Android Phone Tips
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| Android Phone Tips |
Tethering owners of jailbroken iPhones have taken advantage of apps such as MyWi or the iPhone-to-iPad MyWi OnDemand to get a free ride on AT&T's service, while owners of a variety of Android devices have been able to root their handsets and install tools such as those supplied by the android-wifi-tether project. The Android tools support tethering over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth; MyWi adds USB to the mix.
AT&T's missive informs tethering freetards that to continue using such apps they'll need to sign up for their DataPro 4GB for Smartphone Tethering plan – and if they don't sign up but continue their unauthorized tethering ways, AT&T will sign them up anyway: "If we don't hear from you, we'll plan to automatically enroll you into DataPro 4GB after March 27, 2011." $45 per month (this gives you 4GB in total, combining both your smartphone data plan for $25 and the tethering feature, $20)
AT&T's never exactly been the carrier of choice for Android. The company insists on locking down its Android devices to control what users can and can't download. It barely carried any Android phones worth owning for months and failed to roll out a single Android upgrade in the entire year of 2010.
AT&T's stance on Android may have changed -- in terms of PR, at least -- but the company's actions continue to send a single-fingered salute to Android users across America. The carrier's latest move, if you haven't heard, is seeking out and threatening customers who use third-party apps to tether their phones to PCs.
Tethering lets you share your phone's 3G connection with a computer. It can be accomplished by rooting or jailbreaking devices on multiple platforms -- but with Android, it's especially easy: You can set up free Android tethering by simply downloading a single app, no rooting or advanced procedures required. The new plan -- whether you sign up on your own or we automatically enroll you -- will replace your current smartphone data plan. Of course; tethering utilizes its bandwidth, and it's well within the carrier's rights to police its network and require users to pay for the data they use.
AT&T’s bringing the banhammer down on unauthorized tethering, it seems, after they discovered users on iPhone and iPhone 2 sharing their data connection using an application called MyWi. Us Android power users know the act of “illegal” tethering well, of course, so this story worries me as it may come back to haunt you AT&T users. Folks can remain hopeful after hearing iPhone users take advantage of iOS’s built-in tethering mechanism to facilitate their needs.
By. Android Phone Tips
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