Bringing to your attention, Customers using tethering serice without needing to pay for it.

[mrmmz]

Dear Verizon Wireless Support,

I am writing you this to inform you that there is an exploit in

your system that allows customers to use your tethering service without

having to pay for the tethering feature.

Users can do this by using an app available for purchase from the Google

Play store which allows a non-rooted phone to enable tethering threw

Wi-Fi or Bluetooth with other devices without paying for an active

tethering feature.

The name of the application that utilizes this exploit is named -removed by author-

and is available on Google Play:

Direct link to the -removed by author- application: -removed by author-

I bring this to your attention because as a paying customer of tethering

services, I realize that customers are in fact stealing the service

which creates a negative price increase on legitimate customers who pay

for the service. Not to mention creating numerous network burdens and

profit losses for your company.

edited to remove original links and product name as the problem can not be remedied.

[#2]

Yeah you can thank the FCC for that. There's nothing Verizon can do about it.

[Ann154]

The mobile hotspot feature is included in the Share Everything Plans. Users are the older unlimited data plan have to add the feature to their line and users with the individual tiered data should change their plan to one that includes the mobile hotspot feature.

[EDelashmit]

In fact, this is a post bordering on trolling. Hotspot is an included feature on all modern data plans that are metered. Older unlimited plans, like mine, do have to pay extra, but we do not have to use Verizon's software to do it. I personally use Foxfi due to it using significantly less power than Verizon's app.

Yes, I do pay for tethering, but VzW's tampering with Android's built-in tethering significantly degrades performance. In addition to the power efficiency, Foxfi reduces latency by about 20ms (gamer here) and increases speed by about 0.5Mbps due to faster throughput through the phone.

[dimap52 · Accepted solution]

1  FCC said Verizon cannot block tethering apps, e.g. FoxFi from the Play Store, and that customers are free to use any tethering app of their choosing.

2 Tethering is a Phone Function, not a Carrier Service. Android was designed to support an OPEN tethering function, and has to be intentionally gimped in order for Carriers to control the feature. These modifications can as a prior poster noted, serious degraded performance.

3 Carriers in most other countries do NOT charge for tethering. In my opinion, monetizing tethering by gimping OEM features for the sake of additional sources of profit is unethical in my opinion primarily because  charging forit is a uniquely American phenomenon.

Now perhaps I could be persuaded that charging for it on unlimited plans might have some merit to alleviate potential congestion, but not on tiered capped data plans, which are what non-American companies offer, hence no tethering charge.

[Intocable]

move along folks ..nothing to see here!

and thanks for showing the average joe the trick a select few know

[mrmmz]

As your discretion original links and product name have been removed from the original post as the problem can not be remedied.

[Tidbits]

dimap52 wrote:

1  FCC said Verizon cannot block tethering apps, e.g. FoxFi from the Play Store, and that customers are free to use any tethering app of their choosing.

Correct

2 Tethering is a Phone Function, not a Carrier Service. Android was designed to support an OPEN tethering function, and has to be intentionally gimped in order for Carriers to control the feature. These modifications can as a prior poster noted, serious degraded performance.

False.  It is a service which when you signed that contract that it is a service. Also just because the application is "built in" doesn't mean it doesn't require a service of some sort as well as additional provisioning by the carriers.  FCC understands this and has grandfathered the old terms if you are on them, but if you want the "new" provisions you will have to accept the "new" terms.

3 Carriers in most other countries do NOT charge for tethering. In my opinion, monetizing tethering by gimping OEM features for the sake of additional sources of profit is unethical in my opinion primarily because  charging forit is a uniquely American phenomenon.

All carriers around the world do not offer unlimited data with tethering.  When they had unlimited data they had an addon package for tethering.  It is not a US phenomenon.  It was the same worldwide for the longest time, until they removed unlimited, and the US is the last of the few countries that still offered unlimited data.

Now perhaps I could be persuaded that charging for it on unlimited plans might have some merit to alleviate potential congestion, but not on tiered capped data plans, which are what non-American companies offer, hence no tethering charge.