Before I start, this is not an Apple bashing thread. If that is your aim please move on, we do not need "buy and Android" or "jailbreak" response.

With that out of the way...

The new ios 4.3 is out and now we have the option to set our iphone 4 as a wi-fi hotspot, except most of us don't do we?!

If you are on 3 then you are lucky, I also read T-Mobile are the same, as they allow you to use the feature with no additional bolt on.

I am an o2 customer on an unlimited simplicity tariff. If I have unlimted data why should I have to pay £7.50 a month for data I already have and a feature that I will only use occasionaly. I will use it once in a while, but not 500mb worth and certainly not enough to justify £7.50 a month.

Is it ethical for the networks to charge us to use this feature when we mostly stick within our monthly data allowance? I currently use on average 266mb a month, so even if I was on a capped 500mb plan I would still not exceed my allowance. This means I have used less than half of the minimum I would be allowed on o2 and yet I am still expected to pay for the Bolt On. This just not make sense to me and I'm sure I am not the only one.

Surely it makes more sense for the networks to allow this feature by default with no extra charge, until you exceed your monthly allowance, at which point you will have to pay for more data? If I ever exceeded my data for the month then I would have no qualms about paying the additional fee, but I am disgusted they want the money up front just to unlock the feature and then to cap it again at 500mb.

The same networks do not stop Android phones from enabling this function, so should they be allowed to descriminate against different phone users? In a world where car insurance and pensions etc all have to be equalised and no one can be treated any differently regardless of sex, age, sexuality or race, then can phone companies legally descriminate against people who use one type of phone?

The networks would easily make money if they charge once over the allowance as more people are likely to use the feature and possibly go over their allowance. At the moment I would imagine most of us look at the feature, see if it is free, realise they want to charge us £x to use it and then think "stuff that" and never think about it again.

Apart from moving network, which is something I have no desire to do, is there anything that could be done to shame the networks into dropping such descrimintaiton and taxing iphone users as they see fit. Would this be worthy of an investigation via Ofcom/Oftel or whatever body it is that oversees the networks. Do you think this would be worthy of an e-mail to Watchdog to see if they would look into it.

Or am I just being petty and should just put up and shut up?

I would really like to hear what all of you DS posters think (as requested sensible answers only that add to the discussion not diss Apple and their users!!!).

As far as I am aware, Android doesn't allow the networks to limit tethering and personal hotspot functionality in the same way iOS does.

It is unethical to effectively charge for the same product twice, but it's not currently illegal. The networks will argue that most people navigate mobile sites from their phones, which are lower bandwidth and thus easier to manage than full sites, so if they allowed people to use their phones to connect their PCs to the net then their systems would be overloaded and everything would go to hell. Of course, from the server's point of view it couldn't care less where the bandwidth was going or coming from, but they'll never tell you that.

I doubt any amount of consumer outrage could shame the networks into changing their stance. The best you could hope for is reporting them to trading standards and challenging to prove that the data sent by using a phone is physically different from the data sent by using a PC over the same connection.

The way I see it if you have a monthly data allowance of say 500mb then they should allow you to do what you like with that data. If you have unlimited data however I can understand there being a restriction on tethering.

If anything, it's probably advantageous to them that you use up your 500mb and then buy a bolt-on for more.

Exactly my point. If they allowed me to do the teathering/wifi then I would gladly give up the unlimited I now have and don't use to be able to have this feature available to me as and when I want it.

The two Orange iPhones in my house are also blocked, telling them to contact Orange UK to enable it. Fair to say they are rather annoyed they cant use it on their phones, but mine on T-Mobile can use it.

Are vodafone blocking it aswell, anybody know?

While they can't stop customers doing it technically, it's forbidden in the terms of the contract.

Apple is in bed with its carrier partners so it panders to their demands.

Not with most things though. There are very few parts of iOS that the networks can control and lock down. Other platforms allow the networks to do much more. It's just unfortunate that the tethering option is like this.

Do the bolt-ons give you more data, or are you just paying to use your existing data allowance on more than one device? If it's the latter, that seems utterly ludicrous.

I've just updated my 3GS on Vodafone and Personal Hotspot is there in settings.

I went in to enable it and was surprised to see it allowed me to enable it and connect to the tinterweb on my netbook with it.

I didn't think the 3GS was getting it and didn't think Vodafone would allow it.

Anyone else got it on a 3GS? Anyone else got it working on Vodafone?

On O2 it's a £7.50 bolt on for 500mb of tethering data. However, for me that is 500mb on top of unlimited so effectively it is activating the bolt on but restricting my data usage.

Mobile networks for a long time now have banned users from using their phones in such a way. Even if it were possible for the user to actually do it, as in the feature on the phone wasn't blocked, networks would be monitoring people's usage and if they suspected they were using their phone in this way they would warn them.

It just so happens now due to the way iOS works networks are able to block this feature on the phone directly instead of having to monitor it.

Yes it may seem wrong, you might have 500Mb so why can't you use it the way you see fit. I agree. But it seems some people are taking this as if the networks are singling out Apple users, when in fact it's only because they actually have control over this feature on the phone. I'm sure if they could they would do it on all phones regardless of the OS.

Networks are a business, they want people to sign up to their mobile broadband service if they want this feature. Simple really.

Red Arrow, I completely agree. It's annoying that on iOS devices the facility is locked down, but using the phone for tethering is in breach of the Ts&Cs of most contracts.

You could argue that a PC can place a lot more load on the network than a phone can - for example do you see many phone-based torrent clients (which will place sustained downstream and upstream traffic on the network)? Or people trying to stream YouTube HD at several Mbps (instead of the 3G friendly mobile version)? Ditto iPlayer.

For that reason, some networks choose to differentiate tethering. I don't see the big deal.

As i posted on the other thread:

Free tethering coming to O2 soon.


From O2s twitter feed - http://twitter.com/O2

"soon launching new tariffs" at what extra cost i wonder it will not be free whats the problem, most packages have a limit now whats the problem using it on a phone slowly or a bit faster on a laptop?

I suppose it's the argument raised above - using a computer can place strain on the network. But then again, presumably people on a tethering contract use the same network as those without.

I don't understand it - surely if I had the hotspot option, I would be more likely to go over my 500MB data allowance and on to billable data use. Surely that's what the networks want?

O2 don't bill if you go over though, they throttle

Though I have a feeling this may change on their new tariffs

Thank you for that update, this is one of the reasons I started this thread. Let's hope it is actually free and not a £5 bump up on existing tariff costs as I suspect it will be.

If it is designed to entice people off their unlimited plans and down to the 500mb plans with the intention of selling bolt ons after you exceed your data limit (regardless of how you use it) then sign me up! At the time the iPhone 4 came out I was anxious to retain my unlimited data but even though I did by signing up to an iPhone simplicity a few days before the changes, I've since realised that I just don't need all that data. 500mb is plenty for me at the moment, I would say being a fairly average user but one that uses all of his iPhone features, it seems that maybe the networks did get the 500mb limit right. For most of us it just isn't an issue.

Now just let me use that data however I want to and that's me sticking with O2.

Personal hotspot is there on the 3gs but is limited to usb or bluetooth only as the original tethering option was. The Wifi Hotspot is iPhone 4 only.

Part of me is glad that the likes of o2 are going to allow this, even if this is with an additional cost. But part of me is annoyed too at the reaction from Apple users. I'm not saying this is the case in this forum, but elsewhere on the net and in the 'real world' I've seen people annoyed this feature has been disabled on the phone by the networks. Yet when you explain to them that it's been against the T&C for years for everyone to do this and that they are just reinforcing this by disabling they won't have any of it.

Apple has given them a new feature, they want it regardless of the fact others haven't been allowed to do it for years. It's almost like they have caught up with the rest of the mobile world, but instead of just being content and accepting it they have decided to cause a fuss.

Then again I suppose you can argue that it's good that a group of people have decided to stir things up a bit surrounding this issue.

Yes but my point is that whether you download apps on your phone or MP3s on your PC, data is data and is downloading at the same speed. For those on capped data plans, or "unlimited" with fair usage, it shouldn't matter how you use your data allowance. 500mb over a phone is the same as 500mb over a PC. Whether they do this in 30 mins or 30 days is up to the user either way.

I agree. It's your data allowance so you should be allowed to use it as you see fit.

Thing is with networks trying to push mobile broadband they don't want users to connect their laptops to the net via other means. They are a business after all.

Apple made it possible to be turned off by the provider, they try to be seen nice with both the end user and the provider. So it's not lovely Apple and bad bad mobile provider. Anyway this can really be a problem only with various unlimited data plans, where it makes a difference if the line is used by one or five devices. But any limited plan there's not really a reason to have this turned off, is it. Or are they really expecting people to buy a separate plan for each device?

I personally blame Apple in all this, on my iphone if i try to set up tethering/person hotspot i get a message about contacting orange, however if i take my sim card out, use the adaptor that came with my sim card a put it back in my N95 8gb i can tether as much as i want using USB, so if Apple didnt mess about with it and didnt put a restriction on it it would work

Surely when the 4.3 jailbreak eventually makes its way onto the internet we'll be able to tether without any additional cost like on Android devices?

It may be 'your data allowance' but it is only 'your data allowance' for your use on your phone as stated in the T&C. I don't want my mobile browsing on my phone using 'my data allowance' slowed down because people are consuming bandwidth with this option. Our mobile network infrastructure is to crap to cope with it and we will all lose.