switching o2 to three, couple tethering questions

welshboy

welshboy

welshboy

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Im currently on o2 contract with only 500mb data which once used then just slows the internet down.

Im considering going on three, then I can tether my ipad mini.
o2 isnt the greatest signal in my neck of the woods. three looks ok.

just to confirm, i cant tether my ipad to my iphone unless im on the one plan can I? or will it let me because its a mobile device?
I dont want to tether any of my home computers. its just when im travelling?

thanks
 
Yes, you need to have the one plan to tether sadly. Unlimited internet doesn't cover it and from what I read they closed the way of getting around that.

I have used 22gb this month on the one plan with 70% of that tethered to a laptop and the rest just on the phone itself. Pretty much all streaming of netflix, 4od, tvcatchup and iplayer etc.
 
I occasionally tether my n7 to my n4 and used to do the same with my Note either with a £15 payg or my current sim only year plan, just to browse in the bath or briefly around a friends house, nothing has ever happened to stop me or complain.
 
welshboy said:
Im currently on o2 contract with only 500mb data which once used then just slows the internet down.

Im considering going on three, then I can tether my ipad mini.
o2 isnt the greatest signal in my neck of the woods. three looks ok.

just to confirm, i cant tether my ipad to my iphone unless im on the one plan can I? or will it let me because its a mobile device?
I dont want to tether any of my home computers. its just when im travelling?

thanks
Click to expand...

I have always used a £15 payg three sim to tether using my android device when I need to, never had any issues. I also had a rolling contract earlier (not the one plan-but with unlimited internet) and used it to tether. Once again I was using an Android phone.
 
Isn't it only with iPhone they can detect you're tethering? Where as with Android they can't even detect you're tethering at all.
 
blueacid said:
Friend is on a 1GB limit plan with them. They spotted it when he tried to tether through his Android phone.
Click to expand...

AFAIK There's no way for the network to check if the WL hotspot mode is being used on an Android phone and connected to other mobile devices, the only way for them to spot is by looking at excessive usage.

As I mentioned earlier I used a sim only £12.90 Unlimited plan and used to tether allot with no issues but then again I may've been lucky.

PS: If there's a limit on the plan they shouldn't be bothered anyway as he cant use more than 1GB
 
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Typically when your phone is acting as a router it'll reduce the TTL on each TCP packet by one (as a router is supposed to do)

...This sticks out like a sore thumb. In the same way that a bloke in camouflage might stand out a bit on the average high street.

So yes, tethering is quite easy to identify sadly. Certainly I was there when my friend was trying to get his tethering working and I couldn't figure any way around it. Once a computer had been connected to the phone's wifi, any connection from that computer (be it HTTP, SSH, VPN) was thwarted. As his handset wasn't rooted I couldn't SSH tunnel from the phone easily.
 
blueacid said:
Typically when your phone is acting as a router it'll reduce the TTL on each TCP packet by one (as a router is supposed to do)

...This sticks out like a sore thumb. In the same way that a bloke in camouflage might stand out a bit on the average high street.

So yes, tethering is quite easy to identify sadly. Certainly I was there when my friend was trying to get his tethering working and I couldn't figure any way around it. Once a computer had been connected to the phone's wifi, any connection from that computer (be it HTTP, SSH, VPN) was thwarted. As his handset wasn't rooted I couldn't SSH tunnel from the phone easily.
Click to expand...

I was considering OP's case three's tethering block works by checking the type of content opened. In OPs case tethering to ipad should be ok AFAIK.

Three's tethering detection works by checking the type of content that's opened hence TTL detection in this case is irrelevant this is the reason they are also able to block usb tethering/internet share to a pc as the content is opened through a non mobile source.
 
sonic_rm said:
I was considering OP's case three's tethering block works by checking the type of content opened. In OPs case tethering to ipad should be ok AFAIK.

Three's tethering detection works by checking the type of content that's opened hence TTL detection in this case is irrelevant this is the reason they are also able to block usb tethering/internet share to a pc as the content is opened through a non mobile source.
Click to expand...

It's DPI, plain and simple. This does not rely on one method. Phones in general do not report if they are using hotspot but one phone does, I'll leave it to you to speculate which ;)
 
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