wireless tether charges

[gpigate]

I got the call from someone at verizon telling me I could upgrade early. I had been having issues with my original droid. They told me that I would get wireless tether for free forever.

I declined the upgrade and later went into verizon and did the deal there. lady said the same thing.

I was perusing over at the thunderbolt forums and everyone over there seems to be concerned about charges etc.

Have I been told something that is not true? Anyone else out there under the impression that the wireless tether data usage was free? Hell my D1 was rooted and I know I was free on it.

 

[Martin030908]

The 'free' tethering with the TB has a cut off date... it's promotional IIRC.

As for tethering in general.... VZW (and other carriers) are supposed to be cracking down on it. Tethering for free technically is against the TOS in the contracts we've all signed.

Tread carefully.

 

[eklipsephil]

The last I heard the free hotspot is supposed to end the 15th of May so after that charges will incur.

 

[gpigate]

so they have essentially told me a lie.... they explicitly said it was for the life of the contract. well the TB is going back then....

 

[gpigate]

also, I just cut it on for the first time and it sucked. connection kept bouncing over and over. with my D1 it is stable

 

[BigMcGuire]

I got the call from someone at verizon telling me I could upgrade early. I had been having issues with my original droid. They told me that I would get wireless tether for free forever.

I declined the upgrade and later went into verizon and did the deal there. lady said the same thing.

I was perusing over at the thunderbolt forums and everyone over there seems to be concerned about charges etc.

Have I been told something that is not true? Anyone else out there under the impression that the wireless tether data usage was free? Hell my D1 was rooted and I know I was free on it.

Thethering was never officially offered on the Droid 1 so that left those of us (myself included) with the inability to pay for thethering legally even if we wanted to because Verizon just didn't officially offer it. However, Verizon is apparently cracking down on tethering because it is an insane source of revenue for them. So to answer your question, any smartphone you buy today, you WILL HAVE to pay for tethering (currently at $20/month for 2 GB) or you risk having problems with Verizon. So for the HTC Thunderbolt, to tether without attracting unwanted attention from Big Red, you will need to pay for tethering.

I put my Droid 1 on a third line (that was unused, used to have an old flip phone on it) so that I could use it as a tethering device if I needed it since I didn't have to pay for it (I've never used more than 2GB since 2009). But my touch screen went out and it dieded last week. So I guess I'll pay for it for awhile but $20/month for 2GB is just too much imo.

 

[gpigate]

this all holds true even with unlimited data plan?

 

[BigMcGuire]

also, I just cut it on for the first time and it sucked. connection kept bouncing over and over. with my D1 it is stable

I had the same experience when I tethered with my Thunderbolt... it kept cutting in and out. I imagine this is due to the new 4G network but I'm not paying for <cough> like that. I just ended up using my Droid 1 (before it died) and it was far more reliable.

 

[BigMcGuire]

this all holds true even with unlimited data plan?

Unfortunately, yep. A lot of people have a problem with this. One of the biggest threads I've seen on this site was just about this issue (and Verizon going after rooters who tether without paying) : http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...otloaders-rooting-manufacturers-carriers.html

 

[gpigate]

so for those that have rooted the TB, does the wireless tether work better than the stock one? the stock one is unusable IMO? I would root this thing pretty quickly if it would work like the tether on the D1 did.

I essentially have 2 more days to decide whether to keep this thing or send it back. I like the phone, but lack of tether is HUGE.

my issues so far are

1) tether worries
2) bluetooth volume SUCKS
3) stock photo gallery is horrible

 

[BigMcGuire]

1. Don't have enough experience with it. Hope others chime in.
1a. Realize that if you root you can tether "illegally" by using Wireless Tether. But I wouldn't recommend it now days.

2. Yes it does. Das BAMF 1.4 rom and the 4.2-4.3 kernels have a fix for this and now bluetooth is very audible even on the lowest volume (if you're a rooter). I can actually use bluetooth with the windows down on medium volume while driving.

3. Agreed. Though I hated the Droid 1 gallery and prefer this one over the two. I just hate that upload videos to Picasa. Both galleries suck overall imo. Just something that Android can't seem to get right...

 

[gpigate]

3. Agreed. Though I hated the Droid 1 gallery and prefer this one over the two. I just hate that upload videos to Picasa. Both galleries suck overall imo. Just something that Android can't seem to get right...

i like just pictures, but the name says it all, no video... cant someone make one where you can do facebook, picasa, flickr, pictures, videos with folders? i mean come on

 

[Mustang02]

this all holds true even with unlimited data plan?

Unfortunately, yep. A lot of people have a problem with this. One of the biggest threads I've seen on this site was just about this issue (and Verizon going after rooters who tether without paying) : http://www.droidforums.net/forum/dr...otloaders-rooting-manufacturers-carriers.html

You're kidding right? Have you actually read that thread?

It goes from everyone is bad for tethering to Black VZW Helicopters taking you away for rooting. That thread is a joke.

I used an old version of wireless tether that couldn't handle the LTE speeds and it kept crashing. They have a new beta out that is just as fast as the VZW hotspot. I'll stay rooted and tethered. If VZW kicks me off their precious network, I'll go somewhere else. They aren't the only game in town.

I do remember a time when you talked on the phone on pay phones or at a house/office/etc.

 

[Mustang02]

3. Agreed. Though I hated the Droid 1 gallery and prefer this one over the two. I just hate that upload videos to Picasa. Both galleries suck overall imo. Just something that Android can't seem to get right...

i like just pictures, but the name says it all, no video... cant someone make one where you can do facebook, picasa, flickr, pictures, videos with folders? i mean come on

Stock Gallery on the Thunderbolt has videos. I'm not sure I understand your issue.

 

[gpigate]

3. Agreed. Though I hated the Droid 1 gallery and prefer this one over the two. I just hate that upload videos to Picasa. Both galleries suck overall imo. Just something that Android can't seem to get right...

i like just pictures, but the name says it all, no video... cant someone make one where you can do facebook, picasa, flickr, pictures, videos with folders? i mean come on

Stock Gallery on the Thunderbolt has videos. I'm not sure I understand your issue.

the problem with the stock gallery for me is that it just lumped everything into 1 large folder with over 500 photos/videos in it. also a lot of the videos from my d1 wouldnt convert over to the TB. then with just pictures I liked how I could put picasa and flickr in there.

the big issue with stock being the 500+ pics in one folder