Windows Phone 8 Internet Sharing for unlocked phones?

[Lean4838]

Hi all,

Sorry if this has been asked already, but I'm haivng a hard time searching the net for answers.

Can anybody answer if internet sharing / wifi tethering is enabled on unlocked WP8 phones? When I search the net, it always says to check for your mobile provider.

I just need this one confirmation because I am planning to buy a WP8 phone in a few days and internet sharing is one of the most important features I need.

Thanks!

 

[masterchief1984]

Yes you can tether with the new WP's but if you have AT&T they charge for the service if you don't have a data sharing plan.

 

[tdrock1]

the phone will have the option, but it might not work.
wp 8 doesnt have the option to modify tethering setting.

 

[Lean4838]

Yes you can tether with the new WP's but if you have AT&T they charge for the service if you don't have a data sharing plan.

Thanks for replying everyone.

When you say "if you have AT&T", does that mean you bought the phone from them or just the SIM you are using? What if you bought an unlocked phone (not carrier distributed), and your service provider is AT & T, will they still be able to detect you are using tethering?

Thanks!

 

[Guzzler3]

Tethering is determined by your service provider. Not if your phone is unlocked or not. Some providers, and depending on your service plan, you have to pay extra to be allowed to tether your phone (wired or wireless). WP8 phones do have a toggle on/off option for tethering, but it gets verified with your provider. So if you toggle it on, the phone checks in with your provider, if your allowed it will stay on, if not, it turns off.

 

[Lean4838]

Tethering is determined by your service provider. Not if your phone is unlocked or not. Some providers, and depending on your service plan, you have to pay extra to be allowed to tether your phone (wired or wireless). WP8 phones do have a toggle on/off option for tethering, but it gets verified with your provider. So if you toggle it on, the phone checks in with your provider, if your allowed it will stay on, if not, it turns off.

Thanks. Is that the way it works for every phone, or only Windows Phones? I have an android and I have no problem internet sharing.

I live in Asia by the way so maybe it works different here compared to the US or UK?

Thanks!

 

[foxbat121]

Tethering depends on the branding of your phone. If it is branded for certain provider and that provider charges extra for tethering, your phone will not have free tethering on that provider. But in many cases, you can take the phone to a different mobile provider if it is unlocked and use the tethering on that network freely as long as you have the correct APN set. Even unbranded phones may have trouble. For example, my Nokia L920 dev kit won't let me tether to AT&T out of box because Nokia added extra code in there to protect AT&T's interest.

 

[Guzzler3]

Thanks. Is that the way it works for every phone, or only Windows Phones? I have an android and I have no problem internet sharing.

I live in Asia by the way so maybe it works different here compared to the US or UK?

Thanks!

Aaaa Haaaa. This is how it generally works in the USA. I have found that on some Android phones, you can tether without paying for it. In my searches about it, it can be referred to as a "feature" (or reality a bug) in the phone or with the the carrier accounting. It's a hit and miss thing. Where I work, two people, with the same carrier, same plan, two different Android phones (but both stock, unrooted OS), one can tether, the other can't. Go figure.

 

[Lean4838]

Thanks everyone for replying! I think I have a better understanding now!

 

[Stefan L]

ATT has convinced Apple and Microsoft to implement an app that is enabled when you use an ATT SIM (or any ATT MVNO) The APP checks against a server if ATT allows you to tether or not.
So iOS or WP8 phones are never really unlocked as they partly lock them self to what ever the carrier have told Apple and Microsoft they want to allow. I think this is unacceptable and you may wonder what is next, perhaps when you go to North Korea the camera stops working because the local carrier asked Apple and Microsoft to block it.

For iOS there is jailbreak and "hacks" that re-enable what the ATT carrier profile blocks.

If you buy a device from the carrier it is acceptable that they have customized the firmware but its not acceptable that they semi brick full price devices sold with a certain feature set just because you put in an ATT SIM.

(Also, Internet Sharing / Tethering is not a network feature, you just share the same internet that the phone use for browsing so the only way for ATT to control it is to have Apple and Microsoft block it for them. This issue is not a problem in the free telecom world where almost all carriers outside the US think you should be able to use the data you paid for anyway you like.)

 

[gunner33333]

I have an unlocked (developer kit) Nokia Lumia 920 that I'm running on T-Mobile USA. Everything works like a charm but the Internet Sharing (tethering), or as T-Mobile calls it, "Smartphone Mobile Hotspot." While my current data plan with T-Mobile definitely does include Smartphone Mobile Hotspot, I still get a message asking me to upgrade my data plan in order to enable it. Is there possibly something in my SIM card that blocks the phone from using the feature? Or does T-Mobile not yet have a way to enable it, seeing that the Lumia 920 is not one the devices the offer? I have yet to fine a workaround and neither could the folks at T-Mobile's tech support. Any ideas?

 

[gunner33333]

I read something online about installing extra foreign keyboards. I installed a few and this issue has been fixed! I now can use my Internet Sharing app!

 

[rajeshsap99]

May I know exactly what you downloaded and installed to enable internet sharing for WP8 mobile.
I have Nokia lumia822 and now I am using this mobile in India and not able to share my internet.

Thanks & Regards,
Rajesh Gupta

 

[twisterman2003]

Gunner, please, I have the same problem too... HTC 8X Verizon with no internet sharing. What do you do to get this function?? Thanks!