yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ifalldownalot:
so we can just switch the SIM card out from a smartphone to a dumb phone when we want to tether? would that work? or does it have to be a dedicated dumb phone line?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cobraboy85:
Apparently you didn't read any of my posts in this thread.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gammite:
I have a dedicated dumb phone line on a family talk plan. I don't think switching Sims will work as u will need the dumb phone unlimited plan. U can't lose that plan as they still offer it.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] HWOW:
After a long and intense battle with AT&T, I finally got my unlimited data plan back.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Twiddler:
Not to be argumentative, just seeking clarity...

Assuming that your post on page 25 of this thread is the one that you are primarily referring to...

I think that what PDAnet claims when they say that their software hides tethering (my second letter from AT&T would beg to differ) by making all data appear to originate and be consumed by the phone, would not disagree with you. They can tell "...what kind of internet that you are using...", just not what device is requesting the data.

Understand, I don't believe that their (PDAnet's) claims of invisibility are true, but I am trying to figure out how AT&T is actually catching us.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ifalldownalot:
we need someone on the inside and with access...

hmm... :cool:
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gammite:
and how did you manage that?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ddiehl:
It looks like the Clockwork tether is live on the market.. The developer claims it hides tethering activity.. Guess it'll be awhile until this is confirmed.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.koushikdutta.tether

I don't imagine it'll be there for long..
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] robertlawson225:
wtf i got throttled before i got to 2 gigs i got the notice just after 1 gig if this keeps up I'm taking my 4 lines elsewhere. all 4 are unlimited plans, and they mess with mine! i pay the bill! if i go so do my additional lines:mad:
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] wingmanjd:
When you say "throttled", what do you mean?

Sent from my Motorola Atrix.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] erraz:
They reduce your download speeds to edge when they throttle you
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] phro321:
I've hit the to 5% since I first got the warningback in October. And this month my speeds are slower than normal. I haven't even hit the 3GB Mark because it's so slow I don't want to use the damn phone. Wednesday I'm going to sprint......nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, GOOD BYE .....ATT!
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] krogger:
I like that!
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] CaelanT:
My post relating to WiFi Tether, but it's the same:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=19840593&postcount=18

Hope this helps clarify why some methods and/or apps used for tethering are not as good as others.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] emoore254x:
Got served...

The other day they texted me to notify my plan has been upgraded to 5 gigs a month including tethering. What they didn't know is that I was happy about this. BTW if you want to make it obvious to them start torrenting while tethering (I did by mistake) they texted me almost immediately about it... I laughed.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] phro321:
How much is that a Month?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] shadowscreation:
50

sent from HTC ONE XL using xda awesomeness
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] srsairbags:
got served too

got the tethering text and usps mail . . . trouble is that i dont even know what i changed on my OG Atrix . . i remember playing with teh database in the apn profiles to get tether to work on the lap dock . . i was working too . . havent used tha lapdock lately . . but i do want to keep my unltd plan for sure . . im thinking to flashing a stock rom completely and clearing userdata afterwards . . . will that reset the apns config to default ? ?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] xfinrodx:
...Yes.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cpl101:
Have old old att unlimited international data plan. Use torrent on my atrix all the time plus Pandora and Netflix.

Maybe used 30 gigs in Brazil last year in one month.

Now just a few gigs in Germany this week.

Now Need to tether due to new company database program. Afraid to loose unlimited international data because off tethering.

Does pdanet work? Any recent reports? Any other solutions? Running CM7 variant.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DuffmasterFresh:
With the TTL issue, what is you only do a wifi hotspot and connect a tablet, such as the iPad to the phone? Is a tablet TTL considered mobile or a computer?

Are there any new apps or methods for protecting against ATT? I am considering rooting and trying very light wifi tethering.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nosit1:
Any device connected past your phone is a hop, so your TTL is increased
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Obartuckc:
So, Barnacle will be detected too?

~Sent from my Motorola Atrix 4G Badass~
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] minnemike:
Is there any way to edit the TTL value in android?

I already know how to in linux and windows, so I am set for the notebooks - but I need a way for my tablet too.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] xfinrodx:
Linux is UNIX at its core, as is Android. If you know how to change it in Linux you know how to change it in Android! Just take it easy with abusing this. Don't want to spoil the party.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fincan:
It is exactly the same place with Linux. Either you can do that by hand (you'll need a rooted tablet for this) or use a scripter from android market so that it runs on every boot (Rom Toolbox has this I think, and there was another app that I forgot that is strictly for automating scripts):

echo 65 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_default_ttl

---------- Post added at 12:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 PM ----------

This.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] xfinrodx:
Keys to the kingdom just like that. Sysctl is the correct tool for changing proc variables though, rather than echo.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Schoralous:
Android is Linux, Linux is Unix so it will be the same way on Android as it you would do it on Linux

and yes, you should use sysctl instead of echo, echo usage like that can cause problems.

Do be careful since you will need to be rooted and can easily brick a device or at least knock it off the network if you do it wrong
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] xfinrodx:
I'm worried this is going to go the way of sbhacker and DNS server tricks from back in the day... There are other things you can do but it's just so convenient right now. :-/
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] hotleadsingerguy:
I love how you think AT&T is a horrible company for not letting you get around the rules they have in place.

First of all, the MediaNet Unlimited plan cannot be used with a smartphone. It's not possible for a service operator to enable that plan on your account because it will automatically switch over once your IMEI connects (meaning, as soon as your phone connects to the network it will automatically change you to a Smartphone plan).

Secondly, you can't upgrade from the MediaNet Unlimited plan to the Smartphone 3G/4G unlimited plan because that plan doesn't technically exist for anyone but people that already had it in the past. There's a reason people keep talking about being "grandfathered" in.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] RPK925:
Yes you can keep your unlimited data plan if you switch to the Atrix, I had a Tilt 2 before. That's actually the very first thing I asked the Radio Shack rep, I said I didn't even want to upgrade if I couldn't keep it. But like usuall they screwed up, when they printed out my.contract low and behold it said 2g data plan for$ 25, but all it took a phone call to att customer service to fix it. This also happened when I upgraded my very old iphone 1 to a iphone 3GS, which I had a unlimited data plan for$ 20 for the fist iphone. They said I could keep my unlimited plan but for$ 30 instead of$ 20 which is fine I guess.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rjohnstone:
The reason the original iPhone data plan was only $20 was because AT&T didn't subsidize the phone. Remember, the original iPhone was full price.

The 3GS data plan cost $10 more per month so AT&T could recoup the cost of the phone subsidy.

It's also why the data plan is mandatory.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] n1ckr0th:
i have the 2GB data plan, and i have never been served a notice. i had the 3GS and tethered away with it until i bought my Atrix which i have been using to tether through Barnacle since i rooted it. i have never gone over the 2GB hump so this may have something to do with it.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PixoNova:
I think it's talking more about the psycho's that use their unlimited data for some obscene amount of data.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] eppo37:
While I agree that what you said is true...AT&T has the right to refuse your service or charge you fees for breaking the contract you willingly signed.....I completely disagree with AT&T's policy.

I pay for the 2GB plan. I occasionally tether it at work because I'm on a DoD network and a lot of sites I want to visit are blocked. Things like youtube videos. I can get to the same videos from my phone, it's just easier and bigger on my laptop. Like I said, I pay for 2GB of data. What device I use it with shouldn't matter. It should be my 2GB to use however I choose.

The silver lining I haven't seen anyone mention is that several of the big providers are starting to talk about "Family data plans". Meaning multiple devices on the same account can use data from a single data plan. I really hope to see something like that happen soon. It would fix a LOT of problems for most consumers.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] cstone1991:
Sorry dude but no carrier gives 2 sh!ts about your $200 bill. As a Rep I will tell you that trying to pull that card will most likely just make the person you talk to laugh to their co-workers about it because we hear it multiple times a day. You have to understand that there are plenty of people that have $400+ bills (and that is just on a consumer level. I have worked with corporate liable accounts with over 1000 lines at $40-50+ per line that makes our bills look like nothing.) I am not saying that you don't matter if you don't pay $400+ a month just that the carrier is not going to break their own rules for you. Especially when virtually all other carriers do the same thing and for the same reason. Unauthorized tethering users are generally, by a huge margin the biggest data users which does in fact effect the other users on the network.

All that aside I personally agree that tethering should be free. I agree more with throttling after something like 5gb than double charging to use the data I already payed for. But the point is that it isn't going to help for you to complain to some rep in the store or on the phone, you will just annoy them and they aren't going to get themselves written up to make you happy.

Sent from my GSB Eris
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fwdkiller:
Im tethering with wifi app, I use straight talk unlimited plan for 45 bucks beat that.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Captain1995:
I mostly agree with what you are saying but.........I pay for the tethering/mobile hot spot feature primarily for use with my wifi only iPad. AT&T charges me $45 per month for 4gb of data plus tethering and mobile hot spot. You have to have a phone that supports mobile hot spot like the Atrix. Not all smart phones do. It's worth the extra $20 per month to have this feature and an extra 2gb's. My daughter has an iPhone and is on that thing all the time and has never gone over 1gb so this "unlimited" is over rated unless you sit all day on you phone watching youtube videos. I can't see how else anyone could possibly use so much data.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Snakeyez86:
Lol I use on average 6gb/day, im on employee plan and haven't gotten any messages. If u use ur tether often 2gb isnt enough for anything.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ambient711:
:(

Hey I figured I would share cause I just recieved the nice looking letter from AT&T about tethering, I use a I*hone and usually right around 2gbs a month. I use tethering frequently but never a lot of usage. When I tether I use a VPN for protection against the carrier seeing my traffic. Although I did go a day without it, I'm not sure If that is associated. My question is does anybody know can they actually change your plan? I've been looking around and it doesn't seem like they actually have.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bigdog_nick:
Sorry did you say you use an iphone? Oh boy lol jp jp

I tethered all the time with my nexus one running cyanogen 6.1/7 and never once did they bug me.

My atrix, I use it once in a while and so far nothing.

Sent from my Atrix 4G
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nosit1:
They can change your plan for tethering since it's against their terms of service. The flip side to it is they could charge you obscene amounts of money instead.

I got served last night and this morning (waiting on the email and postal service letter). I have been using my iPhone while doing work on my Atrix. I used MyWi for about 80MB on Monday. I have a feeling this was the downfall. I've been reading that only iPhone users have been served, not Android users.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] WhyBe:
My guess AT&T can care less whether you arae tethering or not (per se). They care about the excessive bandwidth consumption. Perhaps using a computer tethered, statistically speaking, uses far more bandwidth (because of browsing habits) than surfing on a little phone. So if they see you have excessive data flows, they probably just red flag you for tethering and check against your data plan.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ambient711:
I dont think its excessive bandwidth, I use maybe 250mbs of tethering a month, my buddy uses roughly 17gbs of tethering. I got a email and he hasn't unless maybe there just rolling it out at different times. Does anybody know, can AT&T see through a personal VPN?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gdj80:
They can't see the data in the VPN traffic but they can see the headers and footers of the packet which depending on their method of tracking may be enough to give them the info they need to prove you are tethering.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] WhyBe:
Not excessive bandwidth? That's what the whole game is about. Bandwidth is what they have to manage and is the primary reason for different price points. The carrier only cares about the "amount" of your data, not the nature of it. How does the nature of your data affect them?

Why would you get an email for 250MB ? What type of setup/plan do you have?

Even the old "unlimited data plans" had a hidden 5GB /month limit, so I don't see how your buddy didn't get a warning about 17GB of data.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] mrphil101:
I didn't say that they were horrible. Those are your words.I guess that you work for them? You seem to bash everybody that has negative comments about them. I don't think they even knew about tethering when the offered the Medianet plan, so they were no exclusions at that time.

I used my medianet plan for the entire 2 years that I had my incite (carried over from my cu500). I was not changed to a smartphone plan until I went to the atrix. You say it's not possible, but I was tethering on the medianet plan with a smartphone for 2 years with no indication from AT&T to me that there was an issue, so it may not be possible, but somehow it worked for me.

Yeah, that is me. I had an unlimited plan, so I felt I was "grandfathered" in. Fine, if they don't want it carried over with the phone, then make that known up front. I was quite specific when I bought captivate what my intentions were as far a keeping the unlimited data plan. OK, everything is fine and I walk with the captivate, for a day until I get notice that what I was told in the BM store was not correct. Need to buy a 2gb limit plan. That was absurd, so take your phone back and return my service to what is was when I came in. That is when they inserted the shaft, "no, we can't give back what you had." that was wrong, don't care how you peel it.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ambient711:
We are both on the unlimited plans but I figured they would have sent him a letter before me.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] lyon21:
Has anyone actually been caught using an android? I heard it was only iphone users.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] banes:
IPhone user when u got popped? If not then you have proven this article wrong: http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/0...unauthorized-android-tethering-and-may-never/
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nosit1:
They popped me. Called them up and played dumb and said I just used a lot of data. She made a note in my account that I don't tether and just use a lot of data.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gammite:
while using your atrix???
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] rjohnstone:
None of the AT&T unlimited data plans for phones had a 5GB soft cap.

That was a rumor spread by some idiot who couldn't tell the difference between a Phone unlimited plan and a Data Connect card unlimited plan.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] banes:
Yes, will anyone who has been served a notice USING AN ANDROID PHONE, NOT AN IPHONE, please come forward and clarify for the rest of us
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nosit1:
See, this is where I screwed myself. I will never know if they got me on my iPhone or my Android. I was popped, but I was using both at the time (my data plan/phone was set to my iPhone in their system). I did tether for about 20 minutes (20MB or so) a week before the notice. Prior to that I was webtopping and tethering occasionally. I have a feeling that it was that one iPhone tether since it arrived the week after or so.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Chubby_Skunk:
Wow thanks! That makes me feel a lot better! :D
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] banes:
Thx for that, I am fairly confident in claiming that it is because of iPhones new os that people are being served warnings, I have yet to hear or read about any android user being caught so far, that is android with no prior iPhone tethering usage, but that doesn't mean our time isn't coming as well and we should keep on our guard if we want to keep our unlimited plans, but for the moment we can breathe easy that we are safe
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] roharia:
I just got the tethering plan...
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] banes:
Why? They made u?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ambient711:


Yeah he does use a android. I use a iPhone (the phone I'm on right now is a android because its my works phone)
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] nosit1:
Don't be so quick. I was still running 4.2.1 at that time. I don't believe that is the iOS that they said may had a watchdog on it. But using MyWi was probably the main cause.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] corgi1:
I'm an iPhone 4 user and I got both a text message on my phone and the letter in the mail today. My phone is jailbroken and I used to have MyWi installed but removed it last month. Put PDANet on instead but have not used it at all. Last time I actually tethered was August 2010 when we were on vacation. I have the unlimited iphone data plan and average ~3GB per month. April was 4.1GB and May was 3.1GB data usage.

I called AT&T and told them I had received a letter saying they were going to start charging me for a tethering plan after May 27th if I did not call. He explained what tethering was and said that my phone had been flagged because I had either "connected some type of internet device to my phone or installed a tethering program on my phone". I told him that I listened to Pandora radio and TWIT streaming podcasts at work but that I had not tethered my phone. He said that I could listen to Pandora as much as I wanted but he stuck to his story that either my phone had tethered or had a tethering program installed and that was why it had been flagged.

He asked if maybe I had let my kid or a friend use the phone. He removed the flag from my account and said that as long as I did not tether in the future nothing would change but that if I did get flagged again AT&T would automatically add a tethering plan to my account. I reiterated that I believed the initial flagging was a mistake because I had not tethered but he just stuck to his story that I would not be charged for the plan unless I did tether in the future. He also said that AT&T was using this opportunity to educate their customers about what tethering was and asked if he had explained it clearly.

Can AT&T really tell that a tethering app was installed even if not used?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PixoNova:
Yes, they can. MyWi doesn't use the same secure method PDANet does. I believe MyWi just enables tethering through the use of APNs. So it's basically a fancy switch to turn on the tethering APN.

When I used MyWi though, I never got text messaged or a letter. Strange :/
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] razorseal:
how are you guys using apps?

wifi tether is no available in the market. I don't think it's supported...

or any other 3rd party tether app
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Chubby_Skunk:
ummm, you sideload it.... Barnacle Tether still works.

Wait. Do you mean Android or iOS?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PixoNova:
He's talking about Android.

You can sideload Wifi tether, or Barancle if you want. Or, use Market Enabler to switch to T-Mobile market and download them there.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Chubby_Skunk:
Oh. Yeah. So is Market Enabler on the market or do I have to sideload it?
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PixoNova:
Market Enabler is on the market :)

Strange that AT&T would allow that. I don't understand them most of the time.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bwoody2016:
Ive been streaming netflix and playing rts games with my connection for the last two months. Att says I topped 48GB in march and april. I don't know if thats correct though. I haven't got popped yet, but I have toned down using my connection as much.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] bash_array:
At&t can prove what you are doing by using option C. When you tether your phone it becomes a router and then delivers an IP address to whatever you are connecting to. All At&t has to do is run a query on unapproved IP addresses and voila... they have their tethering illegals. The only phones they offering tethering on is iphones so if they see tethering on a none iphone mac address then they know. Its not that hard guys.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] humjaba:
I just checked, and using barnacle, my laptop has the same IP address as my phone. So unless they have a way of doing some reverse traceroute, I don't see how they would be able to tell the difference.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mofiki:
I have been using Barnacle alot lately (my internet is down alot due to horrible service provider) and I haven't had any issues yet

I try to keep it under 4GB but am grandfathered into the unlimited plan so not sure what the hook is but Barnacle is fine.
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] PixoNova:
Um no. they offer tethering for android. They wouldn't sell you the laptop dock without it.

Swyped from my Motorola Atrix 4g using XDA Premium App
[Atrix 4G Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fincan:
Actually they cannot, because when you make your phone an access point/router, it gives the IP internally (e.g. NAT) and from outside point of view all they can see is the phone's external IP address.

They can get fancy and dissect the packets to check time to live values or do a deep packet inspection but as far as I know that is illegal so they cannot do that either.