[Trekker]

People, people...

Tethering is not allowed by Sprint. The fact that Sprint has turned a blind eye to it so far is practically them doing us a *favor*, and we should return that favor by not abusing it.

I tether on the order of once a month, when I'm traveling, and when I do I just web browse and IM. My total monthly usage has never gone over 1GB even on a month when I tethered more than usual because my home DSL was down.

Sprint has always been nice enough to turn a blind eye to tethering, even though it's technically not allowed. We should be nice enough to not abuse it, and keep the usage down as much as possible, because if too many people abuse tethering we may end up with Sprint putting technological measures in place to stop it. This would be bad!

Good post! I also have to wonder why Sprint just doesn't officially allow tethering as an add on package like they used to do on some phones.

[Trekker]

How can they tell you're tethering???

Well, supposedly Sprint has the ability to see every app you have on your phone and even remotely kill it if they choose to.

Seeing something called "My Tether" would probably give them a good hint.

[2sslow]

Well, supposedly Sprint has the ability to see every app you have on your phone and even remotely kill it if they choose to.

Seeing something called "My Tether" would probably give them a good hint.

You are confused! palm has the ability to see apps and kill them not Sprint, Sprint has the ability to monitor you usage.

[Trekker]

You are confused!

Wouldn't be the first time.

palm has the ability to see apps and kill them not Sprint, Sprint has the ability to monitor you usage.

Well, there are probably Palm and Sprint reps in bed with each other (both literally and figuratively) so I'm sure Sprint would be able to find out who is tethering if they really wanted to.

[zorinlynx]

Good post! I also have to wonder why Sprint just doesn't officially allow tethering as an add on package like they used to do on some phones.

I suspect they just don't want to deal with the increased network load from idiots running torrents over the network, and having to castigate such people and kick them off the network.

Really, you'd be surprised how some people are. You give them an inch, they take ten miles. Maybe they realize that those of us who hack tethering are likely to be more responsible when using it, since we're smarter than the average bear. Which is why it's not that hard to hack.

[jbg7474]

You are confused! palm has the ability to see apps and kill them not Sprint, Sprint has the ability to monitor you usage.

I think the way My Tether works would make it pretty difficult for Sprint to tell who is tethering and who isn't just from the network traffic, but I'm not 100% certain about this. In tethering apps for PalmOS (I used to use USBmodem), your computer actually logged into the Sprint network. With My Tether, your phone is still the primary network client, and it just passes data over to your computer. So unless they are actually reading all the data (doubtful) to see which applications are doing the talking, I think it doesn't look any different to them. Again, I could be wrong about this, and I'd love to be told if I am.

Palm can see the installed apps, so there's certainly a way for Sprint to find out if you're tethering. But if the network traffic doesn't look any different, and there isn't a huge volume increase, it doesn't seem like it should bother them very much. I think you're pretty safe tethering from time to time in limited circumstances. I think people who are using tethering to replace their DSL connection permanently are the ones who are more likely to get caught.

[anon(357286)]

Agreed. As a group we should agree to limit tethering to less than 1 GB / month in order to protect us all...

1 gb!
i don't tether....yet and i still average over 3 gb a month

[NxTech3]

you have unlimited data usage through the device, what MyTether does, and other apps and registry edits out there do, is make Sprint think you are using the phone to access data not a computer. Even if they see over 5GB of data, its channeled through the phone not PAM, so they wont say anything. I work for Sprint and i also have a personal account through them and i constantly use over 5GB since its my primary internet connection, and in the three years ive been using WinMo ive never had them say or charge anything to me.

[spiritcrusher34]

Ok i was a die hard tethering person for 6 years. I used bout 4 to 8 gigs a month..never had a problem.. I did dl torrents.. mainly music never video.. but finally got dsl service out here and havent tether in 4 months. and still use bout 2 gigs a month on my pre.

I also think that your location has something to do with it..I think someone in a busy city will get in trouble before someone like me will.. as i live 13 miles out in the country. right by a tower.. Just a thought?


but if u stay consistant with your data usage and not go over the magic 5 gigs.. u shall be ok..

[odm4286]

sounds good guys good to see someone that worked for sprint up here i think we should be ok. But im curious to see someone really push it like maybe use rtorrent on the phone and download 25 gigs of data one month just to see sprints reaction. Also, why unlimited data for the phone but not for an aircard?

[forrest09]

The fact is, those of us who pay out the **** for unlimited data can use whatever amount we want. i use my pre for my pandora, poker, and normal net use so im sure im up there, the fact is we pay for "unlimited" data, i sure as heck am gonna take full advantage of that! if i wanted a 5G limit id get an aircard! i pay for unlimited, im gonna use it!

[premann2009]

man this is great

[odm4286]

im close to 10 gigs this month and no trouble so far

[beachboy]

Sprint says unlimited data on the Everything account, then how can they limit you to 5GB whether you are tethering or not? Given the card legal says no more than 5GB I understand that, full disclosure that was agreed to, but unlimited is unlimited. With that said I also agree there is no sense in stretching the envelope just to test it.

Maybe I need to read my agreement and find references to tethering NOT allowed, or can someone save me the time and link to the reference if it exists?

[odm4286]

i think we're all ok right now sprint is hurting for business