is it illegal to root or Jailbreak your device to get unlimited WiFi internet?

[Pantherabast]

so I have a friend who has an iPhone 5. I hate iPhones and all the backwards crap they come with, including the retarded iTunes, BUT I want to help my friend with internet since she doesn't have it as of now and already paying for her television bill through the roof. on top of that, she has a phone bill close to $200 with everything unlimited. I was going to jailbreak her iPhone and get Cydia to create a Hotspot, so she could get free unlimited WiFi on her laptop. But she told me that she doesn't want to get caught if it's illegal, and would rather pay for real internet if that's the case. But the thing is, AT&T has this "new" technology (firewire), that they charge you for their "new" router they give you that cost $200. this is JUST TO GET THEM IN YOUR HOUSE. My uncle tried to get internet last year, and this same thing happened. so he backed out, as he only uses internet for Skype. I think it's just an excuse to make TONS of money off of their customers, as they don't even use Firewire wires, but just regular Cat5/6 cables. and Comcast is way more expensive.

so, is it illegal to be doing this? why do so many people put youtube videos like it's not a big deal. they even say that 'your company would never find out or know the difference'. I am assuming because they think that you are surfing the web on your phone opposed to your computer? just looking for answers. would appreciate feedback from anyone with knowledge and experience.

btw, what is this called for Android? is it rooting your device opposed to jailbreaking it? i only have an Android tablet so far. planning on getting an Android phone soon.

 

[itguyjax8430]

so I have a friend who has an iPhone 5. I hate iPhones and all the backwards crap they come with, including the retarded iTunes, BUT I want to help my friend with internet since she doesn't have it as of now and already paying for her television bill through the roof. on top of that, she has a phone bill close to $200 with everything unlimited. I was going to jailbreak her iPhone and get Cydia to create a Hotspot, so she could get free unlimited WiFi on her laptop. But she told me that she doesn't want to get caught if it's illegal, and would rather pay for real internet if that's the case. But the thing is, AT&T has this "new" technology (firewire), that they charge you for their "new" router they give you that cost $200. this is JUST TO GET THEM IN YOUR HOUSE. My uncle tried to get internet last year, and this same thing happened. so he backed out, as he only uses internet for Skype. I think it's just an excuse to make TONS of money off of their customers, as they don't even use Firewire wires, but just regular Cat5/6 cables. and Comcast is way more expensive.

so, is it illegal to be doing this? why do so many people put youtube videos like it's not a big deal. they even say that 'your company would never find out or know the difference'. I am assuming because they think that you are surfing the web on your phone opposed to your computer? just looking for answers. would appreciate feedback from anyone with knowledge and experience.

btw, what is this called for Android? is it rooting your device opposed to jailbreaking it? i only have an Android tablet so far. planning on getting an Android phone soon.

I would not say it is "illegal" per say, no one is going to show up at your house and arrest you for rooting or jail-breaking YOUR phone.

As far as tethering goes, it all depends on the carrier and how you morally feel about doing it. I can say that my phone is rooted and I use a HotSpot app to tether my phone to my devices to take advantaged of my unlimited service. Most companies in my opinion are just greedy and want to charge extra to have you pay for tethering your device to a service you already pay for. Is it illegal to do? No it is not. Is it against the terms and conditions of your carrier to do? More than likely it is and they have the right to terminate your service but do not have the right to have you arrested for it.

The service you are speaking of above is probably AT&T's GigaPower Network I assume. What they do is run Fiber Optic cable to your house and in to their Fiber Modem. They will use CAT 6 to connect to your computers if you have wired computers. Her bill is $200 because of a package deal she signed up for, I don't know the details but its probably home phone, cable, and internet. She should call them up and see if there is a cheaper package.

 

[Pantherabast]

I would not say it is "illegal" per say, no one is going to show up at your house and arrest you for rooting or jail-breaking YOUR phone.

As far as tethering goes, it all depends on the carrier and how you morally feel about doing it. I can say that my phone is rooted and I use a HotSpot app to tether my phone to my devices to take advantaged of my unlimited service. Most companies in my opinion are just greedy and want to charge extra to have you pay for tethering your device to a service you already pay for. Is it illegal to do? No it is not. Is it against the terms and conditions of your carrier to do? More than likely it is and they have the right to terminate your service but do not have the right to have you arrested for it.

The service you are speaking of above is probably AT&T's GigaPower Network I assume. What they do is run Fiber Optic cable to your house and in to their Fiber Modem. They will use CAT 6 to connect to your computers if you have wired computers. Her bill is $200 because of a package deal she signed up for, I don't know the details but its probably home phone, cable, and internet. She should call them up and see if there is a cheaper package.

thanks for your feedback.

you misunderstood me. her CELL PHONE bill alone is $200, which includes unlimited everything-texting, talking, international, internet, etc.. so if she wants hotspot activated, she'd pay way more than that.

i was just saying that EVEN IF LET'S SAY SHE ALREADY HAS A FEW YEAR OLD AT&T ROUTER, AT&T MAKES you buy their "new and improved FiberWire router", since their "old" router would not be compatible with their "new FiberWire" network. I have no idea why on earth i'd need to pay for that since back a few years when I had a regular AT&T router, I had 1Gbps with my internet. like I need faster speed than that... if AT&T didn't force these modems down our throats just so we'd HAVE to pay for them, I wouldn't have an issue with getting their internet. but it's like you said, companies are greedy and always looking to take advantage of their users to make tons of money. I had an old AT&T router from 2010, which is now useless... so I had to donate it for this same reason

in your experience, how often do companies catch people tethering their phones and terminate their contract? also, would it work for someone who doesn't have unlimited data on their plan? for example, I only have 5GB shared data. does this mean after let's say I run outta my 5GB data that i use through Wi-Fi after I root my device, I'd have to wait a month to use internet again? or is tethering always unlimited?

 

[itguyjax8430]

I gotcha. I personally do not know anyone how has been caught tether when they were not supposed to and had their service canceled. As far as your 5GB of share data, when you root and tether you are still limited by your data cap. Rooting your phone and using a tethering app just mask your tethering usage as regular phone usage. With AT&T they will just throttle you to 2G I think once you hit your data cap. You would have to wait till the next month before you could resume back to your 4G data. I have T-Mobile and love them for their unlimited data.