“Though there are no surprises here, AT&T confirmed on Thursday its pricing plans for both the iPad 2 and for the just-added hotspot option for the iPhone 4,” Ina Fried reports for AllThingsD.
“AT&T’s pricing plans, as laid out by Mobilized last week, start at $14.99 for 250MB of data. A second option for $25 a month, gives users 2GB of data,” Fried reports. “Verizon’s iPad service starts at $20 for 1GB of service, with plans ranging all the way to $80 a month for 10GB of data.”
Fried reports, “As for the iPhone 4 hotspot feature, AT&T is charging the same rate it currently does for tethering on the iPhone, and for hotspot capabilities on Android phones. The company requires customers subscribe to its $25 data plan and then charges $20 extra, which includes 2GB of additional data. Data use beyond that is billed at $10 per gigabyte.”
Full article with a chart of plan options here.
Pay $20… or just pay 5 bucks more for an iPad data plan and don’t bother fiddling with tethering.
If you have more than one device to tether, then I can see the potential savings.
ChrissyOne
I agree not worth the hassle.But didn’t you write something about the hassle of having to charge and carry two devices?
OK, now I’m confused.
Me too.
I said I wouldn’t want to bother with tethering if I only had a hypothetical iPhone and one other device. If you had more than one device to tether, then there would be a cost savings because you wouldn’t have to have a data plan on all those devices. Or maybe the devices belong to different people, say in your vanpool. But personally, as an iPhone+iPad only user (no lappy) then I’d rather not fiddle with it and just have 2 data plans.
Or something.
Does anybody have any idea how it works with AT&T if you have the “grandfathered in” unlimited plan and want to add tethering? Do I have to go down to the $25 plan or can I just add $20 to what I currently have?
You have to give up your unlimited data to get tethering/personal hotspot
I was going to ask AT&T about this…
If true, then game over. 3G iPad 2 it is.
Been going back and forth about 3G or just wifi model.
I’m going to stop into my AT&T store on the way home tonight to confirm.
Weaksauce
Or say hello to Jailbraking your iPhone and getting one of the wifi-hotspot apps from Cydia…
I am SO glad Bell in Canada doesn’t charge anything extra for tethering/hotspot, so I get 6Gb for $30.
That’s what I’m sticking with. I’m holding onto my unlimited plan as long as I can. I just stick with MyWi. I’m paying for the data, who are they to tell me how I can use it?
OR
you could just get a clear iSpot
25 bucks a month-unlimited
it works great and best of all
no ATT!!
Just looked at the iSpot.
Plans start at $45 a month. After the $99 purchase price.
http://www.clear.com/plans/details/id/376
they’ll have to pry my unlimited data plan from my cold dead ihand.
signed up for the newest ability. Had to drop my unlimited data plan. The sign up for the 4 gig plan. Bonus, got to drop the 45.00 per month Cricket WiFi card. Sweet!
Once in a while I would like to tether my iPad. I could not see paying extra just to run the tethering option. It is a shame that I can’t just tether for those times I am not around WiFi. It seems criminal how they run this scam and I shale not support it.
iQ
Jailbreak your iPhone, pay a one-time $20 fee for an app called MyWi, and your turn your iPhone into a hotspot and support up to 5 devices for $0 a month as long as you have unlimited data
So, when Apple update the iOS version and wipes myWi off, is it just as simple as reinstalling it?
As long as you wait to update to the new iOS.
Usually a few weeks, or longer, til the newest iOS is able to be jail broken.
Then reinstall miwi.
I never paid for miwi when I had it, but I assume you can recover your “license”.
Thanks for the info. Charging me again for the data I already paid for doesn’t seem fair to me at all. So I may look into myWi.
It looks like the Canadian Cell Carriers are supporting Personal Hotspots at no extra cost if you have any data plan with 1GB/month or higher.
That sounds like a big break for Canadians until you find out what Canadian carriers charge per Gigabyte.
Canada; Telus. Two iPhone 4’s, last month’s bill was $163.71. 900 local minutes shared between phones. Free eve/wknd after 6pm. 6GB Data PER phone. Unlimited Text, and all the other fixings. Tethering, and now Hotspot included. LD is extra. $80/phone month ain’t bad.
I got in on a 6GB/Month promo offered by Roger a couple years back… $30
Someone give me a heads up on this. Give me an approximation of what you can download or stream for 250MB of data. A 2 hour movie can hold as much as 6 gig of data. If I stream an HD movie to my IPad how much data am I consuming or what if I download an HD movie how much data am I using?
Yes 250 MB wont buy you much but if you have to use your IPad as a Nav system or get weather reports occasionally or you’re just checking emails on the road then chances are you only need the 250MB package. Downloading HD movies on the IPad is ridiculous, I always choose the non HD option on ITunes and I always use Wifi to download movies anyhow. I may stream the occasional TV program from ABC.com or the ABC app and about 1.5 hours of streaming is about 1.1 Gb.That would be three half hour programs.
I have netflix with apple tv and comcast internet. I checked my usage over a months time and it was less than 250 mb. I know we’ve streamed about 20 movies and tv shows over that month so I’m wondering why my comcast data usage is under 250mb. Could it be that data compression in streaming is that efficient.
my mistake, I went back and looked at the usage. comcast allows 250GB not MB per month. My usage was about 12G. I guess 250 mb from a carrier would be enough for stuff like you mentioned and if you can get a month when you need it and not be tied into a contract that seems like a fair deal but I think that’s only with AT&T.
Personal Hotspot is fully functional on Rogers in Canada.
No additional fees. No extra charges. Just uses data off your monthly plan.
At 6 GB/month and average use of 2 GB/month….ya; just cancelled my iPad data plan.
Enjoy being charged up the a** for sh!t service.
I love Canadian beer. Can I join you guys?
telecoms = ROBBER BARONS!
Now, I sure this has been brought about before, and it’s a clear sign of just how greedy Telecom giants are, but I still don’t understand why, if I have UNLIMITED data access, I would either a) have to pay extra to essentially access MORE of my UNLIMITED, or b) have to downgrade my unlimited access to a limited amount, and then still pay more to be able to access more of it. I know there are ways of getting around this, but it’s quite ridiculous that they are even needed in the first place.
Unlimited or not, if I have a 2GB data plan or whatever on my iphone, why should the telcos get to charge me extra for how I use that data? If I split that 2 GB of data between 2 or 3 devices, what skin is it off their backs? The hotspot charge is just another way to gouge the American consumer.
I’m all for paying a fair price for a fair service. $25 a month for 2 GB is a price I’m willing to pay, so I don’t see why I should have to pay $45 a month to use that data as I see fit.
Roughly $10 per GB? Highway robbery. I won’t support that pricing structure, and I hope that the majority in the U.S. vote “no” with their $$ and send a message to the dumb pipes. We are already getting reamed from every other direction – why let them add another?
I am not advocating going back to “unlimited” plans. I understand that all resources must be rationed, and there are data gluttons who will belly up to the “all you can download option for one low price.” But the current pricing plans are not acceptable, particularly since you pay on a device basis. In addition, the wireless telcos are using the tried and true cell phone minutes strategy – force people into selecting a high data threshold by implementing punitive and excessive overage charges.
Either there is insufficient competition, or the capitalistic system is not functioning very well in this case (or both).