Is this an Intrepid innovation?

[Giant Speck]

Take a Samsung Blackjack II on an AT&T Unlimited Data plan (without tethering) and connect it to your computer.

Right-click the NetworkManager applet on gnome-panel, and click on "Edit Connections." Go to the Mobile Broadband tab and select AT&T.

Close out of that window and then left-click the NetworkManager applet, select the AT&T connection.

PRESTO!

Internet from an AT&T phone without a tethering plan!

Is this new! Why didn't I know this?!?

[mips]

Internet from an AT&T phone without a tethering plan!


What is a "tethering plan"?

[Giant Speck]

What is a "tethering plan"?

A tethering plan allows you to use your phone as a modem, which in turn allows you to access the web on your computer by connecting your phone to it.

[Aramroth]

When I try to use this new feature with my phone, the phone says "connecting..." for a few minutes, then it fails to connect and NM hangs up.

[mips]

A tethering plan allows you to use your phone as a modem, which in turn allows you to access the web on your computer by connecting your phone to it.

Geez, so you guys actually have to pay extra for that?

[Paqman]

A tethering plan allows you to use your phone as a modem, which in turn allows you to access the web on your computer by connecting your phone to it.

That would just be part of the data allowance on your plan though, surely? Watch out for massive charges if you nuke your data limits.

I've used a phone as an internet connection occasionally in the past. Internet over GPRS is neither fun nor cheap. Reminiscent of the bad old days of dial-up :(

[Giant Speck]

That would just be part of the data allowance on your plan though, surely? Watch out for massive charges if you nuke your data limits.

I've used a phone as an internet connection occasionally in the past. Internet over GPRS is neither fun nor cheap. Reminiscent of the bad old days of dial-up :(

I have a flat-fee unlimited data plan, so I don't pay extra for downloading too much.

[mips]

I've used a phone as an internet connection occasionally in the past. Internet over GPRS is neither fun nor cheap. Reminiscent of the bad old days of dial-up :(

EDGE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution) & HSDPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA) would be faster than GPRS.

[Paqman]

EDGE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution) & HSDPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSDPA) would be faster than GPRS.

I think mine was EDGE actually. EDGE is just a slightly beefed up version of GPRS though, isn't it?

[mips]

EDGE is just a slightly beefed up version of GPRS though, isn't it?

Yeah you could say that. It provides about a x4 improvement on paper which in my book is a lot ;)

[t0p]

I routinely use a 3G mobile phone to connect to the internet. I have no "tethering plan" - the TOS actually says customers are not allowed to use their phones as modems. But they haven't caught on to what I'm doing... and as I've been doing it for a long, long time, I doubt they'll ever catch on.

I've got my phone on a "pay as you go" agreement, which includes unlimited data transfer for a flat rate of £1 per day or £2.50 for 5 days. This data charge is supposed to be for the phone's built-in browser and network applications, but it also covers my evil laptop activities. And it really does seem to be unlimited: I'm one of those crooks who downloads music and movies, and still the phone peeps haven't cottoned on.

Incidentally, I used to have to connect by using the phone as a "dial-up modem" with wvdial. But the Network Manager in Hardy detects it as a wired ethernet connection (usb0). I hope Intrepid's "new features" will not include breaking this functionality...