[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DeathKoil:
Edit: Forgot to say, I was tethering last week, not much though, had tethering on for about 15 minutes because I needed an outside IP to test some stuff with VPN'ing to my work.

I got the text message today (attached pic below). I was close to an AT&T Corporate location that is managed by a guy I went to K-12 school with, so I stopped by to "level" with him on what it means and what my options are. Unfortunately, it was his day off, so I talked to another employee, who knew nothing about it, but did lookup my account and said it had a note on it saying that I was mailed a letter and given a text message asking me to call a 866 number and talk to AT&T about tethering.

I called AT&T, and without getting into too much detail, here is how the conversation went.

First, the woman told me that AT&T detected tethering on my line, and that AT&T requires that you purchase a tethering plan, which includes 4GB of data, and blah blah blah. I told the woman I was not going to give up my unlimited data plan for tethering. She told me that meant I could not tether my phone.

This started the second part of the conversation, where I told her that when I signed up for my plan, there was nothing in it about tethering (there wasn't), and that I was able to hop right onto the Android Market and download both Barnacle Wifi Tether and Wireless Tether, since neither were blocked because AT&T didn't have this new policy on tethering. I went on to tell her that I was never given a new contract to sign that had anything about tethering in it.

Her reply was pretty epic, and cannot be true:

She told me that when I signed with AT&T, I agreed in that contract to automatically agree to any changes to their TOS by using my phone for either calls, texts, or data after the TOS were changed, and that the TOS can change without notice and as often as AT&T sees fit. In other words, she told me that when I signed with AT&T, I agreed that they could change their TOS at any time without tell me that I automatically agree to it if my phone has connected to their network after the change as been made.

That cannot be right... or legal. I asked for a mailed copy of the contract I signed that gave them the right to change their TOS at any time and automatically agree to it, but she said she was not able to provide me with those documents, and couldn't tell me for sure whether or not I could get that at a corporate office.

Anyway... I asked her "what happens now", and she told me that if AT&T detects tethering after November 30th, they will change me to the 4GB plan. I asked her if I would be told, or asked to sign anything, and she said no. At this point, I pulled the line that a lot of people on this thread have pulled... the whole "If you change my plan without my consent you are breaching your part of the contract I signed, since I will have never signed anything saying to change my plan, and I would like to terminate at that point, without an early termination fee".

Her and I then went back and forth for a minute or two about this. I was very polite, never raised my voice, and made it clear that I was not talking "at her" (used words like "the company" instead of "you"). She was very polite back, I give her an A+ in calmly detailing the situation. In the end, I said that "I'll burn this bridge when I have to" and she said "Thank you", then asked me if I had any other questions for her, I said no and thanked her, and that was that.

I don't really care enough about tethering enough to make a huge stink. That said, if they change my plan, I will leave.

Has anyone actually gotten AT&T to wave their termination fee when they change your plan without asking you?

DK