Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Killer91 on July 21, 2011, 01:45:21 AM

Title: AT&T Rant
Post by: Killer91 on July 21, 2011, 01:45:21 AM
Earlier I was trying to tether my HTC Inspire to my laptop so I could have internet on my laptop anywhere I have cell coverage. But when I tried it said tethering had to be activated on this phone. I'm already thinking BS here (my Samsung A777 3G phone tethered to my laptop no problem and I did it many times.) So I go to AT&T's webpage and discover that if I want to tether to my laptop they're going to charge me $60/month to use that feature. I already pay them $25/month just for internet on this phone. It already has full html browsing and I look at the exact same web pages on here as I do my laptop (I don't use mobile sites.) So why now would they want to charge me an additional $35/month to let the internet pass through the phone rather than display on my phone? I call BS ON AT&T. Money hungry, greedy jackwagons.

[\rant]
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: BaDkaRmA158Th on July 21, 2011, 03:36:04 AM
Highly agreed, im getting charged more just for having a wireless router, but yet..i have a 150gig cap!
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Meatwad on July 21, 2011, 06:33:37 AM
Does your phone run windows mobile? If it does, connect to 3G then fire up the internet connection sharing program. Make sure it is using the USB port. Plug the phone using USB into the computer and you are now tethered and sharing 3g for free.

Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: F22RaptorDude on July 21, 2011, 08:14:43 AM
you were trying to do hotspot?
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: SuperDud on July 21, 2011, 08:16:00 AM
Most if not all carriers now do this. I have Verizon and it's the same deal.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: dedalos on July 21, 2011, 08:39:43 AM
Earlier I was trying to tether my HTC Inspire to my laptop so I could have internet on my laptop anywhere I have cell coverage. But when I tried it said tethering had to be activated on this phone. I'm already thinking BS here (my Samsung A777 3G phone tethered to my laptop no problem and I did it many times.) So I go to AT&T's webpage and discover that if I want to tether to my laptop they're going to charge me $60/month to use that feature. I already pay them $25/month just for internet on this phone. It already has full html browsing and I look at the exact same web pages on here as I do my laptop (I don't use mobile sites.) So why now would they want to charge me an additional $35/month to let the internet pass through the phone rather than display on my phone? I call BS ON AT&T. Money hungry, greedy jackwagons.

[\rant]

Because chances that you start down loading movies on your lap top are better than doing it on your phone? (just one example, i can come up with more if you like).  Of coarse you call BS and you say that you do the same things on the lap top that you do on the phone but if that was true, you would just use the phone no problem.  If you would like them to charge you based on the bandwidth you use I am sure they have a program for that, but I don;t think you would like the results.

So really, calling a company hungry, greedy jack wagons for trying to make a profit is what is BS.  No one is forcing you to use their services.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Hoarach on July 21, 2011, 08:39:51 AM
Alright killer there is a way around this.  Played with my android last year and figured the way to bypass the charges.

Your going need a wifi available first.

First turn on airplane mode.  Then turn on wi-fi mode so all you have is wi-fi available.  Go to the market and download either easytether or pdanet.  ATT has these apps blocked reason need the wifi.  You can download both and try both see which you like better, they are both very similar.  You will also need to download the software from their respective sites, just google pdanet and easytether.  Once those programs are installed both on your computer and phone, you are all set to go.  There wont be any charges for using these apps.

These tethering options are USB tethering but I believe pdanet offers bluetooth tethering if your computer has it.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: dedalos on July 21, 2011, 08:41:58 AM
Alright killer there is a way around this.  Played with my android last year and figured the way to bypass the charges.

Your going need a wifi available first.

First turn on airplane mode.  Then turn on wi-fi mode so all you have is wi-fi available.  Go to the market and download either easytether or pdanet.  ATT has these apps blocked reason need the wifi.  You can download both and try both see which you like better, they are both very similar.  You will also need to download the software from their respective sites, just google pdanet and easytether.  Once those programs are installed both on your computer and phone, you are all set to go.  There wont be any charges for using these apps.

These tethering options are USB tethering but I believe pdanet offers bluetooth tethering if your computer has it.

Good idea.  Steal the service since ATT owes it to you.  Any suggestions on hacking AH?  I don;t feel like paying the 15$ per month.  HT owes it to all of us to make it 5$  :noid
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Dichotomy on July 21, 2011, 08:46:29 AM
Well I pay them an effton of money every month.  You'd think they'd simplify their website to make bill pay a little easier.  The poor tier 1 techs that have suffered my wrath for this almost make me feel bad.

Ded your 'I <3 AT&T' shirt is in the mail.  :neener:
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Hoarach on July 21, 2011, 08:47:27 AM
Sorry when its supposed to be stock available on Droid why would I pay for it.  These apps are available to Verizon droids as they dont limit their market.  So why would someone pay for doing mobile router when they can get an app and do USB tethering for free.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: dedalos on July 21, 2011, 09:43:33 AM

Ded your 'I <3 AT&T' shirt is in the mail.  :neener:

Nah, I hate their drop calls crappy service, but I can always switch right?  It is not an ATT love.  It is the whole I am entitled to the ATT service for the price I feel like paying attitude that bugs me.  Of coarse that applies to everything, not just ATT.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Killer91 on July 21, 2011, 09:50:18 AM
To answer a few questions in this thread.. the phone runs the android OS.
And honestly I really don't do anything different on my laptop than my phone. I like my laptop for the bigger screen and the fact that its not a touchs screen as they tend to annoy me..

Also the tethering option gives me an additional 2GB of data usage to bring me to a grand total of 4GB/month. I only use about 500 MB/month of data and I would only tether maybe once or twice a month since I have WiFi at home.

Ded I don't get where your coming from. The phone already has this feature built in but AT&T and apparently most other providers have decided to block it to make a buck from those willing to pay an absurd amount to use it. Cell phone providers make so much money off their plans already that this is completely unnecessary. I read a report from AT&T just a few weeks ago that for every dollar they bring in from data charges $0.35 was profit and for every dollar they charge for texting services is about $0.85 profit. So would it really hurt their company to let someone tether a device without paying extra? Sure there would be more data usage on your phone but its capped at 4GB and if you break that they charge you even more money for going over. I still call BS.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: dedalos on July 21, 2011, 10:02:39 AM


Also the tethering option gives me an additional 2GB of data usage to bring me to a grand total of 4GB/month. I only use about 500 MB/month of data and I would only tether maybe once or twice a month since I have WiFi at home.


OK, maybe I am confused.  You just stated that tethering gives you an additional 2GB of data.  Shouldn't twice the bandwidth cost more?
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Killer91 on July 21, 2011, 10:10:29 AM
Doubles the bandwidth for almost triple the price. How is that fair to their customer?
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Shuffler on July 21, 2011, 10:14:33 AM
Earlier I was trying to tether my HTC Inspire to my laptop so I could have internet on my laptop anywhere I have cell coverage. But when I tried it said tethering had to be activated on this phone. I'm already thinking BS here (my Samsung A777 3G phone tethered to my laptop no problem and I did it many times.) So I go to AT&T's webpage and discover that if I want to tether to my laptop they're going to charge me $60/month to use that feature. I already pay them $25/month just for internet on this phone. It already has full html browsing and I look at the exact same web pages on here as I do my laptop (I don't use mobile sites.) So why now would they want to charge me an additional $35/month to let the internet pass through the phone rather than display on my phone? I call BS ON AT&T. Money hungry, greedy jackwagons.

[\rant]
I have the Inspire also. I actually had it a few days before it was released.

AT&T makes it clear in their literature that tethering is additional. You can make the phone a Wifi Hot Spot for less I believe. It is part of a package plan.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: dedalos on July 21, 2011, 10:24:47 AM
Doubles the bandwidth for almost triple the price. How is that fair to their customer?

So, I am not confused.  Look, I can just say it has nothing to do with fair or not fair.  You choose to by a service.  They are not forcing you.  I guess it is fair since you can take you business somewhere else.  If that happens a lot, competition will force them to lower prices.  My guess is that they charge about what everyone else is so they would not risk losing a customer.

My guess for the real reasons behind it is that
1: they are in business to make a profit.  They get to decide how much they want to make and you get to decide if you want to give it to them.
2: more importantly, those extra 2 GB have to come from somewhere.  Simple example, if their capacity is 10 GB (yes, very small number just to make a point) and they have 10 customers, in theory, everything is running fine.  But if everyone uses the tethering option, now they would need to expand their infrastructure to accommodate everyone.  Well, that is not free to them is it?  And when it comes to bandwidth the relationship between it and dollars is not 1 to 1. 
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: F22RaptorDude on July 21, 2011, 10:53:40 AM
i love my Incredible 2, Held ONLY BY VERIZON  :rofl :rofl No seriously AT&T sucks, Verizon or notin
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Tigger29 on July 21, 2011, 11:58:18 AM
My 2 year contract with AT&T is up in a few months.  I received notification that I could receive a new phone for free (or heavily discounted) if I renew my contract.  I checked into it and found a few phone that I liked and *ALMOST* pulled the trigger.

The phone I have now is the Samsung A877 Impression.  To be honest it's been a bit quirky.. losing text messages every once in a rare while and what not but overall a decent phone with FANTASTIC battery life.  My biggest problem is what I pay for it.  I was paying close to $70/month when all was said and done and since it replaced a $40/month land-line it seemed like a good deal at the time.  My issue was that its browser only works "meh" and that I found myself almost NEVER using it on the internet.  I also use very little voice with it and only 'moderate' amounts of texting.  It's a great convenience to have the phone but to pay $70/month for something I rarely use just seemed silly.  I was able to adjust my plan as low as possible without breaking the contract by getting rid of the unlimited data and getting a 500 text message plan and got it down to just under $50/month.  Still not stellar but acceptable.

Now I'm finding myself wanting to use the internet more and wanting a Droid phone.  While AT&T definitely does offer droid phones (several I can get dirt cheap if I renew) they force you to join a data plan to get one which would bring my bill back up to $70 maybe even more!  Now I'm cheap but was still about to pull the trigger until my little sister told me about a new phone she got.

She got a full featured droid phone from Best Buy for $150.  Now with 2 kids (one of which has many allergies and visits the hospital regularly) and limited income she's really struggling financially so I was asking her about it and why she would spend that kind of money on a phone?  I was actually confused because she was one day complaining because she could afford a decent birthday present for her 4-year-old daughter but then the next she goes out and buys a $150 phone, but after talking to her about it it all makes sense.

She was paying $50/month for a pay-as-you-go plan with a cheap, no feature phone.  After about 8 months she dropped the phone one too many times and couldn't fix it while she was in town a few weeks ago.  Being desperate to replace it she bought this phone (actually I found out later my dad bought it for her) through a Virgin Mobile pre-pay plan which cost her $25/month!  And this comes with unlimited data and unlimited texting.. and 300 voice minutes.  I also learned that it piggybacks through the Sprint network so it has very good coverage!

As far as tethering goes... well Virgin disables it on the phone but from what I've been reading it's easy enough to enable it.

*NOTE:  I just noticed that they just raised their rates from $25 to $35/month BUT decreased their unlimited plan from $60 to $55/month.  It's still a heck of a deal though and it would still only take a few month to pay off the cost of the phone.  Also keep in mind that cheaper phones do exist (as well as more expensive ones as well) even a couple of blackberry phones if you're into that.  I also found the LG Optimus V phone through Amazon.com for as little as $126 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26redirect%3Dtrue%26ref_%3Dsr_nr_n_0%26keywords%3Dvirgin%2520mobile%26bbn%3D2335753011%26qid%3D1311267397%26rnid%3D2335753011%26rh%3Dn%253A2335752011%252Ck%253Avirgin%2520mobile%252Cn%253A%25212335753011%252Cn%253A2407748011%23&tag=youremyperser-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957) so you can save a little there too.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Hoarach on July 21, 2011, 12:20:57 PM
Im lucky im grandfathered into unlimited data by ATT.  Had unlimited internet before they changed it to the 2GB limit.   :neener:

Im just angry that when I got the Aria, it was a mid level android.  The Inspire came out only 4 months afterwards and I am angry as it is cheeper and a much nicer phone.  Damn tilt had to die on me early. :mad:
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: PFactorDave on July 21, 2011, 12:23:56 PM
While AT&T definitely does offer droid phones (several I can get dirt cheap if I renew) they force you to join a data plan to get one

Verizon forces you into a data plan also.  

One thing I will say, my Motorola Droid phone kicks butt over my wife's LG and my daughter's (think hers is a Samsung, but not sure).  We spent a couple weeks in the northwoods of Wisconsin, an area that has very poor Verizon coverage.  My wife's and daughter's phones were useless for voice and very spotty for texting, and forget about internet.  My Droid phone was able to place and recieve calls, texts, and had full 3G internet connectivity.  Which of course I pointed out to my teenage daughter everytime she got frustrated trying to send a text to her boyfriend.   :rofl

I really believe that the Motorola phones are made better.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: F22RaptorDude on July 21, 2011, 12:25:38 PM
Verizon forces you into a data plan also.  One thing I will say, my Motorola Droid phone kicks butt over my wife's LG and my daughter's (think hers is a Samsung, but not sure).  We spent a couple weeks in the northwoods of Wisconsin, an area that has very poor Verizon coverage.  My wife's and daughter's phones were useless for voice and very spotty for texting.  My Droid phone was able to place and recieve calls, texts, and had full 3G internet connectivity.  Which of course I pointed out to my teenage daughter everytime she got frustrated trying to send a text to her boyfriend.   :rofl

I really believe that the Motorola phones are made better.
HTC is competition, I rarely never not have 3G, and texts and calls are still good quality and quick when in not so well covered area's.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Tigger29 on July 21, 2011, 12:56:21 PM
Verizon forces you into a data plan also.  

One thing I will say, my Motorola Droid phone kicks butt over my wife's LG and my daughter's (think hers is a Samsung, but not sure).  We spent a couple weeks in the northwoods of Wisconsin, an area that has very poor Verizon coverage.  My wife's and daughter's phones were useless for voice and very spotty for texting, and forget about internet.  My Droid phone was able to place and recieve calls, texts, and had full 3G internet connectivity.  Which of course I pointed out to my teenage daughter everytime she got frustrated trying to send a text to her boyfriend.   :rofl

I really believe that the Motorola phones are made better.

Oh I'm not denying the quality of the Motorola phones.. not by any stretch of the imagination.  If quality and ability is what matters most to you then perhaps the more expensive plans with a contract is exactly what you need.  Personally for my needs the cheapest phone on the planet would probably suffice.

I'm a cheap bastard.  Items of luxury often don't appeal to me and I rarely have to have the 'latest and greatest'.  I'm the type that will GLADLY save a lot of money in yesterday's technology, but yet I'm technically savvy enough to not buy ancient technology either.  I'm still rockin' a C2D processor in my computer.  I drive an '89 Festiva (the 45-50MPG is quite nice thankyouverymuch).  My huge leap into the HDTV world was a 47" Westinghouse 1080P monitor that I got dirt cheap (at the time) because it lacked a tuner and because it didn't have the (at the time) new techology of LED backlighting.  It does have a beautiful picture and great sound for its built in speaker though!

My point is that I have a feeling that most people don't care about having the best of the best.  Personally I'm looking for a phone that does the basics (obviously) and will also let me play around with some as well.  If I can find that for $35/month when I'm ready to do it then I'm sold!  The phone I mentioned above looks like it will fit my needs perfectly.. but then again my life does not revolve around my cell phone either.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Estes on July 21, 2011, 03:48:25 PM
If your Droid is rooted, just get an app called PDAnet. If you're phone is rooted, also look into apps called "Ad Free Android", and "SetCpu".
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Hoarach on July 21, 2011, 07:26:49 PM
If your Droid is rooted, just get an app called PDAnet. If you're phone is rooted, also look into apps called "Ad Free Android", and "SetCpu".

You can do the same if you go into airplane mode and turn on wifi.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: DREDIOCK on July 21, 2011, 07:41:43 PM
Im lucky im grandfathered into unlimited data by ATT.  Had unlimited internet before they changed it to the 2GB limit.   :neener:


Verizon recently did the same thing. My wife and son are grandfathered in. And they dont "need" it.
Now Im getting more commercial jobs and am finding a need for it. I cant get it. My contract was up a week after it went into effect.
Deciding on which phone to get now. Either the new GzOne and they are indeed absolutely waterproof. I toss mine in the pool regularly for the kids to retrieve. As people with other phones look on in shock. the looks on their faces are pricless.

On the other hand I dont really care for the smaller screen on the new GZone smartphone or the touchscreen keyboard.

So Im also thinking one of the Droids with the slideout keyboard. But the downside to that is it isnt nearly as rugged as the GzOne.

to answer the Op's question.

They do it because they can. At some point one of the companies is going ot get the bright idea to charge one price for everything to gain customers. then the others will follow suit to keep them. and back and forth it will go like that.
All because..they can.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: ACE on July 21, 2011, 07:47:31 PM
Highly agreed, im getting charged more just for having a wireless router, but yet..i have a 150gig cap!
I have a 5gb cap don't complain!
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: guncrasher on July 22, 2011, 01:10:16 AM
google how to root (your phone), there's lots of sites that have very usefull information.  i have a droidx, rooted and can do wifi if i want.  I also have different roms/themes than the original and got rid of all the junk apps they bundle from the factory.  so my phone is faster, easier and looks cooler :).

semp
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: rpm on July 22, 2011, 01:47:07 AM
Ded I don't get where your coming from. The phone already has this feature built in but AT&T and apparently most other providers have decided to block it to make a buck from those willing to pay an absurd amount to use it. Cell phone providers make so much money off their plans already that this is completely unnecessary. I read a report from AT&T just a few weeks ago that for every dollar they bring in from data charges $0.35 was profit and for every dollar they charge for texting services is about $0.85 profit. So would it really hurt their company to let someone tether a device without paying extra? Sure there would be more data usage on your phone but its capped at 4GB and if you break that they charge you even more money for going over. I still call BS.
Just one flaw in your theory. Look at your contract with AT&T. It specifically says no tethering and you agreed to it. If you tether you are stealing service and subject to the wrath of AT&T if you're caught, despite not exceeding your usage.

Having said that, I used to tether my desktop to my Moto-Q when I was on dialup and never had any problems. YMMV.
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: dedalos on July 22, 2011, 09:00:08 AM
Just one flaw in your theory. Look at your contract with AT&T. It specifically says no tethering and you agreed to it. If you tether you are stealing service and subject to the wrath of AT&T if you're caught, despite not exceeding your usage.

Having said that, I used to tether my desktop to my Moto-Q when I was on dialup and never had any problems. YMMV.

No no no, ATT owes it to him because he is cool  :old:
Title: Re: AT&T Rant
Post by: Slash27 on July 22, 2011, 10:01:04 AM
Earlier I was trying to tether my HTC Inspire to my laptop so I could have internet on my laptop anywhere I have cell coverage. But when I tried it said tethering had to be activated on this phone. I'm already thinking BS here (my Samsung A777 3G phone tethered to my laptop no problem and I did it many times.) So I go to AT&T's webpage and discover that if I want to tether to my laptop they're going to charge me $60/month to use that feature. I already pay them $25/month just for internet on this phone. It already has full html browsing and I look at the exact same web pages on here as I do my laptop (I don't use mobile sites.) So why now would they want to charge me an additional $35/month to let the internet pass through the phone rather than display on my phone? I call BS ON AT&T. Money hungry, greedy jackwagons.

[\rant]
Don't you just love them? It's free to tether overseas.