AT&T Says No Tethering for iPhone 3G?
According to recent reports from iPhone Atlas, AT&T will not be offering a tethering plan for the iPhone 3G. Tethering of course, is the process whereby a handset is connected to a computer via cable or bluetooth so that the computer can make use of the handset’s data connectivity. Preventing tethering with the iPhone 3G is a pretty ridiculous move when considering that the rest of AT&T’s 3G arsenal can be used to tether. It’s a travesty, right? Wrong. Theorectically this issue shouldn’t be a big one at all. After all, tethering is sooooo 2004. Now that Apple has finally caught up to its competitors in terms of opening the OS X mobile platform to third-party development, lack of tethering should be remedied rather quickly. Just as apps like JoikuSpot Light and WalkingHotSpot transform an S60 handset into a pocketable WiFi hotspot, developers will likely attack this territory on the iPhone as well. Why bother with tethering when you can make use of WiFi and create multiple WEP / WPA-secured connections with a single device? Developers, the gauntlet has been laid.
Wouldn’t using the iPhone wifi to feed data back to the laptop open security issues? Tethering hides your system while on the road. If my sales team was out there doing what Zack is recommending, I’d be pretty damn nervous! Also, what’s the purpose of not allowing tethering anyway? They want to capture some of the business market from RIM and then we all find out that 3G is available, just can’t use it for what it’s really intended for? What a joke! That’s why RIM will hold its place for now, security and addressing the business users needs.
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well blue horseshoo id have to agree
too ban zack is lacking a rare comodity called common sense
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An iPhone software router would be the hotness. Or any 3g phone for that matter.
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dosn matter you can’t teather with it
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Tethering is so 2004? What planet are you from? Many people need and make use of that. And how would that be any different than using a USB or Express Card-based HSPA modem?
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Because using a 3g air card requires you to pay for the same date plan twice. One for the iphone and another for the air card… Why should i have to pay for the same thing twice!!! and if you are a limited internet user you can eliminate buying it for the house
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There are other devices ATT blocks which is the case with the TILT and the BlackJack II. The Windows Mobile 6 Internet Sharing feature has been stripped from the BlackJack II and is not supported for either devices. You can tether with these devices with the Att Communication Manager or by establishing a Dial-Up Networking connectio. While At&t is increasing its support for Macs in general it is just a matter of time before an Iphone will come out with the ability to tether and or optimize Wi-Fi that At&t will support. Also keep in mind that At&t will be the first to bring 4G network technology to the US. When this happens alot will change.
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I’m not sure how anyone could compare this to Sprint. I’m no Sprint fanboy but it was a heck of a lot easier to tether my Pearl to my Air on Sprint for just $15/month on top of the data plan than it was ever on Verizon or AT&T.
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Issue is Tmo is the only folks that will have the thunder. Tmo does not have 3g serv..
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Oh please don’t start the whining already!
A lot of ppl want to tether their iphone 3g to their laptop, so a solution will be there within a few days or in the worst case, weeks.
I am waiting on the pwnagetool 2.0 now which will be released soon. When that is done, i even might fix an app for it myself.
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Though I wish things were different, you have to hand it to AT&T… but most likely, Apple for their marketing genius. If you look at the facts, they limit the amount of phones they put out in the beginning. They give just enough functionality and speed to make people want one, and they limit the functionality that we all know the phone is capable of for one reason. It is all about hype. It is to make people like us post on forums. Negative or positive, it is like free advertising. Of course, for a time there will be some people out there that will pay for a separate air card in addition to the IPhone data package, but for many, we will be waiting for an alternative. Apple is basically now inviting the app developers to “crack the codes” or “hack the phones”. We all know it is just a matter of time before someone comes up with the functions we are looking for. Apple knows that there are people out there right this second working on ways to tether the new IPhone. I believe Apple is counting on this to build hype and to grow the IPhone community. They know that the more app builders that are out there will stimulate the IPhone market, thus building their brand. They could easily develop many apps that would be useful to us, though I believe having the general public do it for free is a more effective way for them to build the IPhone brand and a much more cost effective way to do it. The fact is, whether we like it or not, the more apps that are designed by the general public for the IPhone, the more valuable it will become. What better way than to get 10’s of thousands of other people to build the brand for you?
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“Adonnis WEP an WPA ar serioulsy a joke as far as encrypton goes with rusisx or aircrack ng kismet and som wifiadapters that supor paket injection (mainly atheros) you can crack wep an wpa in 10 minutes or less depending on your machine”
While WEP can indeed be cracked in less than 5 minutes, WPA is currently very secure as long as your passphrase is not a dictionary word.
If you know otherwise, please post a reference. Otherwise, educate yourself in pen-testing.
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AT&T doesn’t support tethering with the IPhone, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.
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AT&T doesn’t support tethering with the IPhone, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. Log on to this website: http://www.dragonforged.com/blog/2007/09/tethering-the-iphone-for-os-x.html
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Are they afraid of people overusing the network? Or does the Iphone need some other hardware to allow it to act as a phone as modem? If you purchase a family plan iphone through at&t and add a Motorola RAZR phone with Medianet unlimited data for $15. You can tether for a total of $25 more per month. Which is the same as every other 3g PDA they offer $60 for PDA+Tether. The iphone is already $30 so why won’t they allow us to pay $30 more and get the tethering when technically you can already do it for $60? But now I have to carry an extra phone with my laptop. This is just another example of AT&T alienating its customers. Does anyone have an answer to this?
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I have the htc.. and i did a small registry fix… my macbook pro tethers very nicely over verizon’s network.. I am content for now.
If the 3g is transformed into a “roaming” hotspot, i would consider breaking my contract to get one…
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I am tethering via WIFi with my iPhone 3G. With no other internet source, connection or wires such as USB cable I can now turn on both my Macbook Pro or my Powerbook and get on the net with nothing else but my iPhone 3G. I am posting this from my job where there is no wifi access without a password, which I do not have. I don’t understand why some don’t think this is not the greatest thing since sliced bread. Speed is twice that of my Sprint Express card at my home location and equal to my job location. Of course I jailbroke; it was a simple process, as simples as it was to get the tethering knowledge found here:
http://cre.ations.net/blog/post/how-to-tether-your-iphone-3g-and-browse-the-web-using-your-3g-co
Gripe, whine and complain if you want but this thing works grat and it works now. I took a chance getting the iPhone 3G hoping someone would make it possible and now it is.
I am not worried about battery life. The few times I am not near an AC outlet is negligible and I can always plug the Iphone into the laptop via USB cable to keep the iPhone charged.
So in my situation, for me it’s a no-brainer.
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Blackjack II = 3G and braindead simple tethering via usb out of the box. Connections->usb->modem
Plug it into the laptop and it shows up as a network option you can connect and disconnect at will. This is what I’m running now, but I’ve been playing with a coworker’s iphone and this area seems like the only drawback.
Even the old htc 8525 (3G as well) had plenty of hacks to have tethering working. Of course it had a ton of community behind it. They also have the wifi hotspot software you can fire up.
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Chris,
Trying buying a Samsung Blackjack (even on AT&T) and use Bluetooth PAN to connect the Mac Air. Works like a charm.
Apple - Great technology, Crap policy.
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So it seems Apple did allow the release of an app to “tether” - search for Nullriver’s “netshare” on the iTunes App store - It acts like a proxy to share your 3g or edge connection $9.99 (bit pricey to me).
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They must have snatched it because I am not able to see it.
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Here is a Speakeasy speed test comparison:
Terminal Tethering in Kbps:
1838, 1844, 1791
AVERAGE= 1824
Netshare in Kbps:
1095, 1104, 1076
Average = 1091
Here is another trial:
Terminal Tether in Kbps:
1417, 1632, 1630
AVERAGE = 1559
Netshare:
1057, 1066, 1044
AVERAGE = 1055
Another trial:
Terminal Hack:
1914, 1752, 1994
AVERAGE = 1886
Netshare:
1094, 1103, 1069
AVERAGE = 1088
COMBINED AVERAGES OF NETSHARE = 1078
COMBINED AVERAGES OF TERMINAL = 1756
So Terminal seems to be over 1.6 times faster.
Since the readings were pretty consistant I would regard Speakeasy a pretty reliable barometer.
These tests were done using Macbook Pro tethered to an iPhone 3G
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Tethering iPhone 3G needs no USB cable; it can be totally wireless using Wi-Fi unless you want to conserve battery life by plugging into the laptop or a wall outlet.
Yeah, the Netshare app was on Apple’s App store for about 15 minutes and I missed it. Strangely enough it came back on the App store and I was one of probably a great many who didn’t blow the second chance to get it. I hear it’s on the torrents now, no idea how that’s done.
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No comment on the post, been trying to find you, send me an email.
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Another tethering app is out but your iPhone 3G must be jailbroken first.
http://modmyi.com/forums/iphone-news/340701-iphonemodem-extremely-easy-3g-tethering-os-x.html
I just tried it recently and it seems to work pretty well. In fact I am posting now while using it.
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