Tethering on iPhone 3GS *without* jailbreaking...

Crunch

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...is what I would like to know as to whether or not is possible. I have a second iPhone 3GS in black, which I would like to switch to, and give my white one to my girlfriend. However, it runs 3.1.3, and I can live without the jailbreak for now, but I do need to be able to tether every now and then.

I found this step-by-step guide, but it's from before the 3GS was released. I have tethering set up exactly how it is described in this blog, but by downloading this "Tether" informational file from Cydia, which describes the process of unhiding and enabling the iPhone's native tethering capability.

The carrier file from this blog looks to be the same or similar to the one jailbreak method. The question is, can I somehow get tethering to work, with or without this carrier file, without having to jailbreak. It describes how to do it with a Mac and iTunes, but I need the Windows method, although if it definitely will work with a Mac, I can boot into OS X if need be, but I'd rather do it in Windows.

Can someone please help me with this? That would allow me to give my girl an iPhone, and I'll still be able to get online when I need to by way of tethering.

Any help is greatly appreciated! :)
 

LVCIFER

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Wow, no one bothered to read his post OR offer ANY helpful.

What the hell kind of response is "The Jailbreak is really fine for iPhone. I get different benefits from it. Thanks..." to the question he asked? Can any of you actually read?!

The answer to your question is this: if you're in the US, then the answer is simple: No. With the update of 3.1.2, all of the 'carrier files' you'll find on the net are negated. They simply won't work, and could potentially cause conflicts with other apps /functionability on your phone. Thn 3.1.3 was released, and the same problems persisted. So no, the carrier files won't allow you to successfully tether. I know the news sucks, and I'm sorry for that, but it simply can't be (safely) done.
 

Alli

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I think you'll find that both those clever responses to this post were from jerks trying to raise their post count, and they have posted the exact same thing in numerous other threads, where they add just as little value or relevance.

I'm hoping that the rumor is true and that AT&T is gearing up to allow tethering.
 

iquinn

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I think you'll find that both those clever responses to this post were from jerks trying to raise their post count, and they have posted the exact same thing in numerous other threads, where they add just as little value or relevance.

I'm hoping that the rumor is true and that AT&T is gearing up to allow tethering.

Not that it counts for anything, but a friend of mine is an account manager for ATT and he told me that they will be unavailing tethering for the iPhone this year for sure. He was not sure when but that was the impression he got from some the meetings that he had been to recently.
 

whmurray

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I think you'll find that both those clever responses to this post were from jerks trying to raise their post count, and they have posted the exact same thing in numerous other threads, where they add just as little value or relevance.

I'm hoping that the rumor is true and that AT&T is gearing up to allow tethering.
What rumor? A current rumor?

AT&T resisted MMS and Sling on the same basis that they resist tethering, i.e., that they would overwhelm an already stressed network. AT&T seems to think that if we want it, it must be bad for them. Neither of those applications has generated the feared load. Tethering will not either. In SF and NYC it simply will not work. If it does not work, it cannot generate load. The rest of us ought to be allowed to use it.

I cannot understand why AT&T insists on portraying iPhone users as vandals intent on trashing their network. It simply does not benefit them and it angers us.

This is special pleading on my part because tethering would mean that I could drop my Verizon MiFi.
 

iquinn

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What rumor? A current rumor?

AT&T resisted MMS and Sling on the same basis that they resist tethering, i.e., that they would overwhelm an already stressed network. AT&T seems to think that if we want it, it must be bad for them. Neither of those applications has generated the feared load. Tethering will not either. In SF and NYC it simply will not work. If it does not work, it cannot generate load. The rest of us ought to be allowed to use it.

I cannot understand why AT&T insists on portraying iPhone users as vandals intent on trashing their network. It simply does not benefit them and it angers us.

This is special pleading on my part because tethering would mean that I could drop my Verizon MiFi.

Yes it is a very current rumor. AT&T: We’re Working Hard to Bring Tethering to iPhone - Available ASAP, the US carrier claims - Softpedia That link should help you get up to date
 

samuelliebz

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Apparently it is more or less the same story here in the UK - tethering only works safely and efficiently on a jailbreak'd iPhone. On the O2 network it can be done but they charge more for it.
 

Crunch

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From a technological standpoint, the iPhone works incredibly well with its native tethering client. I did a little stress test over the weekend. I tried to take the tethering connection offline by speaking on the phone, sending text/MMS msgs., launching multiple apps and multitasking them using Backgrounder. Then I went online on the iPhone via iPhone's mobile Safari browser and ran one speed test after another while, simultaneously, downloading large files via the tethered connection.

The iPhone was not impressed by my stress test, and executed everything I threw at it without hesitation and remarkably quickly. :) It did get slightly warmer to the touch, but I wouldn't even call that breaking a sweat.

The only thing I was able to do was to briefly disrupt the tethered connection when I repeated the aforementioned via Bluetooth. Both the iPhone 3GS and my laptop have BT 2.1 + EDR. All it took to get back online via BT, however, was to tap "ON" in Settings ---> Network ---> Internet Tethering.

The flashing blue that rests at the top of every screen to remind you that you're still tethered to your computer is also very nice eye-candy, similar to the green flashing when you're on the phone and doing something else while you're on hold waiting for some guy or gal in Indonesia to pick up the phone to provide you with "customer service". [/end mini rant]

It's all on AT&T. Previously, the crown belonged to my BlackBerry Bold (9000) which worked almost equally as well, but I couldn't get above 3.6Mbps, as it is not an HSPA 7.2 device. Those are good problems to have, though. I currently pull down between 4 and 4.5Mbps in the middle of sprawling Los Angeles, so AT&T's network can work extremely well with enough towers and, perhaps more importantly, more backhaul for the ever-increasing demand for data.
 
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whmurray

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It's all on AT&T. Previously, the crown belonged to my BlackBerry Bold (9000) which worked almost equally as well, but I couldn't get above 3.6Mbps, as it is not an HSPA 7.2 device. Those are good problems to have, though. I currently pull down between 4 and 4.5Mbps in the middle of sprawling Los Angeles, so AT&T's network can work extremely well with enough towers and, perhaps more importantly, more backhaul for the ever-increasing demand for data.
Perhaps AT&T could get reassurance from their peers that are already offering it.

AT&T acts as though they have to do something to enable tethering. All they really have to do is get out of the way.

C'mon in. The waters fine.
 

Crunch

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Perhaps AT&T could get reassurance from their peers that are already offering it.

AT&T acts as though they have to do something to enable tethering. All they really have to do is get out of the way.

C'mon in. The waters fine.

That's correct. And why did it take forever and a day to enable MMS? I really like AT&T and I've always had excellent service with them and yes, naturally I know its shortcomings in cities like New York and San Francisco. Does that mean they are so anal about their network that nothing can be "unleashed" on it until every last field tech signs off on it and it can't be released unless the small barn behind the third out of three houses in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan can get flawless tethering working, or MMS, as it were?

There is a company that is a perfectionist in strangely similar ways. They won't release a feature even if it "only" works 99 and 9/10th's percent of the time. It has to be 100%. At least, they have to perceive that it is 100%. All or nothing. Well, I should say, he, in his own mind, has to wake up on the right side of the bed, the morning coffee can't be off even by half a degree (and his portable thermometer is what decides that, nothing else), and the planets have to line up precisely as his horoscope outlines. The man is Steve Jobs. The company is Apple.
 

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