[AusNOG] 'X' carrier tethering on iPhone v3.0

[Mark Newton]

On 19/06/2009, at 11:22 AM, David Hughes wrote:

>
> On 19/06/2009, at 11:26 AM, Mark Newton wrote:
>
>> Having trouble understanding how Optus (or any other carrier) can
>> distinguish between tethered access using their $10 per month paid- 
>> for
>> option, and tethered access using http://tetherme.lstoll.net/
>> that the end-user has set up without consulting them for free.
>
> Other than trying to gouge another $10 I don't even know why they'd
> bother.  Lets face it, they are charging a mint for the data so why
> not encourage us to use as much as possible.  Strange business model
> if you ask me.  It'll be interesting to see Telstra's response because
> it's working fine with the unofficial config.

Someone in the office here made the observation that it's easy to see
why AT&T/EDGE wants to charge extra in the US, it's because they've  
offered
unlimited data with their iPhone plans and used the fact that it's
too inconvenient to utilize billions of gigabytes per month on a  
handheld
device as a self-limiting mechanism.

Tethering changes the gameplan there quite a bit, in that the self- 
limiting
mechanism goes away when you're using the same network on a laptop.

But you're right about Australia:  With carriers charging for data,
they ought to be encouraging customers to find as many ways as  
possible to
use it.  More usage = more money.

   - mark

--
Mark Newton                               Email:  newton at internode.com.au 
  (W)
Network Engineer                          Email:   
newton at atdot.dotat.org  (H)
Internode Pty Ltd                         Desk:   +61-8-82282999
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