Will Verizon Catch Me Tethering My Droid? ;)

[Whiskas]

I am going to be hanging out at my luddite manfriend's for a week. He's a mountain hippie and doesn't have The Information Tubes. Will Verizon catch on if I tether my MacBook using PDANet? My understanding is that to catch somebody tethering illegally, they look at the amount of data the person downloads. I won't be downloading anything; just watching Netflix instantly.Do you think The Man will catch on?

 

[Atook]

I have no idea if they'll catch on, but 'just watching Netflix' instantly is a huge badwidth suck. I haven't measured it, but I'd guess about 300MB per 2 hr movie, that's quite a bit. Not to mention that is streaming netflix is something the phone cannot do.

 

[Droid101]

The one thing I don't suggest tethering on is streaming movies.
1. Because they use ALOT of bandwidth and
2. A tether over 3g is only so fast so video quality and loading speed wont be too bad.

But after saying that even if you do I don't think they'll care as long as you arent downloading 7GB each month lol. I say go for it!

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[sillyrabbitt123]

not to hijack but is pdanet legal to use? if not why would google put it in the market place?

thanks

 

[Juggernaut]

Not to mention that is streaming netflix is something the phone cannot do.

Come on now don't you know the Droid Does dancedroid. I had a friend test to see if it would work after hearing about people using XBOX live and indeed it works. It took about 10 mins to load and didn't have the best picture quality (didn't have great 3G at the time) but it played without twitching.

not to hijack but is pdanet legal to use? if not why would google put it in the market place?
thanks

The app is legal but tethering is against VZWs terms and conditions. They want you to pay for tethering.

 

[doug piston]

Unplug your intratubes, wear a tinfoil hat and hide in the basement... Big red is coming for you..

 

[jkhonea]

Yes, tethering through PDANet is against the TOC's and if, somehow, you pop up on Verizon's radar using it, you can face charges and possible account issues. This seems to be very rare and like others have said, if you aren't dumb about how you use it, meaning don't constantly stream movies and such, you should be just fine. Basically, don't over do it.

 

[ChugIt]

I overdo it all the time. I use 10-15GB every month and have been since it has been available. I've shown screen shots to prove it several times. You're fine, tether.

 

[sillyrabbitt123]

Thanks for the info. using it now.

I have a usb stick but i had to lend that to the wife then i was stuck with access i can honestly say the DInc and Pdanet BLOW away the usb727 stick I was using night and day cannot believe it.

the only thing i miss is now my phone is in use and cannot make calls tried my vonage softphone but the connection sucked.

 

[aminaked]

VZ doesn't seem to mind people using tethering apps. I tend to think that they are "throwing us a bone" for getting on the bandwagon so early.

 

[webby]

I've used PdaNet for a long time now, but only use it when traveling or when our broadband at home goes out. I don't stream movies, that sort of thing. It does the job for me, but I don't abuse it.

Recently my wife and I were in LA at a convention in an expensive downtown hotel where the Wifi cost $12.95 a day + the usual high hotel taxes. We of course, were tethering our laptop to our Android phone, and since we were there for 6 days, PdaNet saved us quite a bit of loot.

Once you pay your onetime PdaNet $29 license fee, you can transfer it from phone to phone when you change phones. And you can use it on multiple computers. I have it set up for our laptop, our netbook, and even our desktop for when our broadband goes down for maintenance. It's nice to have a backup!

 

[jkhonea]

Agree completely. I've been using PDANet since my old Windows MobileOS phones. I use it for tethering in the car when I'm travelling, definitely not often. As said above, I make it a point of not streaming movies. Nor do I use it to download large amounts of files. Primarily to websurf and check e-mail. Never had a problem over several years.

 

[huskerkate]

WOW! i've been tethered for months, but generally only use it at home with my work laptop. but i was on vacation a few weeks ago, and my usage jumped "way up" to 2 gb for the month. i was freaking out a little that VZW might flag me. but now i'm not so worried - thanks!! dancedroid

I overdo it all the time. I use 10-15GB every month and have been since it has been available. I've shown screen shots to prove it several times. You're fine, tether.

 

[Droidorexic]

I am having similar concerns over tethering except mine involve Easy Tether Pro and online gaming.

The story of my life involves a clash between horribly slow internet connections and a love for online gaming. Right now, we have satellite internet and I have a deep, almost sacred love for the game War Rock (a game I have been unable to play for over a year because of our connection).

So, when I discovered that the phone in my possession (Droid Xdancedroid) could connect to my laptop and share its unlimited 3G data plan with it, a joyful tear came to my eye. I took complete advantage of this and reconnected with my long lost multiplayer friend, War Rock. Those two hours were the best I've experienced in a long time (not to mention, they were completely lag free :-D). Too bad that the stupid logic center in my brain started putting negative thoughts in my head like, "What if Verizon doesn't allow this?" I decided to play it safe and listen to my gut.

SO, I did some research and found out that this does violate Verizon's TOS, and that tethering is risky business, etc, etc, etc. My heart was broken. I thought I had found a solution to my slow internet problems only to find out that Verizon forbids it.

But of course, why would I fear Verizon if just about no-one has been caught by them? This is the only way I can fulfill m passion and I do not plan to ignore it. I just need to know one thing, does online gaming come across as extra noticeable to the Verizon police?

Thanks!!!

 

[tribbey]

http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-general-discussions/1031-misconceptions-unlimited-data.html