How annoying! I have t-mobile and am planning a switch to verizon in february. Looking at there website I see now that they charge 15 bucks for tethering your phone to your computer for internet! It makes no sense, If you have unlimited data(which isn't unlimited) you still have to pay extra. Basically being billed twice for the same thing. t-mobile hasn't charged me for this and it was always valuable when I was away from home to have that ability for internet, particuarally in the car.
Verizon charges for tethering
- Thread starter Toddwsu2005
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That's to use Verizon's simple setup application. You can also purchase 3rd party software and run it. I called Verizon on this and they said they don't support 3rd party applications for tethering, only their own. Setup on these 3rd party applications is fairly simple.
Verizon offers other stuff like this including mobile TV but that doesn't mean you can't load your own and watch it from another source. I use sling, hulu and others.
The only carriers that have shut down and aggressively stopped use of unsupported 3rd party applications in general has been AT&T along with Apple for the iphone.
Verizon offers other stuff like this including mobile TV but that doesn't mean you can't load your own and watch it from another source. I use sling, hulu and others.
The only carriers that have shut down and aggressively stopped use of unsupported 3rd party applications in general has been AT&T along with Apple for the iphone.
I'm surprised Verizon doesn't charge for opening your phone (flip or slide)
I swear I miss Alltel
once my contract is up I'm going to AT&T or some other provider
I swear I miss Alltel
once my contract is up I'm going to AT&T or some other provider
Really it's $15.00 a month for the application? That doesn't make sense. Either way as far as applications go, I can use the dial up utility in windows with my blackberry on t-mobile to tether it. I believe you can do this with verizon as well but I'm not gonna do it if they charge me for it.
No No, they charge for the tethering service using their application. But, like mobile TV and GPS etc where they also charge for Verizon handling the service, you can go to 3rd party and do the same thing. FYI I use PDANET and it works great. I have the software loaded on my phone and the computer. Actually, I have the software loaded on 4 of my computers. I was away on a family mission last Spring and used PDANET for 5 weeks to sling my dish network to my remote location. I hit nearly the 5GB limit during that time and it was mostly slinging video every evening using PDANET to my desktop computer. It worked great giving me an average download of 1.6 Mbs. which did great running sling at full screen on a 24" monitor. When I upgraded my phone to the TP2, I simply reloaded the software to my TP2, entered my ser number and it now works on that phone too. 
I don't recall what PDANET sold for but I think it was $20.
Verizon makes these features available for a price which is fair game in business because there are many who just prefer to buy their service from the carrier. But that doesn't mean you must buy it from them. Just don't expect them to provide you with tech support on 3rd party applications and service.
I don't recall what PDANET sold for but I think it was $20. Verizon makes these features available for a price which is fair game in business because there are many who just prefer to buy their service from the carrier. But that doesn't mean you must buy it from them. Just don't expect them to provide you with tech support on 3rd party applications and service.
ramy- No, I don't use Verizon's products for these services. I don't pay extra for GPS, Tethering, ring tones, or the mobile TV. I also didn't pay for the transfer of my contacts and other data on the upgrade of the phone. They also charge for that but you can do it yourself for free.
As I stated before, Verizon just won't support what you run on the phone unless you bought it from them.
All this was verified when I had to contact them about my being away from my base for a solid 5 weeks last Spring. I understood correctly that if you do that they could disconnect your service, so I advised them that this is what I was doing and what I would be doing with the data. BY letting them know that the away from the base was a once and done thing, I saved from being disconnected. During that time I racked up just under 5Gb of data and ran over my minutes by a small amount. Their only concern for me was to advise me if I went over my data limit per month the cost would shock me. I recall several well meaning experts telling me there was no data limit but Verizon said otherwise.
As I stated before, Verizon just won't support what you run on the phone unless you bought it from them.
All this was verified when I had to contact them about my being away from my base for a solid 5 weeks last Spring. I understood correctly that if you do that they could disconnect your service, so I advised them that this is what I was doing and what I would be doing with the data. BY letting them know that the away from the base was a once and done thing, I saved from being disconnected. During that time I racked up just under 5Gb of data and ran over my minutes by a small amount. Their only concern for me was to advise me if I went over my data limit per month the cost would shock me. I recall several well meaning experts telling me there was no data limit but Verizon said otherwise.
I've tried BT and wifi tethering and I prefer to just use a USB cable. Wifi was a bit tricky to set up and BT was way too slow. USB 2.0 cable was great plus it was fast as launching the application and syncing. I'm on it right now from the hotel in Las Vegas. The speed here is 1.6 Mbs down on a connection to Jacksonville based server. I'm getting full screen PQ to my sling box. I hope this holds up once the show starts. Last year the speed fell off to about 400Mbs but never lost service.
Another thing the USB cable does is charge the battery while tethering.
I hope this holds up once the show starts. Last year the speed fell off to about 400Mbs but never lost service.Another thing the USB cable does is charge the battery while tethering.
