Help Hotspot free or $ ?

[Joewoowoo]

Hi everyone, I have a simple question for anyone that would like to answer. Im goingaway for a few days and I wanted to find out about the hotspot on my tbolt. I have never used it. so if I connect a laptop to my hot spot on my phone is it still free or will I be charged by verizon ?

thanks in advance, Joe

 

[Papadroid]

It is no longer free. You'll either have to get that service added to your account or root your phone and use another app to accomplish this.

 

[TxGoat]

It depends on whether or not your phone is updated. You shouldn't be charged for the Hotspot if you turn it on and connect, if that's what you mean. Typically (even with older phones) you have to call to confirm activation of the hotspot or any tethering. If you can connect then you shouldn't be charged. If you're interested in the Hotspot then call Customer Service and have them add it for you and if you don't like it then have them remove it. You'll probably be charged a pro-rated data charge.

 

[CharlzO]

It depends on whether or not your phone is updated. You shouldn't be charged for the Hotspot if you turn it on and connect, if that's what you mean. Typically (even with older phones) you have to call to confirm activation of the hotspot or any tethering. If you can connect then you shouldn't be charged. If you're interested in the Hotspot then call Customer Service and have them add it for you and if you don't like it then have them remove it. You'll probably be charged a pro-rated data charge.

Just to clarify: The Thunderbolt came with a promotion that allowed free Hotspot use. However, that promotion has ended, which was disabled with a recent OTA update. If you haven't received that update, you should still be able to use the Mobile Hotpost feature promotion free of charge. When you turn on the Mobile Hotspot app, it will tell you either that it's free to use, etc. Or, will give you a message to subscribe to the mobile hostpot feature. On mine, I had to have it added manually, the self-provisioning through the phone wouldn't work.

But, you do pay the extra for that, $30 a month if you were on the plan before VZW switched to Tiered pricing, or an extra $20 if it was after that. The first thing, would be to check the Hotspot feature, see if it's updated to require the subscription, or if you're still covered under the free pre-OTA promo.

Note, that applies to stock, non-rooted phones, as Rooted users have other options as well.

 

[TxGoat]

Just to clarify: The Thunderbolt came with a promotion that allowed free Hotspot use. However, that promotion has ended, which was disabled with a recent OTA update. If you haven't received that update, you should still be able to use the Mobile Hotpost feature promotion free of charge. When you turn on the Mobile Hotspot app, it will tell you either that it's free to use, etc. Or, will give you a message to subscribe to the mobile hostpot feature. On mine, I had to have it added manually, the self-provisioning through the phone wouldn't work.

But, you do pay the extra for that, $30 a month if you were on the plan before VZW switched to Tiered pricing, or an extra $20 if it was after that. The first thing, would be to check the Hotspot feature, see if it's updated to require the subscription, or if you're still covered under the free pre-OTA promo.

Note, that applies to stock, non-rooted phones, as Rooted users have other options as well.

Yeah, I wanted to cover all bases to make sure the OP wasn't asking something different. With previous phones that I've owned, if you connected it to a computer and the computer recognized it as a USB modem, you could open an internet page and it would direct you to a sign-up screen where you had to validate your account in order to use their tethering feature. I'm guessing they're taking the same precautions with the Wifi hotspot feature to ensure someone other than the owner doesn't activate the Wifi hotspot feature on a whim. If the OP wants to test the feature out he can always drop the feature at a later time. I would make sure I'm grandfathered into unlimited data and make sure that if I decide against paying the extra $30 a month that I call as soon as I make my decision to avoid further charges.