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mp3 ,
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

Which is bullshit. Who cares if you download something at full speed on your phone or through the hotpot? A bit is a bit, doesn't matter where it ends up when received by the phone's modem.

Zachariah ,
@Zachariah@lemmy.world avatar

It’s a sneaky way of having a bandwidth cap without having a bandwidth cap. Mobile devices have smaller storage, so you’re less likely to use as much bandwidth compared to a laptop. Also a single device going to use less data than multiple devices sharing a hotspot.

mp3 ,
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

Jokes on them, I have a 512GB micrSD card and I use Termux to archive videos through YT-DLP.

adespoton ,

Was just going to say… my phone has 512GB storage and can do direct WiFi file transfer to my computer without a hotspot. All without using the mobile hotspot feature.

cmnybo ,

You can burn through a huge amount of data streaming 4K video on your phone without using any storage. You can also plug a 20TB USB hard drive into your phone, connect to a VPN and torrent away.

Zachariah ,
@Zachariah@lemmy.world avatar

But most users don’t. And that’s what they’re counting on.

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble ,

The carrier who's paying for your traffic. You're most likely going to use a lot more data on a computer than actually on your phone.

Uranium3006 ,
@Uranium3006@kbin.social avatar

The carrier who’s paying for your traffic.

soooo...... what's with the monthly bill then?

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble ,

Less than it would be if they expected you to go full ham 24/7.

SexualPolytope ,
@SexualPolytope@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Username checks out.

TexMexBazooka ,

I mean let’s be real, it’s incredibly complex and amazing technology. Borderline magic. And depending on where you are, yeah consistently using large amounts of bandwidth can and will impact other users.

So a policy like this makes sense, to a point. It’s when they auto charge you for hitting a “limit” that grinds my gears.

brbposting ,

And I’m sure we can all acknowledge what would happen to prices if there were zero restrictions. A top budget blogger tip would be “stop paying for your expensive broadband service! Plug your phone in and tap “hotspot” in settings to save $50-$100 a month.“

Normies (grandmas using Facebook, not WFHers/gamers) would be frivolous to pay for two “equivalent” Internet services.

(Before you think me a corporate lobbyist, know I submitted a complaint to the FCC when Comcast first implemented broadband bandwidth caps in the USA. Saw that BS in Canada.)

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

I've read somewhere that USB tethering bypasses this very easily.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Does it? Interesting. I'll have to try that. I wonder why?

FartsWithAnAccent ,
@FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io avatar

There used to be other ways to bypass it as well, like PDAnet, rooting, flashing custom OSes, etc.

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

From what I heard is that a phone used as USB tether identifies as a modem on the computer, and then the traffic is somehow detected differently. I haven't tested this personally though since my ISP doesn't cap or throttle me when using hotpsots.

ech ,

Is easytether still a thing? That app saved my butt several times.

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

I'm not sure tbh, my ISP doesn't throttle my speed or data when used as a hotspot, luckily, so I didn't have to look into it for a long time.

scottmeme ,

Using a phone purchased through them or unlocked?
Locked phones will have proprietary bullshit to check if you are using a hotspot

NaturalViber ,

I have been bypassing this with Pdanet app for over 10 years. I don't think the app gets regular updates anymore, but it has worked for me on many different phones, and windows versions. Also different carriers.

Doesn't have to be usb either, I use the wifi direct setting it has and have used 100gb in a month. With minimal or no slowdown.

I still use it almost daily, as fiber or any other form of internet isn't available in my area besides satellite (not talking about starlink). I also play online games usually 80 latency, which sucks, but better than nothing.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Doesn't look like there's a Linux client unfortunately.

NaturalViber ,

Ah, thats a shame. Pdanet also has an app called foxfi, which can active unlimited hotspot on some phones/carriers, so uou wouldn't need the client app.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/b8284543-64a8-493d-b501-33e7c3721a35.png

Theres a free trial, give it a try if you haven't already

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Thanks!

gears ,

EasyTether+ might have a Linux client. It's a similar app

Fake4000 ,

Basically they don't want you to turn your phone into a mobile router.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Well then don't offer unlimited data. Is it unlimited or not?

gregorum ,
@gregorum@lemm.ee avatar

Definitely not the way they structure it currently

fuckwit_mcbumcrumble ,

Unlimited data for your phone, not your computer.

ramble81 ,

Unlimited data, not unlimited speed. It didn’t say they’d cut you off, only that you’d be throttled.

(Yes it’s an asshole move but there is a difference)

Honytawk ,

Unlimited is by definition without a limit

5 GB is a limit

ramble81 ,

You have “unlimited data” so you can download all you want. You do not have “unlimited bandwidth”.

Honytawk ,

Unlimited with a limit

criticon ,

Do they actually slow it down? I have 8GB of data and many months I use a lot more than that and they send me some messages that they will slow it with some links to purchase more data but it never happens, or at least not in a noticeable way

rowinxavier ,

Root your phone and you can manage which APN is used by tethering. If you can't do this consider trying a connecting to a VPN before enabling tethering, the connection will on some devices remain active on the normal APN because changing would disconnect the VPN and keeping connected is higher priority than updating the APN. Also USB tethering and WIFI tethering may behave differently.

In the end this is a good argument for better regulation. When you buy a car they don't get to extract more money from you because you drive out of state or use it for business. The fact that telecommunications companies have so much power and access to basically monitor what you are doing and bill accordingly is insane. You should pay for a service with a simple and clear contract and all this crap should be made illegal.

lazycouchpotato ,
@lazycouchpotato@lemmy.world avatar

I've been using SecureTether https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.panjava.internet.sharing.tethering.mobile.hotspot.secure.wifi.securetether to get around it. Requires a bit of setup but works without issues after.

I dont believe something like this is possible on iOS.

LucidDaemon ,

If you use a VPN it can also mask it too. That's how I used to get around it before moving to Google Fi.

whotookkarl ,
@whotookkarl@lemmy.world avatar

Same, if I have unlimited data it's none of their business what that data is

oakey66 ,

Every carrier has it's problems but AT&T and Verizon are a nickel and diming rip off. They suck.

assembly ,

I remember when I had the original iPhone with jailbreak I was able to use it as a hotspot without the carrier restrictions. Guessing it’s the same way now that it is handled in the OS and phone makers have carrier agreements to separate the traffic so people don’t use as much of their service as they pay for.

mvilain ,
@mvilain@fedia.io avatar

I got hit by this AT&T usage cap for internet downloads. I went through 250GB of downloads in less than a month. Most of it was internet backups of a newly installed system. They don't offer a data tier without a cap in my area so I was stuck paying $10/10GB over that month. Next month I added a $30 unlimited data charge to my bill. That's OK as I'm consistently going over their cap again due to backups. Unless I buy much more expensive plan from a commercial provider and pay for Fibre installation, I'm stuck.

nehal3m ,

The difference is one hop. I think that’s how ISP’s measure it anyway. I’ll bet spoofing that number would bypass the restriction.

Or I’m hopelessly out of date.

ptz ,
@ptz@dubvee.org avatar

Something like that, yeah. I recall a while back that TTL spoofing was a way to get around that kind of detection. Haven't had to deal with that lately, so no idea if it's still valid / applicable.

Jackthelad ,

AT&T are like:

https://youtu.be/DHgVRVeRNXM?feature=shared

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