• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Help Unlimited Tethering for ROOTED Devices

anubis2048

Android Enthusiast
Dec 27, 2015
335
467
McMurdo Station,Antarctica
Hello everyone, I am a 60USD MetroPCS customer and I will be moving out of my parents house and into an apartment soon and I plan on using my MetroPCS phone for unlimited internet.(70-200GB a month)
My phone is a ZTE ZMax Pro which hasn't been rooted yet so I bought another MetroPCS locked phone off of ebay and it will be arriving soon. I am slightly experienced with bypassing tethering restrictions but I wanted to ask you guys for some advice.

1. Does MetroPCS use deep packet inspection?
2. Will a rooted phone be enough to stop MetroPCS from finding out if I am tethering, or do I need a custom ROM?
3. Are you able to swap SIM Cards from one phone to another on the fly or do you need to call Metro? I wanted to swap to my rooted phone for hotspot while at home and then use my ZTE Zmax Pro while not at home - both are locked to MeroPCS and fully support 4G LTE bands used by Metro, am I in the clear?

I was thinking about buying the T-Mobile 95 dollar unlimited plan, but it's not worth it. From what I've seen you pay 95 for unlimited hotspot and regular data, but I'm working 8.05 an hour and I need to keep spending on the lower side. Could you guys please answer my questions and fill me in on anything that I should know before going forward with this?
 
Hello everyone, I am a 60USD MetroPCS customer and I will be moving out of my parents house and into an apartment soon and I plan on using my MetroPCS phone for unlimited internet.(70-200GB a month)
My phone is a ZTE ZMax Pro which hasn't been rooted yet so I bought another MetroPCS locked phone off of ebay and it will be arriving soon. I am slightly experienced with bypassing tethering restrictions but I wanted to ask you guys for some advice.

1. Does MetroPCS use deep packet inspection?
2. Will a rooted phone be enough to stop MetroPCS from finding out if I am tethering, or do I need a custom ROM?
3. Are you able to swap SIM Cards from one phone to another on the fly or do you need to call Metro? I wanted to swap to my rooted phone for hotspot while at home and then use my ZTE Zmax Pro while not at home - both are locked to MeroPCS and fully support 4G LTE bands used by Metro, am I in the clear?

I was thinking about buying the T-Mobile 95 dollar unlimited plan, but it's not worth it. From what I've seen you pay 95 for unlimited hotspot and regular data, but I'm working 8.05 an hour and I need to keep spending on the lower side. Could you guys please answer my questions and fill me in on anything that I should know before going forward with this?
Can't unequivocally answer 1 & 2, but can tell you for number 3, you will have to get MPCS involved, they systemically marry EMEI's and SIM cards, so you cannot hotswap em
 
Upvote 0
anubis, you read way too much into my answer, it was just a simple lookout.

But, since you bring up other points + didn't rationalize the why- I will answer you,,, but this was NOT what I inferred with original answer.

Firstly, there are various threads already answering your questions.

1. NO
But that could change with enough smoke signals.
2. YES, and / or with a proven app.
3. NO, you have to call, unlike Tmo.

(anyone else feel free to correct this)
 
Upvote 0
anubis, you read way too much into my answer, it was just a simple lookout.

But, since you bring up other points + didn't rationalize the why- I will answer you,,, but this was NOT what I inferred with original answer.

Firstly, there are various threads already answering your questions.

1. NO
But that could change with enough smoke signals.
2. YES, and / or with a proven app.
3. NO, you have to call, unlike Tmo.

(anyone else feel free to correct this)

So a simple xposed module to change IMEI would be good? Or does Metro look into it more than that just to make sure?
 
Upvote 0
I just called up MetroPCS and asked to change my device. My Nexus 4 worked for like 5 hours then it wouldn't connect anymore, I guess Metro still enforces IMEI/SIM locks. I did end up finding a way around the tethering restrictions, including the ability to host wifi without being detected... It's not for the faint of heart though. I could post a guide if you guys are interested, as the method I used doesn't slow down the connection much.
 
Upvote 0
Metro reads these forums.

I know this for a certainty because I had a workaround: I noticed around 2013 that they didn't block people cheating at tethering if you used non-http traffic. So ed2k traffic (or web traffic sent through a VPN) was allowed. A few months later it stopped working because I sent this work around in a pm to a few other people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: horsecharles
Upvote 0
I know this for a certainty because I had a workaround: I noticed around 2013 that they didn't block people cheating at tethering if you used non-http traffic. So ed2k traffic (or web traffic sent through a VPN) was allowed. A few months later it stopped working because I sent this work around in a pm to a few other people.
It's one thing to tether on a non-unlimited plan... even up to the overall plan data limit - this won't hurt anyone at all...who really cares .
On an unlimited plan though, this could explode entire towers - only half kidding... folks will simultaneously game, Netflix, torrent, etc. to multiple devices...not even bothering to turn off when not using.
Then they'll tell their friends, and their friends will tell their friends, and so on.

And we will all pay the Piper eventually.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nintendo1889
Upvote 0
Whats b.s. About the whole tethering issue is that there is no excuse why we can't (if you're on the unlimit plan)

I was in this boat before (looking to beat the tethering police) but thank God for my unlimited hotspot plan. It wasnt such a great deal considering you had to buy two and you're locked into a 2yr contact after the first 60days..

It costs about 90 dollars a month for both of them (including taxes and fees)

One thing thing that makes it worth it is I often leave one at home and use it as home internet and the other (when I leave the house) I take it with me and keep it in my pocket.

So really I don't use any mobile data at all these days. Unless I forget to turn on my wifi. Speeds vary wildly but I almost always get a bare minimum of like 8 down. At best I've hit north of 50 on occasion. 12 to 20 is about normal
 
Upvote 0

BEST TECH IN 2023

We've been tracking upcoming products and ranking the best tech since 2007. Thanks for trusting our opinion: we get rewarded through affiliate links that earn us a commission and we invite you to learn more about us.

Smartphones