[qnc]

Saw this topic but didn't want to jailbreak my phone

http://lifehacker.com/software/featu...top-327066.php

is there a way of doing this?

[Big Mac]

The feature is called tethering, and it's available through the standard iPhone OS provided that your carrier allows for it. Some are, whereas others like AT&T are dragging their feet.

[qnc]

I have checked my supplier does do it...

Can you get mac hard-drives to appear via bluetooth?

[Simon]

No.

[kylef]

There is a webpage that you can visit to enable tethering, it doesn't involve a jailbreak. I'm not sure how loose the rules are around here, but some Googling should reveal all.

[ghporter]

Engadget has a great write up on the "no-jailbreak" process, including where to find the files that it requires. It works on mine. One caveat-for people wanting to tether Windows computers, you MUST have iTunes installed. Oh, and of course you have to shut down iTunes once you plug in the iPhone or tethering won't work.

At this point in time, AT&T has not made a formal, announced decision on how they'll handle this feature. Many AT&T customers (yours truly included) think that "unlimited data" should include tethered data. After all, what's the difference between surfing with Safari on your phone (and having to move the screen all around to read the blasted thing) and surfing with Safari on your MacBook? Anyway, AT&T stands to keep or lose a great number of customers with this decision.

[Big Mac]

I guess AT&T would claim that when you use the data plan on your phone, you're not going to be downloading large files like you could on a computer with a large drive.

[Spheric Harlot]

Can the provider tell whether you're on tether connection or not if you're connecting to the same APN?

[vmarks]

Surely if they sniff the user agent and it reports your desktop safari instead of mobile safari, they can.

[shifuimam]

It's likely that AT&T won't notice or care if you keep bandwidth usage to a minimum while tethering.

My iPhone's jailbroken, and I've tethered with PDANet a couple times when I needed an Internet connection on my computer in the car.

Use it too much, though, and you're going to raise some red flags at AT&T and risk getting your account terminated for a TOS violation.

[Spheric Harlot]

Clarification:

Over here on T-Mobile, we have data flatrates, and they're just bottlenecked to 64kbps after a 5GB/month limit is exceeded.

The question is whether they can tell and thus have the RIGHT to charge you extra for tethering, since tethering is not covered as part of your cellphone contract.

IOW, if they can tell, they probably have every right in the world to charge you the regular rate of 2€/MB or whatever the hell unfathomable rip-off they charge for data usage outside of flat-fee contracts.

And since T-Mobile *is* offering a tethering option on a number of iPhone contracts starting later this month, at an amazing low low price of 20€ per month (with a six month minimum before you can drop the option again), I fear that they might actually take an interest in those who modify their phone profiles using sites like help.benm.at to enable tethering on unjailbroken phones.

I could really occasionally use tethering on the road, but not enough to warrant the 20€ (**** you T-Mobile), but I'm wary of enabling tethering and then getting slapped with a 200€ surcharge for data transfer months after the fact.

See why I ask?

[Simon]

OMG.

I was kind of expecting something like that from them, but I still had some hope. €20 per month is insane! At €10 I'd maybe consider, but €20 per month is just outright ridiculous when you're already paying a fair chunk for "unlimited" data.

Will they at least make the "unlimited data" plan cheaper if you bundle it with the tethering option? Do you know how long their exclusive contact with Apple is supposed to last in Germany?

[kylef]

Oh cock, 3.1.

[moep]

Originally Posted by kylef 

Oh cock, 3.1.

This sums it up quite nicely.

I’ve heard that the permission for tethering is now somehow handled by the baseband itself and thus updating to 3.1 with the old 3.0.1 baseband (using the PwnageTool) may preserve the tethering feature — that is is why I haven’t touched 3.1 yet.

3.1 also completely disables tethering for everyone with factory–unlocked retail iPhones and cell phone providers that explicitly allow it. There is no way to re-enable it at the moment. Thanks for that, AT&T!

[Spheric Harlot]

Oh, it wasn't just AT&T. T-Mobile are just as like bastards.