Live data from Hacker News

Google plays ball with carriers to kill tethering apps

thisismynext.com

1–10 of 73 posts

Re: Google plays ball with carriers to kill tethering apps

#2
The Galaxy S goes beyond tethering and has a Mobile AP feature which just turns the phone into a wifi access point that runs NAT in front of the 3g modem.

People I know who still have 'unlimited' data plans have used this for weeks to provide internet to their whole household in the absence of working cable.

I assume this feature is removed in the US carrier-modified firmware builds?

Re: Google plays ball with carriers to kill tethering apps

#4

The Galaxy S goes beyond tethering and has a Mobile AP feature which just turns the phone into a wifi access point that runs NAT in front of the 3g modem. People I know who still have 'unlimited' data plans have used this for weeks to provide internet to their whole household in the absence of working cable. I assume this feature is removed in the US carrier-modified firmware builds?

It's still there in the Sprint version (Epic 4G), but you have to pay Sprint for the privilege. Alternatively, there are various 3rd-party firmwares which provide Wifi tethering for free.

Ultimately these actions may drive free tethering a bit out of the mainstream, but no serious user is going to be deterred by removal from the Android market.

Re: Google plays ball with carriers to kill tethering apps

#5

The Galaxy S goes beyond tethering and has a Mobile AP feature which just turns the phone into a wifi access point that runs NAT in front of the 3g modem. People I know who still have 'unlimited' data plans have used this for weeks to provide internet to their whole household in the absence of working cable. I assume this feature is removed in the US carrier-modified firmware builds?

My Desire HD does that as well, as do most (all?) other Android mobiles I've seen in Greece.

However, we don't have unlimited data plans, we only have ones that cost 0.10 cents (yes, cents, apparently) per megabyte for overage.

Re: Google plays ball with carriers to kill tethering apps

#7
post #6

is there a source for the claim?

I don't know where it's coming from, but I can no longer get the market to install a couple tethering apps that I once could (US, Verizon, original Droid).

I'm rooted, so it doesn't matter, but this is definitely happening.

Re: Google plays ball with carriers to kill tethering apps

#8

The Galaxy S goes beyond tethering and has a Mobile AP feature which just turns the phone into a wifi access point that runs NAT in front of the 3g modem. People I know who still have 'unlimited' data plans have used this for weeks to provide internet to their whole household in the absence of working cable. I assume this feature is removed in the US carrier-modified firmware builds?

Yeah, I did that on Verizon one time when our DSL went out for a few days. I got a bill for $700 in overages. Sprint is better, it's about $30/mo. for unlimited (yes, actually unlimited) tethering.

Re: Google plays ball with carriers to kill tethering apps

#10
Tethering is built into Android from Version 2.3 (or even 2.3), no marketplace apps needed.

Anyway, I don't understand what Google is supposed to do if carriers choose to disable it. Maybe customers should be looking into other carriers if they don't like the way their carriers conduct business.

Post reply on HN