Other than the fact that Three have always made it clear that tethering is not allowed on handset PAYG?

Well I wasn't informed of that when I bought the sim and its allowing me to do it, so I can only assume they got it wrong.

I was in a Three store today (Westfield, Stratford) and staff seem to believe AYCE data is definitely ending on PAYG this year. Management had told staff last year that it's time for Three to step up and stop being the budget/cheap network.

We obviously know this, but given the recent price hikes on tariffs, I wonder if we'll be seeing those AYCE add-ons phased out sooner rather than later?

That will of course solve the problem with people 'illegally' tethering, which has never been allowed. To the best of my knowledge there has never been any PAYG tariff or add-on that allows tethering on prepay.

Just like BT Mobile, just because it works doesn't mean it's allowed. And anyone claiming they didn't know, yet admitting they've got a load of SIMs lined up to replace any that get cut off, is quite funny!

This heavy tethering is the exact reason that Three have had to discontinue Unlimited Tethering. I know that it says unlimited but that doesn't mean you have to take the piss and use it as your home broadband, which it clearly isn't designed for. I suppose that it's partly Three's fault that they said it was unlimited but that would have remained if you didn't get people using hundreds of gigabytes each month.

/rant

If you are referring to me, I didn't say I had sims lined up.

edit: This is what Three says "When using data, tethering a phone to a laptop for internet use, using the SIM in a Mobile Broadband Device or using hotspot functionality is not included."

But clearly it is, because I'm using it.

Head offices do not share information like that with stores months in advance. The truth is that they haven't got the foggiest. They're just making it up.

It is entirely Three's fault. It wanted to acquire more customers and did, and now it has to deal with the aftermath of people using unlimited tethering.

But, PAYG was never offered for tethering. Three should be policing that more effectively.

And in due course, it will 'fix' the problem with contract users once everyone is out of contract, which could still be a while for some people who signed 24 month contracts the day before the One Plan ended.

He was giving an opinion, not stating anything official and I'm not trying to publish something as if I've got some insider scoop. But I think it's fair to say that AYCE data will be phased out, and starting with PAYG.

We can all see how the service has been getting worse in many areas for some months.

I don't disbelieve for one second that management have been broadly informing staff of the new direction the parent company is seeking to take with Three, as it's bloody obvious to everyone (and has already been confirmed elsewhere). Staff aren't all treated with contempt.

In terms of management wanting to inform staff that it's all about making money, and not being the 'small guy' is the way forward. Because that's exactly what's going to happen, whether we like it or not.

Most people don't use that much, they just like to know that those months where they do use a bit more won't cost them more.

For example I mostly use approximately 25 - 30gb a month. Its not hundreds, but some months its a bit more.

Even on a phone its quite easy to rack up the usage now that there are so many streaming services available via app (netflix, player, youtube, Periscope, etc) and phone screens are getting bigger, so media usage is on the increase and its easy to use Gb's.

I'd be quite comfortable with Three setting a limit of 50gb and a reasonable rate per Gb thereafter.

I totally agree that certain activities that use loads (Torrenting for example) are a problem, but except for that, I would bet most people fall into the -50Gb camp, even those who use it at home.

That's correct but a few months ago the £15 PAYG pack on Three's website changed from Unlimited data to 3GB. It soon changed back, but it must have happened for a reason.

I wouldn't be surprised to see it go. In some areas the network is on its knees due to congestion and ending cheap unlimited data is the only way to bring it under control.

I think its an excuse to make more profit by saying the problems are caused by data usage. Isn't the answer to improve the network? I mean, data usage is only going to go up, the network needs to upgrade everything to way above what is needed.

I joined Three for unlimited Tethering, they took my money for years, and now suddenly its deemed wrong to use the network for what they sold it to me as.

To be fair they need to deal with congestion in ways than restricting what users can do, but they are a small network at the end of the day.

No, Three are quite clear about PAYG tethering.

Just because it works doesn't mean that you can use it.

I could go out now and drive at 100mph down the M61 but I bet I wouldn't get away with it. You've been getting away with it for a while, doesn't mean you will forever.

Its worked for me from day one. I've asked Three about Tethering and they say "Its not included". When I pointed out my usage, I was told by foreign customer services that I was a "lucky guy".

People are obsessed with taking the side of the network, but that just gives them more power - if more people objected and left or threatened to the outcome might have been different. i.e.. An upgraded network and better data tariffs. As it is Three is joining the other rip off networks that offer such small amounts of data for a modern smartphone world.


if the feature is enabled, obviously I'm going to use it.

I just don't accept your if I can I will argument, that just doesn't work in the real world.

It is working, And has worked for 2 years.

I'm not trying to be arrogant, but Three profit is perfectly healthy (£86m in 2013 when Tethering was active), helped by foreign customer services and minimal corporation tax.

How old are you? 12?

"If it works I'll use it!"

"My car can do 150mph, so I'll do 150mph!"

"I can walk into Tesco and fill up a trolley and just walk out with it, so I will!"

"I can punch you on the nose, so I will!"

Just because you can do something doesn't mean you are actually allowed to do it.

but you should beware that you may loose it at any moment, and possibly face being kicked off the network that is banned from three and possibly O2 - merger permitting.

As for the one plan - im still chugging along on it - i tether although only lightly
Although it wasnt sold as a home broadband replacement ( fixed line ) i have no issues with people that use it as such, as from what i understand unlimited tethering was a feature so it could be argued that customers were only using what they paid for.

If it was putting the network under stress then three should have seen it coming and dealt with it in a fairer way by weaning the high users off by slowly limiting their data 80GB/month hard tethering cap , then 50, 30, 15, 5GB progressively over time giving the high users a chance to move to an alternative while keeping everyone else on the one plan ( with a new 5GB/month tethering limit )

None of that is relevant. We are talking about a network function here. Tethering happens to work on my phone. Whats the problem?

Take out a contract if you want to tether, and get home broadband if you need home broadband, the network is already becoming far less value for money than it used to be because of people like you acting as a freeloader using PAYG as a home broadband substitute.

You are having a detrimental affect on the usage of many other Three customers because of using the network in a manner you aren't allowed to.

You're willingly breaching the terms of a contract and posting about it online.

Many of the posters here see what you're doing as abuse of a service that is only going to make Three (like all of the other networks in the UK) seriously reconsider whether they can continue to offer unlimited data on PAYG.

As noted above this has an impact on other users of the network.

My Maserati does 185, I lost my license, now I don't drive

I can't believe this thread is still running. I thought everyone was jumping over to EE for a great service and leaving 3 so that the 'normal usage' customers could enjoy the extra bandwidth from a good provider.

It appears to me this was nothing more than bluff and bluster from the usual suspects. If you're going then for gods sake go and let the rest of us enjoy the service.

I was very close to going when;

a) I got the Dan & Phil SIM and had a very good experience (despite using MBB on EE for some time before, but only ever for connecting my laptop or Wi-Fi enabled camera to the net) that showed how much faster EE was than Three - not helped by Three being quite slow over Christmas and New Year.

b) There was a reasonable expectation that EE would offer something better than 10GB on SIM only, or 4GB on PAYG after the end of the 'trial'. That didn't happen. In fact, now it's 5GB or 4GB. And SIM only doesn't even let you add-on more than 100MB of data at a time. A total joke!

c) I was expecting to be kicked off the One Plan, which would have made it slightly easier to decide to move.

Because of issues I can't expand on as they were told to me in confidence, Three hasn't yet told everyone they need to change tariff yet - so I'd be rather stupid to voluntarily leave when I'm still able to pay just £15 and have unlimited data/tethering, and may still have a reasonable time before the inevitable happens.

However, my experience has been very bad for some time now and I'm quite disappointed because I'm not only losing data connectivity, but missing calls and texts (what few I actually get).

I'd like to stay with Three, and the speeds on 4G aren't too bad (or weren't), but it's proving to be quite testing.

I expect a lot of people feel the same way. It's only because EE seems to have become more greedy that has probably seen a fair few people not move anywhere.

To me, I can't figure out why the hell EE offered people 200GB a month and then had nothing even remotely close to offer afterwards. What was the point?

Otherwise I'd probably be on a SIM-only contract with EE now, and then see what happens with Three later in the year and possibly move back.

And that could still happen if EE does revise its tariffs in May.