Tethering with Tmo's new plans

xstinkyx

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A few days ago I turned on tethering just to see if it still worked okay. After awhile I got the following 889 SMS/txt message:

"Free T-Mobile Msg: To prevent future Smartphone Mobile HotSpot (Tethering) access from being blocked, go to T-Mobile Smartphone Mobile HotSpot to add Smartphone Mobile HotSpot service."

I'm curious if they sent this out because they saw any activity or if they saw more than 100MB of tethered activity (I had about 150MB of data).

Last night I tethered again (to watch some videos via the iPad Trailers app as my home wifi was all screwy). I racked up another 120MB+ in tethering data, but never got a warning and access wasn't blocked. I don't remember for certain but I think I also did some web browsing just to ensure that that also worked.

Do the cool kids tether with something else than the stock wifi tether setting? A solution that doesn't require rooting?
 

N4Newbie

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I'm investigating the feasibility of replacing my TimeWarner internet with an unlimited Tmobile data plan. I use up to 80Gb a month through my Roku...

Depending on the plan selected, only the first 2 or 5GB are at "high" speed. After that you will be throttled back to 2G speeds - completely unusable for anything other than simple email. Even loading the New York Times homepage takes forever at 2G.
 

chipster68

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Depending on the plan selected, only the first 2 or 5GB are at "high" speed. After that you will be throttled back to 2G speeds - completely unusable for anything other than simple email. Even loading the New York Times homepage takes forever at 2G.

Oh, I know that. I would be looking at upgrading to the new $70 unlimited 4G plan. However, I need to make sure I can fully utilize the plan and that means streaming movies with my Roku. It may be too premature to have one data plan to cover my home and mobile needs, but I'm willing to test the waters if the various factors are close to my requirements. The decision doesn't have to be made for a few more months, so I have time to learn from other people's experiences with T-Mobile's new plans.
 

anon(5719825)

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There is a $70 plan that is completely unlimited and data will never be throttled on that plan. Keep in mind that they have a condition written in where they can throttle for usage beyond what is considered normal. I am at 5.5GB on this plan two weeks in with normal speeds. I keep my WiFi off because T-Mobiles data is faster than my DSL which is about 14Mbps and I get about 17-21 with T-Mobile.
 

jdbii

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Do the cool kids tether with something else than the stock wifi tether setting? A solution that doesn't require rooting?

No, I don't think so. The cool kids might have their own hacks, and they probably have success based on their technical skills, but my guess is they get flagged too. I think tablets are less likely to get flagged, possibly because phones and tablets are more similar, or the data they use appears to be the same?? I can't remember seeing any post where somebody said they got flagged for tethering to a tablet, but they might have just omitted that fact.
 

jdbii

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There is a $70 plan that is completely unlimited and data will never be throttled on that plan

Is that the new 'uncarrier' plan they just announced, which would be considered a "Postpaid" plan. I ask because the Prepaid $70 unlimited plan specifically states that Smartphone Mobile Hotspot is not available. I've seen people mention that they have the $70 unlimited plan and also pay for and have tethering for more money (not sure what they paid for tethering), and the one time I asked the person who posted that to explain how they got it, they said they got the store manager to authorize it, but I still could not figure out if they had the Postpaid or Prepaid plan.
 

chipster68

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There is a $70 plan that is completely unlimited and data will never be throttled on that plan. Keep in mind that they have a condition written in where they can throttle for usage beyond what is considered normal. I am at 5.5GB on this plan two weeks in with normal speeds. I keep my WiFi off because T-Mobiles data is faster than my DSL which is about 14Mbps and I get about 17-21 with T-Mobile.

I read on another forum where a user was using 60+ GB. I'm not sure how one could watch movies, like they promote on their website as an unlimited plan feature, and be beyond normal usage. Hopefully, T-Mobile is not offering more than they can truly deliver.
 

chipster68

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Is that the new 'uncarrier' plan they just announced, which would be considered a "Postpaid" plan. I ask because the Prepaid $70 unlimited plan specifically states that Smartphone Mobile Hotspot is not available. I've seen people mention that they have the $70 unlimited plan and also pay for and have tethering for more money (not sure what they paid for tethering), and the one time I asked the person who posted that to explain how they got it, they said they got the store manager to authorize it, but I still could not figure out if they had the Postpaid or Prepaid plan.

The new $70 plan has 500 MB of included tethering.
 

return_0

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From what I understand, all the plans offer that.

No. If so, why would there be more expensive plans (6GB+, $80+) with less data? Those plans have as much tethering as data offered. Pretty much, tethering is treated as normal mobile data on those plans.
 

Go Ogle

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Just to let everyone know, because no one seems to know this, the unlimited plan still throttles you after 4.5 gigs! 99% of smart phone users use less then this, so they call it unlimited. The unlucky 1% will get throttled and have to pay 10$ for another 2 gigs.

Source: I work for them

Sent from my Nexus 4
 

return_0

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Just to let everyone know, because no one seems to know this, the unlimited plan still throttles you after 4.5 gigs! 99% of smart phone users use less then this, so they call it unlimited. The unlucky 1% will get throttled and have to pay 10$ for another 2 gigs.

Source: I work for them

Sent from my Nexus 4

I believe you're talking about the other $70 plan. There's a fully unlimited one with unlimited 4G and 500MB tethering and one with 4.5GB 4G and 4.5GB tethering.

I saw a guy who used 100GB in a month on the $70 unlimited plan and didn't get throttled. So I'm pretty sure what you're saying isn't true.
 

jdbii

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There must be two different $70 plans.

One is Postpaid, or whatever they are calling their new 'uncarrier' plans that they just announced last week. And the other is Prepaid.

1) The Postpaid is here Unsupported Browser
If you select the $70 price tier that includes unlimited data, it clearly states the following under that price tier:
quoted directly from website - "Adds Unlimited Nationwide 4G data on T-Mobile's network. Includes up to 500 MB of Smartphone Mobile HotSpot (SMH) service. Additional SMH features available for an extra charge"​
So therefore you get 500 MB of tethering data, but it looks like you can add Smartphone Mobile Hotspot (SMH) for additional money, but it doesn't break down the pricing for adding SMH. I am assuming that SMH is the same thing as tethering.​

2) The Prepaid is here Prepaid Cell Phone Plans, No Annual Contract | Monthly 4G | T-Mobile
Likewise there is a $70 price point for unlimited everything, but I am not so sure one gets even 500 MB of tethering with this plan. I have Prepaid, but I'm at the $30 tier. In My Tmobile, I have the option of switching to the $70 unlimited Prepaid plan, but it clearly states under the $70 Prepaid option that:
quoted from the website - "Smartphone Mobile HotSpot not available."​

On the front page of Android Central they posted this article about the new Tmo plans: T-Mobile's new plans: Ten frequently asked questions | Android Central, but I think they are only addressing their new Postpaid pricing in this article.
 

anon(5719825)

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No. If so, why would there be more expensive plans (6GB+, $80+) with less data? Those plans have as much tethering as data offered. Pretty much, tethering is treated as normal mobile data on those plans.

I read on the T-Mobile site that every plan now includes 500MB tethering. I know for sure that the $70 unlimited does include 500MB , I just read it.
 

Unicorn Rancher

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Just to let everyone know, because no one seems to know this, the unlimited plan still throttles you after 4.5 gigs! 99% of smart phone users use less then this, so they call it unlimited. The unlucky 1% will get throttled and have to pay 10$ for another 2 gigs.
I thought throttled meant slower, not completely cut off.
 

anon(5719825)

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That doesn't make any sense; if that was true, why would there be more expensive plans? Could you give me a link to where you read this?

The $70 unlimited includes 500 MB tethering. The plans where you pick the data size needed includes tethering also.
 

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