How to Tether an iPad to any 3G, 4G & 5G Phone

Since the iPad was first released, sophisticated users have been getting smart to avoid unnecessary additional data costs by tethering 3G phones to the iPad when a Wi-Fi signal is NOT available.  Android smartphone users have it easiest tethering ipad to a 4G phone, especially on T-Mobile. Not a surprise to see that AT&T has not been very consumer-friendly to iPhone users and has made it very difficult for their data subscribers on the iPhone to tether any devices to their 3G service.  However, the Wi-Fi-only iPad oan be used on the 3G network of any carrier to avoid purchasing another expensive data plan if they are already on Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile or a smaller regional carrier. So here is a great option especially if your carrier never intends to cap your data plan.  Android users will likely be the heaviest adopters of this since most are already on other networks.

What is Best for Wireless Consumers?

What might actually be the best thing ever for consumers could royally screw the carriers. Twenty years of wireless carrier stifling innovation and counting. I think there are two companies (AT&T and Verizon) plus the cable companies who have held back the US from technology innovation.

Google could become a voice service provider and would unquestionably piss off the carriers who are their "partners". Who wouldn’t expect them to eventually become a voice service provider for wireless maybe through a WiFI network? It's just a matter of time. Google could then make unlocked Android phones available in the U.S. online or through traditional retail channels. I am waiting for the day.

Cheapest Unlimited Data Plans

Average Cell Phone Voice Minutes Used by Age

The smartphone data usage trend and the decline in cellular voice minute usage are concerning to the telecom industry.  In theory, you really don't really need to buy talk time minutes if you have a data plan or only use WiFi for making VoIP calls.  Carriers are constantly pushing their fast new 4G LTE networks but in reality, they compete with Free WiFi.  So as a consumer you should be smart about what you buy.  Here is a list of data plans in order of pricing. The trick is buying a phone on the provider network or having an unlocked phone that works on any of these networks.

Virgin Mobile - No Contract plan for $25 per month which includes unlimited data, text, and 300 calling minutes on 3G.

Tracfone / Net10 - No Contract $45 per month with unlimited data, text, and talk on 3G.

MetroPCS - No Contract for $40 per month with unlimited talk, and text. Some data roaming charges may apply as the network is limited in size but they do have an LTE network that is fast.

Boost Mobile  - No Contract: for $40 per month with unlimited talk, text, data, no roaming charges. 3G is available with some phones.

T-Mobile (Best Value!)- No Contract for $40 per month which includes unlimited data on 3G and 4G HSPA+ Blackberry phones will cost you $50 per month for unlimited data.  If you are an older customer hopefully you have been grandfathered into their old plan which costs $25 per month.  

Sprint - Requires a 2-year contract for $69.99 per month which includes unlimited data, text, and calling.

AT&T data plan - plans range in price from $15 for a 200 MB data plan and $25 per month for 2 MB. If are conscious about downloading video on WiFi their pricing plans might work for you. Caution because just like texting they have crazy data charges of $10 per 1 GB of data if you go over and the data is not reusable on monthly basis.  AT&T is also rolling out a 4G HSPA+ network.

Verizon Wireless - Requires customers to buy a mobile package that is more than $30 per month and you’re limited to 5GB per month.  They do have an LTE network coming out in 2011 but this will require you to purchase an LTE compatible phone.

Cheap Unlocked Used iPhones For Sale

There are between 20 - 30 million inexpensive unlocked iPhones on the used market today and many of them are being sold on Amazon and eBay for $100 - $500.  Smart mobile phone shoppers can save lots of money buying a used phone that is unlocked.  Buying a cheap iPhone can save you lots of money using a cheaper data plan from T-Mobile or another GSM carrier.  We discovered do research that one-third of the iPhones being sold on eBay were unlocked.  Unlocking the iPhone is the process of using software to modify the iPhone to work with other GSM carriers if purchased from AT&T or CDMA carriers if you purchased a Verizon phone.

Related Stories:
How Many Unlocked iPhones Are There?
How to Unlock the iPhone 4 for T-Mobile

How Many Unlocked iPhones on the Market in 2011?

20 to 30 Million Unlocked iPhones On the Market

How many iPhones have been sold?  108 Million as of Q1 2011.  There were reports back in 2008 that between 800,000 and 1.5 million phones had been unlocked. However, now that that sales have quadrupled (see chart below) we estimate there are between 20-30 million iPhones unlocked on the market if you use this same calculation. Apple is now selling 15 million phones per quarter and quickly becoming a victim of their own success.  We did a search for used iPhone on eBay and found 10,000 used Used iPhones for $100 and 33% were being sold unlocked.   This is one of the major reasons why AT&T is buying T-Mobile and trying to consolidate the US market into only have one GSM carrier buying the last remaining GSM carrier.   See GSM CDMA unfair competition.

Unlocking is the process of using software to modify the iPhone to work with other GSM carriers if purchased from AT&T or CDMA carriers if you purchased a Verizon phone.  With such a huge number of used phones on the market, will Apple be able to continue its carrier subsidy model for phones on 3G.  It may take the iPhone 5 on LTE to revive the demand for the phone and thus one of the reasons Apple (AAPL) stock has been lagging lately we think.

New iPhone Sales Per Quarter

10,000 Used iPhones on eBay for $100

10,000+ Used iPhones on Ebay

After a quick search on eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) today we found well over 10,000 used phones that were selling for between $120 to $150 dollars.   It is even more amazing to see that well over 33% of these phones are unlocked 3,000+.  This means you can take the phone to any 3G GSM carrier around the World or go to T-Mobile in the US and use it on a cheaper data plan than AT&T.  Directions how to Unlock iPhone for T-Mobile here. 

This is a great deal especially if you want to do a pre-paid phone plan or don't want a long term contract. AT&T (NYSE: T) will be challenged to get $600 for the new iPhone 4 when the iPhone 3GS is also 3G and not 4G. You can also buy a $50 iPhone directly from the carrier but this requires a long term contract and who would want that?  If the phone is Verizon you can take the phone to any CDMA carrier.  Why is this important?  If the T-Mobile and AT&T merger goes through there will only be one USA GSM carrier in the US and that is horrible for consumers.  

How Many iPhones & iPads Are Jailbroken?

Now that 3GS iPhone are being sold for $50 and the used unlocked iPhone market is huge. How big is the market and how many phones are jailbroken?  This is the largest category on eBay unlocked iPhones.  We think that greater than 10% of iPhones have been jailbroken  and possibly 20-30 million iPhones unlocked?  We were not surprised to see that Apple supporters quickly tried to bury the link in Google.  Here is a story on how to jailbreak the iPhone 4 for T-Mobile and think this is one of the major reasons why AT&T is acquiring T-Mobile to prevent this massive defection that is going unpublicized.  If anyone has any credible sources of information we would appreciate a post in the comments section below.

How to Get Free AT&T WiFi Tethering With MyWi

The price of $19.99 for the MyWi iPhone App is a lot better than paying AT&T $25 per month for tethering you should be entitled to under your data plan.  Paying $300 per year for tethering is absolutely ridiculous and those who are on T-Mobile already can do it for free.  However, now AT&T is warning those who are tethering to pay but it is not clear to me that they can do anything about it.   

Create an iPhone WiFi HotSpot or iPad WiFi HotSpot without paying $25 per month.  Wherever you are - you can connect your laptop or another mobile device to your iPhone / 3G iPad easily without paying for an additional data plan.  MyWi 4.0 now works on iPhone 4 IOS 4 and will also work with all jailbroken iPhones on T-Mobile (including 2G/3G/3GS/4) and iPad on 3.1.2 or later.

How to Avoid Early Termination Fees

Buy your phone outright without any subsidy and unlock it. It's that simple! However, if you are already in a contract and need some help read these two posts that will help you get some ideas on how to get out of a contract & how to drop early termination fees if you already purchased the phone.

Savvy smartphone users are among the most likely to leave their current carrier. According to a recent survey, 31% of U.S. consumers are ready to switch wireless providers. Some may even want to dump their carriers entirely and use their Gmail, Google Voice services in the cloud for almost free. Early termination fees are rising and carrier loyalty is fragile at best. Prior to the rise of smartphones, carrier loyalty has been tied more to network coverage and for many it still is. Consumers don’t want to worry about signal strength or proximity to a cellular tower in order to use a phone in their home or at the office.

The carriers realize that customer loyalty is not what it used to be in this age of cloud computing and Wi-Fi VoIP. So what do they do to keep their customers? Make you think they have been upgrading their networks with faster data services and new cloud syncing services. Now that smartphones are available on all the major U.S. carriers contracts or hand-cuffs have become the discussion more than the service. The carriers have answered this with higher termination fees.

Verizon was first this year, doubling the cost to get out of a contract from $350 from $175 on smartphones. AT&T followed suit by boosting its termination fee to $325, adding a higher exit barrier for consumers who want to leave the carrier. Increased upfront hardware subsidy costs at the time of purchase are the excuses given to the media but that is a lie since phone prices from the manufacture have actually decreased not doubled.

My advice to carriers if they want to keep their customers happy is pretty simple. Don’t raise the barriers for customers to leave your network by increasing termination costs. Why not let your service speak for itself by providing better coverage at a reasonable price. Consumers are becoming more phone savvy all the time and they can solve most of the problems themselves with WiFi.

Related Posts:
Customer Churn: Coverage vs.Contracts

T-Mobile Customers Can Unlock Their Phones

To my surprise, if you are a loyal T-Mobile you can unlock your phone for free with the carrier and it will not void the warranty.  As a loyal customer, this will NOT void the warranty on the phone and entitle you to the same service and return policies.  I experienced this excellent customer service today as I was preparing for my trip to Europe.  I asked them if I could unlock my phone so I could purchase an international SIM card to make calls while traveling in Europe and Ireland.  The answer they gave me was we can help you unlock your phone just give us your IME number and we will send you an email instruction you how to do it.  I would like to give T-Mobile an award for this tremendous customer service and they should be recognized for this leadership.  If any AT&T or Verizon customer has had the same experience I would like to know about it.  I won't hold my breath waiting.

Why would I want to purchase a SIM card versus roaming on T-Mobile?  The cost in Europe for US customers is $15 per megabyte to download data and $1.25 cents per minute to make phone calls.  I can't blame them for charging this but its a bit outrageous and may surprise many customers who don't turn off data roaming while traveling outside the US.

Another alternative is to take out your SIM card and make calls on Wi-FI with Truphone, Nimbuzz Skype on some phones or another VoIP mobile app.  The sound quality is pretty good and the rates vary from .02 cents per minute up to .20 cents per minute depending on if the call is to a landline or a mobile phone.  You can also purchase a SIM card from a company like Truphone Local Anywhere for $30 so you can take advantage of the local data plans and calling rates.  This will avoid the costly international roaming charges.

My plan while traveling to Europe is to take two phones.  My old G1 Android phone without a SIM card for making WiFI VoIP phone calls and my Samsung Vibrant for data roaming with a new SIM card that I will purchase when I land.  If anyone has any suggestions of data SIM cards to buy while traveling in Ireland and the UK please let me know?

10 Things A Facebook Phone Could Improve

Creating a better mobile phone experience could help Facebook as it competes against Google for location based advertising dollars.  Google might not be #1 at social, but it’s clearly trying to get better, and it will soon will better social media and sharing features. One of Google’s best assets is its growing user base of Android phones and this Facebook needs to leverage this.  A Facebook Android phone could help give the social media giant more leverage and have a huge impact on their mobile advertising-based platform.  Here are 10 things a Facebook phone would do for its' users and the changing industry:

1)  Improved address book features and automatic updates.
2)  Better instant messaging, VoIP and video chat with people you know and trust
3)  Never use voicemail or get a busy signal again with presence indicators
4)  Improved GPS applications & privacy settings for location-based application
5)  Improved group scheduling, notification and RSVP features
6)  Group chat or instant location conference calls for events and meetings
7)  Mobile payments and a new "Groupon like" coupons
8) Location-based advertising for stuff I actually might want.
9)  Group cell phone buying plans for unlocked phones (500M+ users)
10) Better social gaming and location-based sharing features.

Which carrier would Facebook likely choose in the US?  I think Facebook would like launch as a Sprint MVNO using the new 4G network.

How to Jailbreak the iPhone For T-Mobile

iPhone can be unlocked, which means you can use the phone on any GSM network