Can the 900 be a hotspot?

[markgrif]

I have ordered the 5GB plan and the general blurb says it supports tethering and a five slot hotspot. I know the 900 supports tethering, but does it support the hotspot feature?

 

[AndreaCristiano]

I have ordered the 5GB plan and the general blurb says it supports tethering and a five slot hotspot. I know the 900 supports tethering, but does it support the hotspot feature?

yes

 

[markgrif]

yes

Thanks! I needed that.

 

[AndreaCristiano]

Thanks! I needed that.

no problem I forget what its called I remember it has share in the name in the settings, if I'm in correct

 

[cj-m]

Would this tethering/hot spot function also extend to the international version?

 

[kenosando#AC]

It's listed under WP7 as 'Internet Sharing'

Would this tethering/hot spot function also extend to the international version?

I don't see why not, although it will depend on what version update the international version runs, because the release for the AT&T Lumia 900 is a "commercial refresh" to support LTE and Internet Sharing. I know the Lumia 800 and 710 are getting updates for Internet Sharing, so I imagine the International Lumia 900 would already have that update. Of course, you will need to make sure your carrier of choice supports it.

 

[GMJeff]

It's listed under WP7 as 'Internet Sharing'



I don't see why not, although it will depend on what version update the international version runs, because the release for the AT&T Lumia 900 is a "commercial refresh" to support LTE and Internet Sharing. I know the Lumia 800 and 710 are getting updates for Internet Sharing, so I imagine the International Lumia 900 would already have that update. Of course, you will need to make sure your carrier of choice supports it.

Correct, it is a carrier option, not a device option. If you had a device that was fully unlocked, all options would be available. The difference is when a device is released on a carrier, they have the OS tailored to what they want their network to use.

The internet tethering is just a way to have the device work as a mobile hotspot device, consuming data in the same manner. Not sure if it works on the same APN as the smartphone data. Some carriers use different APN's for mobile data and data-centric hotspot devices. The difference sometimes is compressed date for mobile or uncompressed for the hotspot devices.

 

[Adiliyo]

i wonder how drastic the impact on battery will be when using the hotspot.

i'm torn on if i want to get the 5gb plan with tethering that i get a discount from my employer on, or just keep the 3gb one which i don't get a discount on, but it's still cheaper.

so many first world problems.

 

[pderosa]

i wonder how drastic the impact on battery will be when using the hotspot.

i'm torn on if i want to get the 5gb plan with tethering that i get a discount from my employer on, or just keep the 3gb one which i don't get a discount on, but it's still cheaper.

so many first world problems.

I went through the same struggle. I probably changed the plan 4-5 times before ordering. With my discount it was only a few dollars more to have the tethering plan so I eventually chose that. The extra data may come in handy and the tethering is a nice feature to have when traveling.

 

[chrise2]

You can switch plans on the fly with AT&T. I normally use a dedicated MiFi, but sometimes I forget it or forget to charge it so I'll goto the AT&T site from my phone and enable tethering, then turn it off when I'm done. If you only use it when traveling, its like $1 a day. I don't do this all the time as its a pain to do from your phone. Its only in a pinch.

 

[kahibbi]

I had the guy at AT&T tell me I had to change from my grand-fathered unlimited data plan because it was not a "LTE" data plan ... making reference that my plan would not support LTE data. So I went from 39.99 (unlimited data and text messages) to the 50.00 5GB plan. And not the 3GB plan because he told me you HAD to be on the 5GB plan to be able to use the tethering/hot spot functionality.

Did I get screwed and need to back and yell at someone?

 

[Ryadol]

I had the guy at AT&T tell me I had to change from my grand-fathered unlimited data plan because it was not a "LTE" data plan ... making reference that my plan would not support LTE data. So I went from 39.99 (unlimited data and text messages) to the 50.00 5GB plan. And not the 3GB plan because he told me you HAD to be on the 5GB plan to be able to use the tethering/hot spot functionality.

Did I get screwed and need to back and yell at someone?

sorry, you got screwed. I'm keeping my UL data plan, you just have to call them and tell them that when you activate. Try to get it back if you can

However, you can't tether with the unlimited plan *i think*

 

[cybergrimes]

It sounds like while technically you were screwed it may be an accurate screwing. I noticed during new customer sign up at the AT&T website the data plan features are 'Data', 'Data 4G' and 'Data 4G LTE'. If they break them out like this it's probably to get everyone off the grand-fathered data plans as they upgrade to new devices with LTE functionality.

 

[kahibbi]

It's obviously sad as they screw long-time customers ... I date back 1995 on Cingular. And it's sad they do us that way because I see us doing them a favor creating room on 3G moving to LTE. It definitely benefits both sides because we get faster speeds and they get room back on their 3G network. But like somebody said, it's not about making us happy, it's about them making money.

 

[Oridus]

I had the guy at AT&T tell me I had to change from my grand-fathered unlimited data plan because it was not a "LTE" data plan ... making reference that my plan would not support LTE data. So I went from 39.99 (unlimited data and text messages) to the 50.00 5GB plan. And not the 3GB plan because he told me you HAD to be on the 5GB plan to be able to use the tethering/hot spot functionality.

Did I get screwed and need to back and yell at someone?

Did you ask to have tethering? And if not, why would you agree to a change if you did not understand it fully?

 

[Adiliyo]

iirc if you want tethering you have to lose the unlimited data, but if you don't want tethering, they have a grandfathered unlimited lte plan in the system, so you got screwed if you didn't ask for a tethering plan.

 

[kahibbi]

It sounds like while technically you were screwed it may be an accurate screwing. I noticed during new customer sign up at the AT&T website the data plan features are 'Data', 'Data 4G' and 'Data 4G LTE'. If they break them out like this it's probably to get everyone off the grand-fathered data plans as they upgrade to new devices with LTE functionality.

Did you ask to have tethering? And if not, why would you agree to a change if you did not understand it fully?

Because the guy told me there was NO unlimited LTE plan. That's why. He basically lied to me.

I did ask about tethering. He told me that it didn't matter even if there was an unlimited data plan for LTE, because I mentioned I wanted to be able to tether.

Anybody wanting the Nokia 900 is obviously interested in using it for tethering. What we didn't know is that they are making folks change their data plans to do this.

 

[henilp89]

i have a 2GB LTE data plan. to use that "internet sharing" feature, do i have to add an another plan or something or it counts against my monthly data plan limit?

 

[ftap]

A consideration to take in is for those who have ATT FAN discounts (IRU corp discounts).

ATT changed FAN discounts for data plan. Before any $25 data plan and up (including $25/2GB and $30 unlimited would qualify for FAN data discounts). This is at least a $6 savings for most who have 20% or higher FANS.

So unless you have a $50 or higher data plan, you will lose your FAN discount.

Those who have the $25/2GB and $30 unlimited are still grandfathered into FAN discounts. You will have usual excuses saying FAN discounts are employer specific. But just go over to this forum and the ATT employee basically confirms these FAN discount changes.

No discount on new AT&T data plans? - AT&T Community Support

Verizon had a similar discount data change also. So it's just not ATT doing this.

 

[kahibbi]

AT&T told me again today that the 5GB plan is required for tethering. There is no tethering with unlimited accounts.

I was able to get unlimited data and text messaging (in lieu of the 3GB or 5GB I was previously 'sold'), but it still cost me more. I had a 'PDA' bundle plan that included unlimited data and messaging for $39.99. The grandfathered unlimited data plan was $30 and the unlimted messaging plan was $20, so it costs me $50 instead of $40. But I cut down on my calling minutes and am actually saving money (reduced calling plan by $20). So net-net, I'm saving $10 ... but I have tethering.