confused about iphone tethering??

teddy12

hi all, hope someone can help! Im currently on prepay with o2 and spend 20euro a month on credit. I also have mobile broadband with 3 and pay 25euro a month for that.
I have been thinking about getting an iphone 4s with 3 as this has by far the best coverage in my home and going bill pay for 40.66 a month (this includes all you can eat data) but my problem is will I be able to use my iphone as a wifi router to use internet on my laptop? Is this tethering? I dont understand what it means.
I cant afford to pay for bill pay and then mobile internet on top of that and i think its madness.
The reason I dont want to consider iphone on prepay is the cost of the initial phone!!
Im at a loss as what to do!

guil

yes tethering is using your phones connection for another device, i'm not sure if three charge extra for tethering but i'm sure someone here will know

baldshin

I'm on three pay as you go and use my unlimited internet on the iphone to tether all the time, no problems so far.

andyeire

baldshin wrote: »

I'm on three pay as you go and use my unlimited internet on the iphone to tether all the time, no problems so far.

I think all new contracts don't include tethering. And don't allow it at all.
I think it changed in January this year. Have a look on the talk to three section

baldshin

andyeire wrote: »

I think all new contracts don't include tethering. And don't allow it at all.
I think it changed in January this year. Have a look on the talk to three section

Ouch, glad I joined just before then so, 20 euro a month for unlimited internet, texts and a bunch of other stuff, delighted!

120_Minutes

andyeire wrote: »

I think all new contracts don't include tethering. And don't allow it at all.
I think it changed in January this year. Have a look on the talk to three section

This.

The only networks to 'allow' wifi hotspots at no extra charge are eMobile and meteor. I say 'allow' insofar as they turn a blind eye to it, but that could change at any time.

whiterebel

baldshin wrote: »

Ouch, glad I joined just before then so, 20 euro a month for unlimited internet, texts and a bunch of other stuff, delighted!

Its not allowed on 3Pay at all, its against their T&C's, and they seem to be stopping it for some recently. 1st January is the date they stopped it for new or upgrading contract customers.

bkehoe

120_Minutes wrote: »

This.

The only networks to 'allow' wifi hotspots at no extra charge are eMobile and meteor. I say 'allow' insofar as they turn a blind eye to it, but that could change at any time.

Vodafone also permit tethering at no extra charge - a rather hush hush change in direction a good few months ago.

king_of_inismac

Are you sure about vodafone tethering?

Does this apply to PAYG customers or just billpay?

WayneEnterprise

bkehoe wrote: »

Vodafone also permit tethering at no extra charge - a rather hush hush change in direction a good few months ago.

Don't think you're right here dude. Tethering goes through a separate APN (office.vodafone.com) whereas normal mobile data goes through live.vodafone.com.

They charge extra for using the office apn unless you have a separate tethering bundle.

whiterebel

WayneEnterprise wrote: »

Don't think you're right here dude. Tethering goes through a separate APN (office.vodafone.com) whereas normal mobile data goes through live.vodafone.com.

They charge extra for using the office apn unless you have a separate tethering bundle.

Talk to Vodafone

WayneEnterprise

whiterebel wrote: »

Talk to Vodafone

That was posted last December. It's not like that now - i know because I found out the hardway and got a 600 euro bill.

brav

Its still not very clear with Vodafone as if you go on their site and search 'tethering' the first result gives you:
https://support.vodafone.ie/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1003&PARTITION_ID=1&LANGUAGE=en&COUNTRY=ie&USERTYPE=&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=null&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=267587&SOURCE=null

Tethering is Apple's term for using your Phone as a modem, to connect your computer to the internet via Vodafone's cellular data network. Use a tethering data bundle to get the best value with your phone.
Billpay customers are now able to utilise their core integrated data bundle for tethering. Any additional data bundle purchased will also support tethering.
Previously, tethering has not been allowed as part of the core price plan; you had to buy a separate tethering bundle. Now, you can use your data allowance for both internet/email access on your handset and for tethering.
If you use more than the data allowance which comes with your chosen plan / addon, the additional usage would be charged at the following rates:
If you are a Vodafone Pay as you go customer you will be charged 19c per MB.
If you are on My Way Plus or My Way Complete Plus, you will be charged 2c/MB.
If you are on a Perfect Choice Access Plus tariff you will be charged 2c per kb for the first 512kb and 2c per MB thereafter.
If you are on any other Postpaid tariff you will be charged 2c per kb for the first 512kb and 0.001c per kb thereafter.

whiterebel

WayneEnterprise wrote: »

That was posted last December. It's not like that now - i know because I found out the hardway and got a 600 euro bill.

They only changed it in December, and I've never seen anyone saying they changed it back. Maybe your on an old plan? There is a forum to speak to VF, maybe if you ask them there?

whiterebel

brav wrote: »

Its still not very clear with Vodafone as if you go on their site and search 'tethering' the first result gives you:
https://support.vodafone.ie/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1003&PARTITION_ID=1&LANGUAGE=en&COUNTRY=ie&USERTYPE=&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=null&CMD=VIEW_ARTICLE&ARTICLE_ID=267587&SOURCE=null

Whats not clear about that?

bkehoe

king_of_inismac wrote: »

Are you sure about vodafone tethering?

Does this apply to PAYG customers or just billpay?

I imagine it depends on the type of data bundle a PAYG customer can get, if they can even get a data bundle (I don't know).

It's applied to all bill pay customers with an inclusive data allowance on their plans for about 6 months now - i.e. MyWay and PCA+ plans.

squonk

I got a 3 PAYG SIM on Saturday and can currently tether on my iPhone. I asked the guy in the shop at time of purchase if tethering was allowed and he said that it wasn't but then said 'well they can't stop you really but it's not allowed'. I don't need the SIM straight away so just set it up last night but a tiny amount of tethering with my iPad worked fine. That's what I want it for really, just for linking devices occasionally while travelling abroad.

guil

squonk wrote: »

I got a 3 PAYG SIM on Saturday and can currently tether on my iPhone. I asked the guy in the shop at time of purchase if tethering was allowed and he said that it wasn't but then said 'well they can't stop you really but it's not allowed'. I don't need the SIM straight away so just set it up last night but a tiny amount of tethering with my iPad worked fine. That's what I want it for really, just for linking devices occasionally while travelling abroad.

That guy in the shop was like any other monkey working there. The networks can detect if someone is tethering because they force the phone to use a different apn to connect. There could be a high charge for it depending on what plan/tariff you are on

brav

whiterebel wrote: »

Whats not clear about that?

Haha yes that article is clear, but on the rest of the site it is vague, like when adding extras to account etc one option is for 1gb tethering or 10gb data for practically same price.

Still a good few people on an older plan not aware new plans have no tethering