• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Cancel landline + DSL to get T-Mobile $30/month plan w/5gigs data and tether?

JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
I'm playing $25/month for 1meg Verizon DSL.
I'm also paying $20/month for a landline (for the DSL).

every other option is more expensive (ie: FIOS double play phone + internet is like $60/month + $30 in taxes/fees 😡 )

but someone in another thread mentioned this pre-paid T-Mobile plan:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

$30 per month — Unlimited web and text with 100 minutes talk.
(This plan is only available for devices purchased from Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com.)


tethering that to my laptop sounds really attractive.
so whats the catch??
 
For one thing after 5GB/month you get dropped to 3G, which for me is about 1.5Mbps.
 
Ken g6 said:
For one thing after 5GB/month you get dropped to 3G, which for me is about 1.5Mbps.
Click to expand...
T-Mobile throttles down to closer to edge speeds when you hit your data limit, not 3g. It's usually about 100kbps. It's ok for checking email or some web browsing but nothing more.

The T-Mobile Wal-Mart plan is only really suitable as a landline replacement if your usage is going to be less than 5gb per month.
 
cpacini said:
T-Mobile throttles down to closer to edge speeds when you hit your data limit, not 3g. It's usually about 100kbps. It's ok for checking email or some web browsing but nothing more.

The T-Mobile Wal-Mart plan is only really suitable as a landline replacement if your usage is going to be less than 5gb per month.
Click to expand...

EDGE meets all 3G standards promulgated by the International Telecommunication Union.
 
lol 5GB cap. No way I'd do that. Mind you that's a great cap for cellular. Here the caps are in MB. I don't even have data on my phone, no point.

I used like 2GB in the last 24 hours, and I barely even did anything on the computer. That's just random web browsing, youtube, etc and background stuff. I was not even on all day.

Bandwidth goes fast.

Though if they don't overcharge at all, and simply throttle, then I suppose that's a viable option if even the throttle speed is faster than your current connection.

I think they have ways of knowing if you are tethering though and could maybe charge differently. To ensure it's exactly like the traffic is coming from the phone I would look into some kind of app that can make it act like a router then your network's default gateway would be set to the phone. I think that would work.
 
Tethering may require foxfi or similar to keep Tmobile from knowing you are tethering. I've only been playing with it for a month, and its been low priority.

So far works great when I don't use it.
 
Using the foxfi app or rooting the phone will bypass the account check that your phone will attempt before it allows you to tether
 
There's a lot of misinformation in this thread.

There is no tethering fee on TMobile. You can do it straight from your phone, but they'll throttle your connection if you go over the allowable limit via tethering. For example, if you get an unlimited plan, you can use unlimited data on your phone, but you can only use a preset amount via a tethered connection, e.g. 1/3/5/7/9/11/etc. GB. It all depends on the plan you choose, but you can definitely tether whenever you want. Note: once you hit the limit, the connection will still show 3G/4G/LTE/whatever, but the bandwidth will be throttled to Edge, which is pretty damn slow. It still works well enough for GPS, email, and very light browsing, but you can definitely feel it.

OP, I did exactly what you're wanting to do for 3 weeks before I had a home internet connection. We eventually hit our data limits on both phones, which caused the connections to be artificially throttled until the next cycle, but that was it. I upgraded our plans that month to 3 GB for a total of 6 GB, which was plenty for a few weeks of light internet usage. Most of the people telling you it's not possible are probably using idiotic amounts of bandwidth to sit around watching netflix all day. If you're used to that place called 'outside', you can be successful with the concept in your OP.
 
I have the 30 dollar plan. I tethered for a bit at school the other day.

When I went into my account settings it said I had used 24 megs of my 100MB tethering allotment.

So, yeah, I would not recommend that for regular use.
 
I used to do this with my Verizon LTE since the old unlimited plan did not block tethering. It worked great until their 2012 (or was it 2013?) holiday sale which pushed out a ton of 4G LTE phones and my speeds plummeted.

I was using 100gb a month with no issues besides my Galaxy Nexus feeling like lava.
 
MrDudeMan said:
There's a lot of misinformation in this thread.

There is no tethering fee on TMobile. You can do it straight from your phone, but they'll throttle your connection if you go over the allowable limit via tethering. For example, if you get an unlimited plan, you can use unlimited data on your phone, but you can only use a preset amount via a tethered connection, e.g. 1/3/5/7/9/11/etc. GB. It all depends on the plan you choose, but you can definitely tether whenever you want. Note: once you hit the limit, the connection will still show 3G/4G/LTE/whatever, but the bandwidth will be throttled to Edge, which is pretty damn slow. It still works well enough for GPS, email, and very light browsing, but you can definitely feel it.

OP, I did exactly what you're wanting to do for 3 weeks before I had a home internet connection. We eventually hit our data limits on both phones, which caused the connections to be artificially throttled until the next cycle, but that was it. I upgraded our plans that month to 3 GB for a total of 6 GB, which was plenty for a few weeks of light internet usage. Most of the people telling you it's not possible are probably using idiotic amounts of bandwidth to sit around watching netflix all day. If you're used to that place called 'outside', you can be successful with the concept in your OP.
Click to expand...

As an extension of my previous post:

Turning on the hotspot is built-in to iOS (I don't know about Android):

IMG_0798.PNG


With the data plans that don't differentiate between hotspot and phone data, it all counts toward the monthly total:

2.png


If you want to upgrade the plan, there are options available with unlimited phone + a set amount of hotspot data as I mentioned in my last post:

3.png
 
MrDudeMan said:
As an extension of my previous post:

Turning on the hotspot is built-in to iOS (I don't know about Android):

IMG_0798.PNG


With the data plans that don't differentiate between hotspot and phone data, it all counts toward the monthly total:

2.png


If you want to upgrade the plan, there are options available with unlimited phone + a set amount of hotspot data as I mentioned in my last post:

3.png
Click to expand...
The plan the OP, was referencing is only $30, but limits tethering to 100 mb per month. On android the tether limit can be bypassed via foxfi or root (not sure if they is an ios equivalent), but data would be throttled at 5gb. I suspect the price was the main selling point for the OP, but this would only be worth while of he didn't exceed his 5gb data cap.
 
cpacini said:
The plan the OP, was referencing is only $30, but limits tethering to 100 mb per month. On android the tether limit can be bypassed via foxfi or root (not sure if they is an ios equivalent), but data would be throttled at 5gb. I suspect the price was the main selling point for the OP, but this would only be worth while of he didn't exceed his 5gb data cap.
Click to expand...

Oh, I missed that part. I saw $30 and assumed it was only data.
 
FoxFi is a good app. It works great for wifi sharing or USB tether.

I dropped my hi speed internet a few months ago. At $60/month, it's going to save me $720 this year by tethering instead. I only tether when I need to and try to keep my usage under 5GB/month. I figure if I can save a few grand that way until I get more time for Xbox Live again, I'll do it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top