MyWi

A Closer Look at The Verizon iPhone’s ‘Personal Hotspot’

Yesterday, the Verizon iPhone was announced. Not much is different; there is a new CDMA antenna and mobile hotspot feature coined as "Personal Hotspot." This new (currently) Verizon-specific iPhone feature mimics popular jailbreak utilities like MyWi.

Personal Hotspot will be a new, pre-installed software feature for the Verizon brand of iOS. This mobile hotspot feature has been available on most Android phones for quite some time. Some more details have surfaced about Personal Hotspot...

5 Practical Jailbreak Apps That Should Be in Every iPhone Owner’s Tool Belt

We here at iDB love us some good jailbreak apps and tweaks, but there are few that stand out when you take into account sheer practicality.

For example, say you're trying to find your keys in a dark place, or need to know where to position the jumper cables on your stalled car during the cold the night hours? No sweat, you always have a flashlight with you; thanks to your iPhone and SpringFlash.

Did your favorite app make the cut? Are you totally prepared for whatever situation may confront you in a dire time of need? Are we making this way too suspenseful? Check inside and find the answer...

If You Could Only Choose One Jailbreak App

If you could only have one jailbreak app, which one would it be? I had to think long and hard about this, because there are so many great jailbreak apps that make the iPhone such a delightful device to use.

Ultimately, though, I was able to decide on one app in particular that I just can’t live without. Can you guess what it is?

Tethering: How to Tether the iPhone 4

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 Tethering: How to Tether iPhone 3.1.3

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.