Cost of tethering an android phone with orange

DELETED_83755 · 2 May 2011 at 11:16

Hey Guys,

My virgin media internet has been awful for a while and don't think it will resolve any time soon. I was wondering how much it would cost (if at all ) to tether my Nexus S to my pc to do some internet browsing etc.

My Nexus S is on a 500mb data plan but I'm not sure if data for tethering is included in this. There isn't a lot of information regarding this on orange's website.

sarge78 · 2 May 2011 at 11:40

You'll be fine, I do the same. Although 500mb doesn't last very long

Streeteh · 2 May 2011 at 11:56

You're not meant to, most operators demand an extra fee (Vodafone want £15/month!), but many people do and haven't been caught. As far as i can tell, without thoroughly checking the nature of your data usage, they can't tell if you're using it or not.

manveruppd · 2 May 2011 at 12:32

Just do it and hope they don't notice. But even the worst cable connection will be faster than 3G I think... you really need to climb into Virgin's behind and kick all the furniture over until they come fix it for you!

Robbo · 2 May 2011 at 12:36

Streeteh said:
You're not meant to, most operators demand an extra fee (Vodafone want £15/month!), but many people do and haven't been caught. As far as i can tell, without thoroughly checking the nature of your data usage, they can't tell if you're using it or not.

This is correct, they cannot tell if you are tethering or not.

Just use the wifi hotspot feature and think no more of it, as long as you aren't going over the allowance.

manveruppd · 2 May 2011 at 12:49

Robbo said:
This is correct, they cannot tell if you are tethering or not.

They can, it's a simple browserid check. But I doubt alarm bells go off automatically, they probably need to manually check, which they'd only bother to do if you were going way above your allowance.

sarge78 · 2 May 2011 at 12:54

Hitting up M$ W7 update servers would give them a clue too

500mb per month is nothing, O2 have moved to free tethering because of it, the others will probably follow.

Robbo · 2 May 2011 at 13:07

manveruppd said:
They can, it's a simple browserid check. But I doubt alarm bells go off automatically, they probably need to manually check, which they'd only bother to do if you were going way above your allowance.

Considering how many customers the networks have I dont think they would bother, they will just alert/warn you based on your usage, not how you are using it.

DELETED_83755 · 2 May 2011 at 13:59

So the consesus is that I shouldn't be charged any extra for tethering as long as I stay within my 500mb data allowance on my contract.

I was worried they could somehow figure out when the phone is tethered and charge me out of the contract allowance.

manveruppd said:
Just do it and hope they don't notice. But even the worst cable connection will be faster than 3G I think... you really need to climb into Virgin's behind and kick all the furniture over until they come fix it for you!

You have not yet experienced Virgin Media in the area of Liverpool I live in. Its taken months of calling and complaining since we moved in and we still do not have a stable decent connection. It works sometimes and other times pages don't load. It is at this times that I really need internet.

muon · 2 May 2011 at 15:01

I did it loads whilst I was with orange. Since they only give fixed amounts, I don't think they care as it isn't possible to have an absurd usage amount.

Myshra · 3 May 2011 at 11:17

Robbo said:
This is correct, they cannot tell if you are tethering or not.

Wrong. I know the details of at least 3 of the networks and they can all tell with a trivial set of checks unfortunately. The fact that they do or do not check regardless of having the power to do so is marketing's decision and the more popular it becomes, the more likely it will probably be clamped down on.

Robbo · 3 May 2011 at 11:24

Myshra said:
Wrong. I know the details of at least 3 of the networks and they can all tell with a trivial set of checks unfortunately. The fact that they do or do not check regardless of having the power to do so is marketing's decision and the more popular it becomes, the more likely it will probably be clamped down on.

Thanks for clearing that up then chief.

I don't see the problem with it though, if you have a 500mb data limit and it is enforced properly, it shouldn't matter how you use it up, as it makes no difference surely?

Myshra · 3 May 2011 at 11:43

I honestly, 100% agree with you - please don't get me wrong. It's my data, and it's just that data - what it transports is my business. The massive force that is marketing has convinced people that a mifi is a good thing though, remember this is in the same market that Nokia has allowed tethering with all their phones since GPRS came out with the Nokia software. If they can convince people a mifi is a good idea when tethering existed for 13 years, you can bet they will try and hold on to every small stupid revenue stream they can. I do my bit in the fight by tethering everything though, god bless the USB, bluetooth or PAN hotspot - long my you reign.

If nokia kept it's market leading position I honestly think this would have panned out differently but yeah, we all know that story.

I can tell you that identification is a multi level approach and doesn't rely solely on a single item like a browserID (although this is pretty telling remember tablets are going to blur this line hugely in the next 24 months) but lots of windows services don't pretend to be gmail checking in etc...