The non-availability of tethering in the United States was one of the most disappointing features for me with the recent iPhone OS 3.0 launch. In almost every other country, carriers will be offering tethering as soon as iPhone 3.0 launches for them.
Tethering is the process of connecting your laptop to your mobile phone in order to use its Internet connection to surf the web. As the iPhone 3G and 3GS both have a relatively fast Internet connection, the ability to tether and use this connection on a laptop, where the browsing experience is naturally superior, is a huge benefit and enjoyed by many owners of Blackberry’s and other 3G smartphones.
There have been many occasions where I found myself somewhere with my laptop but without wireless or another form of free Internet access, and where I had a strong 3G signal on my iPhone. Since browsing on my MacBook Pro was out of the question, I resorted to several hours of web and email usage using my iPhone’s smaller screen. While the iPhone’s surfing experience is far better than any other smartphone I’ve ever used to date (and I’ve used just about every shape, size, and flavor), it doesn’t compare to having a full-size keyboard and large screen.
I recently came across a blog that describes a way to enable tethering, on US iPhones, without hacking. That’s right, you can, using a very simple process of downloading a connection profile from a web page, enable the tethering option in your iPhone’s Settings app. It took me about a minute to complete these steps and turn on tethering mode, and another minute to pair my iPhone’s Bluetooth connection to my MacBook Pro and fire up Safari. In fact, I’m using this tethered 3G connection to compose this post on Google Docs right now (and not using offline mode).
To enable Internet tethering on your iPhone 3G or 3GS, visit this link, http://help.benm.at/help.php, using your phone’s Mobile Safari. Once there, scroll down to the Mobileconfigs section, and click on the “download” button. After selecting your country (USA in my case), and then your carrier (AT&T, again for me) you will be prompted to download and install a new network profile. Once installed, which takes only a second or two, Internet tethering will now be enabled. Go to Settings -> General -> Network and you will now see an Internet Tethering option. Connect your iPhone with your computer using either USB or Bluetooth, and then enable the tethering.
On my MacBook Pro, this was all that was necessary for me to enjoy wireless Internet access anywhere I have a 3G signal. Keep in mind that this is an unsupported hack, so do proceed with caution. Some users have reported that this disables their voicemail function, though I’ve not noticed this with mine. Also, this hack does not work with first generation iPhones. At some point, AT&T may choose to offer this as either included with the iPhone Unlimited Data Plan, or as an additional paid option, at which time I’d be happy to pay for it.
While my previous experience tethering a Blackberry and surfing on AT&T’s Edge network was miserable to say the least, the speed of 3G is nothing to frown at, and in fact browsing the web for longer durations is no less enjoyable than when using my Comcast cable at home. Check out my speed test in the graphic above. Obviously I wouldn’t plan on downloading full-length movies or loads of music from the iTunes Store, but for mainstream web, email, streaming video, and even the occasional song download, 3G provides plenty of speed.
Update: It appears this process will no longer work, as the link referenced to type into Mobile Safari is no longer valid. Read my update about this for a new way to enable tethering on the iPhone OS 3.0.
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this don't work with 64 vista home premium if any one can tell me how to get this to work i like to know i also would like to know how to get flash & operate windows based programs thank you emr i'm a newbe you can email me at ram2731@hotmail.com
Well emr, AFAIK this should work for Windows as well. Just download the latest iTunes and follow the instructions above. It depends on the latest iTunes to install the network interface on the computer.
Re: Flash – Download & Install on your computer by going to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Flash is NOT supported on iPhone.
Re: Remote Control App – Try searching for Cisco or LogMeIn on the AppStore
*** And, unless you like reading lots of spam messages, I would recommend not posting your email address publicly ***
If anybody has trouble with visual voicemail after enabling tethering(I used the method at http://www.9to5mac.com/iPhone-3G-tethering), go to Settings->General->Network->Cellular Data Network and change the visual voicemail server to acds.voicemail
If anybody has trouble with visual voicemail after enabling tethering(I used the method at http://www.9to5mac.com/iPhone-3G-tethering ), go to Settings->General->Network->Cellular Data Network and change the visual voicemail server to acds.voicemail
Nice tip – thanks for sharing.
I made this change, but that then disabled the tethering… how do we keep both???
Try in this order:
1. Settings ->General->Reset->Reset Network Settings
Then re-enable tethering but do not change the vvm apn
both should work
2. If that doesn't work, go to http://help.benm.at/help.at from the iPhone and install the updated carrier
bundle. If the same thing happens, try 1 last time.
I don't believe this is the best method to fix the visual voicemail problem with tethering. See the method below.
Loaded the config, turned on Internet Tethering, connected to my MacBook Pro, started surfing:-) 1913 UP, 292 Down. Voice mail seems fine. THANK YOU:-)
Glad it worked for you! I've been tethering my MacBook Pro here in Portland quite a bit and it's working very well. I've noticed I get download speeds almost twice as fast (close to 1900) if I use the USB instead of bluetooth.
can i use this technique for my jailbroken iphone 3G 3.0 ? bcoz it seems there is no INTERNET TETHERING in SETTING > GENERAL > NETWORK in my iphone….also i can't send MMS…
Unfortunately, I can't answer your question, since I don't know whether a jailbroken iPhone would work with this hack or not. I'd say give it a try, worse that will happen is that it just doesn't work. MMS has been disabled by AT&T in the US for the time being. They plan to enable it later this summer. This hack does NOT enable MMS, this is a hack to enable tethering ONLY. Let us know what you discover if you try it on your phone.
Hmmm… I seem to have messed up my voice mail, but do not have a setting available at "Settings->General->Network->Cellular Data Network and change the visual voicemail server to acds.voicemail"
There is no "cellular data network" option…
I tried resetting network settings, and still have no access to voicemail… eep.
Okay… I went into settings>general>profiles, deleted the new carrier profile, then reset network settings and NOW I have access to VM, AND the tethering option is still there! I am not able to test that out until this evening. Thank you very much!
Well, now I'm at home, and it seems that I can choose between tethering or VM, as every time I install that profile, it disables VM, as I don't have the "cellular data network" option, and when I remove the profile and reset network settings, it gives me voicemail, but removes tethering. And resetting without removing the profile doesn't do anything. :/
Reset the network settings WITHOUT deleting the profile. Don't worry if the vms dials in manually, as opposed to the visual interface, the first time. If you stay on the line a little bit, a dialog for the vms password appears on the screen, enter the password, hit ok, end call, exit the phone, then come back and it will be back and both tethering AND visual vms will work.
Reset the network settings WITHOUT deleting the profile. Don't worry if the vms dials in manually, as opposed to the visual interface, the first time. If you stay on the line a little bit, a dialog for the vms password appears on the screen, enter the password, hit ok, end call, exit the phone, then come back and the visual vms interface will be back and both tethering AND visual vms will work.
You know what? I had a suspicion that my phone being a restore of a back up that had been jailbroken (the phone itself being new) might be doing something.
So I reset everything, set it up as a new phone, and it worked after step one! No need to reset anything.
It worked very well, too!
I still don't see "cellular data network" settings as an option, but it looks like I needn't worry about it. Thanks!
works great but what happened to the push notifications in settings???
I'm not sure I'm following… you're saying that when you downloaded a push enabled application, the push notification setting then appeared because of this app, you installed the Mobile Config for tether, and it erased the push notification setting? Is the push enabled app still present on the phone? It should only appear if a push enabled app is installed on the phone.
Im having the same problem as rock was but for some reason i still can not get any 3g or E back and no voicemail, i cant even call an leave a voicemail anymore? any idea?
Great hack…works as advertised… Should come in handy wifi isn't available…
U have a iPhone 3Gs and it is jailbroken using RedSn0w, and was not restored using a backup, the hack worked fine for me, I logged on using my phone and installed direct!!! I have had no problems with any of my settings, vvm or mms so this is a great hack and I will be recomending it to anyone who has the need!!!
Thanks for the great info!!
Anybody know how to completely remove the tethering? Lately I have been dropping of the network. No access at all. I removed the profile and it still shows up.
Awesome Hack….I installed this on everybody's iPhones in the whole family the last week of July and love it. It is great to have this feature back after tethering to my Blackberry for years before we jumped ship to Apple.
QUESTION? When u install this, you get to a part where it says it will make changes to yur att stuff. do u keep going? it wont mess anything up will it?
I have three options in the Cellular Data Network.
APN
Username
Password
I currently have a jailbroken Iphone on Tmobile.
I wish to utilize the MMS technology (send pictures with my text message)
I have attempted to download the MMS but it informs me that there is other technology on the phone that conflicts and is not able to do so.
It is 3.0, as I was told NOT to update yet.
I wish to use the Picture w/text messaging.
I have searched the forums under Cydia and found Swirley mms, but it requires a subscription of 12.99 to purchase the program.
I can not find "enablemms" or what ever it is.
I can not find Activate mms.
What program will change the settings for me to send picture w/text messaging?
and where?
Eric
Please email me @:
Erwi31@cox.net
The "cellular data network" setting only appears when using the original method I used (selecting an ipcc cellular profile in iTunes to restore). Mobile Config files don't enable this granularity. I'm content with the Mobile Config method as well. I'm glad you got it working!
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