8 ms·

Kind of absurd that your OS (which is supposed to always be acting in your best interest) enforces these arbitrary carrier data limits -- it's objectively anti-

Kind of absurd that your OS (which is supposed to always be acting in your best interest) enforces these arbitrary carrier data limits -- it's objectively anti-user behavior and wouldn't exist if Android were truly FOSS (emphasis on "free"). This solution is great for permanently bootloader-locked phones (which is unfortunately, most phones). Alternatively, if installing a custom OS is an option, most Android forks remove the tethering restrictions. I use and highly recommend GrapheneOS [1] if you have a supported phone (Pixels only as of now). DivestOS and LineageOS have much wider device support. ProtonAOSP and CalyxOS are other options for Pixels and a few others. [1] https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/70 https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/70

doorman2 4y ago
The cell network is property of the carrier. It’s in the user’s best interest that they have access to the cell network, which means playing by the carrier’s rules. The user is free to pick a different cell carrier or find a work around.
judge2020 4y ago
Tethering is mostly a relic of the late 2000's when 3G cellular networks were pretty sketchy; if enough people tethered back then it'd put a huge strain on the network for anyone on that tower. Nowadays the capacity is already planned out with tethering in mind (all tier A plans, eg. direct-from-carrier plans, have some amount of tethering), but it gets pretty murky when you consider people trying to tether on their MVNOs network at peak times/rush hour, really straining the capacity allocated to that MVNO, degrading the service for others.
- Spooky23 4y ago
  Even with large accounts the carriers still impose limits on tethering. If you’re getting unlimited tethering, it’s probably actually a “pool” of data.” Even there, there’s some differences as prioritization works differently when you are using pool resources.
  - seb1204 4y ago
    Really?, Which country are you talking about? Here is Australia, I can tether with Aldi Mobile, a reseller of the Telstra mobile network. Works fine in Android and iPhone.
    - Spooky23 4y ago
      The US. Tethered traffic is usually routed differently. Almost all cellular data traffic is CGNATed or proxied, and different priority is assigned to different types of traffic. For 95% of users, there’s no problem at all. When people push the limits, they find themselves in a pickle. I’m familiar with an organization with >50k devices across 4 major carriers 4-5 years ago. They probably had <500 people who required some sort of exception, ranging from a different plan to a more appropriate device and plan, to someone doing something crazy. (One guy was running a small field office off of a Samsung tablet)
jimmySixDOF 4y ago
To be fair Android as in ASOP is truly FOSS but because all drivers are baked into the kernel for reasons better lost to the sands of time, Vendor/Carrier pairs can enforce what they like in their required custom builds. This is what Google's project Fushia was/is supposed to solve.
- phonedog 4y ago
  Not since Project Treble they're not. The more pressing issue is that bootloader unlocking isn't as ubiquitous as one might like.
  - jimmySixDOF 4y ago
    It could also be said that being able to re-lock after cooking your ROM is just as important and even more missing
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jonas21 4y ago
This isn't anti-user behavior. It's anti-asshole behavior. There are plenty of plans designed for tethering if you care to purchase them. Tethering on a plan that doesn't allow it is like showing up at an all-you-can-eat buffet and leaving with a backpack full of food.
- qbasic_forever 4y ago
  I'm paying for 25G of data a month. How I want to use it should be entirely up to me.
- Grimburger 4y ago
  You are paying for a mobile data connection, what does it matter how the bandwidth is consumed?
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    If your use affects everyone else in the area, it matters. It's like having a bonfire in California in fire season; sure, it's your property, and your firewood, but you can't pretend it can't possibly affect someone else's enjoyment of theirs.
  - judge2020 4y ago
    There is a limited amount of throughput a tower can handle, both on its backhaul and antennas. Depending on what you're doing over that tethered connection, you might be using up 2x-10x the throughput they provisioned for "you"; if enough people tether at once during rush hour, there's going to be a significant drop in speeds for both you and people just trying to use their phones normally. This is why that, when phones tether, those tethered packets are routed separately so that the cell carrier can throttle them when needed to maintal quality of service for everyone else. By tethering/tunneling through your normal connection, they can't do this, and if this became an epidemic they would either need to do thorough DPI and heuristics to detect and block the tethering/ban the user, or over-provision their towers to handle the varied traffic volumes of both regular cell phone activity and people watching 4k Netflix on their TV through their phone.

doorman2 4y ago

The cell network is property of the carrier. It’s in the user’s best interest that they have access to the cell network, which means playing by the carrier’s rules. The user is free to pick a different cell carrier or find a work around.

judge2020 4y ago

Tethering is mostly a relic of the late 2000's when 3G cellular networks were pretty sketchy; if enough people tethered back then it'd put a huge strain on the network for anyone on that tower. Nowadays the capacity is already planned out with tethering in mind (all tier A plans, eg. direct-from-carrier plans, have some amount of tethering), but it gets pretty murky when you consider people trying to tether on their MVNOs network at peak times/rush hour, really straining the capacity allocated to that MVNO, degrading the service for others.

Spooky23 4y ago
Even with large accounts the carriers still impose limits on tethering. If you’re getting unlimited tethering, it’s probably actually a “pool” of data.” Even there, there’s some differences as prioritization works differently when you are using pool resources.
- seb1204 4y ago
  Really?, Which country are you talking about? Here is Australia, I can tether with Aldi Mobile, a reseller of the Telstra mobile network. Works fine in Android and iPhone.
  - Spooky23 4y ago
    The US. Tethered traffic is usually routed differently. Almost all cellular data traffic is CGNATed or proxied, and different priority is assigned to different types of traffic. For 95% of users, there’s no problem at all. When people push the limits, they find themselves in a pickle. I’m familiar with an organization with >50k devices across 4 major carriers 4-5 years ago. They probably had <500 people who required some sort of exception, ranging from a different plan to a more appropriate device and plan, to someone doing something crazy. (One guy was running a small field office off of a Samsung tablet)

jimmySixDOF 4y ago

To be fair Android as in ASOP is truly FOSS but because all drivers are baked into the kernel for reasons better lost to the sands of time, Vendor/Carrier pairs can enforce what they like in their required custom builds. This is what Google's project Fushia was/is supposed to solve.

phonedog 4y ago
Not since Project Treble they're not. The more pressing issue is that bootloader unlocking isn't as ubiquitous as one might like.
- jimmySixDOF 4y ago
  It could also be said that being able to re-lock after cooking your ROM is just as important and even more missing

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jonas21 4y ago

This isn't anti-user behavior. It's anti-asshole behavior. There are plenty of plans designed for tethering if you care to purchase them. Tethering on a plan that doesn't allow it is like showing up at an all-you-can-eat buffet and leaving with a backpack full of food.

qbasic_forever 4y ago
I'm paying for 25G of data a month. How I want to use it should be entirely up to me.
Grimburger 4y ago
You are paying for a mobile data connection, what does it matter how the bandwidth is consumed?
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  If your use affects everyone else in the area, it matters. It's like having a bonfire in California in fire season; sure, it's your property, and your firewood, but you can't pretend it can't possibly affect someone else's enjoyment of theirs.
- judge2020 4y ago
  There is a limited amount of throughput a tower can handle, both on its backhaul and antennas. Depending on what you're doing over that tethered connection, you might be using up 2x-10x the throughput they provisioned for "you"; if enough people tether at once during rush hour, there's going to be a significant drop in speeds for both you and people just trying to use their phones normally. This is why that, when phones tether, those tethered packets are routed separately so that the cell carrier can throttle them when needed to maintal quality of service for everyone else. By tethering/tunneling through your normal connection, they can't do this, and if this became an epidemic they would either need to do thorough DPI and heuristics to detect and block the tethering/ban the user, or over-provision their towers to handle the varied traffic volumes of both regular cell phone activity and people watching 4k Netflix on their TV through their phone.