See again you missed it. I am not challenging that cell phone companies will charge you for using their software for PAM or if you use it excessively.

The problem with you refence is 1) it is not sprint 2) the guy was quoted as using the PAM option on his phone 3) used it a TON!

So again all we are asking is for proof of Anyone having been billed. the criteria is simple. 1) Produce a sprint bill showing a charge (and that you have a unlimited data plan) 2) show you have been using a pam program (i.e. PDAnet) and NOT the one that comes with the phone.

Still waiting. Until then I would consider all claims mere gossip.

Well first off if you have ulimited phone as a modem data plan, sprint legally cant charge you for using it excessivly...UNLESS they have put a clause within thier TOS...Which coming from a store, they dont know squat...They only thing they know how to do is ly to the customer base to get a sale and once they get the sell they forget everything they tell you.....If PDAnet activates the modem.sprint.com nai then NO you will not get any charges...From what i read on PDAnet web site....it does activate the modem nai...So i wouldnt worry too much if you
havethe unlimited phone as a modem data plan..If you have a normal data plan, i have seen where people used it slightly abd never get charged for it...but i have also seen people use it alot and not get charged for it, and a couple of time...notice i said couple of times...i have seen people get charged for using it too much....

Come on that is quite the lame example, Canada, not Sprint, no unlimited data etc.....

I was just waiting for someone to post that or the one from the UK or the other one I saw from Australia

Well on the touch using Internet Sharing it can connect to Sprint using either the SprintPCS connection or the Phone As Modem connection, you select which to use.

So when anything connects PIE, Googlemaps, Opera it uses the PCS connection, the same as I.S., so unless they dig deeper, using I.S. looks the same as any regular PPC program accessing data.

Sprint even attempted to disable I.S. from working, a very lame attempt thankfully though. If they were really so concerned about tethering they would have done more, but they didn't so it seems they aren't too concerned about it, if you ask me.

i doubt they can totally or will ever be able to block it out.

BUT my feeling is if you try your luck and get bitten its your OWN fault. You know the rules, you know there's a PAM plan, and you chose to risk it and go around the system. And then you wanna blame Sprint when/if they charge you?

haha wow... take some responsibility.

If you go 20 over and get a ticket, is it the cops fault for catching you or yours for knowingly violating the rules?

Oh I agree, I would pay the Pam every month if I had too, but until then I will use it the way it is.

of course. no fault in using it if its free, just the people who are "outraged" that theyll get their freebie cut off that they should have been paying for since the begining and should be happy they had it free that long. Those people REALLY need to get over it its not Sprint's fault you got it for free going around the rules and didnt pay. So if you get cut off and have to pay i dont feel bad one bit to the complaining. I mean hell Sprint already has the lowest data prices, it cant ALWAYS be the free/cheap way or theyd be out of business.

im WAY more ticked off they purposely blocked picturemail/mms from us being able to use arcsoft, something most of us actually pay for or have included in out data we pay for.

Primenall, not being a ass, but wheni worked for Sprint, you were the type of person i hated to get a call from bitching bout being able to tether and trying to weasel your way of paying for what you used...

I liked what klmsu19 said

You know it is sad that when you give someone an inch, they take a mile. That is why alot of wireless providers are starting to get more strict bout thier wireless data usage....With Sprint going though changes between P2K billing system to Ensemble billing system, you MIGHT get though the cracks for a little bit, but once the system is at full functionality, you might want to watch your bill.......You might even be thier next Ex customer too...they may fire you.


klmsu19
When you say this, are you not able to download the picture from the web site to your pc and edit the photo.

I had to tether last month in Chicago as I was preparing for a conference. The wi-fi in the hotel kept dropping my laptop and I had to prepare a presentation and couldn't keep f'in with shoddy connections. I made sure that I got an internet connection by PCS with dialing 777, then once the connection was live, I plugged my laptop in... voila.

I wouldn't say I was abusive, but I did what I needed to do over the course of a couple days.

No PDAnet. No reg hacking. No additional charges on this bill.

There's an easy solution to all these problems. Just suck up, put on the tethering features and pay the bloody bill. Simple. Works for me. Flawlessly. And no surprises.

Most months I don't use tethering, but on the occasions that I do (once or twice per year during emergencies when my wired connections are down, or when the hotel I’m staying at doesn’t have high speed internet) if I could easily order PAM when needed, but shut it off the rest of the time I would happily do so.

However if I’m paying for PAM on all those other months I will most certainly use it … let’s see, if I turn off my cable modem, that’s minus forty five bucks per month, then add $15 for PAM … why that’s a thirty dollar savings, and sprint will get to supply many many OTA megabytes!

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Don't mess with old futs...age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! B. S. and brilliance only come with age and experience!

Well you Are being an ass, first I never call up bitching and Never as you put it try to weasel out of paying, I really don't even understand where you came up with that??????

Guys, if you can't keep the conversation on topic, I'll have to close the thread.

If you want to discuss the topic at hand, then feel free to do so, but please avoid specific insults or provocations toward others.

Thanks! A reasonable comment.
My complaint is the over blown all encompassing claim that the sprint boogie man is going to get you for using your phone as a modem without their PAM plan. For the most part this is not true and has never been true.

Now I make this statement realizing the following: this does not apply to people who 1) use the internet sharing program already installed (that must just scream to sprint - bill me bill me)
2) abuse it - as in use it all the time and download tons.

Also most would take some kind of precaution such as using PDAnet or reg hack (for other phones).

Three I am not promoting this as an activity. If you need to use your phone as a modem then one should get the PAM plan. That is the right thing to do.

However what most of us are concerned about it what if we are caught in emergency and need to tether for a brief it? We don't want to get sacked with an outrageous bill for a little use (I don't tether since I have access to an aircard in my case, but know others who have) on the road. They don't ever use it enough to justify spending the extra $$ to pay for it.

It makes lots of sense for sprint not to push the matter either. Think about it. If I have to shell out the extra to get PAM I might as well get the data card. Then I would really really use it. It's about the same cost so why not? If I am a business why pay a stupid PAM for each phone, just get data cards, they will see a lot more use. I'm sure sprint would be better off letting users get by with the occasional tethering than risk making them get air cards that they feel they have to really use lots. Worse case is that at that point many will see little value in keeping sprint and would opt for another carrier.

Your right and wrong. If sprint cuts it off then they cut it off and people have to pay for it. What people don't want is to get an outrageous bill out of the blue for something they have been doing for 6 years. Either it's a sprint soft policy or they make it a hard policy, but don't go over night and change it and send huge bills overnight. That's what the irrational initial posts leads people to believe when there is at present no proof.

No i wasnt meaning as in you but using "you" in a general sense...
If you are using it for a sec to check email, and not using it so much that Sprint is gonna bitch...then do it..but if your downloading something that is several megs or gigs then yea they are going to notice..

But there are people who know they are doing wrong ALL the time, then call in saying they are innocent...

Just a bit of advise, the tech support people** if you get one knowledgeable** know where to look, see where you been, what areas, everything...

All i am doing is telling you is it worth getting angry over Sprint if you got a bill for using it as a modem? or is it worth to Prevent that and get the Pam plan if you plan on using it that much to have posted this?

I have no doubt they are tracking bytes transmitted & received.

Are you also saying they are tracking sites visited? Unless they are proxying traffic (are they?) I don't see how that's possible. If they are indeed proxying traffic & are tracking all the sites I visit, I would consider that a huge violation of privacy. I'm pretty certain that our phones, vs. the traditional handset that routes through proxy, are immune from being tracked. The sheer amount of data they would have to store, would seem like a deterrent for tracking such a thing.

My sentiments exactly!

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Don't mess with old futs...age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! B. S. and brilliance only come with age and experience!

Isn't this exactly the issue that's being voted on in congress this week (telco immunity from prosecution for prior tracking)? All of the telcos were ordered to stop, but I'm sure our senators and representatives (and management at Sprint!) would love to know that Sprint employees are running around saying that Sprint is still doing it. - sheureka

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Do good. Be kind. Have fun.

its still the point you knew from the start if you do the work around you may one day get caught. same with the ticket analogy- sure you may go 15 over EVERY DAY to work but the one day you get caught are you going to tell the cop "but ive been doing it every day! you cant ticket me"

people know the risks when they go around the system. they should also be adult enough and responsible enough to accept eh consequences if they get caught.

and no one will get sacked with a big bill- sprint will 99% of the time simply backrate you for a PAM plan for that month. they just do that to send a message they know what youre doing.



To the people constantly tethering- since you CHOOSE to effect MY service/ evdo speeds and network congestion, I DO pay for i hope you get caught. Just like if you CHOOSE to speed risking my life or my vehicle getting wrecked i hope you get caught. Or if you CHOOSE to drive drink and risk my life or my vehicle crashing i hope you get caught. I know those are 2 different levels of impact, but the concept remains the same.

Its all about choices and consequences. I feel no sadness for people who willingly violate any rules and get caught- i work hard for what i have and ill be damned if bad choices by others are going to bring me down.

(and no i don't work for sprint or really like sprint as a carrier per say, but i do work in the legal field and in law school and believe in justice and being honest)

Yeah, I've been reading about this as well. There are different ways they can look at traffic:

1.) By source and destination (ip address)
2.) By application (port #'s)
3.) By quantity (bytes received & transmitted)

Certainly they are all looking at #3. In America we are not tolerant of our ISP's taking action based on their ability to examine the details of #1 & #2. However the rest of the world pretty much accepts this as part of their service agreement. That's why I live here and not there.

I guess the argument, on behalf of the ISP's, is that by monitoring all 3, they can filter out bad applications; illegal/pirated software, movies, music, etc.; and take action against those who are taking a higher percentage of bandwidth in comparison to the rest of us.

I'm strongly against ISP's deciding what is and what isn't appropriate based on a set of criteria they determine. That isn't a statement in favor of illegal transferring of applications/data. Contrary, I have extensive experience with Intrusion Detection Systems (which are used to find & filter these types of data transfers), and know that there are many things deemed as "bad", that may actually be good (false positives). If you filter out good stuff, thinking it's bad, there is a strong chance you could end up breaking an application that relies on it.

Having said that, I am somewhat in favor of their defining some sort of baseline for acceptable quantity & then charging extra to those who far exceed those baselines. For example if the average is 20 gb per month, per user, and my neighbor is exceeding 100 gb, then for the sake of fairness, I believe that person should be charged extra.

I totally digress. As I said earlier, I really doubt Sprint has the intelligence in place to pull up a customer account and look at every site that person has visited, nor do I think they are able to drill down to the level of being able to see which files were transferred. I could be wrong, but I would think they'd have better things to invest in than that.