[mc4o1993]

well, if the plan truly is unlimited (doubt it), then I can understand the $20, but the second it becomes capped they should drop the hotspot fee. it the same packets. who cares what I use to view them?

[icerabbit]

So the data portion is $30/mo per phone for unlimited data and $20/mo extra to tether 2GB of data.

Yeah .... that makes perfect sense ...



I hate American telcos ...

[BoctorBill]

Wow, Verizon is dropping the ball here! They provide a teeny, tiny advantage. It's almost certain that this would give AT&T iPhone users pause before switching. It's just more of the same: double-charging for the bandwidth we already paid for.

WTF do these companies care HOW we use the bandwidth they already sold us?

Does Verizon let other phone users tether? If so, is Verizon charging THEM?

I hate this crap.

[BoctorBill]

MikePetonic, on 25 January 2011 - 05:06 PM, said:

Helllooooooo jailbreak and MyWi.

I hear that AT&T knows when you use this and will eventually try to make you pony up. Is this true?

[MichaelGinsberg]

you can tether an iPhone via USB to the Nexaira BC2 Router and easily add clients via WiFi or Ethernet, more info at:

http://3gstore.com/bc2

[TowerTone]

I read a reply elsewhere to this feature that was sobering; You can lose up to five connections when you get a phone call.

[RandyOhara]

leicaman, on 25 January 2011 - 03:27 PM, said:

Glad I stuck with my AT&T unlimited plan. Now, I need to come up with a reason I actually need tethering.

...

Nope. Can't think of a reason.

FYI - if you opt to get AT&T's tethering; they make you give up your unlimited plan for the 2G plan - I ended up with a MiFi from Virgin

[Imagine_Engine]

KyleMaher, on 25 January 2011 - 02:53 PM, said:

Wow, are you really that ignorant? Verizon is charging a reasonable fee for a service that AT&T doesn't even offer!

Verizon:
$30 unlimited data on phone
$20 2GB WiFi tethering for 5 devices
====
$50 total

AT&T:
$45 2GB data combined between phone and 1 usb connection

So for $5 more than AT&T you get WAAAAAY more data usage on the phone, and wireless tethering on 5 devices. AT&T can't match it.

I have Verizon, you have AT&T... Who is really getting nickel and dimed?

It's not $50.00 for unlimited data while tethering. If all you're doing is browsing the internet, using email and downloading apps then yes for $30.00 Verizon will provide unlimited data usage. Though if you want to tether then Verizon will charge an additional $20.00 monthly fee for 2 GB of tethering data and if you go over that 2 GB tethering data then they will charge you an additional $20.00 per GB. The tethering feature shows up in iOS as separate data usage in the usage tracker "Tether Data" which the carrier can also track. Here in Canada we have tethering enabled on all 1 GB or higher data plans and can see separate data usage when tethering and when not tethering.

As for who is getting nickel and dime the answer to that question would be both Verizon and AT&T customers. It would make it easier on customers and more viable for telecoms to enable tethering on set data bucket plans. Example I have a promotional data plan $30.00 for 6 GB data which includes tethering for free. Why can't Verizon and AT&T do the same? Answer is they want to price gouge American consumers or mislead their customers regarding their so called "unlimited data" plans when in actuality they have usage restrictions in place.

This post has been edited by Imagine_Engine: 25 January 2011 - 09:07 PM

[chrisdpratt]

Stupid move Verizon. This *could* have been a selling point. Instead, you've reduced it to a completely useless feature. 2GB is nothing for a device acting as a hotspot. You could probably go through that in a week running you laptop off its connection. I'll stick with MyWi -- screw the carriers.

[macnews]

Can we all agree this is just stupid? WiFi sharing should be a feature of the phone. Controlled by the phone manufacturer NOT the cell carrier. The amount of data you use on a cell service should all come from the same pool, not their own pool of data. Data is data.

Doesn't matter AT&T or Verizon they both suck at times and are good at others.

[don731]

So something that I haven't seen in these announcements:
Will VZ also charge the $2.99 fee per month for visual voicemail? No charge on ATT.
While you certainly can get more with the VZ voice and data plans, they are more expensive.

I also noticed that for my corporate discount plan, ATT gives the discount to both of us on a two line family plan.
So we both get data/tethering at a discount.

When checking the VZ website (I put through an simulated order for another smartphone), the data and tethering charges for the second line did not receive a discount.

Other than better coverage where we live, work, and the locations we travel to on business, VZ (even with corporate discounting) is looking to be a more expensive bill every month for a two line family plan with data, messaging, visual VM, and tethering on both lines.

[sndcj1]

Now AT&T can implement what I thing would be a VERY competitive plan (based on their current offerings with a few tweaks):
Base Plans:
$15 - 200 meg - overage charged at $5 for additional 200 meg - not the obscene $15 for just 200 meg more
$25 - 2000 meg - overage charged at $10 for additional gig - current
Tethering:
$20 - 1000 meg (additional to any plan) wifi/usb/bluetooth

This would give real (but in my opinion reasonable) seperation in plans and options for users. People who need to tether get more than "just the right" to plug a cable in (the additional gig of data), and the option of starting with a lower plan if they are not heavy data users.

[kronos46]

Tethering should not be an extra fee on top of your data plan. The iPhone is still the device consuming the data not the connected device. This is price gouging at its worst. The other problem is Verizon is only offering the unlimited data plan for a short time. So what will they change it to after the short period, once they see how much data the iPhone users will start to consume? It is documented that iPhone users consume the most data out of all smart phones. The other question is will Verizon be able to handle the jump in data consumption?

[icerabbit]

sndcj1, on 26 January 2011 - 07:32 AM, said:

Now AT&T can implement what I thing would be a VERY competitive plan (based on their current offerings with a few tweaks):
Base Plans:
$15 - 200 meg - overage charged at $5 for additional 200 meg - not the obscene $15 for just 200 meg more
$25 - 2000 meg - overage charged at $10 for additional gig - current
Tethering:
$20 - 1000 meg (additional to any plan) wifi/usb/bluetooth

This would give real (but in my opinion reasonable) seperation in plans and options for users. People who need to tether get more than "just the right" to plug a cable in (the additional gig of data), and the option of starting with a lower plan if they are not heavy data users.

No, no, no.

It should be $5 for 512MB, $10 for 1 GB, etc without requiring a customer to buy blocks larger than they need to avoid getting penalized. Just keep a rolling tally of actual use like any other company does or just do flat rate, one price fits all.

It is obscene to charge $15-20 for a measly 150-200MB, just like it is obscene to charge 20c per text message.