iPhone 4 and 4S

[tbloke]

hi i have been with vodafone for quite some time now so have one of the older smart phone tariffs that give me 1gb of date where most of the new ones only give 500mg so i am loathed to change to an iphone contract and am currently using an iphone 4 with no problems ( other than i cannot teather ) but if i upgrade by buying a simfree 4s will everything including siri still work or would i need to change to an iphone contract?

many thanks john 

[Nabs]

Everything will continue to work exactly how it currently is.

Are you at the end of your existing contract?

If you were planningon purchasing the iPhone outright they you may want to look at switching to a SIM only tariff. There is an option at £26 a month that gives you 1GB. Alternativly you could take a lower tariff and add a web pack for £5 a month

[tbloke]

that is exactly my plan at the moment as my contract is up in about 2 months i think so have bought the 4s ( should be here tomorrow ) and then i can try it out for a couple of months and see how it goes then either go to a proper iphone sim only deal or carry on with my smartphone contract or get a smartphone sim only deal but as you can probably tell im not to sure yet lol 

[Nabs]

It might help your decision but there are no specific iPhone SIM only deals anymore. They have all been bunched together under the 'smartphone' guise now. Makes the decision a bit easier for you.  

[tbloke]

Oh ok yes that does make it much easier but one thing that I'm now puzzled over is how would teathering work on an iPhone as previously you could not use the tether option on an iPhone unless you were on a specific iPhone contract? Or is that still the case for contracts and only different on the sim only deals? If its for contracts as well as sim only does that mean I will now be able to tether an iPhone even though I'm on a standard smartphone 24month plan?

[Nabs]

All the smartphone contracts now allow tethering using the inculded data allowance regardless of the handset you are using.

[tbloke]

well i was chuffed to bits when you told me about the tethering being included on all smart phone contracts but i have just opened my iphone 4s inserted a sim and when i try and switch on personal hotspot i get the same message as before which is "to enable personal hotspot on this account, visit http://www.vodafone.co.uk/help/iphone"

which when you go to the link is basicaly a FAQ section that when you select your handset tells you how to swith it on and then when you try it on your handset it sends you back to the help page agin 

i feel like im stuck on a fairground ride!! 

any help on how to sort this out would be greatfully received 

[Nabs]

tbloke,

I think you need to get it activated on your account first. One of the Tech Team should be along soon and they will be able to sort this one out for you.

[Wayne]

Hi tbloke,

We can take a look at this for you I’ll send you a private message with information on how to get in contact with us.

You can find your PM inbox here

PS – Thanks Nabs

Thanks

Wayne

If you have a spare minute could you please take the time to fill out a short feedback form about me?

You can do so here

[tbloke]

hi wayne thanks for getting in touch but when i click on the link you have supplied for my PM inbox it takes me to my inbox as expected but says "you have no private messages" ?

many thanks john

[DaveCD]

Hi tbloke

Thank you for your post.

I have sent a new PM for you to follow, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Many Thanks

DaveCD

eForum Team

[tbloke]

thanks for all your help everybody and the guys who have called to try and set this up but to anyone reading this thinking that they can do the same and tether an iphone on a standard smartphone contract 

it will only work on new contracts so i unfortunately cannot take advantage of this unless i upgrade!! but the guys that i have been in contact with on the phone have been very hepfull indeed so hopefully i can find a suitable tariff and maybe even get a new phone or save a few quid a month :-)

[tbloke]

Well today i am absoloutley livid with vodafone and the service i have received from them and customer services and this is why.

a while ago i started a thread as i was thinking of buying an iphone 4s off contract and i wanted to know if siri would work as i already knew that iphone contracts worked slightly differently to smartphone contracts and that things like tethering wouldnt work unless i was on an iphone contractand wanted to know if that was the only service i wouldnt be able to use.

this is the thread 

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/iPhone-4-4S-and-iOS-5/iphone-4s-and-siri-on-smart-phone-contract/td-p...

during the course of my questions and the answers from the tech team and the comunity expert that replied it appeared that if i took a sim only deal and bought an off contract iphone not only would siri work but i would also be able to use tethering on my phone as there were no longer any specific iphone contracts just smartphone contracts.

Great i thought music to my ears so a couple of days later someone calls and helps me through an early upgrade (about 2months early ) to a sim only contract which i took, the contract included 600mins unlimited text 1GB of data, 750GB of wifi and teathering which was a brilliant contract and exactly what i needed so i signed up for it on a 12 month contract 

today i was looking through my bills and notice that last month was £5 more than it should have been and this month which has only just started is also £5 more than it should be so i call customer services who have informed me that the charge is for tethering!!! apparently my contract has it enabled but not included? well that's not what i was told when i took it out its not what the comunity expert and the tech team told me in the above thread both told me all plans now have it included regardess of handset ! well that obviously not true and im now stuck for 12months on a tariff that is not what i signed up for and if i want to change then they will help me out by including tethering but reducing my data allowance by 50% and not giving me back the £10 i have already spent using something that was supposed to be included from day one 

Thanks a lot !!!!

[tbloke]

little bit of an update to this thread and what happened after i upgraded 

http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/t5/Pay-Monthly-Services/Thanks-vodafone-for-stitching-me-up-like-a-kippe...

[Simon]

Hi tbloke

Thanks for your update. Our SIM Only price plans should include provisioning for tethering on iPhone's so we'd certainly like to take a look at why you have been charged differently than our standard pricing structure would suggest. 

I've sent a private message with details of how to contact us directly. You can find your PM inbox here. If you can't access this link, please ensure that the box next to "Turn on private messages" is ticked on this page, and let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks

Simon