AT&T Community Forums

Unlimited Data Plan and Personal Hotspot possible?

Hello all,

I have been a customer with AT&T for over 10 years now and was pretty disappointed with the conversation I just had with one of their customer service representatives. Since I first purchased an iPhone I have had the unlimited data plan for $30 that was required for purchase at the time. I recognize that since they've done away with unlimited data as an option, I have not gone over the 2GB $25 plan, but I still have opted to pay the extra for unlimited usage in case the day should come that I needed it.

Today I called the customer service line to inquire about why I was not able to set up a personal hotspot (when I try, my phone tells me to contact AT&T). I was told that I would need to "upgrade" (don't get stuck on the terms) to a 2GB ($25) or 5GB ($50) monthly option in order to use this feature. Something about this seems off to me since I have been carrying forward a plan that AT&T required me to have in the first place, but now it disqualifies me from a feature of the phone - not due to capabilities, mind you.

Does anyone know if there is the ability to combine these two features? Really frustrated with AT&T for making it (seem hopefully) an impossibility.

Appreciated.

Responses

vrv2764

Teacher

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4 Messages

10 years ago

Yea what Amber said. Amber - did you really just register and post all that beautiful prose, or are you some web bot that goes from AT&T bashing site to site?

WOW!

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sandblaster

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

10 years ago

@Amber_Leigh_ChichWow wrote:
http://lifehacker.com/5933152/the-right-to-tether-what-the-verizonfcc-settlement-means-to-you
Check this site out, Verizon was fined and can no longer disallow tethering, I would look into this further, and ATT, the thought is right, we pay for it, you are by your contract stating that we are entitled to s certain service, why cant we take full advantage of it and share what we pay for with our own items?? We should have THE RIGHT TO TETHER....

Did you read the link you posted completely? What Verizon was blocking was users ability to download apps that tether, not the ability to tether. Verizon customers still must have a data plan that supports tethering and just like AT&T, their grandfathered unlimited data plan does not support tethering either. According the the article you referenced:

Current customers with grandfathered unlimited data plans still have to pay. Unfortunately, if you want to tether with your unlimited plan, you have to either upgrade your plan to one of the new, Share Everything plans (which include tethering), or pony up $20/mo for Verizon's "Mobile Broadband Connect" service. You can still tether off the books and hope you don't get caught, but if they catch you, Verizon will either sign you up for Mobile Broadband Connect, put you on a Share Everything plan, or terminate your contract. Sorry.

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FiercelyAblaze

Tutor

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8 Messages

10 years ago

I'm tired of this only 5 month mistake already. We already ditched our satellite n internet services.Replaced TV w/ a more cost effective service. N We likes!! Now bout ma phone....I m hearing n reading way too much bad news n combined w/ma own experiences, baleve it'z gonna go soon. Quite soon. I do my research. N I take better notes than this company obviously other than tracking everything on my phone.
All I wanted was 3 lil issues resolved. No biggie. I pay them. Not other way around. I worked as a CSR in a bank for over 10 years. No customers no jobs. Nothing is irreplaceable.

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wingrider01

Expert

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12.2K Messages

10 years ago

It is also against the contractual agreement that you have with the carrier.

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tgfeury

Tutor

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1 Message

10 years ago

GavinOnAniPhone

I totally agree with you, we are forced to carry a data plan so I carried 4GB and never use hardly any of them, and time for my upgrade and the phone I finally decided to go with after searching all of them and comparing them, my Sister -in-law who has never been with AT&T can go in and get a package the same price as I am paying now for 4GB and hers is 10GB which no way I would ever need that, but she gets phones free up to 10 and then$100.00 rebate for each phone she adds, but here is the catch, $40.00 per phone to have it add to your service per month. paying $160.00 for the service already why so much to add a phone the plan doesn't do you a bit of good with out your phone. Well I added it up and if we all got on that plan under her and we got 3 smart phones and a rugby flip phone and my tablet added on, it would run $305.00 per month. That is more than my car payment. I refuse to pay that kind of price. I have had service wtih AT&T for over 10 years as well, plus my home phone has always been with AT&T, my wireless Internet is with them as well and it doesn't work half the time. So I have decided I am just going back to a flip phone and just get me a simple plan and it won't be with AT&T as much as I like there service on cell phones. I don't like it that much.... This phone stuff is getting way out of hand and I am done unless there is a very special offer for me and I am sure that isn't going to happen.....

very disappointed with them. and also they offered me to go to the AT&T Next plan and then I get to pay $40.00 for each phone and then for the phone I want I have to pay $30.00 a month to have it.... so add that on times 3 and and probalby a another $15-20.00 a month for the flip phone my brother wanted....outrageous it what it is....

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sarunas

Teacher

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19 Messages

10 years ago

With the original $30/unlimited data plan Wi-Fi hotspot "just worked" with Google Nexus One and Nokia N9. No aditional charges/features were required.

Now with Moto X it doesn't work anymore (sends you to AT&T for extra charges).

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FiercelyAblaze

Tutor

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8 Messages

10 years ago

I went w/ a go phone! For smartphones, prepaid. I got 2 pick my own phone.
Got a ONE YEAR WARRANTY N IT'Z UNLIMITED TALK, TXT, N. U GET 2 GB A DATA A
MONTH N WIFI IZ FREE. BUT, U HAFTA GET THA DATA. ALL 4 $60 PLUS TAXES N MY
STATES 911 FEE. I ALWAYS KNOW WHAT MY BILL IZ GONNA B EACH MONTH SO I WENT
ON AUTO REFILL W/MY DEBIT CARD!! BEWARE CUSTOMER CARE FOR GOPHONES...U GET
PEEPS THAT SHOULD NOT B WURKIN FOR AT&T. THEY KNOW NUTHIN N WON'T HELP. BUT
THEN, WHEN UR WARRANTY IZ UP, U CAN B FREE 2 UPGRADE, BUT, ALL @ UR
EXPENSE. I COULDA WENT BY CONTRACT, BUT I DID THIS AS A BUDGET MINDER. N IF
U RUN OUTTA DATA ON UR ANDROID U CAN PURCHASE BY 1 GB INCREMENTS FOR 10
BUCKS. BUT I ONLY HAVE 1 PHONE NOW.
I WEIGHED PROS N CONS. N IT WUZ BEST OPTION 4 ME...
MY FAMILY WUZ PAYING TOO TOO MUCH.

FiercelyAblaze

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sandyc954

Teacher

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20 Messages

10 years ago

Right there with you. Being a loyal customer seems completely lost here. to boot, I am a retiree and they have such automated "safeguards" to drop any deviation they view it as some attempt at fraud. No, i am not defrauding the company, I actually bought something more, which was once billed together home phone and cell phone. Not any more. Autompay discontinued and they say you are lat paying. How does one be late paying on auto pay? They will manage to do that even when I did not ask for auto lay to stop. That was internal policy, not me. So they manage to mess it up even more because of internal policies, such as "you need to adapt to us" although your bill was always paid in full. Well then they saw my address is a PO Box and assumed I was up to no good. Well, I want my bills and mail in a safe place, safer than the road where people are. Hello. How many competitors are available? Methinks ATT might need to rethink their internal policies and adapt to comsimers caught on video reqchingin to get information to steal identitis.
AT &T has had my business in good status through ALL its incarnations. The first time they knocked me off the cheap plan by changin their signal. No longer provide that opd signal, you must upgrade to our plan, our processes. Including being billed double and more. I do appreciate those competitors to keep the huge telecoms honest. When ATT sees customers flocking away they may act. consumers are their bread and butter. They need to offer something people demand & stop trying to coerce us off the thing we paid dearly for when it first came out. I get no discount for that as a retiree and paid $30.00 for years and years, but they do mot see it that way. They view it as though they are blessing me with their data, which they viw as me gobbling it up.
I recently got a Verizon wifi device and the data is outrageously expensive and gone in no time. ATT does have it, but the cost is probitive.
I want data, paid for data and they will not allow me to use what I paid for and never came close to using one gig a monthh most of the time.
Currently, i am at my 85 year old mother's fir extended stay for health issues. She has no internet and watches game show. I need something more and would buy data at a reasoble price as needed. I cannot see a no contract a la carte menu for using a laptop tethered to my cell phone for reasonanle and fills my needs.
How sad that the lack of bandwidth and the ability to provide for the demand is met with "you must buy what we sell" and be glad we let you keep what you bought.
Venting here, but after all these years of paying for unused data, I get the feeling that there will be. Day of reckoning, like long distance now included and we have options. Just a suggestion to ATT, get more plans and sell what we want. Do not focus on your internal red tape and attempts to coerce consumers. Offer what people want and you will get more customers.

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sandyc954

Teacher

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20 Messages

10 years ago

Sorry for the typos. I would be using my laptop, but I can't afford changing data plans for temporary situation that I am in right now. I came looking for information, even looking for dial up numbers to solve this issue. Looks like maybe that is out, too.

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FiercelyAblaze

Tutor

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8 Messages

10 years ago

Gotta Ask... Do U NOT Get Like 15 Txts b/f UR Plan Renewal Date, Evn tho'
ur Auto Pay? Cuz, I STILL DO! Ck ur Balance When UR Pmt iz Set ta come out
ur acct on "att.com/mygophone". Using UR MOBILE # W/OUT DASHES OR THA 1 N
FRONT. IF U DON'T WANNA BOTHER... KILL 2 BIRDS 1 STONE. DIAL "611" THIS
WILL OR SHOULD GIVE U A $$ BALANCE... Wanna Speak TO A LIVE PERSON: After
getting Balance n also Will Give Data in GB's PRESS #4 THEN #0! N VIOLA...
Tha Auto Voice Will Ask UR ISSUE SOOO That She Can Direct UR Call to tha
Rite Dept. I HOPE THAT HELPS, TRULY! N THOSE OPTIONS FOR GETTIN SUMONE ON
611, WHEN CUSTOMER CARE, Really DUZN'T... R N UR ORIGINAL 4 BOOKS U
GOT(WELL I GOT 4 THAT DIDN'T TELL ME INYTHING!! I LEARNED BY ORDERING
ANDROID BOOKS FOR MY DEVICE) SO PRETTY DARN SURE I HAVE NOT TOLE AT& T
SECRET INFO HERE!
( RollnMyI's n Sarcasm )

FiercelyAblaze

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