T-Mobile Ends Free Mobile Hotspot Tethering with Android 4.

The recent Android 4.0 release is terrific news for everyone, except those who benefit from free hotspot tethering. T-Mobile has had a policy of letting customers use mobile tethering, an act that other carriers charged extra for, for free but not anymore.

Now T-Mobile plans on joining the bandwagon with the “Ice Cream Sandwich” Android 4.0 upgrade which means if you want to continue to use mobile hotspot, you have to pay $14.99 a month for the privilege.T-Mobile has always had a particularly strange stance on their Mobile Hotspot feature. While they always had the $14.99 a month plan to use it, they didn’t require most of their users to register for it. It always seemed to be a free perk for choosing their service over their competitors that remained unspoken.

Although, some users have reported that Wi-Fi tethering was blocked on some Amaze smart phones. Could the same thing that’s happening on the Android 4.0 phones been attempted before?

Luckily there is some breathing room if you do choose to use the Mobile Hotspot and tethering features. T-Mobile representatives stated that there will be a grace period of sorts when this change comes into effect. You won’t be blocked from Wi-Fi sharing, but if you are found to be using your phone as a modem then you may be blocked at any time. No one will state how long you are able to continue using your phone as a modem until they block you, assuming you don’t plan to sign up, but one could assume at least a week of service seems fair enough.

If you currently use the HTC Sensation 4G, you will have to pay the fee for the hotspot feature. Although, you will be getting a free upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich so the tradeoffs are almost worth it. Some people may be disappointed that they will have to add $15 onto their phone bill each month, and that makes sense, but Ice Cream Sandwich should be more than enough to impress.

If you want to create mobile hotspots, then why not get a device that does the job better than your phone? If you plan on making enough use of your hot spot package on your phone, you might as well get a MiFi plan using a dedicated device that will get you faster speeds and better results for nearly the same price. It’s well worth the money for a dedicated hotspot device when you use it frequently on the go.