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Generally, people in the U.S. buy a phone from the telco itself, and specific companies customize the software and packaging of their phones. Sometimes, differe
by khedoros 10y ago
Generally, people in the U.S. buy a phone from the telco itself, and specific companies customize the software and packaging of their phones. Sometimes, different models are produced for sale by specific telcos.
I understand and agree with the outrage you feel, but the status quo is powerful and slow to change. There are telcos that explicitly provide tethering in their plans as a standard feature, and bringing an outside device to operate with the telco is easier than it used to be, so maybe things are starting to shift.
- unlinker 10y agoNot on Verizon, though.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoI tether with my stock Verizon phone purchased from Verizon, no problem.
- unlinker 10y agoHm, I meant as far as I know you can't bring your own phone to Verizon.
- whatthesmack 10y agoYou can. I just bought my phone separately because Verizon wanted an extra $20 a month if I got the subsidized phone + contract, but I'd rather not have a contract.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoAnd they dropped my bill $20/month or so after my contract was up.
- forgottenpass 10y agoYou can, just pop in a Verizon SIM. They act like you need a whitelisted IMEI, but the network doesn't actually care. The tricky part is getting a SIM activated on their network. The store managers pretend like they can't give/sell just a SIM. They're supposed to give them to you for free, but lie to sell you a handset. You can buy them from resellers who DGAF. They also pretend you need a whitelisted IMEI to activate the SIM card, their website and in-store people enforce this rule. I've always had good luck calling their 1-800 number and playing dumb. At the very worst you can probably find an old or broken verizon phone for free/cheap and use that IMEI.