[lahnipm]

I still find it very amusing that $60 gets you 5gb of transfer (up and down combined) yet you can stream Pandora on your phone with $29.99 BIS and blow past 5gb and not get charged and it's perfectly fine because you have "unlimited". Never mind the fact the rate is a ridiculous amount for that amount of transfer. I mean come on, get with the times....

[TwinsX2Dad]

More data being transfered means the wireless carrier needs to have network capacity to handle it, and if they don't, they need to increase it. That costs money, so they are going to pass some of that "cost" onto the consumer (and of course try to make a little profit on it too), for VZW its in the form of their "Broad Band Access" Plans being needed to tether.

Very nice bit there, Mark. If I can add one more piece.

Peak capacity.

Peak capacity is what they need to build to. Smartphones are limited in what they can render, so their peak demands aren't so harsh on the pipe.

With hard BlackBerry usage, you might be able to pull down 5GB in 10 days. With a PC (desktop, laptop, Win/Mac/Linux), I can pull down 5GB in less than 5 minutes.

Peak capacity is where it is at. Folks who don't understand this, like most of the "I wanna tether for free" types, need to take a basic networking course.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[lahnipm]

Peak capacity.

Peak capacity is what they need to build to. Smartphones are limited in what they can render, so their peak demands aren't so harsh on the pipe.

With hard BlackBerry usage, you might be able to pull down 5GB in 10 days. With a PC (desktop, laptop, Win/Mac/Linux), I can pull down 5GB in less than 5 minutes.

I agree with this. Peak capacity could be a big concern and part of the limitations set in place. I'd like to hope their data network isn't as fragile as they're making it out to be though. Hopefully they'll take this into consideration with the LTE specs so you get a service that is a bit more reasonable.

[blue_and_bold]

Everytime I see this title that says thethering I wanna throw this pc.

[TwinsX2Dad]

I'd like to hope their data network isn't as fragile as they're making it out to be though.

It isn't that fragile, nor is anyone at the carrier claiming it is. But when you consider that if everyone on any phone network were to try to be on the phone at the same time, the network would crash.

Even wireline POTS is designed with the assumption that only one out of eight to ten lines will be in use at once.

Now consider this - one computer connection equates to approximately 40 WM devices or 50 BlackBerry devices connected, so overtaxing the network isn't difficult to understand. AT&T has problems with too many iPhones in use at once. Any carrier could have issues with tethering. The iPhone issue came up not because AT&T has a bad network - it came about because iPhone users replaced flip-phone users. These are folks who were lured into data devices because of the iPhone. Had the iPhone not been introduced, many of those same customers would still be using Razrs.

The price you pay for tethering isn't so much you paying for bandwidth. It is much more a condition where you're paying for the increased capacity needed to handle your connection.

Everytime I see this title that says thethering I wanna throw this pc.

It drives me nuts, too - but each of us is known for the occasional fat finger.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Latin559]

5gb is stil alot

[Polychrome]

I think the whole "stealing" argument boils down to this:

Is it a civil act or a criminal act?

But to most people in this thread, that question is a moot point.

In laymans terms, taking something that isn't yours, including bandwidth, is "stealing". I'm sure you'd feel someone was "stealing" your bandwidth if they hacked into your wifi router, right? They were not given permission to take that bandwidth or use it, even if it is something conceptual rather than physical. This is more about how people define an act morally than legally.

It's the same as arguing the differences between pirating music and shoplifting a CD.

[sevenboarder]

With hard BlackBerry usage, you might be able to pull down 5GB in 10 days. With a PC (desktop, laptop, Win/Mac/Linux), I can pull down 5GB in less than 5 minutes.

Peak capacity is where it is at. Folks who don't understand this, like most of the "I wanna tether for free" types, need to take a basic networking course.

I don't know what your doing to use 5GB in 5 minutes on your computer, but nice connection! As for the 'peak capacity' idea, it works just like any other network infrastructure. You can only get what is available or what is allocated to you based off how many other clients there are and their demands. Just because I have my computer tethered to my phone, which can use flash and all that, I can't get unlimited data from it. Your computer doesn't have access to any more data than your phone does. You could never pull '5GB of data in 5 minutes' simply because your not capable of pulling that from the network (unless maybe your the only one connected to the network).

The reason I'm one of the, "I wanna tether for free" types is because I somewhat suspect Verizons motives have nothing to do with their infrastructure and fear of saturating the network with devices capable of pulling large amounts of data. I could very well be wrong on this, but it seems they're just trying to make an extra buck simply because they can, and I don't wanna be the smuck getting suckered. So far I really haven't seen any good technical evidence to convince me otherwise.

[sevenboarder]

It's the same as arguing the differences between pirating music and shoplifting a CD.

I'd say it's more like using your moped to tow your car (for whatever ingenious reason). Figure we get unlimited gas for our moped until we try pulling our car, then we get restricted to 5 gallons... and we have to pay for it.

[TwinsX2Dad]

I don't know what your doing to use 5GB in 5 minutes on your computer, but nice connection!

Fiber.

As for the 'peak capacity' idea, it works just like any other network infrastructure. You can only get what is available or what is allocated to you based off how many other clients there are and their demands. Just because I have my computer tethered to my phone, which can use flash and all that, I can't get unlimited data from it. Your computer doesn't have access to any more data than your phone does. You could never pull '5GB of data in 5 minutes' simply because your not capable of pulling that from the network (unless maybe your the only one connected to the network).

Fair enough - I pulled the 5GB out of the air - that seems to be a sticking point figure for many here.

Let's say your laptop can pull 1GB/hour - or better yet, it will max out a 3G connection. A BlackBerry can't do this, nor is it typically "always connected" at any given moment. Smartphones tend to grab data in bits, pieces, bytes & whatnot. A full computer more often runs all out at greater frequencies.

Picture the difference in peak bandwidth usage of your smartphone, compared with the guy doing a background update of his AV, is receiving email, streaming Metallica, all while running in a 40-man RPG raid.

We've had our share of people here & on other sites who have asked if a similar load is possible on a tethered connection - it isn't, but they will sure try.

In the end, though - all carriers require a tethering package - even Sprint's Simply Everything really isn't - and you signed an agreement that forbids connecting a computer to the wireless network without such a package. If you don't agree with it, why did you accept the terms?

So whether you or anyone else agrees with the policies, everyone using these carriers agrees to the terms, with or without a contract.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Polychrome]

I do have to disagree with the RPG part, twins.

I once played 10 hours of EQ2 in one sitting, and used only about 10 megabytes of bandwidth on an old flip phone. (This is while grouping, not raiding, but still....) Unless they have to download updates, MMOs typically aren't bandwidth hogs.

[sevenboarder]

...Picture the difference in peak bandwidth usage of your smartphone, compared with the guy doing a background update of his AV, is receiving email, streaming Metallica, all while running in a 40-man RPG raid...

Yea, that is a good point that I defiantly have experience with. When I first got a mobile broadband plan with Verizon I used 20% of my monthly allowance in the first hour of the plan by just having my email client up checking for email every minute (there had to be some background updates going on there too?).

Either way, I guess the idea that most blackberry users are not capable (or patient enough) of using their maximum potential data rates is technically valid. I know personally my usage for tethering would be about as much or less of what I use on my blackberry. I just use it for storm chasing where I get radar updates every 15 minutes or so. I have canceled my broadband plan for the chasing season and wouldn't mind having mobile data for the few storms that do come about this late in the year. It's not worth the $30 bucks a month for me to have that option though. Tethering just seems so appealing!