour, it's only like 5-8 months old now.

How could TMobile justify charging for tethering? Mobile dial up internet would be worth less than $5 a month to me even though I pay $15 to Verizon for tethering I barely use.

[my.usernamegoeshere]

This is just corporate greed.

We pay for a data plan, so why should they care if we browse on a 2 inches LCD or a 15 inches LCD?

Just like evaldez18 said, it's the same as a utility charging us extra to water our front yard as opposed to our backyard.

[vatothe0]

This is just corporate greed.

We pay for a data plan, so why should they care if we browse on a 2 inches LCD or a 15 inches LCD?

Just like evaldez18 said, it's the same as a utility charging us extra to water our front yard as opposed to our backyard.

Then use one that doesn't charge that way. How hard was that?

[Fried Rice Mofo]

By that logic, it's ridiculous for cable, dish or any television service provider to charge extra for a separate cable box in a different room. Yet somehow, they all do it!

Can you download GB's of music thru Limewire or access movies thru sites like MegaUpload on your phone? No, you cannot.

Data is expensive, people. From everybody, people want it, so all services, I.E. Mobile Phone companies, Cable companies, Fiber-optic networks, Telecommunications companies (DSL) charge a premium for it. Take it or leave it.

Sorry, it is not the same as watering your backyard vs. your front yard..

[babyface35762]

Wait... you can tether with a Voyager? DAMN IT ! How? Well really doesn't matter I am getting a Tour soon. Would have been nice to know earlier though.. THANKS!

You can add the 59.99 tether for handsets. Limited to 5gb just like the mobile broadband plan.

[babyface35762]

Currently, I pay $15.00 for tethering through my BB Curve. Is this post implying that the cost will go up?

It's not going up with VZW anytime soon.

[briankeith513]

People, paying for tethering, is paying for a service. It's that simple. The data plans that we have with blackberries and other smartphones are just for browsing and using the data from the handset only. The reason being, is that browsing from a pc is muchhhh different from browsing on a handset. Browsing from a pc uses a lot more bandwidth, which negatively effects the network. That is why every carrier charges more for tethering. The ones who don't, are including the tethering price in their "everything plan". This is very simple...no one is trying to "cheat" you, no one is "getting over". Could the pricing be cheaper, maybe, however, there is a big difference in bandwidth usage when using data on a phone vs. tethering and using it as a modem, and this is obviously costly to the carrier.

[sonny_crockett]

By that logic, it's ridiculous for cable, dish or any television service provider to charge extra for a separate cable box in a different room. Yet somehow, they all do it!

Cable companies own the set-top boxes and charge you a fee to rent them. So that isn't different.

I had always heard that one of the reasons the carriers were pushing BBs so aggressively is that its technology limits the amount of strain (i.e. requires less bandwidth) on the carrier's network, as opposed to say an iPhone.

If that is the case, I believe that using a BB as a tethered modem would probably minimize that advantage...

[Atm0sphere]

You can add the 59.99 tether for handsets. Limited to 5gb just like the mobile broadband plan.

not to be snappy, but i get really annoyed when people say stuff like this..

i have vpak (15$ a month), and a voyager.
i tether.
i made slight software modifications that do NOT require any modifications that can't be undone.
i do not get charged any more then 15$ a month.
the information on how to do this is availible on the mythical internet.

happy tethering, but like i said, i believe there to be an unwritten rule between the pirate tetherers and verizon in that we are allowed to do so, so long as we do not stress the network so heavily as to cause serious harm.

[Brandon26pdx]

Yeah I've looked into this as I might soon be relying on a tethered BBerry for internet. I know it's $30 extra for At&t and Verizon and something like $15-20 for Sprint.

T-mobile is the only major carrier that doesn't charge for it...EDGE speed only though so it's not like there isn't a catch there somewhere. This very well could change too, as they eventually start rolling out a more extensive line of 3G phones that can suck the data down faster and start taxing their network heavier. For now it's a pretty slick solution for all the Joe cheapos out there who don't feel like paying two bills for data access or need mega bandwidth.

[lindros2]

... or people can do as I do and sign up for Boingo.

$9.95/month. Wi-fi in all the places I need it. When I don't need a full computer, I use... the BlackBerry browser (novel idea).

[wardly]

Does anyone here actually have tethering and use it?

Do you have to drop and reestablish connections to use the phone or can I keep my VPN connection to work active while I take a call?

For $30 extra, I would hope so, else the 'value' is greatly reduced.

W

[benicillin]

This is just corporate greed.

We pay for a data plan, so why should they care if we browse on a 2 inches LCD or a 15 inches LCD?

Just like evaldez18 said, it's the same as a utility charging us extra to water our front yard as opposed to our backyard.

I'd say its more like a utility charging you extra to use a big hose instead of a small one. Makes sense.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Vsp1140]

not to be snappy, but i get really annoyed when people say stuff like this..

i have vpak (15$ a month), and a voyager.
i tether.
i made slight software modifications that do NOT require any modifications that can't be undone.
i do not get charged any more then 15$ a month.
the information on how to do this is availible on the mythical internet.

happy tethering, but like i said, i believe there to be an unwritten rule between the pirate tetherers and verizon in that we are allowed to do so, so long as we do not stress the network so heavily as to cause serious harm.

Just be forewarned that the day you forget to log off and get hit with a $2000 data bill. Its happened....and its happened on these forums.

[Vsp1140]

Does anyone here actually have tethering and use it?

Do you have to drop and reestablish connections to use the phone or can I keep my VPN connection to work active while I take a call?

For $30 extra, I would hope so, else the 'value' is greatly reduced.

W

This is where is kinda sucks... I tether to my comp for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. My data usage is fairly minimum but still. You can receive calls while tethered, you can even answer that call, however when you do your data will suspend and after a few minutes it will drop data connection. Once you hang up you can re-establish your data connection. Its a pain I know.

[nobodyhome]

I see a person that keeps warnign about getting charged a $2000 dollar bill but I mean can I skype video chat for 10 min through tether? what about while abroad, do you think they monitor the network less?

How many people tether and have never ran into a problem.. the people with the $2000 bill... how do they get caught and what does verizon tell them?

[Andrax]

I think it may depend on what BB pack you have. I spent like 4 hours with BB Tech at sprint and re-confirmed that my account does in fact include PAM (Phone As Modem).