All Articles Tagged tethering

Along with iPhone 3.0 Beta 5, which appears to hide away MMS functionality for AT&T, Apple also seeded the second pre-release version of iTunes 8.2, which looks like it blocks editing of the iPhone carrier file. In previous beta releases, developers were able to use the carrier file to enable tethering, something built into iPhone 3.0 by Apple but entirely dependent on as-yet-not-given carrier approval.

Did AT&T ask for the new lockdown? Perhaps the MMS stripping as well? Nothing but speculation so far…

(Thanks Andrew for the tip!)

Apple’s Senior VP for iPhone Software, Scott Forstall, said that Apple had already built Tethering into the iPhone software, shuffling the burden of “where the heck is it then?” neatly into the hands of the still-waffling carriers.

Well, according to MacRumors, an enterprising developer has gone and shown us that Forstall wasn’t just spinning tales. Tethering (where your laptop connects to the internet via a USB or Bluetooth connection to your iPhone) really is already built in there.

Of course, with the way the iPhone brought down AT&T’s network at SXSW last weekend, the thought of millions upon millions of iPhone users burning even more data must have AT&T execs quivering in their boots… Will they actually improve capacity before allowing it on their end, and how much of that will be pushed down to the user via Tethering “plan” increases?

Would you rather have cheap but unreliable Tethering, or would you pay more for rock solid service? Or do you just want all these heavy duty data users to get off your 3G lawn?

Could this be a sign of things to come with tethering and the iPhone? Will all of us who own iPhones be vulnerable to these overages if we choose to start using software like the upcoming SlingPlayer Mobile?

A Chicago man (Jamesus — hoping it was not you, buddy!) decided to watch a Bears game via Slingbox on his laptop before leaving for a cruise… Harmless enough one would think, but his AT&T wireless data card decided to pick up a international signal while he was still in Miami… end result: A $28,067.31 bill for international data charges. It’s safe to say the data card was picking up the wrong signal and with a few customer service calls he eventually did get the charges dropped down to $290.65.

So all of you travelers out there, take heed if you are traveling on a fringe area and take all precautions to avoid something like this happening to you…

*It seems that this story comes to us via the Chicago Sun-Times and their feature: The Fixer. The man who was charged could not get AT&T to remove the charges from customer service calls until the Sun-Times got involved and the story ended up in the paper. Knowing that, it makes AT&T look a lot worse then they already did… Ouch.

[Via EngadgetMobile]

Back in November Dieter told us about the Evil Empires (AT&T) plan to drain another $30 from all of it’s iPhone owners if they wanted to tether with a laptop. Well according to TUAW this may be the week you have all been waiting for.

It’s been under the rumor banner for some time now, but we’ve been told by a trusted source that the long-awaited AT&T iPhone-as-modem tethering plans (preliminary details in MacBlogz’ post from November: 5 GB data cap, $30/month supplementary cost) may be ready for prime time during Macworld Expo this week. The tethering announcement might not rise to a keynote-worthy level; it could simply be publicized as a press release during the show.

So what will you get for your $30 a month??? 5 GB data cap… A bit steep don’t you think? Then again would you expect anything else from AT&T? I know the few times I would actually be tethering, I’d willing to take that risk on the Jailbroken app. Are you willing to pay that much for this service or are you more willing to Jailbreak your iPhone 3G and roll the dice with a program such as PdaNet?

Sound off in the comments!

[Via TUAW]

When AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega dropped word that they have official iPhone tethering for data access in our future, we only had one question: how much?

Well, MacBlogz [via Giz] brings word that they expect it will be $30 a month. This certainly seems reasonable (the rumor, not necessarily the rate) as Giz notes that it matches the current tethering plan made available for BlackBerrys. It looks as though iTunes will further recede from being ‘just a music player’ as it will also handle your tethering setup.

As you might expect, it will be capped at 5gigs a month, which seems pretty anemic for $30 bucks to us. On the bright side, PdaNet has sent in word that they’re still hard at work on their excellent tethering application — we suspect that translates into “make it even tougher for carriers to detect that you’re tethering.”

So basically: AT&T wants to charge you $30 per month for a plan that can only be used for occasional tethering. It’s what we expected, sure, but it’s not what we’d hoped.

We hear from MobileCrunch [via] that official iPhone tethering will be coming soon to AT&T. How soon is “soon” we don’t know, whether data will be capped or unlimited is a mystery, and exactly what sort of plan will be involved is also up in the air.

It’s a safe bet to say that AT&T will not be including tethering in the standard iPhone plan. Tethering costs in the US generally run a minimum of an extra 20 bucks a month, depending on carrier, business, and the phase of the moon. In other words, you may still want to think about jailbreaking and tethering on the sly with PdaNet – just don’t tell ‘em we told you.

How much would you be willing to pay for laptop tethering?

Know how some people are complaining that they have trouble connecting to AT&T’s 3G network? How they drop calls? How they blame Apple? (Despite the phone working pretty dang well in other countries on other carriers). Remember the theory that there were so many iPhone 3Gs hitting the market that AT&T couldn’t handle the load? (That their network was basically rabbit ears tied to old antennas? — okay, we made that last one up!)

Now imagine that each and every one of those iPhones, especially in high-density areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York — where each tower is already slicing bandwidth to razor thin margins — suddenly found itself barraged by laptops tethering themselves on for the ride.

That might just be what’s keeping AT&T from allowing iPhone tethering: fear it will crush their already strained 3G network. MacBlogz claims to have a source saying just that (via Gizmodo):

“Regardless of how many billions of dollars AT&T pours into their 3G network, it hasn’t been stable enough to handle all you iPhone users.”

PdaNet has been hailed as the best reason to Jailbreak your iPhone. Why? Because it sets your iPhone up as a WiFi router that you can easily connect to with your laptop. This setup is ideal for a lot of users for a few reason:

1. It’s dead-simple to set up, as it doesn’t require any weird software or modem configuration on your laptop
2. Since the iPhone becomes a simple WiFi router, there are no blocked ports. Unlike NetShare, PdaNet is not a ‘SOCKS proxy,’ so you can use any internet protocol (like iChat or AIM) and not have to worry about whether or not it will work.
3. Although you’d take a big old hit on speed, you could theoretically share your internet connection with several computers.

There is one major caveat you need to be aware of with PdaNet, however. The Terms of Service on the standard AT&T iPhone contract and also on their standard Data Plans do not allow you to tether. Most people simply ignore this and go ahead and tether anyway — being careful not to overdo it to prevent AT&T from hitting them with extra fees or even a cancellation. If that doesn’t worry you, read on for a full how to on getting PdaNet setup to tether to your Laptop!

Read the rest of this entry »

Engadget brings the news: there will be an Apple event next week, on October 14th. Obviously, based on the invitation above (which we didn’t receive, sniffle), the focus is going to be on notebooks. Presumably there will be a new form factor or two to talk about here based on Apple’s rumored “Brick” manufacturing technique, where they carve the case out of a single block of aluminum.

The only possible iPhone angles we’re seeing here:

1. Steve comes clean about when we’ll see background notifications during a tiny aside about the iPhone
2. The rumors of a Glass Touchpad with iPhone-esque multi-touch and even an iPhone-like secondary display down there may be true
3. Tethering becomes allowed? Pretty Please?

We’re putting the above 3 possibilities in the “One More Thing” category — which is to say we haven’t really seen a real “One More Thing” moment from his Steveness in awhile now and have pretty much given up hope of seeing one at this event, but we haven’t given it up entirely.

Today on the forums I wanted to point out our new setup. We have cleaned up the forums a bit and have made it even more friendly for everyone. Don’t trust me? Take a look for yourself! If you feel so inclined and want to see something added or removed, start your own thread and tell us!

A lot has been said about the iPhone and tethering, heck even Dieter just jailbroke his iPhone to try out a tethering app called PdaNet. Mugunth wants to know why AT&T won’t allow tethering and VOIP on the iPhone, chime in on the conversation right here.

Are you fed up so much with your iPhone or AT&T that you are considering getting rid of it and going back to your old phone? Well NMprofessional is seriously considering doing just that and for a few interesting reasons… Say it ain’t so, NMprofessional! Head on into the forums and try to change his mind!

Rene let slip that we’re going to have a great new contest coming to the TiPB iPhone Forums soon, so along with our fresh new look, it’s time to get some fresh faces in there as well! Signing up is simple, I’ll even get you started, head on over and I’ll see you on the forums!