FYI - tethering and streaming audio

[mozetti]

I've been jonesing to be able to listen to Sirius and especially Howard Stern while I'm at work. I wanted to test out data usage by using PDANet to stream Howard on my laptop. I didn't pay attention to the clock, but I'm sure it was streaming for at least 2-3 hours. Checked my account today and the data usage jumped by 156 MB in 24 hours.

So, bear that in mind if you're thinking of tethering for streaming audio. Consistent usage like that could possibly tip off VZ that something fishy is going on.

 

[klownin5643]

i think there is an android xm app in the works if its not already out.

 

[crackers8199]

i think there is an android xm app in the works if its not already out.

it's in the works, but if it's like the iphone app it won't have howard available...

 

[mozetti]

it's in the works, but if it's like the iphone app it won't have howard available...

It won't have Howard. Which sucks. But, I'm still anxiously awaiting my email from Sirius telling me the Android app is ready.

 

[jprow507]

I've been jonesing to be able to listen to Sirius and especially Howard Stern while I'm at work. I wanted to test out data usage by using PDANet to stream Howard on my laptop. I didn't pay attention to the clock, but I'm sure it was streaming for at least 2-3 hours. Checked my account today and the data usage jumped by 156 MB in 24 hours.

So, bear that in mind if you're thinking of tethering for streaming audio. Consistent usage like that could possibly tip off VZ that something fishy is going on.

But there are other streaming apps like Pandora and LastFM that would up data usage alot...... I thought that was what the $30 "Unlimited Data Plan" was all about ....

 

[mozetti]

But there are other streaming apps like Pandora and LastFM that would up data usage alot...... I thought that was what the $30 "Unlimited Data Plan" was all about ....

You're right and I need to test them out, too. But, the $30 unlimited data is for using it on your phone. So, the Pandora, Slacker, and Last.fm apps fall within the terms of service (TOS).

If you tether, you're actually supposed to buy an additional $25/month data package with a 5 GB limit on it. Using PDANet, Easytether, or a rooted phone allows you to tether a computer to use the phone's data plan without the extra $25/month plan. This violates the TOS.

I'll test the data usage for the other streaming apps on the phone, but I'm pretty sure the quality (i.e. the amount of data sent to the phone) is much lower than Sirius streaming at 192 kbps.