Tested platforms:
- iPhone 3G 16GB, Firmware 3.0/3.0.1, O2 Contract
- iPhone 3GS 16GB, same stuff as the 3G
3.1 seems to have killed this hack, so um, yeah, don't do it! A solution is on its way, apparently.
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 dataAPN: idata.o2.co.uk
Username: vertigo
Password: password
Visual Voicemail(same as "Cellular data")
MMSAPN: 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!)
Comments (186)
- Can O2 'see' you are using tethering, or does it simply look like normal everyday 3G iPhone usage to them?
- Why do the MMS settings get removed; should the new carrier file not already contain this data?
Thanks. WJ
@senthu80 -
If you pay for the O2 tethering bolt on then why would you need to do this hack?? This is is to get round it and use tethering with the data plan for the phone, without paying extra for the tethering.
Was then able to enable Tethering.
I connected the iPhone to a Mac via Bluetooth.
Unfortunately it did not work for me - no network connection found by the Mac and on the iPhone, despite Tethering being switched on and wifi turned off, Tethering was not shown as connected.
Then the Internet Tethering option / button in the iPhone's Network settings page disappeared all together, it was just gone from the list where it usually was.
In the end I removed the installed profile and everything now seems OK again, although no closer to tethering heaven!
O2 Contract was used.
Worked on mine. 140KB/s down in a area where the 3G isn't that fast really. I'm on a business contract, so I'm not sure what changing the data settings will do... I'll check my bill later on just to make sure.
I had a vertio thing on my data settings before so i chose the vertigo one from the 2 different O2 ones.
Can't connect to my laptop via bluetooth, I think its a problem with my phones bluetooth since it and a friends ipod touch (3.0 too) wont connect or see each other.
Any other business customers tried it?
cant make it work over Bluetooth.
will keep trying and post results here.
I did as described above for Movistar. On going to /general/network, I find 'Set Up Internet Tethering'; selecting this brings up the message "To enable tehering on this account, contact movistar' (sic) - but there is no mention of tethering on the Movistar web site. Anybody have ideas/thoughts/insights?
If I change the user back to "vertigo" the tethering option disappears completely from the menu.
I've kept the "o2wap" user and everything seems to be working, 3G, MMS, voice service, etc...
O2 are saying that they will disconnect or charge people doing this trick. Not quite sure how they will identify tethering from normal surfing, TechRadar are trying to find that out just now. I think I might go easy on the tethering till we find out if they can identify us or if it is just an empty threat.
what a wonderful infrastructure o2 have put in place hey? ;)
PARAMETRES MMS proximus (update)
APN (Access Point Name) = event.proximus.be
Username = mms
Password = mms
IP = 10.55.14.75:80
URL = http://mmsc.proximus.be/mms
size max: 307200
Try writing to o2 to complain about the unfair tethering charges. If enough of us do it, then they'll take more notice.
Don't forget to include your phone number.
I wrote
Dear Sir/Madam, I have been given this e-mail after a message from my original complaint, and told that you could escalate the complaint for me. I believe that the iPhone tethering charge is unfair and unjustified. Nokia have allowed tethering via their PC Suite for many years now, and as long as data limits were not exceeded, there was no problem. The iPhone is meant to be the premier device on the market, and we have to pay more. I can understand that you wish to charge for data - but I am on an unlimited plan. It shouldn't actually matter what I am downloading data on to - I have already paid for the data. I don't have my broadband service provider telling me that I must use windows over mac os or vica versa do I? I have simply paid for the data, and the platform that I view it on is up to me entirely. I shall not think twice about changing contract now to a different provider should something not be done about this. It is a ridiculous situation, one which I'm sure will warrant many complaints to offcom very shortly. I shall be putting one in myself if this matter isn't resolved shortly.