Tethering on VM

What's the big deal and why don't Virgin mobile of other providers allow it ?

Our Sky internet has been down for a few days due to a fault at the exchange so my 2 sons and I have used our mobile phones as modems to access the internet on our pc's,laptops and tablets ,one of my sons has received a text message from VM stating his service will be discontinued if he continues to tether ,we don't need to now as the line has been repaired but what is the problem ?

[RobboEdin]

You may find this thread useful:

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1790721

you can get around it by using a user agent switcher on chrome

[Pauls9]

T-mobile are happy for users to tether. They even provide instructions. The only limit is in the fair use policy.

Originally Posted by Pauls9

T-mobile are happy for users to tether. They even provide instructions. The only limit is in the fair use policy.

i just don't know why providers object

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by martyh

i just don't know why providers object

Maybe because some will get a better upload from there tethered phone than there broadband. They would then hit the torrents

Originally Posted by Sirius

Maybe because some will get a better upload from there tethered phone than there broadband. They would then hit the torrents

funny you should mention that

[qasdfdsaq]

Originally Posted by martyh

What's the big deal and why don't Virgin mobile of other providers allow it ?

Because they offer unlimited internet deals and hardly any providers allow unlimited tethering on unlimited data packages.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by martyh

funny you should mention that

See what i mean

[jb66]

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Because they offer unlimited internet deals and hardly any providers allow unlimited tethering on unlimited data packages.

No one does anymore

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by martyh

i just don't know why providers object

Bandwidth is more scarce and expensive on mobile networks. A single user caning a cell can put a big dent in its capacity.

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Bandwidth is more scarce and expensive on mobile networks. A single user caning a cell can put a big dent in its capacity.

Still doesn't make sense to me ,i could stream a film on my phone or i could still do it on my phone but connect it to a laptop and watch the film on a bigger screen ,same data allowance is used so why the hassle?

[jb66]

People who tether use more data, simples

[progers]

Tesco & O2 allow tethering

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by martyh

Still doesn't make sense to me ,i could stream a film on my phone or i could still do it on my phone but connect it to a laptop and watch the film on a bigger screen ,same data allowance is used so why the hassle?

While it is true, you are only using what you pay for, bear in mind that it costs them a lot of money for you to use the data so while they can't stop you using what you pay for, they aren't going to make it easier for you to use more data.

In fact, consumer ISPs base their business models on the assumption that most of the time, most of their users will not be using what they pay for. Truly unlimited internet costs a lot more than we, as consumers, pay for our unlimited internet plans.

Tethering is one thing that gets disabled simply because no matter what speed your internet connection and how much data your plan allows you to download, it will be a lot easier to download a lot of data on a laptop or PC than it is on a mobile phone or tablet. For example, if you do a fresh install of Windows or OSX, you will download around 1 gig of updates to get it up to data. Combine that with the fact that they can disable tethering and should a customer complain, they can legitimately argue that they are offering the service they advertise.