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The Galaxy S goes beyond tethering and has a Mobile AP feature which just turns the phone into a wifi access point that runs NAT in front of the 3g modem. Peop

The Galaxy S goes beyond tethering and has a Mobile AP feature which just turns the phone into a wifi access point that runs NAT in front of the 3g modem. People I know who still have 'unlimited' data plans have used this for weeks to provide internet to their whole household in the absence of working cable. I assume this feature is removed in the US carrier-modified firmware builds?

necubi 16y ago
It's still there in the Sprint version (Epic 4G), but you have to pay Sprint for the privilege. Alternatively, there are various 3rd-party firmwares which provide Wifi tethering for free. Ultimately these actions may drive free tethering a bit out of the mainstream, but no serious user is going to be deterred by removal from the Android market.
- bhousel 16y ago
  Oddly, I was able to tether for free on my Epic using the mobile hotspot app until Sprint pushed out the Froyo update about a month ago. Guess it's time to look into those 3rd party firmwares.
StavrosK 16y ago
My Desire HD does that as well, as do most (all?) other Android mobiles I've seen in Greece. However, we don't have unlimited data plans, we only have ones that cost 0.10 cents (yes, cents, apparently) per megabyte for overage.
- seabee 16y ago
  €1 per gigabyte is pretty reasonable as overage charges go...
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    It is. Unfortunately the call center rep was clueless and meant 0.1 EUR, so 100 EUR/GB. Let me tell you, that was one frustrating discussion. I don't know why people are having such difficulties with decimals...
  - shrikant 16y ago
    Only for reasonably numerate folks. See http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2006/12/verizon-doesnt-know-dollars-from-cents.html http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2006/12/verizon-doesnt-know-... for a related horror story (Verizon and USA, but the basic point holds - you should understand what they really mean, and logic/reason holds no relevance!)
    - StavrosK 16y ago
      Tell me about it. My conversation was: "Hello, could you tell me how much overage costs per MB?" "The rates are very low, 0.10 eurocents." "0.10 eurocents? Are you sure it's not 0.10 euros?" "No, it's 0.10 eurocents." "So 10 MB is one cent?" "No, one euro." "So it is 0.10 euro." "No, 0.10 cents. Let's say 0.1 cents, for convenience." "Okay, if it's 0.1 cents per MB, so 10 MB is 1 cent." "No, 1 euro." "But how can this be? 1 cent is already 0.01 euro, so 0.1 cents is 0.001 euro." "Look, the rate is 0.10 eurocents. If you can't understand this, 10 MB is 1 euro." "Okay, thanks. click"
sp332 16y ago
Yeah, I did that on Verizon one time when our DSL went out for a few days. I got a bill for $700 in overages. Sprint is better, it's about $30/mo. for unlimited (yes, actually unlimited) tethering.
- nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
  T-Mobile is even better by giving you free tethering on any mobile data plan, and afaik they don't restrict Android firmwares to remove the tethering and wifi hotspot options. I've been using the tethering on my android phones for almost two years and never had to pay anything beyond the standard data plan.
  - gamble 16y ago
    You can tell when a cell phone provider is in desperate straits - they're forced to please customers, instead of screwing them out of every last penny. I don't expect these policies to survive a merger with AT&T.
    - nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
      sadly, neither do I. T-Mobile was the only carrier in the US that actually operated like a European carrier. They had no problem selling you just a sim card, would charge you a lower monthly fee for buying your phone upfront and/or providing your own....
- abraham 16y ago
  Last I checked Sprint 3G had a 5GB/m limit while 4G is actually unlimited.
  - sp332 16y ago
    Nope, Verizon has a 5 GB limit, but I've had Sprint tethering for 6 months and they've never charged me an overage. But I'm not in a 4G market, maybe the rules are different there?
hammock 16y ago
You say that like it's a bad thing.
technomancy 16y ago
Yet another reason you have to be crazy to buy a phone with carrier firmware.

necubi 16y ago

It's still there in the Sprint version (Epic 4G), but you have to pay Sprint for the privilege. Alternatively, there are various 3rd-party firmwares which provide Wifi tethering for free. Ultimately these actions may drive free tethering a bit out of the mainstream, but no serious user is going to be deterred by removal from the Android market.

bhousel 16y ago
Oddly, I was able to tether for free on my Epic using the mobile hotspot app until Sprint pushed out the Froyo update about a month ago. Guess it's time to look into those 3rd party firmwares.

StavrosK 16y ago

My Desire HD does that as well, as do most (all?) other Android mobiles I've seen in Greece. However, we don't have unlimited data plans, we only have ones that cost 0.10 cents (yes, cents, apparently) per megabyte for overage.

seabee 16y ago
€1 per gigabyte is pretty reasonable as overage charges go...
- StavrosK 16y ago
  It is. Unfortunately the call center rep was clueless and meant 0.1 EUR, so 100 EUR/GB. Let me tell you, that was one frustrating discussion. I don't know why people are having such difficulties with decimals...
- shrikant 16y ago
  Only for reasonably numerate folks. See http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2006/12/verizon-doesnt-know-dollars-from-cents.html http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/2006/12/verizon-doesnt-know-... for a related horror story (Verizon and USA, but the basic point holds - you should understand what they really mean, and logic/reason holds no relevance!)
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    Tell me about it. My conversation was: "Hello, could you tell me how much overage costs per MB?" "The rates are very low, 0.10 eurocents." "0.10 eurocents? Are you sure it's not 0.10 euros?" "No, it's 0.10 eurocents." "So 10 MB is one cent?" "No, one euro." "So it is 0.10 euro." "No, 0.10 cents. Let's say 0.1 cents, for convenience." "Okay, if it's 0.1 cents per MB, so 10 MB is 1 cent." "No, 1 euro." "But how can this be? 1 cent is already 0.01 euro, so 0.1 cents is 0.001 euro." "Look, the rate is 0.10 eurocents. If you can't understand this, 10 MB is 1 euro." "Okay, thanks. click"

sp332 16y ago

Yeah, I did that on Verizon one time when our DSL went out for a few days. I got a bill for $700 in overages. Sprint is better, it's about $30/mo. for unlimited (yes, actually unlimited) tethering.

nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
T-Mobile is even better by giving you free tethering on any mobile data plan, and afaik they don't restrict Android firmwares to remove the tethering and wifi hotspot options. I've been using the tethering on my android phones for almost two years and never had to pay anything beyond the standard data plan.
- gamble 16y ago
  You can tell when a cell phone provider is in desperate straits - they're forced to please customers, instead of screwing them out of every last penny. I don't expect these policies to survive a merger with AT&T.
  - nuclear_eclipse 16y ago
    sadly, neither do I. T-Mobile was the only carrier in the US that actually operated like a European carrier. They had no problem selling you just a sim card, would charge you a lower monthly fee for buying your phone upfront and/or providing your own....
abraham 16y ago
Last I checked Sprint 3G had a 5GB/m limit while 4G is actually unlimited.
- sp332 16y ago
  Nope, Verizon has a 5 GB limit, but I've had Sprint tethering for 6 months and they've never charged me an overage. But I'm not in a 4G market, maybe the rules are different there?

hammock 16y ago

You say that like it's a bad thing.

technomancy 16y ago

Yet another reason you have to be crazy to buy a phone with carrier firmware.