Uninstall GSJ 90

[eharris5128]

I bought three Nexus S phones from Best Buy on the Sprint network and wanted to use them as mobile hot spots at home. After trying for a couple of days, we found that they had been updated with GSJ 90 from Sprint which prevents the phones from becoming a mobile hot spot unless we purchase the plan from Sprint for $29.99 on each phone! How can we uninstall this update or go around this update to use our phones at mobile hotspots without paying Sprint?

 

[chud]

root them.

 

[eharris5128]

Chud, what do you mean by "root them"? Sorry I am uninformed on that term as I am new to the smart phone market.

 

[chud]

If you've heard of Jailbreaking in regards to iPhones, it's kinda the same thing. You "unlock" your phone to get to all of the files that are normally blocked off to users. Once you do that, you can install apps that are only available on phones that are rooted. There are apps out there that let you regain the free tethering feature and also allow you to tether over 4G. Also, you can uninstall the update (pointless) and go back to the previous one. Or even just simply apply a patch that brings the tethering feature back.

It's fairly straight forward using one of the methods on this site, BUT, things can get messed up (not really a concern) and your phone will go back to the way it was on the day you bought it if you root it. So there is definitely some pros and cons and a fair amount of research to do before you make the jump.

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

Or you could pay for tethering like you are supposed to.

 

[eharris5128]

I could, but why should I pay a fee for something that was already provided on the phone and then blocked by a third party. The reason we bought the Samsung was because we were told that the tethering feature was already a part of the phone thanks to Samsung and that a fee was not required.

 

[meangreenstebo]

I just picked up my brand new Nexus S 4G from Best Buy and was thrilled that the update was not on there already. Now I have to weigh the pros and cons of doing the update because the phone keeps asking me to update.

 

[eharris5128]

If you've heard of Jailbreaking in regards to iPhones, it's kinda the same thing. You "unlock" your phone to get to all of the files that are normally blocked off to users. Once you do that, you can install apps that are only available on phones that are rooted. There are apps out there that let you regain the free tethering feature and also allow you to tether over 4G. Also, you can uninstall the update (pointless) and go back to the previous one. Or even just simply apply a patch that brings the tethering feature back.

It's fairly straight forward using one of the methods on this site, BUT, things can get messed up (not really a concern) and your phone will go back to the way it was on the day you bought it if you root it. So there is definitely some pros and cons and a fair amount of research to do before you make the jump.

Thanks for the info. We will be researching on how to root this phone. One thing I can't stand is paying for something that was once free.

 

[Linkchomp]

rooting it is devilishly easy. Look for stubbypenguins guide on the NS4G rooting forum

 

[evoldroid]

I was in the same boat.I rooted my phone and couldn't be happier.I used the one click method and it was very easy.I'm using miui with matrix kernal and im loving it.If I had to do it all again I would in a heart beat.Also Miui rom has the free tethering built in so no need in downloading another wireless tethering app.

 

[gijoecam]

I could, but why should I pay a fee for something that was already provided on the phone and then blocked by a third party. The reason we bought the Samsung was because we were told that the tethering feature was already a part of the phone thanks to Samsung and that a fee was not required.

First, whomever sold you the phone gave you some bad information. Tethering was never supposed to be free in the first place. Second, the feature was not blocked by a third party, it was blocked by SPRINT, your service provider. They're allowed to do that per the terms of your service contract with them. Third, tethering without paying for it is, in fact, a violation of the fine print on the contract that came in the box with your phone. I'm not implying anything more than I've written. I don't personally know of anyone that has been caught and fined/fee'd/terminated, but that doesn't mean it's NOT a violation of your contract. That's all I'm saying.

 

[macky]

First, whomever sold you the phone gave you some bad information. Tethering was never supposed to be free in the first place. Second, the feature was not blocked by a third party, it was blocked by SPRINT, your service provider. They're allowed to do that per the terms of your service contract with them. Third, tethering without paying for it is, in fact, a violation of the fine print on the contract that came in the box with your phone. I'm not implying anything more than I've written. I don't personally know of anyone that has been caught and fined/fee'd/terminated, but that doesn't mean it's NOT a violation of your contract. That's all I'm saying.

was there ever an official announcement that sprint was going to start charging to internet share? there was a program for it on my mogul and my wifes q9c, my touchpro had it too, then an update blocked it all of a sudden, by the time i got a touchpro2 it was a pay option, but i never remember sprint saying, sorry you have to pay for this from now on...

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

was there ever an official announcement that sprint was going to start charging to internet share? there was a program for it on my mogul and my wifes q9c, my touchpro had it too, then an update blocked it all of a sudden, by the time i got a touchpro2 it was a pay option, but i never remember sprint saying, sorry you have to pay for this from now on...

They never said it was free. Its really not a big deal. If you don't want to pay for it root the phone and be done with it. If you don't want to root find a carrier that offers free tethering... oh wait. Are you using these in place of your ISP?

 

[DeathsArrow]

was there ever an official announcement that sprint was going to start charging to internet share? there was a program for it on my mogul and my wifes q9c, my touchpro had it too, then an update blocked it all of a sudden, by the time i got a touchpro2 it was a pay option, but i never remember sprint saying, sorry you have to pay for this from now on...

Sprint never officially sanctioned tethering until they introduced the fee for it. And just because you could tether with a device it never meant that you were allowed to do it.

 

[macky]

Sprint never officially sanctioned tethering until they introduced the fee for it. And just because you could tether with a device it never meant that you were allowed to do it.

im pretty sure it didnt take sprint over 2 yrs to figure out that people are actually using a feature that the phone has. i believe that it was allowed, then they realized that this is something people are willing to pay big money for. i had a mogul back in 2008 and im pretty sure it explained how to do it in the manual. back then they had a few premium services that you had to pay more for (like premium sprint tv), but internet sharing wasnt one of them. it seems like when that started offering unlimited everything that they put a block on it. im pretty sure the hbogo and netflix i watch on a regular basis on my phone is using more data than the couple times a month im somewhere with my laptop and no internet access. i think that it should be allowed for free, but not unlimited b/c it will be abused.