PdaNet Now Available — via Jailbreak
I’ve gone ahead and followed Jeremy’s excellent iPhone Jailbreak instructions for one specific reason: the ability to install PdaNet on my iPhone for tethering. PdaNet let us know, along with reader Lawton, that they’ve given up waiting for App Store approval (which will likely never come anyway) and have gone ahead and released their application for jailbroken iPhones. You can get the full skinny here.
PdaNet for the iPhone is heads and shoulders above their other offerings in that it doesn’t require any software on your laptop. You simply need to set up an ‘ad hoc’ WiFi network (here’s how) on your laptop and then have your iPhone join that network. Then, boom, you’re online.
PdaNet will also work in the background (yet another reason to Jailbreak — real background apps), although they caution that you’ll want to make sure that you get back into the app relatively quickly so it doesn’t idle. They’ve also implemented another neat accelerometer-based feature: set your phone face-down and it will turn off the screen, saving power. Truth-be-told, though, you should probably leave it plugged in, an active 3G connection and WiFi connection isn’t going to be very good to your battery.
One last note: over-usage of PdaNet’s tethering is likely to draw the eye and the ire of AT&T, so use with care!
Thanks to Lawton for the tip!
September 28th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Shame something like this will never appear in the app store. In the UK we’ve got (theoretically) unlimited data plans so tethering shouldn’t be a problem over here. I guess I could jailbreak my phone but I’m just too chicken.
September 28th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
is there a price? This sounds amazing. I can’t belive they would give it away for free. I actually purchased a license for my previous winmo device and would gladly pay again for this one.
September 28th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
@Brandon
Most apps availble via Cydia or the Installer are free. Now if it was available on the App Store like it was planned… you’d be paying for it.
September 28th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I’ve been jailbroken for a while now. This app ALONE is worth jailbraking for!! I actually had purchased Netshare back when it was availiable…and this one BLOWS it away. Highly recommended. And it runs in the background!!!
September 28th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Ok looks like I will JB my phone again. I put it back because I had some issues, but this alone makes me want to JB my phone.
I hope it’s free in Cydia -
September 28th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
This app is amazing. Like Cradle says, definitely worth jailbreaking for. I also have NetShare, but this takes away all the fiddling with alternate IP addresses and such. And as far as AT&T becoming suspicious…they should have known this was going to happen. We all pay $30/month for this UNLIMITED data plan. I’m just taking what’s mine.
A big thanks to all those who worked on this app and decided to make it available for free!
September 28th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
ZOMG!
IE logo on an iPhone?!
My eyes! My eyes!
No wonder Apple wouldn’t approve it…
Now I, strangely, I can only hope for Microsoft IP lawyers to save me…
September 28th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
cant…hold…back…must…jailbreak…ahhhhhh
September 28th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
I’ve jailbroken my phone and I am never going back unless I encounter an error or Apple decides to force me…
I don’t like the IE icon on my phone, though– time to change it!
September 28th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I want to hug the devs of this app!! I depend on tethering for work, and finally I have a way to do it that is as simple as every other phone I’ve owned. I’ve tried many ways to tether the iPhone and all of them were either way too many steps, or were unreliable, or didn’t work at all. I don’t know what PDANet does, but it really is 1-click once you’ve set up the network.
But yeah, that icon is disgusting. It doesn’t match the design guidelines (square corners, no shine) and it has a freakin’ IE logo on it!! Who thought any iPhone user (or ANYONE for that matter) would want an IE logo on an app!?
September 29th, 2008 at 2:36 am
I really want this app but I need to get a laptop before I jailbreak my iPhone. Thank God Christmas is coming soon…
September 29th, 2008 at 5:23 am
What are the chances of Apple letting this go through as an app? Been so happy since the iPhone 2.0 came out and no jailbreaking was needed, don’t want to do it again!
September 29th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Good news, it’s been updated today and they changed the icon! On my device it just looks like a blank icon in the style of the iPhone icons. I don’t know if that’s a joke, but it’s a hell of a lot better than what it was before!
September 29th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
There is also an app called iPhone Modem which turns your iPhone into a wireless access point and does not require any software on your computer. It also requires a JailBroken iPhone. Disclaimer: I haven’t tried it.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
@ Carl Gundel, I like the idea of not having to mess with any settings or installing any software on my computer. I might just jailbreak my iPhone without having a laptop (for now) after all.
October 1st, 2008 at 9:44 am
I’ve just jailbreaked my iphone3G (UK), went smoothly, installed PdaNet and can now use my laptop to access the internet! My next test tonight will be to see if it works connecting my Xbox through my laptop using a wireless bridge; Halo3 here I come!
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:39 am
i might be missing something here, but when i downloaded pda net i was understanding that you would be able to use the 3g network to access the www on my pc or laptop. When i open pda net it asks me if im connected to a wi fi source? do i have to be connected to wi fi ? kind of ruins my hopes of tethering! please help
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:52 pm
andy: Go to the following URL and read the instructions… you don’t have to be connected to wifi… your laptop connects via wifi to the phone.
http://www.junefabrics.com/iphone/
October 3rd, 2008 at 10:46 am
I just purchased a 3G iphone, updated the software to version 2.1 (from 2.0.2) and completed the jailbreak process. I had no problems whatsoever. I then attempted to load NetShare but after fumbling with the Socks proxy setup for several hours with no success I finally came to the conclusion that it would not work, possibly because of the software version 2.1??? I then, quite by accident, came across the application PdaNet. Hard to believe but first, it was free…second, using Cydia I was able to download and install this fabulous little piece of software and within minutes my MacBook Pro was tethered to the iPhone and connected to the internet via the iPhone’s wifi connection. My hat’s off to the developer for creating such a useful piece of software that works brilliantly.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
does i phonesupport mobile me with t mobile
October 14th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Okay I love it, BUT last night I really took it for a test drive, in a bar.
The app drains the battery even while it’s charging via Macbook USB cable! So you’ve got finite use of this capability before your phone is dead. (I haven’t tried it while charging directly from a wall socket.)
October 24th, 2008 at 8:52 am
How do you get this? I have been searching and to no avail. My 1st gen iphone is on 2.1. Any help would be appreciated.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Simple and perfect. A wonderful work.
October 26th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
This is a amzing app ! so simple to setup and get going ! thank u!
November 17th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I just started up pdaNET and it said my trial is over and I have to buy a full version. I’ve been using it successfully for months and the site to register it is a bad URL. Anyone else see this?
November 20th, 2008 at 4:38 am
very very cool…. only issue is it gets you web browser up and running but i cant seem to get other apps to connect to the net. I have a work laptop so i need to use Cisco VPN to connect to works network remotely however it will not fire up…. Neitehr will Communicator … if i use my normal iunternet conection i can.. Other than that bloody awesome !!!