Skinny hotspotting/tethering speeds? They now say it officially allows hotspotting.

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Skinny hotspotting/tethering speeds? They now say it officially allows hotspotting.

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#295853 29-Apr-2022 12:24

Skinny mobile plans now say "at max speeds , incl. hotspotting" for the initial data you pay for and "at reduced speeds, incl hotspotting" for the additional "Endless" data.

https://www.skinny.co.nz/pricing/plans

So hot spotted devices are treated equally? If not (fare enough I guess) how is that speed calculated/decided?

Here is my conversation with Skinny costumer support.

Skinny: Hi, how may I help you?
Me: When I click more details on the $36 and $46 endless data plans is says: "Hotspotting and tethering included. Endless data for personal NZ use on your mobile only"
Me: That seems contractictory is tethering allowed or is it mobile only?
Me: ?
Skinny: You can hotspot to any devices
Me: Why does it say " Endless data for personal NZ use on your mobile only."
Skinny: Because it will be quite slow if you hotspot to other devices.
Skinny: You can hotspot to laptops etc.. but it will be slow so we recommend only mobile
Me: But it's not artifically slowed by skinny?
Me: Unless it's over the initial high speed data.
Me: Hello? The speed on the mobile with a skinny sim should be the same speed as a hot spotted device right? Taking into account any minor drop through the actual process of hot spotting or tethering?
Me: Are you still there?
Skinny: Sorry for the long wait. No the speed will not be the same to the hotspotted device
Me: How is the speed of the tethered device decided?
Me: I can't see anything about that.
Skinny: You can check out the terms and conditions for information about hotspotting and tethering

I was cut off here before I could respond.

What are peoples experience with hot spotting on skinny?

I can't find tethering or hotspotting mentioned at all in any of there terms and conditions?

https://www.skinny.co.nz/skinny-terms

Linux

11432 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2908261 29-Apr-2022 12:31

NZ personal use means in NZ and you are not roaming I suspect

From reading that you are just trolling them! Tether your handset to a device and test for yourself

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#2908308 29-Apr-2022 12:36

Linux:

NZ personal use means in NZ and you are not roaming I suspect

From reading that you are just trolling them! Tether your handset to a device and test for yourself

I'm definitely not trolling, they don't mention roaming at all and they specifically say "No the speed will not be the same to the hotspotted device" after they say the exact opposite on there website.

Totally reasonable of me to question what seems like a contradiction before I buy a new phone and change providers.

Linux

11432 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2908324 29-Apr-2022 13:18

You will have some bottle necks

Speed of the mobile network and load on that

Speed of the WiFi on the devices

They are basically saying best effort

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#2908333 29-Apr-2022 13:29

Linux:

You will have some bottle necks

Speed of the mobile network and load on that

Speed of the WiFi on the devices

They are basically saying best effort

I appreciate the response but your just guessing right? I've worked at a telco and I know they throttle I was just hoping things were different now and I could get a straight response. Unfortunately I'm guessing too at this stage due to not getting that straight answer.

I think it's reasonable to assume that if they say "You can hotspot to laptops etc.. but it will be slow so we recommend only mobile" there covering there ass and keeping things vague despite there official claims saying it should be the same.

Linux

11432 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2908336 29-Apr-2022 13:33

@andrewnzer I worked for a Telco as well for 17+ years they throttle on the mobile network only when the full speed data is used up and downlink is 1.2Mbp/s (If you are on that type of plan)

The correct term is traffic shaping on the fixed line network

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#2908340 29-Apr-2022 13:37

Linux:

@andrewnzer I worked for a Telco as well for 17+ years they throttle on the mobile network only when the full speed data is used up and downlink is 1.2Mbp/s (If you are on that type of plan)

Ok that explains your initial reply. I'm not attacking telco's in general but customers do deserve straight answers.

Linux

11432 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2908341 29-Apr-2022 13:37

I can tell you now the full speed data zero traffic shaping happens if you are using your handset or if something is tethered to it

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#2908344 29-Apr-2022 13:44

@Linux

I gave them that option, is any speed drop due to the process of tethering/hotspotting. If this was true Skinny could tell there call center employees that this is the official stance, instead of vague stuff lowering exceptions

Your clearly coming at this as telco management that encourages this kind of thing. Lowering customers expectations and not giving technical, straight answers.

Shindig

1587 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2908349 29-Apr-2022 13:49

I have been working all week, tethered off my iPhone13 to a Skinny $36 plan.

It has worked brilliantly for Teams (calling), Azure Portal navigation, VPN, RDP, onedrive sync.

No issues with speeds

The little things make the biggest difference.

Linux

11432 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2908352 29-Apr-2022 13:58

andrewnzer:

@Linux

I gave them that option, is any speed drop due to the process of tethering/hotspotting. If this was true Skinny could tell there call center employees that this is the official stance, instead of vague stuff lowering exceptions

Your clearly coming at this as telco management that encourages this kind of thing. Lowering customers expectations and not giving technical, straight answers.

@andrewnzer Now you are just taking the pi$$ I suggest you move on and test it yourself and stop wasting our time

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#2908356 29-Apr-2022 14:02

Linux:

andrewnzer:

@Linux

I gave them that option, is any speed drop due to the process of tethering/hotspotting. If this was true Skinny could tell there call center employees that this is the official stance, instead of vague stuff lowering exceptions

Your clearly coming at this as telco management that encourages this kind of thing. Lowering customers expectations and not giving technical, straight answers.

@andrewnzer Now you are just taking the pi$$ I suggest you move on and test it yourself and stop wasting our time

Dude I got a response from someone on the Skinny plan in question, perfect. Like I said I need to buy a new phone and change providers hence the post.

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#2908363 29-Apr-2022 14:24

@Linux

My bad for being rude but you accusing me of trolling was just as rude.

cokemaster

Exited
4929 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2908405 29-Apr-2022 17:06

I suspect there may be some miscommunication from the agents perspective. I'm fairly sure that they won't throttle tethering, that being said... you are now dependent on the quality of wifi and your tethered devices capability. Decent 4G or 5G speeds may reveal the wifi to be the chokepoint.

With "Hotspotting and tethering included. Endless data for personal NZ use on your mobile only" , clearly its NZ rather than roaming... and I suspect mobile only precludes you from using your SIM in a 4G router and really going to town. Whether they enforce this is a different question but suspect you'll find out fairly quickly if you pull a few hundred gig.

webhosting

Loose lips may sink ships - Be smart - Don't post internal/commercially sensitive or confidential information!

andrewnzer

25 posts

Geek

#2908497 30-Apr-2022 10:47

cokemaster:

I suspect there may be some miscommunication from the agents perspective. I'm fairly sure that they won't throttle tethering, that being said... you are now dependent on the quality of wifi and your tethered devices capability. Decent 4G or 5G speeds may reveal the wifi to be the chokepoint.

With "Hotspotting and tethering included. Endless data for personal NZ use on your mobile only" , clearly its NZ rather than roaming... and I suspect mobile only precludes you from using your SIM in a 4G router and really going to town. Whether they enforce this is a different question but suspect you'll find out fairly quickly if you pull a few hundred gig.

Your probably right, because there was a huge wait between each reply I assumed they were asking there superior how to respond but it could be just a miscommunication like you said.