Why don't cable/internet providers have to compete for your business?

[Satertek]

It's a natural monopoly, just like the power grid. There are incredible upfront costs to set up a network.

This is the reason I'm a huge fan of the direction Huntsville Utilities is taking. Lay tons of fiber all over the county and rent it out. This way any company can work out a deal with HU and start offering TV and internet services very quickly and (relatively) cheaply.

[trailblazer11]

Originally Posted by weaverra

Until they figure it out and permanently ban you from their service for violating the terms of service, which may not be a bad thing after all. Oh and they might slap you with fees for the service that you stole from them.

Although the cyanogenmod idea may be a little too much, you won't be "stealing" their service per se. You have unlimited data, and even if you have limited as long as you stay within your data cap you'll be fine.

Tethering also depends on the carrier. When I was on Verizon, tethering/wireless hotspot was free and automatically enabled on the phone, and it helped me out a lot when our WOW internet went down every other week Now that I'm on AT&T, you have to do something else to get tethering enabled on your phone that I haven't tried yet (but I think it might be an extra fee).

Bottom line, you don't have to mod your phone to use its service. It's actually quite a useful tool when you're outside a Wifi area or your internet goes down.

[snatale1]

Originally Posted by weaverra

Until they figure it out and permanently ban you from their service for violating the terms of service, which may not be a bad thing after all. Oh and they might slap you with fees for the service that you stole from them.

It's always possible they kick you off, but they can't fine you for using Internet that you PAID for, using in on a PC instead of the phone doesn't equal theft. It's still a service which the subscriber paid for.

[MisterEd51]

Originally Posted by trailblazer11

Although the cyanogenmod idea may be a little too much, you won't be "stealing" their service per se. You have unlimited data, and even if you have limited as long as you stay within your data cap you'll be fine.

Tethering also depends on the carrier. When I was on Verizon, tethering/wireless hotspot was free and automatically enabled on the phone, and it helped me out a lot when our WOW internet went down every other week Now that I'm on AT&T, you have to do something else to get tethering enabled on your phone that I haven't tried yet (but I think it might be an extra fee).

Bottom line, you don't have to mod your phone to use its service. It's actually quite a useful tool when you're outside a Wifi area or your internet goes down.

I have a Samsung S7 with AT&T. I have tethering with my 2GB data plan. In my agreement it says: "Personal mobile hotspots: Tether and share your mobile connection with other Wi-Fi-enabled devices"

It looks like if you have data plan with a cap you can use tethering for no additional cost as long as you don't go over the cap. If you have an unlimited data plan you have to pay extra for tethering.

[maillemaker]

Get the Sprint Unlimited LTE Plan for $60 and get an Android phone with Cyanogenmod loaded. Turn on tethering.. now you have affordable high speed internet.

I've got Verizon LTE and it's slow as can be. I'll take cable over cellular any day.

Steve

[Countrysue]

It's my understanding that cable was originally meant for areas that could not receive a regular transmission thru an antenna. The cable companies were given franchises to defray the cost of the service.