Tethering mobile data to use at home.
 

Hi all, I'm not in the slightest bit tech savvy, so if this is a stupid question I apologise now, but...

I'm thinking of signing up to O2's 4G sim only deal which includes unlimited minutes and 25GB of data, all for £25 a month.

My Samsung phone allows tethering so my question is can I set it up to tether around the house for all my other devices at home, and Apple TV for Netflix etc.

I'm hoping that this will mean I can stop paying for BT line rental and their separate broadband contract, and save me a bundle.

(Latest apple TV does work off a mobile network I've been told).

Thanks for any answers (or insults).

Yes, this is possible. Not a stupid idea at all. A lot of students and people in cities with very good 4G coverage do this.

However... you should be aware of the following:

• O2 might choose to block tethering
• Make sure you really can get 4G and decent data transfer speeds before cancelling your BT broadband
• 25GB/month isn't very much for household use
• Make sure you phone can provide WiFi coverage for your entire house
• Choose a fixed location for the phone. You might not want to keep it in your pocket, it will probably get hot!
• If your phone is a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 you might want to rethink your entire plan, install a fire suppression system, or at the very least, increase your fire insurance coverage. :}

If you use Netflix or other video streaming, 25GB really isn't very much. If you know your own data usage pattern, then you have something to work from. If you don't... I use about 57GB/month (averaged over last 2 years), but it has been as high as 120GB over Christmas. Will O2 permit you to exceed your data allowance by that much - even if they charge you?

What?? 25gb of data? Is that per day?

Thank you Hyph.

I will review my usage because you're probably correct to say that 25GB a month for Netflix is not that much.

I wonder why O2 might worry about the tethering though, especially if I'm paying for what I use...over or within the contract? I'll read the contract to see if it mentions it.

It's not a Galaxy note 7 thankfully, and yes I will check it all works before cancelling BT.

You're welcome!

Why would O2 care about tethering?

Because you are far more likely to use your full 25GB allowance via other devices than you would be if you had to use it all on your phone. Offering you 25GB/month is one thing, delivering it to tens of thousands of users is quite another. They hope that most users won't use anything like that much but will keep paying the high monthly fees.

For reference: I have had a "no tethering" contract in the past (Vodafone), but my present one permits it (also Vodafone).

I VERY much doubt they'd allow anything like that amount of tethering.

When I sought a tethering contract [I}the only UK company that allowed it at all [/I]was Three, and that was limited to 2GB/Month which isn't a lot. At the time, 18mths ago, NO ONE ELSE was selling tethering contracts in UK.

They utterly fooled me with the barefaced lie of "all you can eat data" and Tethering allowed". The truth was very different. All you can eat data, sure, but you needed a microscope in the small print to see that tethering was limited to 2GB, and they made very, very certain they never suggested any hint that was the case.

Beware, this is a scamster's small-print heaven, and the mobile companies seem very reluctant to tell it straight.

Pardon the drift but as Samsung has been mentioned.....
I have a Samsung Galaxy J5 which had an update yesterday, Android V.6.0.1.
Sincé then all my photos are heaped together in Gallery whereas prior to update they were organised in albums within the gallery. The mobile doesn´t seem to offer a means of re-organising the pictures as previously only a choice of "collage" or "Animate". Collage only offers a max of 6 photos.
Not a big deal but an inconvenience. Anyone else seen this and found a solution?

I use tethering and it works really well throughout the house on multiple devices if needed. My download speeds (4G and I think I'm close to a phone tower) are much faster than my friends fixed line speeds.
However, I mainly browse and watch the occasional Youtube video. Don't play online games or watch movies etc so my usage is probably quite low, nowhere near 25G anyway. There is no data tethering limit on my contract (Australia)