iphone to iPad thethering

[Hugh R]

I've seen a lot of youtube videos on thethering for an iPhone 3Gs to an iPad. Lots of them have caveats on working or not working and costing money. I am more than willing to pay a few bucks to do it right. Any suggestions.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I tether to my pad from a 3GS. You need to be jailbroken and install an app called MyWi from Cydia.

What iOS are you running?

[jyl]

Afaik ATT offers official tethering for $20/mo if you're not on an old unlimited data plan. iOS 4.3 has tethering native so when that is released there could be more options.

[porsche4life]

ATT does have a tethering plan, I'm a little fuzzy on the price but I think it is a 20-30 add on....

[Hugh R]

I have unlimited data, and I'm running version 4.2.1 on my iPhone.

[jyl]

You don't want to lose unlimited, so wait for 4.3 and/or explore jailbreaking.

There used to be a way to enable tethering w/o jailbreaking, I did that on my iPhone 3G and it carried over to my 4, so I had tethering for about a year there (never had any reason to use it), but the most recent OS upgrade has taken it away.

[Hugh R]

Any idea when 4.3 is coming out? Any idea if it will allow free tethering?

[jyl]

The beta is out, so probably a few months - likely timed to coincide w/ iPad 2 and/or iPhone 5.

Don't know about free tethering, that will probably still be under the control of the carriers, but when ATT starts losing millions of subscribers to VZ, "$20" might turn to "free" for a squeaky wheel . . . either staying at ATT or switching to VZ . . .

[Hugh R]

Yeah, I poked around and found the same thing about it in Beta right now. I just want it for when I'm in an airport and they want to sell me WiFi for $5 for two hours.

[gr8fl4porsche]

4.2.1 is not jailbreakable for the masses right now. You can jailbreak it by installing a custom firmware but it will be tethered meaning that if your battery dies, you cannot boot your phone without plugging into a PC/Mac. If you had to reboot for any reason, the tethered jailbreak would need the computer to allow the phone to turn on. Not really a viable option for most folks.

Don't confuse a tethered jailbreak with tethering internet - different uses of the same term.

There is rumor of a 1-click non-tethered jailbreak (Green Poison 2) coming out soon but it is always a waiting game.

Bottom line is never update an iPhone's firmware unless you find the new version offers something worthwhile. Most updates offer no real benefit to the end user.

I will let you know when the new JB comes out so you can get your tethering installed. The MyWi app costs $20 but works perfectly. Creates a wifi hotspot as well as a USB option. Much better to pay a one time fee rather than per month.

If you went the ATT route right now, you would have to give up your unlimited data plan, sign up for a metered plan and then pay an additional $20 per month for the privilege of using the exact same amount of data. Essentially, ATT charges you double for less data usage. Who would buy into such a horrible plan?

[Hugh R]

Thanks Randy for the heads up. I need my phone and would not want to have to hook it up to a P/C to jump start it. Not worth the headache to me. So the MyWi will kill the phone if the battery dies and you don't have the ability to plug into a P/C or Mac?

[jyl]

Just checked my iPhone usage meter. Since 10/15/10 I've only received 676MB via cellular. That's using this thing heavily. I guess I use WLAN a lot more than cellular, for browsing. Makes the unlimited vs limited decision a little less clear.

[gr8fl4porsche]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Thanks Randy for the heads up. I need my phone and would not want to have to hook it up to a P/C to jump start it. Not worth the headache to me. So the MyWi will kill the phone if the battery dies and you don't have the ability to plug into a P/C or Mac?

Not the MyWi app but the current jailbreak tool itself - called Redsnow.

Dev-Team Blog

The above link may be a little too much info for some folks since it is the official iPhone Development Teams blog site - some call them hackers.

All the commonly used jailbreak tools involve simple instructions and a couple of mouse clicks to pull off. Redsnow is no such tool.

To clear up a few things, first you have to jailbreak the device which allows the phone to accept apps which have not been certified by Apple.

Generally when you jailbreak an app called Cydia is installed which is an alternate App store.

MyWi is an app from that store.

Lots of great things happen when you jailbreak. You can completely customize your phone - how it looks and performs. No real downside except voiding the warranty but all you have to do is restore the original iOS thru itunes and you are good to walk into the apple store.

Best JB apps are SBsettings and Backgrounder. SBsettings allows you to refresh the springboard without completely rebooting (if an app is giving you trouble), reboot with a single click, turn on/off individual processes of the phone without going into the Settings folder. Lots of great features you will use everyday to control the phone.

Backgrounder allows the phone to truly multitask. Selected apps will run in the background - unlike apple's version which is basically useless.

Keep on eye on the above link - when the new tool is released, it will be on that site.

[Hugh R]

Wow, hardly understood what they were talking about. I think I should leave it as is at this point.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I know what you mean - it gets very complicated. Thankfully it gets way dumbed down in the final stages. Very simple to jailbreak when the right tool is available.

[gr8fl4porsche]

The new jailbreak tool 'Greenpois0n' has been released for iOS 4.2.1.

Just finished jailbreaking the iPad and all is well.

It's a little complicated but nothing any primate with 2 thumbs and a PC can't accomplish.

How To: Jailbreak iPad Using Greenpois0n RC5 For Windows [Full Guide] - GreenPois0n.Us

If you are interested and need any help, just let me know.

[Hugh R]

Thanks Randy. So this lets me jailbreak the iPad, the directions seem simple enough, but I'll still have the iphone lockup problem you mentioned above? I sync my iphone with the home desktop P/C, and I definitely can't have my phone die while traveling and not be able to use it. So this doesn't appear to solve that problem, correct? Or will this work using the same directions with an iPhone as well?

[gr8fl4porsche]

This solves the problem. This is the untethered jailbreak the world has been waiting for since 4.2 was released by Apple. Been a long wait. 4.3 is already in beta stage and the jailbreak is being worked on as we type.

All is good.

I just updated to 4.2.1 and jailbroke my 3GS as well. Went smooth. Actually, jailbreaking the iPhone was simple, the iPad took a little trial and error. Let me know if you need help.


You may want to wait until tomorrow during the day to mess with it since me and every other PC user with an iPhone/iPad are hammering the jailbreak community servers right now. Everything is touch and go. It is all working but the servers are slow.

[Hugh R]

Thanks, I'll chill for a day or two then get back with you.

[Hugh R]

Randy, PM sent on this.