[WannaBeYou]

This may be old news to some of you, but by the substantial amount of misinformation that is being posted here on this topic, it is very clear that more than a few posters on these forums haven't read this. As you can see, if you are on a 4G LTE capped (tiered) data plan, VZW cannot legally charge you for using an app that allows your 4G LTE phone to be a mobile hot spot for other devices.

In fact, VZW had to pay a fine for pressuring Google to remove apps from its playstore that have this functionality.

Now if you are so foolish with your money to pay VZW for the mobile hotspot feature when they cannot legally charge you for using these apps, well, you know what they say - a fool and his money are soon parted.

[am4966]

For most devices non of the 3rd Party apps work unless you Root. So I would think thats a violation of there agreement

[WannaBeYou]

For most devices non of the 3rd Party apps work unless you Root. So I would think thats a violation of there agreement

I am not sure why so many of the apps require root. Foxfi works without root so it is not like a developer can't write an app that will work without root at least on some devices.

If Foxfi works without root on some but not all devices then that is the manufacturer of the phone having something in their skin that prevents it I would think, not VZW doing something to prevent it.

[edistopre]

Every 3rd party hotspot app that I have tried on my Razr Maxx HD since the upgrade to Jellybean has looped to a screen that says I must subscribe to the mobile hotspot feature for $20 per month, and I cannot go past that screen without agreeing to sign up. Prior to the upgrade, Foxfi and others worked fine. It seems to me that Verizon is clearly in violation of the agreement that they had with the FCC unless, somehow, the 3rd party app developers have not figured out a way to avoid the Verizon hotspot request. Does anyone know what the situation really is? If Verizon is the culprit those of us affected need to file FCC complaints I suppose.

[yfan]

Every 3rd party hotspot app that I have tried on my Razr Maxx HD since the upgrade to Jellybean has looped to a screen that says I must subscribe to the mobile hotspot feature for $20 per month, and I cannot go past that screen without agreeing to sign up. Prior to the upgrade, Foxfi and others worked fine. It seems to me that Verizon is clearly in violation of the agreement that they had with the FCC unless, somehow, the 3rd party app developers have not figured out a way to avoid the Verizon hotspot request.

From the CNET FAQ,

What if I have an old Verizon unlimited data plan? Can I download an app and avoid the $20 tethering fee too?
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is no. Verizon says that customers under the unlimited plan are required by the company's terms of service to pay an additional fee to tether their device.

Evidently, the FCC is fine with Verizon dinging their unlimited customers for tethering given the terms of service. It seems contradictory - I mean, if you're prohibited from restricting access on the 700 band, what difference does it make what plan you have, right? I don't know what the explanation for that is, but it's likely this: you signed your contract before the the open access rules went into effect, so your service is NOT bound by the open access rules.

[edistopre]

No, I am on a metered data plan--2GB per month and I would pay dearly if I went over 2GB. I think the Verizon directive to the $20 hotspot is totally at odds with the FCC ruling in this case. Are there others out there that are experiencing the same problem?

[comk4ver]

From the CNET FAQ,

Evidently, the FCC is fine with Verizon dinging their unlimited customers for tethering given the terms of service. It seems contradictory - I mean, if you're prohibited from restricting access on the 700 band, what difference does it make what plan you have, right? I don't know what the explanation for that is, but it's likely this: you signed your contract before the the open access rules went into effect, so your service is NOT bound by the open access rules.

No I don't think that's it. FCC sold Verizon the 700 bandwidth (formerly where our television analog signal was sent through) with the idea that they have to let people use it without being charged so now when we the consumers buy or use a device with the 700 bandwidth Verizon must let us use LTE without charge regardless of when we signed because that's why the government moved everyone to "digital" television. Americans used it for tv and now we have to pay for what used to be free.

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