Get around unfair tethering limit

guineafowl21

guineafowl21

guineafowl21

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Joined
27 Dec 2014
Posts
6
Hi all,

I have no landline or fixed broadband in my house, and it would cost over 1000 GBP to install one which would only give around 1-2 mbps. Therefore for years we have been using a 15 GB monthly data SIM in a wifi 3G router. This eventually seemed not enough so I contacted Three UK, our mobile broadband provider, and asked them for an upgrade, seeing as I'd been a loyal customer for so long. They replied that there was no means of upping the data limit, but suggested I change to a mobile phone plan and put the SIM in the router. This worked for six months until Three kindly decided to cut off my internet connection and display a message that I could only use the SIM in a phone.

I rang to complain that our internet had been so rudely interrupted, and that the SIM was in the router on their advice, but they stood firm and suggested I put the SIM in a phone and use the unlimited tethering. This was not so good but I did it anyway and used a spare iPhone 4S permanently on charge and installed in an upstairs window for signal (there is no data signal in the house). Again, six months later I got a letter from Three saying the tethering limit on all plans was to be reduced from unlimited to 4GB. So again, we're buggered.

Is there any Tor-related way of fooling the network into thinking I'm using the phone for data (still unlimited) when I'm really tethering? I've heard talk of VPNs but am not sure how to do this. Another way might be to make my 3G router mimic a phone.

If you're questioning the morality of this, I'm in a remote area with very little use of the network, and object to paying a monthly fee for unlimited data that I can't use. After all, what difference does it make if I'm tethering or not? There is no alternative provider. Also, I'd like to do this little hack to stick it to the phone company as they've been b@stards to me.

Cheers
 
I pay £35 a month for 50gb 4g on EE using a 4g router it works really well
 
Have a look at Google play store for PDAnet+ and use this instead of your phone app when you use tethering.
The free version means you have to disconnect + re-connect after a period of time but the full version has no constraints, I paid £4.99 in November. I am getting no slower speed either, I am also on 3 network.
You download the phone app and an app for your computer,you can tell the computer app to connect to the PDAnet automatically when enabled on your phone.
 
I was under the impression that anyone with the pre -updated contract sim would remain with unlimited tethering, and only new contracts would have the limited tethering. I've had no problems tethering to my laptop when I'm in an area I get signal, but tbh I don't think I've reached 4gb in a long time on my three sim.
 
That sucks that unlimited mobile data isn't unlimited.

I have bt broadband adsl at 18meg which is truly unlimited (or etleast iv never had a bill for going over, infact they recently boosted my speed at no cost from 8meg to 18meg), no fiber here for another 6 months, I was thinking in the mean time using my iphone 5s and buying a cheap usb antenna and using 4g signal that I get around 40meg on, on EE and using that for downloading.

But I guess that would pee them off a bit, iv filled a 1tb drive in the past two weeks from downloading :p that's not including streaming on the catchup tv etc.
 
Mobile data is still unlimited (if that's what you want).

Tethering is now usually limited, because...


  1. Too many people decided to take the **** and use it as a home broadband replacement.
  2. 4G coming in makes #1 more attractive.
 
Hi all, thanks for the replies.

Mejinks - according to Three, they are limiting tethering because the regulator has told them to...

HAz - I don't get 4G here.

Philyaris - Yes, I was thinking of either PDAnet or Tetherme.

Wez130 - Three are kindly 'updating' everyone's contracts to eliminate unlimited tethering, even those like mine with grandfather rights.

IceShock - Agreed. Unlimited should mean just that, or don't sell the plan with the word plastered all over adverts.

Bremen1874 - Some may consider I am taking the ****, but I never get more than 4 meg when tethering, and I ask again: what is the difference between using data from your phone and from your laptop/tablet? If I had to, I could sit in the attic watching movies on the phone all day using its unlimited data. All I ask is that I can 'extend' the data stream into the house.
 
I never suggested that you were personally taking the **** with your use. I've seen historical posts from people sitting in good 4G reception areas using massive amounts of mobile data for Torrents and Usenet. They were basically using their connections 24/7 and bragging about it.

Three stopping their unlimited tethering is unfortunate, but understandable. My SIM only One Plan contract is due to expire in February and I'm sure they'll be forcing me to change contract (or cancel).
 
No offence taken, Bremen. If I were a mobile provider, especially Three, whose tagline is 'the network built for the internet', I would restrict tethering speed/bandwidth rather than the amount of data. Then everyone could use their unlimited data without hogging the network.
 
guineafowl21 said:
Wez130 - Three are kindly 'updating' everyone's contracts to eliminate unlimited tethering, even those like mine with grandfather rights.
Click to expand...

If that's the case then i'll be cancelling my contract come May. I was going to keep it purely for the unlimited tethering. I'll pop into a Three store tomorrow and confirm what they are planning.
 
I'm on a SIM-only One plan which I believe is 24-month rolling. As far as I can see no other UK provider offers unlimited tethering, and Three offers the most tethering data even after the 4GB limit comes in.
 
GiffGaff's unlimited data is actually unlimited, they specifically prohibit tethering though but if you have no qualms about working around that then it could be an option.
 
Clav said:
GiffGaff's unlimited data is actually unlimited, they specifically prohibit tethering though but if you have no qualms about working around that then it could be an option.
Click to expand...

Hi Clav,

What sort of workaround were you thinking of? PDAnet? Tetherme? I'd be interested if anyone knows of a VPN setup I could use in case the previous two don't work.

And no, I don't have any qualms about a workaround. As I've said, my max speed when tethering is about 4 mbps, which will hardly cripple the network, and I'm only using data I've paid for.
 
I tried PDAnet for educational purposes on my HTC One M8 on Three and it successfully hid the tethering usage as normal data usage - which is unlimited on my plan, where tethering is limited to 2GB / month.
 
Hi Monkeyhh,

That sounds ideal. Were you able to connect different devces such as laptops/PCs/tablets/phones as normal? Any sites that wouldn't work? Any glitches such as displaying mobile versions of sites inappropriately?
 
Realised I only tried it wired via USB to my desktop, so I just tried creating a wifi hotspot and everything seemed to function OK on my desktop connected to the hotspot (posting from it now). Not sure how long the Three app takes to update as you use tethering but it looks like it's hiding it. The free version of PDAnet works fine for testing, worth a shot I reckon and you don't need to use the desktop software if you're just doing things wirelessly (or I'm doing it wrong :)).

Edit - not actually sure if the wifi mode hid the tethering, or the tethering I did at work earlier reduced my available amount. Defo test it!
 
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