This article has been updated, please see updates belowIn the UK o2 wants to charge nearly £15 a month just to tether your iPhone and use it with your laptop. In the US AT&T has not officially announced their charges or support but now a simple, easy and maybe not so carrier approved method has come to light.
The method does not require that you use iTunes to hack anything or jailbreak the phone but simply visit a website and download a settings file to update the device.
Thanks to Richard Lai there is a simple guide.
- Visit http://help.benm.at/ from your iPhone 3.0 device
- You will see the following screen, select "MobileConfigs"
- Next, select your provider and download the settings pack:
- You should now be able to enable tethering:
We are not sure whether a charge would be applied by your provider or whether this is totally legal but many sites are reporting success and I can confirm on a iPhone 3G 3.0 with o2 UK it works OK.
Update: The folks over at TechRadar have received an official response from UK provider O2. According to O2 "Any use of this particular feature without the purchase of the Bolt on is specifically prohibited under our terms of service. Under those terms we reserve the right to charge customers making modem use of their iPhone or disconnect them." Ouch, I'm not convinced that O2 could tell the difference between a web page loaded on the same APN via an iPhone or laptop so this might be a reactive response to put people off. Either way the company clearly needs to look at the option they are providing consumers, £15 a month is a disgusting price to charge consumers just to surf in the same way they would from their phone but on a laptop device.
I think you need to be contract and on the iPhone tariff.
Just a quick update. You may need to reboot your iPhone if the tethering option isn't available after downloading the settings file.
Just don't use it excessively and you won't have a problem and don't download stuff thats over 10MB on a regular basis since this is the limit you can download over the cell network from the App Store etc.
Mobile data wether it be Tethering or use on the mobile itself all uses the same carrier, the same technlogy and has always been like this, yet they still want to charge tethering and mobile data differently..... Why!!
Its like being charged differently for the same drink in a bar because it was served in a different coloured cup! Its bull**** and needs to stop...
You should be looking for a better telco.
JamesWeb just doesn't like Apple at all so he decided to accuse the iPhone when it's in fact the problem of the cell provider
+1
Basically all other phones have tethering for free! And, you can turn your phone into a WiFi router, so you don't even need to cable tether it!
As usual, you are wrong. The costs for tethering are determined by the carrier. Want to use tethering on a WinMo phone with AT&T? Guess what, they are going to charge you extra. Yes, you can get away without paying for it if you are careful and don't abuse it, but you are still running the risk of getting caught and having to pay. The same applies to using WMWiFiRouter, it is still considered tethering.
JamesWeb just doesn't like Apple at all so he decided to accuse the iPhone when it's in fact the problem of the cell provider
Acutally, it's more liek he probably lives in the US and they only have AT&T as their carrier there, so yes, he can safely say that you should grab a better phone, like the Fuze, which runs Windows Mobile and is even on the same AT&T network and allows tethering.
LOL so they have the "luxury" of forking out loads of money for an iphone contract instead XD
THAT my friends is a reason not to get an iphone contract.
Hurray for Free mobile internet!
I dont see what difference it makes whether you use this directly from your iphone or via a connected laptop... I know the chargeable service o2 provides is for more bandwidth, so whats the issue, if you simply want to use your 500mb allowance...
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-co...etherers-609253
I guess they could sniff traffic for your browsers User Agent but you could always change your Users Agent to match the iPhones user agent but this will create problems with some webpages.
Oh well. At least the people are speaking back at these companies. Tired of being bent over the barrel.
I did but I have a feeling it's because it's a 2G. So, pretty much all of the new stuff that needs a network won't work.
"Furthermore, plans(unless specifically designated for tethering usage) cannot be used for any applications that tether the device (through use of, including without limitation, connection kits, other phone/PDA-to computer accessories, BLUETOOTH® or any other wireless technology) to Personal Computers (including without limitation, laptops), or other equipment for any purpose."
They reserve the right to disconnect you blah blah blah... I'm sure if you don't go overboard you'll be fine. I also bet that somebody will block this method soon.
But the fact is, the pathetic o2 network with their extortionate bolt on price have no real idea on how to track people's usage.
They can't even handle enabled MMS for people, so they have no chance of finding time to packet sniff data.
Ignore the press release crap, don't take the **** and you'll be fine.
This is EXACTLY what they deserved for trying to rip people off.
They charge what they and their customers see as a fair price. If you don't see the price as fair and equitable then you shouldn't buy the service. It is just that simple. Not steal it.
Regardless. It cost them money to support your tethering habits and as a result they'll push up costs somewhere else to recoup the cost associated with it.
I think the price of the iPhone is a rip off with its extra monthly fee tacked on to your plan and the cost of the device. That doesn't mean I should be running around shoplifting iPhones because "apple is ripping people off" or whatever....
Get off your holier than thou horse and end the sense of entitlement that you people seem to have so much of these days.
In reality I would only need the feature when I am on travel. Hopefully when that comes up again either this will work or I can just have tethering enabled through my provider for that one month that I need it or whatever.
Has he jailbroken?
Regarding the tethering, i've enabled mine, but will rarely use it unless in emergencies tbh.
whats the deal on this ?
lately tho neowin has been a source for hacks... remember the Technet article fiasco? I mean come on... don't these news have to be approved before they get posted?
Last edited by chisss on 18 Jun 2009 - 16:31
So if every other site posted a link to a torrent for Snow Leopard, you'd post it as well? Good to know.
Mine still works. VVM is a bit hit and miss anyway.
You are given unlimited useage of the internet (o2=500mb per month), what difference does it make if you use your iphone or a laptop to access it?? The tethering bundles they provide I think is for 3gb and 10gb per month, which is fair enough... if somewhat expensive!! why got you use your free allowance as you want...
How do they get away with calling 500MB per month "unlimited"? I'd burn through that in a matter of hours, if not minutes!
They can easily check the HTTP packets to see if the browser agent is any other than Safari mobile on the iPhone. Although you could use a firefox extension or whatever to change the reported user agent to match that of safari. Stuff like that.
They can easily check the HTTP packets to see if the browser agent is any other than Safari mobile on the iPhone. Although you could use a firefox extension or whatever to change the reported user agent to match that of safari. Stuff like that.
I think other carriers do it, and apparently its not illegal (if it's legal to read the packet at IP level to check where to route it, to read the packet at TCP level to check if the port is allowed or not, then it could also be legal to read the HTTP headers without even reading the payload, obviously. it's the payload at the top of the stack that would cause the most privacy concerns. everything else would be considered control data)
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