Sprint Blocks 3G Tethering on "Everything" Plan

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Sprint never restricted 3G for their customers and for a long time many users have been tethering their 3G devices. But following on AT&T’s footsteps the US carrier has decided to put an end and have blocked 3G tethering on the “Everything” plan — as discovered by a member who posted a complaint on the company’s blog.

According a poster going by the name of kevinapg at the Spring Blogs, the tethering ability on his Blackberry handset has been blocked. He says he has been using tethering for many years and that when he bought the handset, he was told that he would be able to use the handset as a modem (in other words, tether it) with Sprint’s Smartview software.

On contacting Sprint, they asked him to buy a new broadband plan or reduce the minutes to 900 minutes rather than his existing Unlimited usage pack in order to get back tethering capability. kevinapg is thinking about a lawsuit against Sprint, but a Sprint employee has posted a reply stating that it was never included as an option in the “Everything” plans and so the lawsuit will not get very far.

That just sucks!

Just to explain it a bit, the best thing about 3G is that it’s damn fast. Damn fast means that users with 3G handsets are being allowed to use it as a high-speed internet connection by connecting it to your netbook, laptop or PC via Wi-Fi , Bluetooth or using a cable to ‘tether’ — meaning that you get access to the high speed internet and you to download the goodies you want, lightning fast. However the big drawback to 3G these days is that most service providers frown the activity as it tends to predate into their “other” market involving wireless internet connection cards.