Tethering is definitely exciting, but I wonder if they will extend the functionality to allowing the iPhone to be a "mifi." USB tethering is all well and good, but that won't help me when it comes to my iPad.
I thought the tethering worked over wifi. Is that how it worked originally, before the option was shut down?
I thought the tethering worked over wifi. Is that how it worked originally, before the option was shut down?
That was how the first and only approved app for tethering worked. Netshare allowed yuo to share your connection via wifi. It was removed from the App store, then put back up and then removed again. Until Apple subsequently included USB/Bluetooth tethering in OS3, there was no tethering in the OS. The current tethering doesn't share over wifi.
Prepare for ATT's network to take a few steps back. All the improvements they made in SF and NY are going right down the drain when people hook their phones to their laptops. Anyway, I am sure there is gonna be a 5Gig limit, which will make tethering a much less attractive option (desktop sites are bigger then mobile sites and eat away your limit a lot quicker).
Prepare for ATT's network to take a few steps back. All the improvements they made in SF and NY are going right down the drain when people hook their phones to their laptops. Anyway, I am sure there is gonna be a 5Gig limit, which will make tethering a much less attractive option (desktop sites are bigger then mobile sites and eat away your limit a lot quicker).
There will be a hit, but it may not be as bad as you imagine. Sure, some people are going to try to over use it, but I think you will find that once the initial novelty wears off, usage will settle down and it won't be terrible. When people hook it up to their laptops on while away from wifi, they are mostly going to be doing web browsing and maybe some light downloading. My carrier (or maybe Apple's implementation) throttles my speed 500 Kbps when I tether my iPhone. Because of this, I wouldn't even consider using it as my primary data connection or even doing large downloads...they would just take too long. If as you suggest AT&T also imposes a 5GB limit or charges a tethering fee for the unlimited accounts, then that would be another limiter.
No question AT&T will likely buckle under the initial strain, but hopefully it all balances out.
I'm not american, but over here (UK) all the service providers charge extra for tethering so I don't see why it would be unreasnoable for AT&T to charge for tethering on the iPhone
Either charge for tethering or up prices on the data plan, that's how it works man.
Companies don't sell products and services for the fun of it, they do it to make money. If they didn't make money then why the heck would they bother dealing with people like you?
Stop torturing yourself and get a phone on a different carrier. I get 5 bars all the time down here in Portland, but I've been up there to Seattle, and I know it can be pretty spotty in places. For the money they charge, such performance is unacceptable. I wouldn't put up with it if I were you.
I live in Seattle and rarely have issues with AT&T service. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been dropped in the past 18 months, and rarely have an issue with being able to make a call.
Comments
Tethering is definitely exciting, but I wonder if they will extend the functionality to allowing the iPhone to be a "mifi." USB tethering is all well and good, but that won't help me when it comes to my iPad.
I thought the tethering worked over wifi. Is that how it worked originally, before the option was shut down?
I thought the tethering worked over wifi. Is that how it worked originally, before the option was shut down?
That was how the first and only approved app for tethering worked. Netshare allowed yuo to share your connection via wifi. It was removed from the App store, then put back up and then removed again. Until Apple subsequently included USB/Bluetooth tethering in OS3, there was no tethering in the OS. The current tethering doesn't share over wifi.
Prepare for ATT's network to take a few steps back. All the improvements they made in SF and NY are going right down the drain when people hook their phones to their laptops. Anyway, I am sure there is gonna be a 5Gig limit, which will make tethering a much less attractive option (desktop sites are bigger then mobile sites and eat away your limit a lot quicker).
There will be a hit, but it may not be as bad as you imagine. Sure, some people are going to try to over use it, but I think you will find that once the initial novelty wears off, usage will settle down and it won't be terrible. When people hook it up to their laptops on while away from wifi, they are mostly going to be doing web browsing and maybe some light downloading. My carrier (or maybe Apple's implementation) throttles my speed 500 Kbps when I tether my iPhone. Because of this, I wouldn't even consider using it as my primary data connection or even doing large downloads...they would just take too long. If as you suggest AT&T also imposes a 5GB limit or charges a tethering fee for the unlimited accounts, then that would be another limiter.
No question AT&T will likely buckle under the initial strain, but hopefully it all balances out.
I'm not american, but over here (UK) all the service providers charge extra for tethering so I don't see why it would be unreasnoable for AT&T to charge for tethering on the iPhone
Either charge for tethering or up prices on the data plan, that's how it works man.
Companies don't sell products and services for the fun of it, they do it to make money. If they didn't make money then why the heck would they bother dealing with people like you?
Stop torturing yourself and get a phone on a different carrier. I get 5 bars all the time down here in Portland, but I've been up there to Seattle, and I know it can be pretty spotty in places. For the money they charge, such performance is unacceptable. I wouldn't put up with it if I were you.
I live in Seattle and rarely have issues with AT&T service. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've been dropped in the past 18 months, and rarely have an issue with being able to make a call.