Tethering

Is the iPod Touch For People Who Don’t Want an iPhone?

Guest Author ∙ Updated March 27, 2018

Apple's event today wasn't filled with too many surprises. The iPod Touch was beefed up in features that included many of the predicted and leaked abilities that were floating around. Mimicking nearly all of the features of the iPhone 4 makes me wonder now more than ever if the Touch is specifically designed for those who don't want an iPhone.

Adding FaceTime and Retina Display to the Touch gives it both of the best features from the iPhone 4. The speedy A4 chip will make the two devices close to equal in processing time, something that the iPhone previously ousted the Touch in considerably. So what's the difference?

TetherMe Brings Native Tethering to the iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 4, 2021

TetherMe is a jailbreak tweak that brings native tethering to the iPhone, even when your carrier normally bars you for. Such activities. According to the app description, it should work for any carrier without the need for customized bundles or preferences.

TetherMe has been tested to work on all iOS versions from 8-14 and works by telling the iPhone to allow tethering on any APN that is used for iPhone data. As a result, you should not be charged extra from your phone company as all tethering data appears to come from the phone itself.

TetherMe also bypasses signature checking and allows you to edit your carrier bundle manually if you so desire. This is required to enable MMS functionality on T-Mobile. TetherMe does NOT enable the loading of APN configurations from .mobileconfig profiles at this time.

This app is different from my favorite jailbreak app MyWi, which allows to turn your iPhone into a wifi hotspot. Instead, TetherMe allows for native tethering as Apple intended it to be, using Bluetooth or USB.

There is no icon for this item. After installation and reboot, you'll be able to turn tethering ON in Settings > General > Network, or install the Tethering Toggle for SBSettings.

Available for $4.99 in Cydia, TetherMe is a great alternative to the more expensive MyWi if you don't want to share your Internet connection with other devices. If however you want to use your iPhone as a hotspot, then MyWy will still be your best bet.

Please let us know what you think of this application by leaving a comment below.

Tethering: How to Tether the iPhone 4

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 31, 2010

Until last week when the iPhone 4 was finally jailbroken, your only option to tether the iPhone 4 was to go through the official, legit and expensive way: AT&T. If like me you think that an extra $20/month just to tether your iPhone 4 is a little too much, we've got a solution for you. It's called MyWi.

We've talked greatly about MyWi on iDB before but for those of you who just arrived let me tell you briefly what it does. MyWi is an app that let's you turn your iPhone into a wifi hostpot. Turn it on and share your iPhone Internet connection with computers around you. That's how simple it is.

Tethering Your iPhone 4 Using MyWi

Step 1: Make sure your iPhone 4 is jailbroken (see iPhone 4 jailbreak instructions)

Step 2: Launch Cydia and search for “MyWi 4.0”.

Step 3: Download and install the free MyWi trial then reboot your iPhone.

Step 4: Launch MyWi and tweak the settings to your liking:

Change the hotspot name Change the channel Enable Wep security Enable USB/Bluetooth tethering

That's it. You can now tether your iPhone using MyWi. Your iPhone doesn't even have to be plugged in your computer. You can just use MyWi as a hotspot, but remember it will drain your battery like crazy.

While MyWi is not illegal in itself, AT&T (or your local carrier) might have a policy in place to prevent you from using apps like MyWi. As long as you don't get caught, it's all good...

If you want to keep MyWi after the 10-day trial, it will cost you about $20. Although it comes with a hefty price, I believe MyWi is one the best jailbreak apps out there.

UPDATE: There are cheaper alternatives to MyWi. Click here for more info.

iPhone 101: How to Tether Your iPhone 4

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated August 31, 2010

With the release of iOS 4, AT&T finally allowed internet tethering on the iPhone. Because there is no jailbreak for the iPhone 4 yet, we cannot use apps like MyWi to tether your iPhone or even turn it into a wireless hotspot.

So far, if you want to tether your iPhone 4, you're gonna have to play fair and deal with AT&T. Tethering on your iPhone 4 will come at a hefty price of $20/month plus $25/month for the 2 GB DataPro plan by AT&T. That's a complete rip off but that's the only solution to date.

If you're not turned off yet, here is what you have to do to set up internet tethering on your iPhone 4:

UPDATE: This post is outdated. Check out this page for the latest information about iPhone tethering.

Step 1: Go to Settings > General > Network > Set up internet tethering.

Step 2: A message will show up telling you that you have to call or visit AT&T's website to enable tethering. Either call them or go to your account online to activate the option.

Step 3: Reboot your iPhone.

Step 4: Plug your iPhone in your computer.

Step 5: Go to Settings > General > Network > Internet Tethering > On. Now either choose to tether via USB or Bluetooth.

Step 6: Choose "iPhone" from the list of available networks on your computer.

Step 7: Enjoy the interweb!

As I said above, AT&T prices for this option are outrageous. If you're on a jailbroken iPhone 3G or 3GS you can always tether your iPhone for free using MyWi.

AT&T Announces New Data Plans & Tethering for iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

Better late than never! AT&T finally announced an official tethering plan for its wireless customers, including iPhone customers. The long-awaited new tethering option comes with the variable pricing plans AT&T CEO had pre-announced a few months ago. These new data plans will replace the "unlimited data plan" that current iPhone owners in the US are on.

All these new plans will be available on June 7. Does this date ring a bell? Yes, it's the opening day of the WWDC where Steve Jobs will announce the new iPhone.

You will now have the choice between 2 data plans. Tethering will be an additional option. Here is the details about each plan.

DataPlus

This is the basic entry plan. It provides 200 MB of data for $15/month. According to AT&T, 65% of their customers will fall under this plan.

If you choose to go with DataPlus and you go over your 200 MB, you will be charged another $15 for another 200 MB of data. Sounds pretty fair to me.

DataPro

The name says it all. This plan is for the data hungry users. It comes with 2 GB of data for $25/month. According to AT&T, only 2% of their customers will fall into this category.

Should you go over your 2 GB, you will be charged an extra $10 for another GB of data. Again, that is very fair.

Tethering

Tethering on your iPhone will come at a hefty price of $20/month, on top of your DataPro plan. What does this mean? It means that in order to get tethering on your iPhone, you will have to sign up for the $25 2 GB DataPro plan plus pay an additional $20 to "activate" the tethering option.

Signing up for tethering doesn't entitle you to more data usage. Every byte of data used under tethering will be directly taken from you DataPro plan.

Tethering will be available when iPhone OS 4 comes out.

I don't think that's a very fair deal and I'll most likely stick to MyWi for my tethering needs.

What happens to your old unlimited data plan?

The good news for those of you who use more data than these plans can offer is that you can keep your unlimited data plan. But if you want to use the official tethering option, you'll have to give it up for the DataPro plan.

I don't use much data so I know I'll be switching to the DataPlus plan and save myself $15/month.

What about iPad data plans?

According to AT&T, "for new iPad customers, the $25 per month 2 GB plan will replace the existing $29.99 unlimited plan. iPad customers will continue to pre-pay for their wireless data plan and no contract is required. Existing iPad customers who have the $29.99 per month unlimited plan can keep that plan or switch to the new $25 per month plan with 2 GB of data."

Free wifi at 20,000 AT&T hotspots

AT&T wireless customers will still get access to their network of over 20,000 wifi hotspots. That means that as long as you're paying a data plan, you can get free unlimited access to any AT&T wifi hotspots in the US (good deal for you if you live close to one of these hotspots and get signal in your home).

Monitoring and managing data usage

Since there won't be unlimited plans anymore (except for those who choose to stay on them), you will now have to closely monitor your data usage.

AT&T will help you by sending you text message and email alerts. You will get an alert after you reach 65%, 90%, and 100% of the treshold.

Additionally, you can download the free AT&T myWireless application from the App Store that allows you to keep an eye on your voice and data usage.

Conclusion

All in all, I think it is a great move from AT&T. Sure there will be the few usual customers that get pissed at the pricing plan changes but the majority of AT&T customers should find these new plans to their liking as most of us will get to save a few bucks each month.

As for tethering though, I think AT&T should have offered a little extra to those who choose to activate the option. With an additional $20/month for tethering, I would have hoped to be offered an extra 2 GB of data. As I said above though, that doesn't bother me too much as I'll stick to the "unofficial" tethering with MyWi.

What do you think?

Now that I gave you the details of the new data pricing plans, I would like to hear your thoughts about them. Are you one of those customers that will save money each month? Or are you one of the very very few that will have to pay more?

I look forward to reading what you think.

AT&T Internet Tethering Coming With iPhone OS 4?

Sébastien Page ∙ May 19, 2010

That's an interesting find that the guys over at MacRumors made earlier today... Apparently the latest iPhone 4.0 beta hides a new configuration page for Internet tethering.

When you try to activate the new feature, you get an error message asking you to call AT&T or visit their website in order to enable tethering. Is AT&T finally ready to offer the long-awaited tethering option to its iPhone customers?

You may remember that AT&T has been supposed to offer tethering for almost a year now but is worried that doing so might increase strain on their network. That's why they've been "actively working on it" for the last few months. Lame!

If like me you can't wait for AT&T, you may consider enabling tethering on your iPhone the other way...

iPhone Tethering: How to Tether iPhone 3.1.3

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 12, 2019

With Internet tethering on your iPhone, you don’t need wifi to surf the web from your computer. Tethering your iPhone allows you to share the 3G or Edge connection on your iPhone with your laptop and connect to the Internet anywhere.

A while ago, I wrote about tethering iPhone 3.1.2. Today, I'd like to show you how to tether iPhone 3.1.3.

UPDATE: This post is outdated. Please check out this page for the latest information about iPhone tethering.

Tethering iPhone 3.1.3

You have 2 options to set up internet tethering on your iPhone 3.1.3.

Option 1: If your iPhone is jailbroken

If your iPhone is jailbroken, you can simply install the MyWi app from Cydia ($10). Not only MyWi allows you to tether your iPhone, but it can also turn your iPhone into a wifi hotspot. If your iPhone is not jailbroken and you want to jailbreak it, read our Spirit jailbreak tutorial.

Option 2: If your iPhone is not jailbroken

UPDATE: I have tried this option on an iPhone 3G and it works fine. Many of you reported in the comments that it does not work. Proceed at your own risk...

If for some obscure reasons you do not want to jailbreak your iPhone but still want to tether it, there is another solution:

From your iPhone, navigate to Help.BenM.at Tap on "Tethering" Choose your country Choose your carrier Tap "Download" Tap "Install" Reboot your iPhone

After rebooting your iPhone, you should see a new option under Settings > General > Network > Internet Tethering. By turning Internet Tethering on, you will be able to share your iPhone internet connection with your laptop.

Note that for this to work, your SIM card should NOT be locked with a PIN. If so, simply deactivate the PIN lock in the settings.

That's this simple. You should now be able to tether your iPhone 3.1.3.

Traveling With An iPhone: My Experience in Vietnam

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

I had done a little research online before flying to Vietnam about the communication network there. Reading the many positive comments about the infrastructure of this country, I flew there very confident that it wouldn't be much of a hustle to find a SIM card for my iPhone.

After going through the very unfriendly Vietnamese customs, I headed straight to the Viettel booth inside the airport. Viettel was not my choice. It just happened to be the only phone store I saw inside Hanoi's airport.

A woman welcame me and asked me what I wanted. As usual, I was pretty clear that all I wanted was a good data plan for my iPhone as well as a few minutes of communication so we can call hotels, etc, in the country.

For about $8, I got a SIM card, 100,000 Dongs of talk time and an extra 50,000 Dongs of bonus time. To activate the data plan, she took my iPhone and sent "3G on" as a text message to the number 161. I immediately got a text message back saying that 3G was activated. Very good.

Now what I wanted to know was the cost of 3G. She was unable to tell me and after calling her own customer support, she came back to me saying they didn't know but that I shouldn't worry too much about that because 3G is very cheap in Vietnam. Ok, not really the answer I expected but there was nothing I could do.

On my way to the hotel, I tried to call Viettel customer service myself, only to be turned down several times in Vietnamese. Since my taxi driver spoke English, I asked him to tell them I wanted to know the cost of 3G and if there was any monthly plan I could sign up for. They didn't know. Hmm, I started wondering if they knew anything at all. Anyways.

I decided not to worry too much about that and started surfing the Vietnamese 3G to email, tweet, blog and more. Turns out I used crap loads of data until I had to recharge my SIM. I didn't make any "scientific" study about it but it was clear that data was dirt cheap.

Viettel doesn't allow internet tethering but I remembered that someone commented on my last travel post about Laos, giving me information about custom APN settings to allow tethering. Sweet! I had tried help.benm.at and unlockit.co.nz to download the custom APN but none of these site had them available.

A big thank you to Thy for telling me about custom APN for Viettel and VinaPhone. Without him, I would have probably been incapable of tethering my iPhone while in Vietnam.

Those of you interested in downloading the custom APN settings to tether your iPhone in Vietnam on Viettel or VinaPhone should go to Giaitri.net. The site is very slow and all in Vietnamese but it clearly says "Internet Tethering" at the top. Then you just need to select your carrier and install the custom APN, then reboot (don't forget to reboot).

While I can't say I'm impressed in any way by Vietnam (no offense to my Vietnamese friends but many bad things happened to me there), I have to admit that their network seriously kicks ass! It is my far the best network I've seen so far in my travels. That's mostly due to the fact that their network is so new that they pretty much have the latest and best technology available.

The only time I didn't have signal was when I was 30 feet underground visiting the tunnels of Cu Chi. At all time I had coverage, with at least Edge and in most cases 3G. 3G is burning fast too, which was really handy when looking for hospitals... but that's another story...

I had to recharge my SIM with 150,000 Dongs, which is about $8 and this last me forever. Definitely the best and cheapest data plan I had been on.

As a side note, it is very easy to find free Internet everywhere in Vietnam. 90% of hotels, bars or restaurants have free wifi available (not even password protected). Vietnam is the most "Internet friendly" country I have ever visited (except for the censorship of Facebook.com in North Vietnam).

I'm now back in Thailand and I am typing this post from the airport, tethering my iPhone thanks to the great (but slow) DTAC network. The network is not as good here as it is in Vietnam but I don't mind it if I can get my health back. We'll be in Thailand for about 3-4 weeks, then heading to Kuala Lumpur to catch a flight to Paris.

If you're traveling with an iPhone in Vietnam, I hope this article will help you figure things out, especially for tethering your iPhone.

Questions or comments, please feel free to write a comment below!

How to Turn Your iPad Into An iPad 3G

Sébastien Page ∙ April 10, 2010

If you don't want to cough an extra $130 (+ $15 to $30/month) to get the 3G version of the iPad but still want to enjoy the freedom of 3G technology on the go, I have a quick and easy tip for you to turn your iPad into an iPad 3G.

In order to get your iPad work on 3G, you will need an iPad (duh!) and a jailbroken iPhone 3G or 3GS. The trick is pretty simple. You just need to download the MyWi app from Cydia. MyWi is a tethering app that allows you to turn your iPhone into a wireless hotspot.

I wrote about MyWi a couple of months ago here so I won't go too much into details but basically it creates a wifi hotspot so you can share your 3G with devices around you, including your iPad. My Twitter friend @LappyGirl tried it and confirms it's working great.

So here you go, you just got yourself an iPad 3G for the price of a standard iPad.

How to Turn Your iPhone Into A Wifi Hotspot

Sébastien Page ∙ February 11, 2010

I've always been a big fan of iPhone tethering, which has saved my butt a few times, especially during my travels. Today, a blog reader by the name of DarkN sent me a really nice tip about MyWi, a jailbreak app that allows you to both tether your iPhone AND create a Wifi Hotspot so you can share your Internet connection with computers around you.

This has to be the most useful app I've seen in quite a while. I had heard about MyWi before but I thought it was only an app to tether your iPhone so I didn't even look at it. But being able to use your iPhone as a wireless hotspot is just amazing!

If you can't see the benefits of using your iPhone as a wireless router, then let me give you an example. My fiancee and I are currently in Thailand. Unfortunately our hotel doesn't offer wifi. I do however have a local SIM card and a data plan which I use to tether my iPhone. By creating a wifi hotspot with my iPhone, I literally turn it into a modem/wifi router and my fiancee can now connect to the internet with her iPod Touch.

How to Turn Your iPhone Into A Wireless Router

Step 1: Make sure your iPhone is jailbroken and that it is running at least OS 3.0.

Step 2: Launch Cydia and search for "MyWi". If you don't have Rock installed on your iPhone and you don't want it, choose the "MyWi (no Rock)" version.

Step 3: Purchase ($9.99) and install MyWi then reboot your iPhone.

Step 4: Launch MyWi and tweak the settings to your liking:

Change the hotspot name Change the channel Enable Wep security Enable USB/Bluetooth tethering

That's it. You should now be able to use your iPhone as a modem and share your internet connection with other computers or iPods around you.

Note that using your iPhone as a wifi router is an absolute battery killer. Make sure it is plugged in so you don't run out of juice in just a few minutes.

RedSn0w 0.9.3 Jailbreak Enables Tethering of iPhone 3.1.2

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

RedSn0w has been very hot for the last few days. After releasing the beta version and testing it out for a while, the Dev Team officially released RedSn0w 0.9, which didn't contain the IPCC tethering hack that would allow tethering on iPhone OS 3.1.2.

It has now been fixed as the Dev Team updated RedSn0w to 0.9.3, which now includes the IPCC tethering hack. For those of you who have no idea what "IPCC tethering hack" means, here is more information:

It allows you to install cellphone Carrier Bundles that aren't officially signed by Apple. This lets you, for instance, install a Carrier Bundle that allows you to use your iPhone as a way to connect your PC to the internet (through your 3G cell connection). This hack is always installed on 3G and 3GS phones by redsn0w 0.9.3 (no selection is required). It isn't included at all in 0.9.2 (it's still in a trial phase). Note that carriers may not like you tethering behind their back so you do so at your own risk.

So by jailbreaking your iPhone using RedSn0w 0.9.3, you will automatically get the base for iPhone tethering, but you will still have to download the right MobileConfigs file from http://www.benm.at/help/help.php and install it, directly from your iPhone.

Note that this website has saved my butt many many times when traveling overseas. As a matter of fact, http://www.benm.at/help/help.php saved my butt just hours ago. I am currently in Thailand and the mobile carrier I am using doesn't allow tethering. I quickly visited BenM.at and downloaded the right MobileConfigs file, which allows me to write this article you are currently reading by tethering my iPhone (aka using my iPhone as a modem).

To get the tethering hack, you will have to jailbreak your iPhone using RedSn0w 0.9.3. It is available for download from here and here is my RedSn0w tutorial. For the latest information about RedSn0w, please check out this page.

Traveling With An iPhone: My New Zealand Experience

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Following an article I wrote about a month ago about my experience finding a carrier for my iPhone while traveling through Australia, I wanted to write a quick post about my experience in New Zealand.

As I said in a post earlier last week, internet in Australia sucks big time, which makes me miss AT&T and I was wondering what kind of pay-as-you-go iPhone plan I could get in New Zealand. Prior to flying there, I contacted Chris Rawson, a writer at TUAW who recently moved to New Zealand to ask him what carrier he would recommend.

Chris suggested I go with Vodafone, who apparently is the largest carrier in NZ. Great, I thought. Now I just have to find a Vodafone store when we get in Auckland.

We flew from Sydney to Auckland. We went through the customs without much problems and as we were walking out, I noticed a Vodafone kiosk right in the airport, next to the car rentals offices. Perfect! I walked there, inquired about prices and in just minutes minutes, I had a fully activated SIM card as well as 100MB of data, which is what I need the most.

I also charged the SIM card with $50 which gives me $20 worth of talk time and an extra 500MB of data to satisfy by internet addiction. It took about 10 minutes from the time I started talking to the Vodafone guy to the time I walked away.

The 3G coverage in Auckland and in major cities is good, but as soon as you drive in the country, which is pretty much 95% of the country, you have to rely on GPRS or in some cases, don't get any signal at all.

Dealing with Vodafone was a pleasant experience. Even though the coverage is not great in NZ, it's better than nothing, and it allows me to write this post, while tethering my iPhone from Otorohanga.

We will be in NZ for a few more days, then we will return to Australia where we will stay in Melbourne for a few days before driving all the way west to Perth. I can see much more tethering in my future ;)