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iPhone question

Speed RacerSpeed Racer Scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratchscritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratch scritch scratchRegistered User regular
edited November 2009 in Moe's Stupid Technology Tavern
Alright, so my mom's lookin' into getting my dad an iPhone for Christmas. She was under the impression that you could hook it up to a computer and use it as a wireless internet card, and I was just trying to confirm that one way or the other, and this seemed like the fastest way to find out. So, anyone that can help me out?

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Speed Racer on

Posts

  • Rotting MeatRotting Meat Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    What you're looking for is called tethering http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/tethering.html. I'm not sure the current details on the iPhone, but I know you used to have to jailbreak it to be able to tether.

    Rotting Meat on
  • DeathPrawnDeathPrawn Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Yes, it's called tethering.

    At this point in time, AT&T does not officially support tethering, although in the future they will allow it (and likely charge you out the ass for the privilege). You used to be able to go online and download a free carrier update from a 3rd party site that would let you tether for free, but I think security updates might have put a stop to that. If you jailbreak your phone (a relatively simple process), you can buy tethering software for a one-time fee that will work indefinitely for free. PDAnet is great and only $30.

    DeathPrawn on
    Signature not found.
  • XaviarXaviar Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    So the answer is: yes it can, but you should be around to do the fiddling to make it work. It isn't hard, but it does turn a lot of people off.

    Xaviar on
  • AtheraalAtheraal Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    My underlying motive in this post is to add to the OP's answers while subtly repurposing it for my own ends. No one will notice a thing. Moo hoo ha ha.

    As has been stated, you need to jailbreak to get tethering to work, so you should definitely encourage your dad to do this. Or do it yourself, though I'm somewhat under the impression that if you're not computer-savvy enough to jailbreak an iphone, you probably won't require many of the things it lets you do anyway.

    Here's a guide on how to do it, and here's a very very basic thing you need to do to avoid the security flaw that opens up when you jailbreak. Basically, once you do it you have the ability to SSH into your iphone, and the default name and password are the same for every iphone. You need to change this so that your dad is the only one who has access to his phone.

    Except for, of course, when his wallpaper mysteriously turns pink and sprouts rainbows on april fool's day.

    *cough*segue*cough*

    So, anyway guys, I have a first gen ipod touch and I haven't upgraded to a 3.0+ firmware yet. I plan to do this, and I was wondering if anyone happens to know if there are compatibility issues with jailbreaking 3.1.2, or whatever the newest is, thus forcing me to do it manually to an earlier release. Anyone know for sure? Anyone? Bueller?

    Atheraal on
  • Baron DirigibleBaron Dirigible Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Not to be that guy*, but jailbreaking goes against the EULA and is consistently broken by Apple's firmware updates, as indicated ironically enough by the very post trying to endorse the practice.

    Frankly, I find the idea of buying a phone for a feature that isn't officially supported by the phone a tremendously moronic decision, and suggest you look into the multitude of other phones that officially support tethering.

    *Obs

    Baron Dirigible on
  • kanaesinkanaesin Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Jailbreaking any iPhone 2G/3G is trivially easy and can never be broken by firmware updates.

    For the 3GS, Apple has started requiring that iTunes call home and get a signature before installing any firmware. Apple has also already stopped signing older versions of its own firmware. For example, Apple refuses to sign its own 3.0 firmware for 3GS, meaning that you will eventually be forced to upgrade to 3.1 when you restore. This is problematic for jailbreaking because it requires a constant stream of new exploits for each new firmware version, because users can't simply downgrade to a jailbreakable firmware and jailbreak it. There is, however, an easy as pie workaround, described here:

    http://www.saurik.com/id/12

    Basically, one entry in your hosts file future-proofs you by caching these signatures while they're available, so that even if you don't jailbreak now, or never do, you'll always have the option to downgrade to any cached firmware. And once you're jailbroken, you can upgrade to any new jailbroken firmware just fine.

    tl;dr: Jailbreaking the 2G and 3G is super-easy, the 3GS is a little trickier but still no problem, and it lets you tether for free.

    kanaesin on
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