Tethering with Three

[Guest supertwisted]

Anyone know if there are any hidden charges for using a tethered data connection on Three? I have 1gb a month allowance on my contract.

I've consulted their deliberately vague T&Cs and am none the wiser.

I'd call them, but I can't quite face their overseas call center at the moment.

[Guest rjm2k]

Anyone know if there are any hidden charges for using a tethered data connection on Three? I have 1gb a month allowance on my contract.

I've consulted their deliberately vague T&Cs and am none the wiser.

I'd call them, but I can't quite face their overseas call center at the moment.

I doubt they could even tell that you were tethering.

[Guest AndyHibberd]

Well it seems GiffGaff claim they can tell.

They say "No tethering" in their unlmtd Data plans.

[Guest Lew247]

the only way they can tell is if you suddenly start doing things a phone cant do, like downloading 30 threads of newsgroups at the same time, downloading LOTS of torrent files

normal day to day internet use and they'll be non the wiser.

Yes they "could" look at every site your going to and exactly what your data package is accessing, but if you give them no reason to even think about this then they have better things to be doing and wont bother.

Edited December 8, 2010 by Lew247

[Guest mikeyp7771]

I have tethered on three with no probs and no charges (I get 2gb data). As long as you're not takin the mickey I think you'll be okay.

Think they can check though.

edit: Wonder if using something like PeerBlock will make it totally hidden?

Edited December 8, 2010 by mikeyp7771

[Guest AndyHibberd]

Good to know! (I'm on Three too.....[one])

[Guest PintMcPint]

Good to know! (I'm on Three too.....[one])

I have been using the Three network for a long time and always connected my phone as a modem. Never had a problem and I am on the pay as you go set up too.

[Guest shawn0]

I've been using a 3 phone sim as my home broadband connection for nearly 2yrs,£5 for 2gb a month pay and go in a 3g router. Browsing and emails, only had it go over 2gb once, but if you do it just stops working until topped up again. Needs to be an old sim though a new one will only let you have 500mb for your fiver since a few months ago.

[Guest zed2012]

Am also on Three monthly contract and have been tethering it occasionally for 6 months or so.

No problem at all, comes in use when talktalk lot start to faff about ;)

Edited December 8, 2010 by zed2012

[Guest supertwisted]

Am also on Three monthly contract and have been tethering it occasionally for 6 months or so.

No problem at all, comes in use when talktalk lot start to faff about ;)

Funny you should say that. Ever since I signed up with talktalk a couple of months ago I've had line problems.

Hence this post really as I need some kind of backup.

Cheers for the replies all, looks like I'm safe to tether.

[Guest Magnets]

I doubt they could even tell that you were tethering.

I doubt they would, but they could just check your HTTP headers and see you are using winXP/firefox etc. I would imagine they only bother doing that if you use a large amount of data.

[Guest shawn0]

Watch out you don't go over your data allowance or they will really sting you on a contract.

[Guest tiggerlator]

I played wow for nearly 2 hours using my tethered phone on 3 payg. no problem, connectiion was fine, a little pingy but fine.

[Guest Ralph Martin]

Some time back I was looking at the Three web site and they were actually promoting tethering as something you could do with the phones they were offering.

[Guest shawn0]

I don't think they are bothered what you do with the allotted data but if you hit your limit they shut you off until you topup more but on a contract they hammer you. It's something like a pound a meg over your allowance. :)

[Guest G0DSPEED]

Some time back I was looking at the Three web site and they were actually promoting tethering as something you could do with the phones they were offering.

Yeah my other halfs skypephone S2 purchased from 3 will act as a broadband modem when plugged into a PC, will self install the drivers required etc etc.

Bit of a pain when you plug it in to a pc to offload pics etc and off it goes trying to install itself!

I'm on PAYG with the '3PAY' plan they don't offer anymore, as previously mentioned we can convert £5 to 2gb monthly internet - these days you can only get 500mb!

I think Three have realised they were a bit too generous and that their network is filling up slightly!

[Guest popoyaya]

Having used tethering with various payg sims over the past few years it would seem that any of the providers can tell, if they want to, if you are tethering. They all have different policies with it though. I had one of the O2 iphone 12 month free internet sims that i battered with downloads for 6 months before they sent the "this sim is not being used in an iphone" text and disconnected me. T-mobile's 6-month internet for £20 is good. If you go over a certain limit, I think 1GB/month, they just throttle your bandwidth at certain times of the day, no extra charges. At the moment I'm using a vodafone sim and downloading 16GB/day and they don't seem to give a damn! It cost £1/day (used to be 50p/day until recently) but well worth it if you're a big torrent downloader and haven't got access to a broadband line.

[Guest fiendishlyclever]

Check out http://blog.three.co.uk/2010/12/15/new-all...n-the-one-plan/

And yes, if you want to use your phone as a dongle (also known as tethering) then you absolutely can.

That's for their 'One Plan' but I get the impression they aren't bothered :)

[Guest mark2410]

no they dont care but be warned, you can blitz through 1gb very easily and very quickly