Thursday, 18 June 2009

  • Enable tethering on iPhone 3.0 (3.1.3 maybe) - Too easy... (WORLDWIDE carriers)

    Tested platforms:

    • iPhone 3G 16GB, Firmware 3.0/3.0.1, O2 Contract; 3.1.3 to be tested
    • iPhone 3GS 16GB, same stuff as the 3G


    3.1.3 may work. Let us know if this is working again!

    iTunes 8.2+ is needed for the drivers.
    No jailbreaking needed.

    This is a walkthrough of how I enabled tethering on my iPhone 3G on O2 UK. It was a lot easier than I thought - no jailbreaking needed, and all you need really is a MobileConfig file, which is essentially what O2 wants to charge you for £15 min per month!

    Of course, even though the O2 iPhone contract claims to offer unlimited data download, there is still the fair use policy, so just be careful with how you use your tethering i.e. don't go watching YouTube, watching BBC iPlayer or doing any big downloads!

    Also, note that the tethering option on the iPhone is only available if you're using it with an official iPhone carrier.

    *Advanced tip*: if all goes wrong, you can always remove the profile by going to "Settings" -> "General" -> "Profiles" and remove whichever is bothering you. Good luck!

    *Advanced tip 2*: If you're having problems with Bluetooth connection on your MacBooks, check for the Bluetooth driver software update from Apple (use OS X's software update tool).


    Let's begin:

    0. Quick and easy way: use your iPhone to visit http://help.benm.at/ (great work, Ben Miller and co.!), choose your carrier, install the profile and go to Step 3.

    (O2 UK users please use "O2 Vertigo" - it's the one I submitted and they've obviously added it while I was asleep, now with the correct username as well; check with the O2 settings at the bottom of this post)

    (O2 Pay & Go users: apparently the O2 mobileconfig files just don't work for you guys, but the solution is use use help.benm.at to create a new mobileconfig with the Pay & Go settings. Feel free to use mine: http://is.gd/1gvus - credits to jams1888 of AudioBoo for discovering this!)

    (if you have the correct settings for your provider, please contact the website, not me)

     


    In case the above site fails, get your MobileConfig file manually (I'll show you how to use it in a bit):
    -     Download "O2 UK MobileConfig" for Pay Monthly (this is the "O2 Vertigo" one with correct username)
    - Download O2 MobileConfig for Pay & Go
    - Download "AT&T MobileConfig"
    -Download other European MobileConfig files (this is the site where I learned this tethering trick from)




    1. I started off with a clean 3.0 firmware installation, which by default asks you to visit your service provider's website to enable tethering. Bad times.




    Our objective is to get rid of this annoying message, obviously.


    2. (SKIP THIS STEP IF YOU'VE ALREADY INSTALLED A PROFILE USING http://help.benm.at/ ) Now, if you have manually downloaded the MobileConfig file, email it to yourself so that you can open it as an attachment in the Mail app:





    3. With the new profile installed, you can now turn on tethering in Settings -> General -> Network -> Internet Tethering:



    Why kill the battery with Bluetooth when I have the cable? USB it is for now:




    4. Then it's simply a matter of plugging in the iPhone, and then your Mac should automatically pop up this message:

    You'll then be led to Network Preferences. Just click on "Apply" and you're set!


    Your iPhone should be beautifully glowing blue as well:




    I switched off wi-fi and boom! Tethering accomplished!





    Performance: statistically not ideal as shown below, but it's probably due to my location (Battersea, London), and to be honest it wasn't like snail-slow - it definitely still beats EDGE speed.

    I'll try other locations in London tomorrow.

    (I have no idea why speedtest.net thinks my service provider is O2 Germany instead of O2 UK)



    Right, have fun and don't go download-crazy! ;)



    PS: O2 UK contract users please double check your network settings after installing the new profile, as I needed the following settings in order to get MMS working:

    Cellular data
    APN: idata.o2.co.uk
    Username: vertigo
    Password: password

    Visual Voicemail
    (same as "Cellular data")

    MMS
    APN: idata.o2.co.uk
    Username: vertigo
    Password: password
    MMSC: http://mmsc.mms.o2.co.uk:8002
    MMS Proxy: 193.113.200.195:8080
    MMS Max Message Size: 307200

    (O2 Pay & Go: APN: payandgo.o2.co.uk, username: payandgo, password: password; I've mentioned this earlier but again here's the working mobileconfig that I created using help.benm.at: http://is.gd/1gvus - credits to jams1888 of AudioBoo for discovering this!)

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