Two thumbs up for iPhone tethering
Our recent vacation was much enhanced by the ability to tether our laptop to the internet via our iPhone. We had done this last summer, using a hack that some young Austrian guy had developed to allow tethering, despite AT&T's official prohibition on the practice. But Apple soon pushed out a software update that disabled that nifty workaround. Apparently, Apple's bedmate, AT&T, was afraid that all that tethering would lead to a crushing load on its already overtaxed network.
Several weeks ago, AT&T gave in and started allowing iPhone tethering, but only for customers who were willing to forgo the unlimited data feature of the original iPhone service plan. Instead of the original $30 a month for unlimited data, they'd have to agree to pay $25 a month for 2 Gig of data, plus another $20 a month if they wanted to tether. That extra $20 sounded awfully lame to us, but in our household it worked out, because the Mrs. needs only a 200 Meg plan, without tethering, which AT&T sells for $15 a month. In the end, we broke even ($45 + $15 instead of 2 × $30), but now we get to tether on our phone, which we couldn't do a month ago.
The internet service isn't too much slower than the "high-speed" hard-wire version you pay Comcast for at the house, and we had no trouble connecting anywhere we went back east. No more $8 to Boingo for an hour at the airport, or $14 to some thief for a day in the hotel. It's pretty slick.
We can use those savings for all sorts of things -- like paying the parking ticket we got at the boardwalk.
| Posted at 3:02 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (11)
You could also jailbreak your iPhone and get tethering for free and ditch iTunes for apps.
Posted by Stefan | July 28, 2010 3:10 PM
Yeah, I could. But it's not worth the enormous hassle.
Posted by Jack Bog | July 28, 2010 3:13 PM
And two thumbs up for the ugly awful phone-pole mounted cell towers that made it possible! =)
Haha, couldn't help myself.
Glad you enjoyed your vacation.
Posted by Dan Barton | July 28, 2010 3:29 PM
Where I was using tethering, the politicians are smart enough not to let them put those things right next to houses.
Posted by Jack Bog | July 28, 2010 4:17 PM
Its not a hassle. Simply download the software to your PC, connect the iPhone and run the install.
Posted by Stefan | July 28, 2010 5:03 PM
Where do I call when I discovered I've bricked my phone?
Posted by Jack Bog | July 28, 2010 5:30 PM
Doh... hopefully that last comment was a joke, Jack... if you're serious be prepared for hell... If you call At&T they'll claim apple hardware issues, while Apple will invaribly try to blame AT&T somehow...and both will blame you while they're at it.
Wish I could offer better solutions, but unless you've had much better luck than I in the past, you're in for a bunch of pain and misery.
Good luck!
Posted by Dan Barton | July 28, 2010 5:58 PM
I haven't actually bricked it -- but I probably would if I took up the reader's suggestion to try to jailbreak it.
The iPhone is working great for me. It's the best gadget I have ever owned, by far.
Posted by Jack Bog | July 28, 2010 6:02 PM
Jack.... I cannot believe you used smart as an adjective for any politician... I will chalk that up to vacation hangover.... ;-)
Posted by LucsAdvo | July 28, 2010 6:09 PM
Jack, if you brick the phone, take it to Apple and they will fix it. You may have to pay money, but depending on how you describe the problem they may just reload it for you.
So far, very few people truly end up unable to use their phones or are unable to recover them completely.
Posted by Stefan | July 29, 2010 10:38 AM
And another new use has just been reported.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/29/AR2010072901614.html?hpid=moreheadlines
Oregonians will doubtless be among its top income stream.
Posted by Max | July 29, 2010 4:10 PM