Tethering on Straight Talk?

[David McKinney1]

Nope... the phone's hardware and software support it, but not the ST plans, and it will not allow it be turned on. It's a marketing gimmick. There is NO TETHERING on Straight Talk voice/data plans, except Hotspot specific plans, which do not include voice.

Now, if you got a voice only SIM and a Hotspot SIM, and a dual SIM device like a Huawei Honor 7X or Axon 7 or something... Maybe you could get both in one device.

I have the ZTE Majesty which is the cheapest ST phone there is and it does support hotspot, I used mine the first 2 or 3 months I had it then suddenly it wouldn't cut on anymore, I've been trying to find a way around it by rooting ect, but so far have had no luck.

 

[xskills123x]

Straight Talk's policies explicitly prohibit tethering except in very limited circumstances. https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...2Flegal%2Fterms-and-conditions&token=jqTv1Eki

You could probably side step that policy with a rooted phone. However, Straight Talk has very limited data alottment even on unlimited plans. So you'd probably run up against throttling at a minimum and outright cancellation at the more extreme end.

I've reviewed the agreement and I find it to somewhat contradict itself. Specifically:

>I. Straight Talk Wireless Service
>7. UNAUTHORIZED USE OF SERVICE
>(vi) access to the internet, intranets, or other data networks except as the device’s native applications and capabilities permit (excluding all hotspot applications),

First I notice the line "except as the device’s native applications and capabilities permit"

I assume this line to mean that using a hotspot or usb tether should be fine as long as the functions are native to the phone and not through a 3rd party software or by rooting the phone. My LG Rebel 3 is a straight talk branded phone that uses cdma/Verizon towers and has native (built-in) hotspot and usb tether abilities. It doesn't seem like straight talk would sell phones with a feature built right into it that would cause you to be in direct violation of their terms and conditions; it just wouldn't make sense. But, as it's been pointed out, right after (vi) is this:
(vii) any applications that allow your phone to act as an internet access point or Wi-Fi for other devices and computers unless such use is allowed under your Plan.

So...6 has the exception that makes it look okay...but then 7 says only if it specifically says in my plan.
I am wondering, if I were to use the USB tether would my service be canceled or throttled, and if so, how quickly? I've heard using a VPN makes it so I'd be less likely to be caught using USB tether. I use my laptop with public Wi-Fi to download torrents of tv series to watch at home where I have no internet, but I was thinking of trying to use my phone for my laptops data connection just to download large torrent files, only one at a time though. For example, a season might be 1.2gb. Can I use my phone's data to quickly download a large (1 or 2 gigabytes) torrent to my laptop then disconnect it, and not have any issues?

 

[Mezzanine7]

I've never tried USB tethering. Wi-Fi tethering is slow for me. Its fine to download songs, or load a webpage on the internet but not to watch movies or download large files. I currently have ST and I downloaded Foxfi and a cracked Key off the internet to bypass the allotted Wi-Fi limit. It works, albeit slowly, maybe you will have better results.

 

[acejavelin]

I've reviewed the agreement and I find it to somewhat contradict itself. Specifically:

>I. Straight Talk Wireless Service
>7. UNAUTHORIZED USE OF SERVICE
>(vi) access to the internet, intranets, or other data networks except as the device’s native applications and capabilities permit (excluding all hotspot applications),

First I notice the line "except as the device’s native applications and capabilities permit"

I assume this line to mean that using a hotspot or usb tether should be fine as long as the functions are native to the phone and not through a 3rd party software or by rooting the phone. My LG Rebel 3 is a straight talk branded phone that uses cdma/Verizon towers and has native (built-in) hotspot and usb tether abilities. It doesn't seem like straight talk would sell phones with a feature built right into it that would cause you to be in direct violation of their terms and conditions; it just wouldn't make sense. But, as it's been pointed out, right after (vi) is this:
(vii) any applications that allow your phone to act as an internet access point or Wi-Fi for other devices and computers unless such use is allowed under your Plan.

So...6 has the exception that makes it look okay...but then 7 says only if it specifically says in my plan.
I am wondering, if I were to use the USB tether would my service be canceled or throttled, and if so, how quickly? I've heard using a VPN makes it so I'd be less likely to be caught using USB tether. I use my laptop with public Wi-Fi to download torrents of tv series to watch at home where I have no internet, but I was thinking of trying to use my phone for my laptops data connection just to download large torrent files, only one at a time though. For example, a season might be 1.2gb. Can I use my phone's data to quickly download a large (1 or 2 gigabytes) torrent to my laptop then disconnect it, and not have any issues?

Except it explicitly states "excluding all hotspot applications"... Now I am no lawyer, but I am pretty sure this section is intended to mean that any application on the phone can use internet data except hotspot applications, but nothing external to the device can use it.

This is nothing new, this is the intent of Straight Talks T&C... that you cannot tether anything to your device (hotspot, USB tether, etc) and it isn't open to your personal interpretation. You can try to twist this how you wish, but it is well known that ST does not allow tethering.

Now, some people with some devices can get it to work, but ST could at their discretion terminate your service for it... Will it happen? Who knows... Google will definitely fine instances where it has, but that doesn't mean it will happen.