SlashGear Japan
One of the things that many users of 3G enabled smartphones buy their devices for is so they can use them as modems for their notebooks and netbooks for Internet access on the go. Most mobile phone providers frown on this and some like AT&T outright block the capability for high-end devices like the iPhone.
A poster going by kevinapg has written at the Sprint suggestions forum that Sprint has blocked the ability to use mobile phones as a modem without notice. According to the poster when he purchased his device he was told that by using the Sprint Smartview software, he could use the handset as a modem and reportedly, he has used it as a modem for years. Kevinapg says he is investigating a law suit against Sprint.
Sprint now says that it has disabled this feature and the only way to use the handset as a modem again is to reduce the minutes to 900 rather than the users current Unlimited Plan. The other option is to pay a separate monthly fee for mobile broadband. A Sprint forum employee posted a response saying, “PAM has never been included in the Everything plans, so a lawsuit won’t get far. It would be different if it had ever been offered as an included option, but it hasn’t.” In other words, hahaha try it.
3 Responses to “Sprint has blocked phone use as a modem angering users”
jblake1030 October 30, 2009
This is the dumbest move ever.. What is the meaning of smartphone if you take tethering away. This is a big deal for millions maybe billions of smartphone users.
-3NVTX October 31, 2009
For me its a moot point now as I’m dropping Sprint three months into my contract.
In every email to my Sprint business plan rep, I repeated that I needed tethered modem access on two of my PDA/Smartphones. I got my Palm 775 to connect with no problems, but upgraded to the Palm Treo Pro with Windows. I haven’t gotten around to getting it to connect, but a CS rep me it can’t be done without a PAM plan added now (that was in early September). I’m on the business version of the Simply Everything plan with four phones.
I’m just tired of having several dropped calls every day, especially when I’m coordinating cut-overs with telco tech support. I know that all carriers have some problems, and coverage was all right in the parts of the country I tried it out; but after using it in two counties for the past two months, I realize this is simply not a good fit for me.
NeutralNVTX October 31, 2009
Side note…I have a grandfathered unlimited data card from several years ago and I only pull down about 20 GB per month. The reason for tethered phones was for the occasional need to get an internet connection for testing, perhaps 1 GB per month.
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