Comments on: AT&T CEO Confirms iPhone 3G Tethering Available Soon

By: Which U.S. Operator Is Getting Opera Mini? | Wap Review

Which U.S. Operator Is Getting Opera Mini? | Wap Review — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:07:48 +0000

[...] point by the iPhone. The operator recently dropped unlimited data packages for prepaid users and reportedly has a tiered access system model with iPhones getting the highest priority, followed by contract customers, then prepaid [...]

By: Shahryar

Shahryar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:10:07 +0000

If I wanted data only from an iPhone 3g, would I be able to do that? pref without signing a contract. I have an iPod Touch 2g 32gb and I love it, but would love to have internet everywhere without wifi. I love t-mobile though and don’t want to leave it, nor do I want my primary phone to not have a keypad (I’ll stick with my N76 for now). Being able to tether w/ my laptop as well would be a nice plus.

By: schizo

schizo — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:58:29 +0000

I knew hate e&t was throttling my data!
I’ve had the “UNLIMITED PDA CONNECT” plan for the past 2 years.
Initially I was tethering without paying extra, and my connection speed on Windows XP Home Edition was approximately 230 Kbps. After some consideration I decided to comply with at&t terms of use & pay $70. per month to legally tether my phone (Blackjack I at the time) to my PC.
Then the iPhone was released.
My connection speed while tethering dropped to an abysmal 9 Kbps. I discontinued the tethering option after a few months due to an inability to justify the added expense for less service.
Since then, I have upgraded to the SGH-i617, at&t rolled out 3G in my area, and I have been relegated to non-tethered connection speeds between 20 Kbps – 500 Kbps, with the fastest speeds achieved in town on 3G. (all tests used BBR mobile speed test)
Just a few days ago, at&t experienced a statewide outage in my area (Hawaii,) & upon contacting customer care I was told that my device was a “tier 2″ device.
“Tier two device!”
So at&t HAS been throttling my data!
I have spoken with people in other parts of the US who tell me that their connection speeds are more than double the speeds I have been getting.
Looks like I should have bought the iPhone…

By: T-Mobile USA Data Price Increases - Bandwidth Issue or Greed? | Wap Review

T-Mobile USA Data Price Increases - Bandwidth Issue or Greed? | Wap Review — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:57:43 +0000

[...] areas, all the available channels are already in use so adding more capacity isn’t possible. AT&T is already doing doing data shaping, giving users with iPhones highest priority, followed by postpaid users and finally prepaid. [...]

By: Preliminary iPhone 3G Tethering Plan Details Surface | PhoneNews.com

Preliminary iPhone 3G Tethering Plan Details Surface | PhoneNews.com — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:55:14 +0000

[...] details have surfaced regarding the forthcoming iPhone 3G tethering capability which PhoneNews.com previously reported [...]

By: GEARFUSE » iPhone 3G Tethering Confirmed

GEARFUSE » iPhone 3G Tethering Confirmed — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:36:20 +0000

[...] [via] Read More Zune Phone Confirmed! Should Mac be scared?iPhone 2 probably already designed and [...]

By: Christopher Price

Christopher Price — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:13:01 +0000

It is believed by many, but still can only be confirmed by testing (in an overloaded market) that Apple forced AT&T to give iPhones priority over other postpay MEdia Net and Smartphone & PDA Connect customers on AT&T. This was to ensure that Apple could tout that the iPhone would load pages quickly, even on an overloaded area of AT&T’s network.

It does appear that mobile broadband cards (using the isp.cingular APN) are still at the highest of priority. Conversely, prepaid customers appear to be at the lowest priority. Or, to make it even easier, ordered as below:

1) Mobile Broadband Cards, isp.cingular, etc
2) iPhone & iPhone 3G
3) MEdia Net, wap.cingular, Smartphone/PDA Connect, etc
4) GoPhone

When you look at the order, it starts to make sense. Aside from iPhone (again, mandated by Apple), AT&T is QoS’ing the network in the order of how much the customer pays. The more you pay for service, the more reliable the service is. I don’t really have a problem with that… it’s not like a hard bandwidth cap.

If a provider becomes so overloaded that the lower services aren’t usable, the provider would lose those customers to another competitor.

In the world of Net Neutrality, tiering customers based on priority is really the only choice that operators have. The other alternative, the new 5 MB cap on GoPhone customers, is one that AT&T seems to be okay with as well. I’d rather have the former imposed… and still be an AT&T customer.

By: ptrader

ptrader — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:00:10 +0000

Does it bother anyone besides me that the author mentioned “to ensure that users with iPhones and contracts are given priority access to 3G service over other postpaid and prepaid users?”

Why should a particular kind of phone ensure priority access to data? Does this mean (surely not!) that WinMo data users are of less importance than iPhone data users?

While I understand that the iPhone makes data acess easier than some other interfaces, this continued trend to prioritize certain types of phones access to hotspots, bandwidth or other utilites is something I hope will not continue.

By: GadgetPimp.com » Blog Archive » AT&T buys Wayport hotspots; confirms iPhone tethering

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:50:09 +0000

[...] AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega today confirmed that iPhone owners will soon be able to use the phone’s 3G connectivity to tether to laptops to access the web. Tethering is a major advantage for 3G phone owners and this will open the iPhone up for that purpose. No exact date was mentioned by de la Vega for tethering enablement but it is great to get confirmation on this front. [...]

By: Mustang46L

Mustang46L — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:18:16 +0000

I vote for the catastrophic failure. AT&T doesn’t seem to be able to keep up with their current network traffic here in Baltimore, this is just gonna make it even more interesting.