T-Mobile To Punish Unlimited Data Tethering.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

www.theverge.com/2015/8/31/9230595/t-mobile-unlimited-data-tethering-warning

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T-Mobile is today issuing a warning to customers: stop taking unlimited data to ridiculous extremes. In a post on T-Mobile's blog, CEO John Legere has publicly called out "a fraction of a percent" of users who've been sucking down hundreds or even thousands of gigabytes of data each month.

But these customers aren't using all of that data on their smartphones alone; instead, T-Mobile claims they've come up with ways to conceal mobile tethering and hotspot usage. Tethering allows customers to get other devices (PCs, tablets, etc.) online using their smartphone data plan.

"I WON'T LET A FEW THIEVES RUIN THINGS FOR ANYONE ELSE."

With its $80 unlimited data plan, T-Mobile already offers a generous 7GB limit for tethering purposes. Once customers exceed that, their hotspot speeds are slowed down considerably. But there are many apps — particularly on Android — that promise to hide tethering activity from wireless carriers, making it hard to distinguish what data is actually being used for.

By going this route, T-Mobile's hungriest data users can blow past the 7GB ceiling and keep tethering at full speed. Legere claims some people are doing exactly that, and he's not happy about it. In the most extreme cases, these customers are eating up as much as 2TB (yes, terabytes) per month, so they're using T-Mobile's network for way more than checking Facebook or streaming Spotify. "If their activities are left unchecked their actions could eventually have a negative effect on the experience of honest T-Mobile customers," he said. "Not on my watch."


"We are going after a small group of users who are stealing data so blatantly and extremely that it is ridiculous," Legere wrote. T-Mobile says it has developed technology that can now detect when customers who've reached the tethering limit are "stealing" extra gigabytes from their phone's plan. Starting today, those users will receive a warning from the Uncarrier imploring them to stop immediately. Failing to heed that warning will result in customers being permanently kicked off of T-Mobile's unlimited data plan and moved onto the company's entry-level (and tiered) package.

The full details can be found in a FAQ here. If you need more than 7GB of data for tethering, T-Mobile's message is pretty clear: call your local internet company. "Broadband services would be a better solution for customers who need more high-speed for tethered devices." John Legere is no longer willing to let you download torrents or power your home Wi-Fi with his network — however "Data Strong" it may be.

[magicattack]

Unlimited doesn't actually mean unlimited to big businesses. Just ask Microsoft.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

Feb 1, 2016 3:34:34 GMT -5 magicattack said:

Unlimited doesn't actually mean unlimited to big businesses. Just ask Microsoft.

Well they give you unlimited mobile but with limited tethering like around 7gb. Which is actually quite a lot.

What people are doing is bypassing this with certain software so some people are using 2TB a MONTH in data! That's a lot. I don't use that much on my home computer. They're breaking the contract and they're leeches.

Many of these people are broke and use their phone only for internet and they shut their internet off at home. I have like a 4g plan and I don't use 1gb in most months in my phone.

I was very close to getting T-Mobile but I didn't want to chance it in certain areas, so AT&T for now. I'm impressed with them though and bought an unlocked T-Mobile phone in case I changed my mind.

[magicattack]

You are painting a very different picture than the article that you posted.

[magicattack]

Apparently the solution has been to throttle it's users.

Oh well. There service isn't that good around here anyways.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

Feb 1, 2016 11:32:57 GMT -5 magicattack said:

You are painting a very different picture than the article that you posted.

How so?

The article specifically says that the unlimited data plan has a 7gb tethering limit. Meaning if you want to tether your phone to your laptop for internet you have a 7gb data limit. This is actually quite a lot compared to what you get from the other companies and the pricing is much better.

People are using methods to bypass this with certain software so they can use unlimited tethering on their laptop or other device. This is what the article was talking about. Using my phone to surf the web on it directly is one thing, but if I tether my phone and play games on it or download tons of content or stream tons of movies onto my laptop that's another. That's what they were talking about eliminating. The normal data is still unlimited.

T-Mobile is hit and miss phone wise but their infrastructure is getting better. The reason they can offer unlimited (along with Sprint) has to do with the infrastructure of their towers that Verizon and At&t don't use. Their subsidiaries use the same infrastructure and offer unlimited at an even cheaper price.

Once you bypass the limit they always throttle. The software is letting them get past it so they're apparently threatening to end services if people are caught. Much of the software no longer works either.

Why else would you tether 2TB of data? I use my home computers for heavy internet use and I just save what I want for on the road use. I do a lot of business on the road and my phone is for quick use. Business stuff, checking email, websites, etc. With wifi hotspots if I need to do something more typing heavy I can't see why someone would tether such an extraordinary amount. I have insane internet speeds at home and I don't use 2 TB worth.

[magicattack]

Feb 1, 2016 17:37:48 GMT -5 The Big Daddy C-Master said:

Feb 1, 2016 11:32:57 GMT -5 magicattack said:

You are painting a very different picture than the article that you posted.

How so?

The article specifically says that the unlimited data plan has a 7gb tethering limit. Meaning if you want to tether your phone to your laptop for internet you have a 7gb data limit. This is actually quite a lot compared to what you get from the other companies and the pricing is much better.

That is exactly what the article said.

People are using methods to bypass this with certain software so they can use unlimited tethering on their laptop or other device. This is what the article was talking about. Using my phone to surf the web on it directly is one thing, but if I tether my phone and play games on it or download tons of content or stream tons of movies onto my laptop that's another. That's what they were talking about eliminating. The normal data is still unlimited.

That isn't exactly what the article said. That was T-Mobile's claim. It seems like circumstantial evidence at best.

T-Mobile is hit and miss phone wise but their infrastructure is getting better. The reason they can offer unlimited (along with Sprint) has to do with the infrastructure of their towers that Verizon and At&t don't use. Their subsidiaries use the same infrastructure and offer unlimited at an even cheaper price.

That is true. But they aren't using any of the local towers near here,so none of that benefits me.

Once you bypass the limit they always throttle. The software is letting them get past it so they're apparently threatening to end services if people are caught. Much of the software no longer works either.

It's already done. They have throttled their customers. From what I have read the normal users don't notice too much except on streaming videos. They downgrade all the videos to 480p as well.

Why else would you tether 2TB of data? I use my home computers for heavy internet use and I just save what I want for on the road use. I do a lot of business on the road and my phone is for quick use. Business stuff, checking email, websites, etc. With wifi hotspots if I need to do something more typing heavy I can't see why someone would tether such an extraordinary amount. I have insane internet speeds at home and I don't use 2 TB worth.

I wouldn't tether 2 tb of data. It's not worth the risk of getting caught, thus losing the service. If it were me and I had unlimited data and a strong 4G signal at home, I would use my unlocked old phone as a torrent box. Cancel my home internet,and just plug in the charger and leave the phone downloading all night while I slept and all day while I was working. I would utilize something like a Chromecast and wireless keyboard for when I was home and wanted to look something up. That way I'm not limited to the tiny phone screen.

I have fast internet speeds as well, 2tb is not that much when downloading day and night.

The companies set up these unlimited plans. Then when someone comes along and actually uses a lot of data the companies are quick to cry foul. If they don't want someone using 2tb of data then they should call it the 1.5tb plan and not unlimited.


But this affects in zero ways,so I don't care much. I can't use T-Mobile here. I am stuck with Verizon or AT&T. If you switch good luck.

[The Big Daddy C-Master]

That is what the article was talking about.

-------------------------

"But these customers aren't using all of that data on their smartphones alone; instead, T-Mobile claims they've come up with ways to conceal mobile tethering and hotspot usage. Tethering allows customers to get other devices (PCs, tablets, etc.) online using their smartphone data plan.

"I WON'T LET A FEW THIEVES RUIN THINGS FOR ANYONE ELSE."

With its $80 unlimited data plan, T-Mobile already offers a generous 7GB limit for tethering purposes. Once customers exceed that, their hotspot speeds are slowed down considerably. But there are many apps — particularly on Android — that promise to hide tethering activity from wireless carriers, making it hard to distinguish what data is actually being used for.

By going this route, T-Mobile's hungriest data users can blow past the 7GB ceiling and keep tethering at full speed. Legere claims some people are doing exactly that, and he's not happy about it. In the most extreme cases, these customers are eating up as much as 2TB (yes, terabytes) per month, so they're using T-Mobile's network for way more than checking Facebook or streaming Spotify. "If their activities are left unchecked their actions could eventually have a negative effect on the experience of honest T-Mobile customers," he said. "Not on my watch."

---------------------------


I've seen people do it and there are instruction videos people showing others the exact programs to use to do it. That's not painting another picture. That's giving factual details. Painting another picture would be saying something misleading or contrary to what's going on. That's an actual fact so it's not painting another picture.  





Is it clear now? That's my point. T-Mobile has always throttled when you go past the limit on their data plans (this happens on the 3gb plan too). You can still check your mail. Just not as good for high speed stuff.  These people are explicitly using software to get the tethering at unlimited HIGH speeds therefore they are violating the agreement.  It's stealing plain and simple.

Also no, that's just "screw the company" logic. The company explicitly states in their own plan that you have unlimited data with your phone and 7gb tethering. A person goes into the agreement knowing these terms and then violates it, they are breaking the rules and also screwing other people. Which is absolutely ridiculous in this day and age when internet is dirt cheap. It's just leeching and the people who do it are losers. People should buy their own damn internet at home. I have super fast internet and it isn't even that expensive. Even bundled it's not that bad, but many people use their internet for everything so you don't need television or phone. I download everything at home and then I don't need to use my phone for that because I just transfer it to my work laptop of my phone which saves me data.  That's all it takes.

That's like saying you should go to the dollar store and buy any product for $1 because it's in the dollar store or going to an all you can eat buffet with a large van and stockpiling all of the food in there and driving off without eating anything. If a customer doesn't like their terms they're happy to leave.  That's how the free market works.  I'm not going to advocate outright stealing.

Did you read what the article said? The limit is 7gb, and people were using up to 2TB which is roughly 286X as much as the plan allowed. It's absolutely insane. That bandwith isn't free. People love to have the feeling their screwing over companies or "the man", but they really screw everybody over with higher prices because the price just gets passed down. Free loaders like to use this Marxist rhetoric to justify what they're doing. Keep in mind that other companies like AT&T once had unlimited data and charged for the phone talk and text. Once certain users kept using an extreme amount for apps they changed their plan. I wouldn't blame the users in that sense for using an extreme amount of data since they broke no rules at the time, but I can understand why they changed it since the extra bandwith costs money.  Other people who were more sensible with their use lost  the flexibility they had though.