topic Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan in Mobile Data

Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

katashaha — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 22:06:31 GMT

I got the unlimited plan on ee in order to use on my laptop and iPad as the phone is too small to view videos or do anything else, however I have now found out that I can only tether 100.5 gb which comes out of the gifting so the tethering is counted as gifting even though I am not giving it to anybody else and only use it on my own devices, so I think it is very disingenuous of ee to sell unlimited plan when I could have paid less for a 100gb plan which is really all I can use, since I never use the data on the phone.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

BrendonH — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 22:36:45 GMT

No you are getting a little confused.

Tethering doesn't stop working after 100GB.

You can only gift the first 100GB of the unlimited plan.

So if you use 80GB before you gift you can then only gift 20GB.

You are tethering so once you hit 100GB it won't stop working you can carry on as normal.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

katashaha — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 00:05:34 GMT

I see, then they misinformed me because I called them yesterday and asked why it is telling me I have 40 GB left when I never gift anyway and they told me that the tethering stops at 100.5 GB otherwise it is not fair and people could just get the unlimited plan and have everybody tether to it. So not sure what is right anymore! That response was from EE themselves on the phone!

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

James_B — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 08:09:12 GMT

Hi @katashaha,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

@BrendonH is correct, your giftable allowance does not affect your ability to tether other devices to your phone's hotspot.

James

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

FlinnD — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 09:26:07 GMT

I had an pay monthly unlimited sim only contract which I put in a portable Wi-Fi device so it could be easily shared by the whole household instead of tying up my mobile phone. At the time I understood the 1gb limit which I believe is now 600gb (see legal bit below). After 3 months I received a text warning of 80% of shared data used, I called customer services because I had not gifted any data that month. I was explicitly told that tethered data comes out on the 120gb of giftable data otherwise everyone would be putting a sim in a Wi-Fi device. After she put me on hold she said she confirmed it with the tech department. I told her this is not explained on the website and she even went to the legal bit page I directed her to. She agreed it was wrong on the webpage and let me cancel the 24 month contract there and then even after 3 months due to misinformation.

So who is right?

F.D.

....
The legal bit

Unlimited Plans: Uncapped and Unlimited data - If you're outside the UK you'll be subject to the data fair use policy cap (given in your roaming plan). Personal, non-commercial use only. If you regularly tether 12 or more devices, we will consider this non-personal use and have the right to move you to a more suitable plan. We will consider usage above 600GB/month to be non-personal use and have the right to apply traffic management controls to deprioritise your mobile traffic during busy periods or to move you to a business plan. If you are on a Smart Handset or Smart SIM plan you can choose from 3 smart benefits (Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, BT Sport or the Roam Further Pass). 5G Handset customers can gift up to 120GB all other unlimited customers can gift up to 100GB. Data usage on an unlimited plan will decrement from giftable allowance. Any data boost allowance will be added to the giftable allowance.
...

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

James_B — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 10:00:08 GMT

Hi @FlinnD,

Welcome to the EE Community. 🙂

The 120GB limit is for data gifting only, it doesn't stop you being able to tether after you have used the giftable allowance.

James

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

kanelbulle — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 15:47:57 GMT

I've been through something similar and it turns out your gifting allowance
is 120, and tethering DOES come out of your gifting allowance...but it
doesn't stop there. It is stupid, and it is weird, but if you just gift the
whole 120GB at the beginning of the month, you can still tether up to your
limit.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

chistery — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 15:55:21 GMT

That's how it's meant to work @kanelbulle. Any data use, whether tethering or not will come out of your initial 120GB gifting allowance and once you've used that, you can continue using data or tether, just not gift. The advice as always is gift at the start of the billing period, and then you can tether or use phone data up to your FUP limit.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

katashaha — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 13:32:22 GMT

I have just spoken to EE who say that you are not telling the truth. They say that if you have unlimited data you can only tether (hotspot) 100 GB and that if you want to do more than that you will have to pay extra for it. So this is not really an unlimited plan. My children are on unlimited plan on 3 and they can hotspot as much as they want with no limit. You should not advertise something that is not true.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

katashaha — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 14:11:38 GMT

I spoke to EE now who told me that after the 100gb giftable is used I cannot hotspot anymore and have to pay extra for hot spotting! I have an unlimited plan and got it to use on my laptop more as I can’t see very well in small phone.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

XRaySpeX — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 15:00:12 GMT

@katashaha : You've been told time & time again that you can continue using your unlimited data, up to the personal use FUP of 600GB, for your own use including tethering to it once your 1st 100GB giftable allowance has been used up.

You've been told a load of baloney by CS. Here it is in writing:

Unlimited Plans

Can I tether or use hotspots?

Yes, you can hotspot off your phone as long as it's for personal use only.

No mention that it's subject to having used your giftable allowance.

Can I gift data on an unlimited plan?

Yes, if you’re on a unlimited plan you can gift up to 100GB of data or 120GB if you’re on a 5G smart handset plan. This will be the first 100/120GB and any data usage will reduce your giftable allowance.

No mention that it restricts your further tethering/hotspotting.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

katashaha — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 13:59:24 GMT

Can you tell me why then does EE when you call them tell me that firstly the allowance is 100GB (if you have a 4G phone and 120GB if you have a 5G phone). They told me repeatedly that once the 100GB allowance is finished I can no longer hotspot from my phone and would have to pay extra for it. I kept saying to her that I have been on this page and everybody says otherwise, but they said that the people on this page are not knowledgable and it is their opinion and 100% what she is telling me is the correct version that the unlimited is only for use on the phone itself and I can only tether/hotspot/gift 100GB despite being on an unlimited plan, which is a joke as other providers do not have these restrictions.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

EssexBoyEE — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 14:14:06 GMT

Again your Unlimited Data allows you to use all the Data you should need whether it's used on your phone, tethering. MiFi device, LTE Router, Tablet or any other way you can think of using the Data.

The Plan comes with a FUP of 600gb per month.

The Giftable Data Allowance is used up first per month when using your Data Allowance as discribed above.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

BrendonH — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 16:12:59 GMT

@katashaha wrote:
Hi

Can you tell me why then does EE when you call them tell me that firstly the allowance is 100GB (if you have a 4G phone and 120GB if you have a 5G phone). They told me repeatedly that once the 100GB allowance is finished I can no longer hotspot from my phone and would have to pay extra for it. I kept saying to her that I have been on this page and everybody says otherwise, but they said that the people on this page are not knowledgable and it is their opinion and 100% what she is telling me is the correct version that the unlimited is only for use on the phone itself and I can only tether/hotspot/gift 100GB despite being on an unlimited plan, which is a joke as other providers do not have these restrictions.

@Sorcha @Christopher_G @Leanne_T can this be address please, people on the phone lines for EE are giving out wrong info and now telling customers we are not knowledgeable and it's only our opinion even when there are EE help pages that share our "opinion". It's making us look stupid because at the end of the day people would believe an EE employee over someone on a customer forum.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

Jon_K — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 16:42:35 GMT

Hi @katashaha.

I can see you were previously linked to our Unlimited Plans Help Page, which also includes 'The Legal Bit' at the bottom of the page.

This page is giving the correct information.

Jon

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

XRaySpeX — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 18:27:28 GMT

@katashaha : The simplest answer to that is that whoever you spoke to in CS on the phone needs further training. To say anything further would be libellous.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

katashaha — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 19:33:41 GMT

I actually kept saying to her that I think she’s wrong as I have checked several times on this site and been answered by EE here and she told me that I’m sorry you were misinformed but 100% I can tell you that past 100 GB I will be charged for hot spotting and that the 600GB means that if I use between 100-600 GB I will be charged and after that they will just change the contract to commercial use. I asked her to check with others and she came back and said that she is giving me the correct information. I see above other people have had the same response, so if you cannot get one response for everyone which is clear then there’s no point. I don’t want to risk being charged extra and have nasty surprises. I just checked and saw that I have £120 extra charges on top on the £99/month I’m paying for unlimited data/minutes/texts and when asked if I could have a breakdown (normally you should be able to see these on the online account) I was told not until later when a bill is produced so am not sure what the extra charges are for exactly. I did read the fine print and although it says that past 600gb it is considered a corporate account it does not say anything about you being able to hotspot for free past the 100GB.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

BrendonH — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 19:54:14 GMT

@katashaha well she defiantly needs retraining as if she didn't bother to go and check with her manager she probably knew she was in the wrong.

If you log into your MyEE account you can see any extra charges there and they will say what they are for.

You can't be charged for extra data.

On a normal plan where you have a data cap you will have to buy a data add on to continue to use it otherwise your data is stopped u til tour refresh date or you purchase more off your own back.

On an unlimited you can use up to the FUP and it will continue to carry on. If it's a one off month when you go over 600GB then all is well. But if you repeatedly go over 600GB they class this as business use and have the right to move you to a business contract. But you will be informed of this.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

XRaySpeX — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 21:24:39 GMT

@katashaha wrote:

I see above other people have had the same response, so if you cannot get one response for everyone which is clear then there’s no point.

Where do you see that? All the other contributors above to this thread who are long-time members & frequent helpers here, incl. EE Community Staff members, speak with 1 voice on this matter.

Re: Re: Tethering on unlimited data plan

katashaha — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 14:41:45 GMT

I have subsequently spoken to 8 other people at EE who all tell me that tethering is viewed as "gifting" as you are not using it on your phone, so after 100GB you can no longer hotspot but will continue to have unlimited data on your phone. Everyone at EE is telling me the same thing. This is unique to EE as my children have 3 with unlimited (I switched them from EE) and they hotspot over 500GB a month with no problem. My husband also called them to complain since he was told the same by various people and told them that they had not disclosed this when he took out the new contract for unlimited. I would be curious to see if anyone has heard otherwise, not from someone on the forum but on the phone with EE and whether they have managed to tether past the 100GB (I believe it is 120GB with 5G). At any rate it is very disingenuous on EEs behalf not to disclose this particularly since many people take the unlimited to tether rather than use it on the phone!