4G hotspot? Provided with the GN?

[anon(512898)]

They can block you by analyzing your web traffic and the types of data you're transmitting. The fact they haven't yet is because they are not aggressively pursuing everyone that does that... yet. But one day, they will come after everyone as they came after some of the abusers previously.

That requires deep packet searching, which is currently illegal.

On another note, the palm pre plus came with free wifi hotspot on verizon, so it would not be a first if verizon let the nexus through with it.

 

[Small_law]

If tethering is an additional fee, you can probably just side-load Wireless Tether. I have a ton of different .apks saved from XDA over the years. That's the kind of stuff you keep backed up in a nice, safe place.

I've got my own stockpile of .apk's from over the years. Solid advice.

 

[Stides]

Unfortunately, I don't think verizon will do a free hotspot promotion like they did with the launch of the thunderbolt. That was done as an incentive to get people into a 4G LTE phone and to get them hooked on the great tethering speed and then after a few months they wanted all users to pay for it.

Hotspot is definitely a paid feature with verizon. It is $30 for LTE hotspot with a 2gb cap I believe. I don't want to get into the debate of the definition of unlimited and why it is not included in your plan. Rest assured AT&T and verizon expect to be paid for this feature. Currently, I understand that individuals on rooted android phones have been able to use hotspot for free with limited success. Some wireless tether apps like barnacle, etc. have worked in certain cases. Currently, rooted bionic users have not been able to get hotspot for free with the stock rom without a work around by altering some files on the device using SQLite editor. It appears that you can use wireless hotspot for free with a custom rom and/or kernel and verizon does not stop you.

Somehow, they know when you are trying to use hotspot for free even on a stock rooted device. If you get caught trying to use hotspot for free on the device you are trying to tether when you go online you are directed to the verizon page where you can sign up for a the plan. This is much nicer than AT&T where they allow you to use the hotspot and then send you a letter regarding you unauthorized use of tethering and then threaten to charge you or place you into a tiered plan (if you are grandfathered into an unlimited plan). Some users are saying they only used a total of 60 mb on the hotspot for free and got the letter so it was not done only for data abusers.

 

[greydarrah]

Why then do Android phones have a USB tether option that can be used to turn your phone into a cabled modem for your PC? I know with hotspot, other pc's can tag along, but in reality, when we hotspot, it's just for our own pc. So how could Verizon tell the difference?

 

[Stides]

Why then do Android phones have a USB tether option that can be used to turn your phone into a cabled modem for your PC? I know with hotspot, other pc's can tag along, but in reality, when we hotspot, it's just for our own pc. So how could Verizon tell the difference?

I think usb tethering costs less than hotspot ($15) and I am not really sure there is a difference between the two as far as the carrier seeing something different in the data on their end. I have not heard of anyone getting letters or being blocked for tethering via usb. I can only guess that the carriers are not as concerned about usb tethering because it is somewhat less threatening than hotspot. While I would probably only use it for my laptop, you can connect up to 5 devices to a hotspot where you are limited to the 1 pc when tethering via usb. I also know that I use hotspot more than usb tethering because it is just easier to connect via wifi than connecting the device with usb. I also suspect that a lot of abusers of free hotspot are ipad/tablet/ipod touch users. These are all guesses of course. I know the developers of pdanet have included a hide wireless tethering feature in their latest version in an effort to try to hide free hotspot from the carriers. However, if you look it up you will see many users saying it isn't working. Although I think many are iphone users because they can jailbreak but cannot install different roms/kernels. It could be software on the device that is giving the info. to the carriers or something in the data. If you search there are tons of people speculating how the carriers are figuring it out. The good news is with the galaxy nexus there will be a way to get free wireless hotspot if you really want it. The question will be whether you can just run it naively, or you have to root it and use a work around, or you have install a custom rom (of which there will be many, including cyanogenmod 9 which is currently in development). For those who insist on getting it for free there will most certainly be a way. Once the device releases on VZW there will be tons of threads on it.

 

[Bsigg12]

Verizon see's data usage per device. If for some reason if someone has unlimited data still and without a paid Hotspot app in use jumps way above what their usage has been like for say the last 4-5 months, they'll recognize what is happening.

It's not that hard to see a difference in data usage because of tethering. A phone typically won't push above 2gbs a month. Now you add a computer, or a gaming system that is using that connection and that usage goes up tremendously. Verizon is already sending rooted iPhone and Android users texts saying they will disable their data usage if they continue to use the hotspot without paying for it.

 

[theduder]

Sprint removed it from the nexus s4g iirc.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

Looking at my Sprint Nexus S 4G right now. It's in there, but I have never attempted to use it (I also have a mifi). I know that Sprint charges something like $30 a month to turn the phone into a hot spot, but I don't know how or if that's circumventable using the stock Gingerbread hotspot feature.

 

[GTvert90]

Looking at my Sprint Nexus S 4G right now. It's in there, but I have never attempted to use it (I also have a mifi). I know that Sprint charges something like $30 a month to turn the phone into a hot spot, but I don't know how or if that's circumventable using the stock Gingerbread hotspot feature.

That's good to know I thought they removed it

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[BSG75]

I have a rooted droid incredible on Verizon's network...I can do wifi tether just fine

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

Same for me (CM7) and my wife (just rooted).

 

[BSG75]

Verizon see's data usage per device. If for some reason if someone has unlimited data still and without a paid Hotspot app in use jumps way above what their usage has been like for say the last 4-5 months, they'll recognize what is happening.

It's not that hard to see a difference in data usage because of tethering. A phone typically won't push above 2gbs a month. Now you add a computer, or a gaming system that is using that connection and that usage goes up tremendously. Verizon is already sending rooted iPhone and Android users texts saying they will disable their data usage if they continue to use the hotspot without paying for it.

Not necessarily true on the data consumption pattern. I used to download podcasts over 3g and would hit 5-6gb.month from that. Daily podcasts of 40mb-100mb can really add up. All legit, non-tethering uses. I just listen on Google Reader web now, so I don't download nearly as much to my device.