iPhone 3Gs Tethering

Here is an easy and quick way to enable tethering on your iPhone 3gs and also 3g (even on AT&T!) by just visiting a link on your iPhone’s Safari browser.   There’s no jailbreaking needed. Here’s where you go:

http://help.benm.at/help.php

Scroll down to the Tethering & Internet Settings, then choosing your country and provider. This works for both AT&T and T-Mobile.

Now go to your settings and enable tethering. Check the video walkthrough above to help you configure tethering.

And if this disables visual voicemail on your phone, just go and reset your network settings, and it should be fixed. If that doesn’t work, try updating your phone with an older version of the AT&T carrier settings.

Difficulty level:
Medium

What you need:
>Mac OS X 10.5 or later
>Download this carrier settings file from gizmodo.com and double click it to mount it in Finder
>iPhone OS 3.0
>Final release version of iTunes 8.2 (download link)

Notes:
iPhone OS 3.0 will be available to all iPhone users on June 17.

Apple iPhone Tethering

Setting up tethering for your iPhone

Uninstall iTunes 8.2 Mac

1. Drag the Application iTunes from the apps folder on your Mac to the Trash.

2. Launch Activity Monitor from Applications/Utilities and kill the iTunes Helper process.

3. Go to Finder. Navigate to your ~/Library folder and delete the iTunes folder at ~/Library/iTunes.

4. Navigate to ~/Library/Preferences, locate the following three files, and drag each one to the Trash: com.apple.iTunes.eq.plist, com.apple.iTunes.plist, and com.apple.iTunesHelper.plist

5. Empty the Trash

Install iTunes 8.2 prerelease Mac

6. Install the iTunes 8.2 prerelease you downloaded.

7. Connect your iPhone with iPhone OS 3.0 software loaded on it to your computer with the standard USB sync cable.

8. Once the iPhone is connected, go to the Device Summary page in iTunes.

9. While pressing and holding the Option key on your Mac, click the Restore button in iTunes

10. Browse to the mounted carrier settings file you downloaded and mounted above and select the ATT_US.ipccfile. iTunes will now perform an upgrade on your iPhone and display the following message:

Set up tethering on your iPhone

11. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone and go to General and then Network while your iPhone is still tethered to your computer.

12. Locate “Internet Tethering” and turn it on.

If tethering is successful, you will see a message that is similar to the following:

Go into Preferences Network select the adapter as displayed above, and you’ll see something similar to this as it becomes active:

Your iPhone will display a blue background banner on different screens to indicate that tethering is active and running as shown below.

And you’re done!

Please comment with your success, tips, tricks and issues!

Tether your Android Phone

Want to tether your Android phone to your laptop or netbook for glorious internet wherever you get a cell phone signal?  Well, you’re in luck, there are three ways to do it. The first, involves ‘rooting’ the phone, to load an unofficial add-on.  But don’t worry, the other 2 ways are easier.  Read on and find out which one is for you.

Method 1: ‘Root’ phone to add the unofficial Tethering App (Free, but Geeky)

The Android Wi-Fi Tether app turns your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot but you have to gain root access to your phone, a multi-step process that uses an unofficial Android add-on which, if applied incorrectly, can brick your phone.  BEWARE:  You can brick your phone doing this, geeks only!

If you’re up for it, or just foolishly brave, the  Android and Me blog runs down how to do it.  There are a few steps involved, including unlocking your phone’s bootloader, flashing a recovery image, and flashing an add-on to the default Nexus One firmware. Here’s a video of the process:

This method is free, and it makes your phone act as a Wi-Fi hotspot that any computer can connect to. The cons: you can seriously screw up your phone if something goes wrong.

Method 2: Use Proxoid App to Tether your Android Phone (Free, No root)

If you don’t want to risk your phone using method one, but are familiar with the command line and know what a proxy is, then the Proxoid Android app can tether your phone for free (method 3 costs $30).    The Proxoid app turns your Android device into a proxy server that your can use to access the internet.

Proxoid is free in the Android market, but to get it working you have to install the Android SDK or device drivers onto your computer, tweak some of the settings, and finally configured your browser to use those proxy settings whenever you want to use your tethered connnection.  Here are the installation instructions.

Then, to connect via Proxoid, you tap to start the proxy server on your phone.  The, on your Mac you enter a command in the Terminal and on Windows you run a batch file to start the tunnel, then, finally,  you set your web browser to use that proxy and you’re online.

Pros:
-It’s free.
- No root required, no risk of bricking.

Cons:

- You’ve got to install the Android SDK
-  You have to set your browser to use the proxy server each time you want to tether.

Method 3: Tether Android with PDAnet ($30 app cost, no root required, easy!)

The third,and last method, uses the PDAnet Android application.  It lets you tether your  Android phone using an app on the phone plus some software you need to install on your laptop/netbook.

PDAnet costs $30 if you want to access https ports (which the free version blocks).   Then, to connect to the internet via the phone, you tap a button to start the PDAnet app on your phone, and then click “Connect” in the PDAnet software on your computer.

Pros:
-Risk-free, easy to use, and requires minimal setup. (

Cons:
-It costs $30.

Palm Pre Data Tethering

Data tethering on your Palm Pre is, of course, possible but Sprint doesn’t currently have a plan that supports or allows 3g tethering.  Therefore, there is no offiical way to tether your Palm Pre to your laptop or netbook.   However, some clever people have figured it out and published the details.  Basically, you need to root your phone, enable SSH, and then configure your browser to run through a SOCKS proxy.

The full guide is here.

3g Tethering Supported by Apple

11:01AM Tethering! “This allows you to share you connection with your computer.”

11:02AM “This works with Macs and PCs, wired over USB, or wireless with Bluetooth. It is a seamless experience. There’s no need to run any software once it’s turned on. This requires carrier support. We have 22 partners in 44 countries…” No mention of AT&T. What!?

The first major difference to note among the carriers is the type of cellular service they provide. Verizon and Sprint both offer CDMA service, while AT&T and T-Mobile are GSM providers. This normally just delineates the services, in that a BlackBerry from T-Mobile cannot be used on the Verizon network and vise versa. As it pertains to mobile broadband, there are other differences which we will explore below.

Blackberry Bold Amazon.com $49.99

At&t Blackberry Bold $0.01

Tether your Blackberry

Clearly, tethering your BlackBerry device for mobile broadband provides a level of convenience. After all, you already have the equipment. At that point it’s just a matter of making sure your BlackBerry has tethering capabilities. Most do, including all new models, but some will require the aid of a third-party program. For starters, you can check out our guide to using your BlackBerry as a modem. This should give the basics. Mac users can try pairing the BlackBerry with Bluetooth. For those who don’t have compatible models, you can try MobiShark.

As far as speed goes, this one goes almost universally to mobile broadband. On GSM the difference is vast, since most GSM BlackBerry devices operate on EDGE, which doesn’t hold a flame to 3G speeds. On EVDO the difference isn’t quite as big, but mobile broadband still realizes faster connections, both for upload and download, than a tethered BlackBerry. So that’s one for tethering, one for an aircard.

Cost is going to be the main difference. BlackBerry starts with an edge here, since it doesn’t require the purchase of any further equipment. A broadband modem can cost anywhere from $30 to hundreds. Then it’s onto plans. Each carrier is going to offer services differently, which makes it difficult to break everything down. For instance, Verizon offers bundled 450 minutes and BlackBerry data for $79.99 per month, but it appears BIS users can sign up for the $39.99 voice plan and add BIS for $29.99 per month. Tethering is $15 more than that. T-Mobile has a $59.99 webConnect data plan, but doesn’t appear to charge extra for BlackBerry tethering. So cost is going to be dependent on carrier, but in general it’s a bit cheaper to tether your BlackBerry, rather than to add mobile broadband services.
Which carrier has the best mobile broadband?

As we close out this post, some might be wondering which carrier provides the best broadband speeds. The folks at Gizmodo tested service from Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T in eight major markets across the U.S. From their results, it appears that Sprint offers the fastest speeds, and that both AT&T and Verizon are on equal footing just below them. Strange that Sprint offers greater speeds, though not at all a surprise that they’ve been using this study in national advertising campaigns. It’s not the highest in all markets, but in major markets like NYC it has an edge.

There’s plenty of information to digest here, and hopefully readers will gain something by reading it. As we become more and more mobile with our work we’re going to need better connectivity options. Mobile broadband can provide such an experience, and if you so choose, your BlackBerry can be a part of that as well.

Both Verizon and Sprint operate EVDO networks, which by definition are 3G. So when you buy a BlackBerry from either of these providers, you’re getting a 3G device. Looking at the comparison above, it might seem like this gives BlackBerry users an edge, since they already have 3G devices. However, this is not exactly the case. There are currently two tiers of EVDO: Rev. 0 and Rev. A. The latter provides faster speeds, and have been mostly reserved for mobile broadband services.

Verizon BroadbandAccess and Sprint’s mobile broadband offers Rev. A download speeds of 600 Kbps to 1.4 Mbps, with bursts up to 2 Mbps, and 500 Kbps to 800 Kbps uplink. Unfortunately, no current BlackBerry models on either carrier works on the Rev. A upgrade. (edit: Thanks to the users who pointed out that the Storm is Rev. A.) They’re working with Rev. 0 speeds, though those aren’t bad. Users can experience speeds between 400 Kbps and 700 Kbps download and 50 Kbps to 100 Kbps upload. The differences are there for sure, but they’re not nearly as pronounced as the differences between EDGE and 3G.

(There are rumors that the BlackBerry Tour will feature Rev. A. We’ll check in once the official announcement is made.)

Blackberry Storm Tethered

Both T-Mobile and AT&T offer a number of BlackBerry devices, but only one of them is a 3G device, the BlackBerry Bold on AT&T. What this means for the consumer is that tethering a non-Bold BlackBerry from either carrier will result in slower speeds than mobile broadband, since mobile broadband is offered on the 3G network and the BlackBerry devices run on EDGE.

AT&T LaptopConnect advertises download speeds of 700 Kbps to 1.7 Mbps, with upload speeds ranging from 600 Kbps to 1.2 Mbps. In contrast, their EDGE network provides speeds between 75 and 135 Kbps. Even at its fastest, EDGE doesn’t come close to 3G speeds, so tethering a non-Bold GSM BlackBerry will result in much slower speeds than an aircard. Tethering with a Bold should result in similar speeds to an aircard.

This problem is compounded on T-Mobile because it offers no 3G BlackBerry models. They just recently started offering mobile broadband services, though they don’t quite reach the speeds of AT&T’s. This is because AT&T has upgraded (or is in the process of upgrading in some markets) to HSDPA, which is why its speeds are so far. T-Mobile is using UMTS, which provides speeds of 220 Kbps to 320 Kbps, with bursts clocking slightly faster.

While this doesn’t look good when comparing T-Mobile to AT&T, it does mean something good for T-Mobile customers. Because their 3G network isn’t yet using HSDPA, the difference in speeds between mobile broadband and BlackBerry tethering isn’t as pronounced as it is on AT&T. In other words, users can simply tether their BlackBerry devices instead of buying a laptop card, since the difference isn’t large enough to justify such a purchase.

Blackberry Bold