So apparently, T-Mo has on their own will (without my permission) switched my plan on me and now I'm not grandfathered in on the free tethering/hotspot I've had since I bought my N1 3 years ago.
Annoyed? Yes.
Pissed? Definitely.
Spoke to the reps about it and they gave me some BS answer on why my plan was changed.
...and I'll skip all the other reasons I'm pissed at them.
So anyway, I read that there's a way to work around needing an upgraded data plan to support wi-fi hotspot. Is this true? Will need to root my phone and run a custom ROM? Or can I accomplish this directly via an app? Please feel free to PM me if you wish.
If you think T-Mo is stingy with their data plans, you should try ATT. The words "free tethering/hotspot" were never part of their vocabulary to begin with.
Tethering without an appropriate data plan is a violation of the carriers terms of service, and no argument based on the "it's my data so I can do what I want with it" approach changes that fact. If you signed something, digitally or on paper, prior to activating your phone, you can rest assured such a clause is there--buried in the fine print--indicating that you may NOT use your device to tether to secondary device sans an official data plan.
Now having said that, plenty of people do it. And some even get away with it (either by technical know-how, or sheer luck). The catch to keep in mind is that there's really no sure-fire way to do it with complete certainty that the activity will be "cloaked" from the carrier. This is true whether you root or not. And make no mistake, T-Mo *is* monitoring for this kind of activity.
The primary thing people seem to misunderstand about this is that it doesn't matter what adjustments you make to your phone when tethering: it's the *device you are tethering TO*, and the information which
that device sends to the carrier along its network, that matter. This is why installing an app like PDA net with its "hide tethering" feature is likely useless. It attempts to cloak the activity from the originating, rather than the secondary, device. Two things seem to matter with regard to staying below the proverbial carrier radar: 1) user agent string and 2) TTL settings. Changing the user agent is easy, just install Dolphin browser on the SECONDARY device and navigate to the app's settings, then choose a mobile device, not "desktop." Adjusting the TTL settings is a little more complex and requires root access. I strongly recommend you read
this thread. Fry-man 22, one of the two major discussants, has it right.
Or you could just pay for the tethering plan. Honestly...in the end, it's just easier. Best of luck.
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