WMWiFiRouter triggering charges?

[HBOOT]

I for one would just say hey ther ehow are you doing this lovely saturday? could you please tell me when does my contract expires or how do i go about adding a line? and btw , are you running any special on this or that and what is that isht on my account? no big deal, like u said what is the worst case?

[Asphyx]

Make sure you have ICS set to use DATA and not phone as modem!
WMWiFi uses ICS to make the connection.

[Kalnel]

Originally Posted by Asphyx

Make sure you have ICS set to use DATA and not phone as modem!
WMWiFi uses ICS to make the connection.

On ICS, Data Network Connect is the only option I have available for Network Connection. Is that what you mean?

[xhorntail]

I'm on Sprint, dunno how Verizon's customer support is, but this is how Sprint went for me.

I noticed I was getting extra charges on my line, but was well within my usage. I figured it was tethering, since I'd exceeded 3gb that month.

I called in, said something to the effect of "Hey, how ya doin? I have a charge on my bill, and I'm not sure what it's for.." the rep said it was for data usage, so then I was pretty sure it was from being caught tethering. I went on to say "Oh, I thought my plan included unlimited data, I don't understand.." and the rep asked how I managed 3gb on my phone alone, I just played dumb and asked if that's alot, then told him my emails fully download rather than cap out at the first few kb, and and asked if that could cause it. He pretty much said "Probably not, but it's possible. You do have unlimited internet on your plan though sir, so I am going to go ahead and credit you for the extra balance." I then asked if I was going to have to call in every month, and here's the best part, he said "No sir! I will make sure that this traffic clears on your account in the future."

That was it. Never got any extra charges since. And for those who might question my ethics, all of it is true. My email's DO fully download, and due to my job, they have alot of attachments. It isn't irregular for me to exceed a gig in email a month, so it likely would have been an issue either way.

Important part is that they never blamed me, accused me, or anything, and they can make it so it doesn't happen anymore. My plan doesn't show PAM on it, so I'm pretty sure they use a bandwidth cap to determine if you tether or not, and he just raised or killed the bandwidth limit.

Anyway, just saying that it doesn't hurt to call and play dumb, even if you're not playing dumb, I wouldn't imagine they'd do anything more than charge you for PAM if they found out for sure.

[Kalnel]

The weird thing is that I haven't used a lot of data or even more than I do in a typical month. I've used less than 300MB total, so there's nothing that should have prompted any attention. Something strange is going on. In the data usage detail breakdown, it now shows something like 3KB from yesterday and nothing else before 7/13. In other words, days and usage are disappearing from my account. I've seen data use numbers go up and down before with no explanation, but I don't think I've ever seen entire days disappear. Makes me wonder if they're examining packets or something.

[LittleBreezes]

Hi all, I am going to reply to this with the hope of not being flamed, but something tells me I will be nevertheless. One of my fiance's cousins is a long time supervisor at VZ and I posed a very similar question to her. As it turns out there is a field in your account record that can be set to a data cap (usually 50MB or 5GB), however that is rarely what causes the red flag to go up for closer scrutinization of any account. What triggers the red flag is usually one or more of several characteristics that they find unlikely to occur if data is used only on the device. I don't recall the entire laundry list but some of the included items are use of an incoming port, outgoing ports other then the normal 25, 110, 143, 80, 443, etc, packets sent to certain destination address (online gaming, file sharing, etc), file transmissions that are unusually large, data link speeds that are more consistant with USB/Bluetooth, etc. I don't remember everything but there are lots of fingerprints of tethering, irregardless of how it is masked on the device. She told me that as a general rule the first time a customer call in and denies it they readily remove the charges but any subsequent billing cycle that displays similar activity will result in a hard fast per kilobyte charge.
hth
Frank

[bikeandestroyx]

i just noticed that on my account too, i was tethering with my phone, then i bought wmwifirouter and used that for an hour today but no charges yet?

[Kalnel]

Originally Posted by bikeandestroyx

i just noticed that on my account too, i was tethering with my phone, then i bought wmwifirouter and used that for an hour today but no charges yet?

You might want to check back tomorrow or the next day to see if it shows then. My data reports are generally 24-48 hours delayed. (Oddly, I'm still missing a few days of data from this month.)

Also, I've done a little more research and found that everyone's account will be showing this breakout for Mobile Domestic Broadband Connect. Apparently, this is designed so people with the VZW service on their BBs (or whatever) can track their tethering usage.

I'm not sure if this has any ramifications for WMWiFiRouter users, though.

[Kalnel]

Originally Posted by LittleBreezes

Hi all, I am going to reply to this with the hope of not being flamed, but something tells me I will be nevertheless. hth
Frank

Definitely not flameworthy in my book!

I've heard people say that the carriers can spot tethering through:
1. Packet type
2. Port use
3. Data patterns
4. Random analysis
5. Other mysterious methods

I've also heard that:
1. They can't tell if you're tethering using ICS and USB
2. They can tell if you're using ICS and USB
3. They can't tell if you use ICS with certain reg edits
4. They can't spot ICS, but can spot WMWiFiRouter
5. They can't spot WMWiFiRouter, but can spot ICS
6. They can't spot any of it
7. They can spot all of it and don't care, unless you use a lot of data
8. They can spot it and will start charging you
9. They can spot all of it if you've installed VZW App Zone on your phone
10. All other variations of the above

Then there's the whole school of thought that WMWiFiRouter (or PDANet, etc.) aren't actually tethering, so they're perfectly acceptable with no problems or charges.

Personally, I have no idea what's actually true, other than the fact that if there's a way to charge customers for something, Verizon will do it.

I do have to wonder, though, if they're now breaking out data use for Mobile Broadband Connect subscribers if they're watching and reassessing all of this.

[Kalnel]

Hey just wanted to update this thread. Two months on, I haven't seen any separate charges under Mobile Broadband Connect, so I think WMWiFiRouter is still fine with Verizon.

I read on Verizon's user forums that they added this separate breakdown to everyone's account, but it only applies to those using their broadband connect service.

Also, props this week to WMWiFiRouter. My Comcast Internet connection was down for 24 hours, but I was able to work at home (and keep working) thanks to being able to connect my desktop to my TP via USB. The speed was OK -- definitely not as fast as broadband -- but perfectly acceptable. I love "SlyFi."