Comments on: Android hacker Koush makes mobile internet tethering undetectable by carriers

By: Kiisu888

Kiisu888 — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:52:00 +0000

Sprint already charges 4g capable phone users an extra $10 a month for a service they can barley provide, except in theory
anyway all their coverage maps are BS I have been to several locations in NY city they claim nearly the whole city is 4g but its more 10% at best, then they have nerve to charge you another $30 a month on top of the $30 a month your already paying to use a capability your phone should already have, I root everyone I knows friends and co workers so they can use the data plan they pay for Instead of getting bent over by Sprint and end up getting something they don’t need Like the 3g USB dongle that costs $50 just for the stick and $30 a month for another line of service.

By: geolemon

geolemon — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:21:00 +0000

I agree with data caps in place. If you are paying for 2 gig of data – who cares how many devices you distribute that data usage across? That’s stealing to charge more for it – unless, like Swattz101 said, they correspondingly increase your data cap. Otherwise – what are you paying for?

I’m torn on the issue with Sprint. I have Sprint, I would not want to take advantage of them as they offer unlimited data – but then again, on my home FiOS account, Verizon doesn’t care how many PC’s, tablets, or when I connect to the internet using Wifi on my phone – and there’s no cap. I think for ALL wireless carriers, the whole notion of a cap is pure greed, and not demonstrating customer-oriented integrity.

Particularly users like me. I never really have the need to tether. I never have, actually.
Curiosity about tethering certainly wouldn’t find me paying $30-$40/month!
But I have a Galaxy Tab, 7″ model.
Consider this scenario:

I’ve got a car dock cradle for my phone, suction cups to my windshield, charges my phone and lets me listen to Pandora on my 20 min commute on the way home (and realistically, I almost never do this either, I have Sirius radio in my car).

So I almost never listen to Pandora in-car anyway, but let’s say I did, And let’s say I made a holder for my tablet, and thought “hey, it might be safer/easier/clearer to have a larger display to poke in the car, compared to my phone.”
Now, I’d just be using the same internet that I’d have been using with the phone anyway.
Why would I pay even $1/month more for this? I’m not using one byte more bandwidth than I would have – It’s lunacy to pay more. They wouldn’t see a blip of difference.

It might be a different story if I were a user trying to tether to his entire house, or even if my phone were my only internet connection… that brings me back to “I’m torn” – for unlimited service.
But for data that is capped? You are clearly buying a set amount of data usage there. How you use it is up to you, how they cap it is up to them, IMO.

By: joe dev

joe dev — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:04:00 +0000

Oh look, Humpty Dumpty tried to grow a beard!

By: swattz101

swattz101 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:06:00 +0000

I would not have as much of a problem with the extra fees if they doubled my data cap. Of course, in a perfect world, Unlimited Data would truely be unlimited and there would be no charge for tethering either.

By: Mack Knife

Mack Knife — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:29:00 +0000

Charging for tethering is the same as stealing money from users. So long as you are paying for data what is the justification for it? It is time for people to start organized boycotts of carriers that abuse their tight knit cartel status in the USA. Even the government doesn’t collect extra fees based upon how many people are in a car going through a toll booth. They do charge by axles but that is because in general, a three or more axle vehicle transports goods for commerce and are very heavy, thus the connection to increased road damage.

There is no additional burden on the carrier when someone tethers. It is a scam of billion dollar proportions.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:33:00 +0000

Congratulations, but we’re talking about the USA here.

By: Hajurpaga

Hajurpaga — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:30:00 +0000

there is no cost to tether from phone to laptop here in ASIA.

By: Chris Burns

Chris Burns — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:31:00 +0000

RAAGGGHHH!

By: Chris Burns

Chris Burns — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:30:00 +0000

A hacker in the sense I’m speaking about is someone who has an anti-authoritarian approach to software development. Simple as that. Hacker doesn’t have a hard and fast single term.

By: Ubernerdius

Ubernerdius — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:31:00 +0000

God damn it. No, no, no, no, no! You’re not a hacker if you simply rehash methods created by other hackers. You’re a hacker if you, by your own ingenuity or whathaveyou, come up with a way to bypass a specific restriction. Like I’d be a hacker if by me being pissed off find out my bios password can be cracked by repeatedly hitting enter, but I wouldn’t be if I found a guide on the internet detailing how to do that.

By: Richard Crigger

Richard Crigger — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:10:00 +0000

This is a USB tether, not a hotspot!

By: Harold Schreckengost

Harold Schreckengost — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:29:00 +0000

Actually, you are. ”Hacking”, in its classical sense, is basically tinkering around and modifying. So, yeah, you are a hacker. Just not in the way the media uses the word.

By: Jim2006193

Jim2006193 — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:13:00 +0000

Please stop using the word Hack so much. I’m not a hacker because my phone is rooted and has a custom ROM…

By: Chris Burns

Chris Burns — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:28:00 +0000

yeah USA carriers is what i mean for the most part

By: the person

the person — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:47:00 +0000

carriers in Europe are not rapists like they are here in the states.

By: jcdr

jcdr — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:36:00 +0000

What part of the world or operators are you speaking about ? In Switzerland (and I think in most of the Europe) I do share my mobile connection and I was never charged differently that for the standard mobile data plan. Absolutely no need of a hacking or anything special to do that.

By: Victor Matson

Victor Matson — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 20:12:00 +0000

You mention hot spot, are you sure?