Comments on: Unofficial tethering with O2 – a word of caution

By: Matt Radford

Matt Radford — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:55:44 +0000

I wouldn’t write it off just yet. Complain to OFCOM about the tethering charge – they’ve said they’ll look into if enough people complain.

And remember – although tethering has been disallowed by the Ts&Cs previously, O2 have de facto been allowing people to tether their non-iPhones by turning a blind eye. Now they want only iPhone customer to sign up to their “iPhone Internet Tethering Bolt Ons”. Clearly there is some discriminatory practice going on here.

By: Gerry White

Gerry White — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:29:15 +0000

“..To me, that’s fairly clear that tethering isn’t allowed. It may not be the case that everyone understands that though. I’m not implying you don’t get it, just that it could be considered a bit technical for some people..”

Dang – I don’t typically read the contracts when I sign up, but frequently I find that when things change you can get out of it, a lot of people escaped Three (and their terrible service) for the same reason… Curious if that was in there 12 months ago …

By: Matt Radford

Matt Radford — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:45:24 +0000

Contractually, you get your unlimited data for “free”, via the Unlimited Wi-Fi and Web Bolt On, as in:

“The Unlimited Wi-Fi and Web Bolt On is included at no extra cost for customers connecting or upgrading to any iPhone tariff until further notice”

The Bolt On terms state that:

“You may not use your SIM Card:
* in, or connected to, any other device including modems;”

To me, that’s fairly clear that tethering isn’t allowed. It may not be the case that everyone understands that though. I’m not implying you don’t get it, just that it could be considered a bit technical for some people.

However, if you think there are grounds to break the contract (perhaps mis-selling), then you are quite entitled to break it. Whether or not a court would agree with you is another matter… Saying that, ISPs have had their knuckles rapped for selling capped connections as “unlimited”, so you never know. It all depends how much you want to upgrade!

By: Gerry White

Gerry White — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:17:32 +0000

In the initial contract you sign, does it say your not allowed to use it for tethering? What I am trying to ask is that initially you get unlimited data usage, but now they are saying that it is unlimited data usage for this purpose, but not for that …

Is it grounds to 1. break the contract and 2. go for a quicker upgrade?

(that said I might be going HTC Hero next round)….

By: Matt Radford

Matt Radford — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:58:13 +0000

Oh absolutely. The 3G signal around my way is terrible as well. But in a pinch, having access to mobile data for the laptop (even if it is GPRS) would be very handy.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:44:59 +0000

All this assumes, of course, that you have a good 3G signal to which to tether. Trouble is, in the real world, or in my case not living in a main city (though that in itself is no guarantee), there is no 3G. The O2 network sucks. Now, if I had my iPhone on 3 …