Tethering / Portable Hotspot

argomatt

Hi all,
I am looking to change my mobile phone contract because the one I am on presently with EE is excessive, I never use anything near my full allowance.

Tesco offer a HTC Wildfire S with more than enough calls and texts for me, and 1GB data which should be sufficient for £10 per month.

At present I connect my Samsung Galaxy to laptop / Ipod / etc using the "Portable Hotspot" function.

Has anyone successsfully done this with a phone from Tesco?

Thank you for any advice on this

gjchester

argomatt wrote: »

Has anyone successsfully done this with a phone from Tesco?

It's really two questions.

Does the contract allow it and Can the phone do it any way.

Is it allowed, No, Tesco do not allow tethering on their contracts, if they find out you'll be charged out of bundle rates for your data use, but they probably will not chase you unless you hammer it.

Can the phone do it, Probably. Probably as the Wildfire S has it as a feature, but it's possible Tesco have it disabled in the firmware, You can reflash it to enable the feature if it's disabled but that may ruin any warranty..

im-lost

gjchester wrote: »

It's really two questions.

Does the contract allow it and Can the phone do it any way.

Is it allowed, No, Tesco do not allow tethering on their contracts, if they find out you'll be charged out of bundle rates for your data use, but they probably will not chase you unless you hammer it.

Can the phone do it, Probably. Probably as the Wildfire S has it as a feature, but it's possible Tesco have it disabled in the firmware, You can reflash it to enable the feature if it's disabled but that may ruin any warranty..

the beauty of the 'android hotspot' is that its difficult for the networks to 'see' unless they actually 'look'

as far as the network is aware, you are just using the the phones browser to access the internet, its only if they actually 'look' and dig deeper that they will notice.

technically its not allowed.

but A, when they can detect it, they are unlikely to do anything unless you are really taking the michael, say downloading 100gb of stuff a month *whistles* which you cant on the tesco plans as they have low data allowances.

and B, with such low data allowances any 'tethering' is likely to slip under the radar anyway, because you wont actually be costing them anything. now if they had uncapped data usage, they would be more on the ball, but even then, say with the likes of three who are very 'generous' with their data, they dont bother with the minority who take the Michael with it, because, well it all balances out across all their customers.

should you do it? no.
can you do it? probably yes.. unless they have disabled the feature, but then there are other apps you can download to do it.
will you get caught? probably not
what will happen if you do get caught? probably nothing

gjchester

im-lost wrote: »

the beauty of the 'android hotspot' is that its difficult for the networks to 'see' unless they actually 'look'

as far as the network is aware, you are just using the the phones browser to access the internet, its only if they actually 'look' and dig deeper that they will notice.

Actually it's not hard at all to detect tethering, the question is as you say will they check.

For example , go to http://www.whatismybrowser.com/ and in my case it tells me it's IE10 on Win 7 which is right just from my browser info. If I was tethering on an Android phone then that information that a dead giveaway, IE doesn't run on Android. You can spoof or hide these settings, but can you be sure you hide every setting.

Most Windows PC's poll Windows update every now and again to check for updates, if that came from a Android or Apple phone, that's a give away a that it's tethered. You can also look at TTL settings, user agent strings, java or flash versions, and you can bet that any app that says it's allows "undetectable tethering" will have been bought and analysed by the networks. Remember they only need one item to be wrong, it's not like most of the web where these settings are used to make you get the best experience, they are looking for something wrong.

im-lost wrote: »

will you get caught? probably not
what will happen if you do get caught? probably nothing

Actually if your caught they may do nothing or they could ask for the data to be paid as out of bundle costs of 60p /MB or simply cancel you contract and seek the early termination fee as you broke the contract.

Your right the chances are someone tethering probably won't be caught, but if someone's planning to break the T&C anyway they should at least enter into the contract knowing the penalties if they do get caught.

Buzby

It will never be a 'contract' issue. They are in the communications business after all. It more properly will be a tariff issue - some allow the feature, others do not. If the system lets you do it, then they cannot complain you broke terms - but they can charge you, per the tariff agreed.

Only if other factors come into play (ones that are explicitly mentioned) would there be a fish of termination, however, as the contract was ended adversely attempting to make the holder pay any ETC would need to be stipulated. It could not be done arbitrarily.

blindmouse

I am with Tesco and have a Wildfire Sense bought from Tesco, I can use phone as hotspot and Tescos have not stopped it on the phone, though mine is 2 years old now.

gjchester

Buzby wrote: »

If the system lets you do it, then they cannot complain you broke terms - but they can charge you, per the tariff agreed.

Not sure I fully agree, the T&C say no tethering, if you do so you are breaking the terms of the contract. Ending the contract would be a last resort but within Tesco's rights to do so.

My car can do 120mph according to the clock, and yes maybe I could do it down the M1, but I doubt me saying to the police that the car and / or the motorway allowed me do it would be a valid defence.

Buzby wrote: »

Only if other factors come into play (ones that are explicitly mentioned) would there be a fish of termination, however, as the contract was ended adversely attempting to make the holder pay any ETC would need to be stipulated. It could not be done arbitrarily.

Nor sure what the word fish meant.

Tesco's T&C already cover it, tethering is covered by 4.2 and their possible remedies under 4.4..


4.2 All usage must be for your private, personal and non-commercial purposes. You may not use your SIM Card:
(a) in, or connected to, any other device including modems;
(b) to allow the continuous streaming of any audio / video content, enable Voice over Internet (VOIP), P2P or file sharing; or
(c) in such a way that adversely impacts the service to other Tesco Mobile or Telefonica O2 UK customers.

4.4 If we reasonably suspect you are not acting in accordance with this paragraph, we reserve the right to impose further charges, impose network protection controls which may reduce your speed of transmission or disconnect your tariff at any time, having attempted to contact you first.

As I said if people want to tether regardless of the T&C (and yes the chances of being caught are small) then they should enter into a contract knowing the penalties.

It's clearly stated in the T&C, but so many people fail to read them and sign up blindly then claim the networks out to get them if they do get caught.

flashg67

Is the OP gaining anything getting the Wildfire S? it's a fairly low spec phone - is it any better than their current Galaxy? if not, a PAYG SIM, and keeping the Galaxy might be better value - eg 3 allow tethering AFAIK on their 'all you can eat' plans?