Tethering?

[Crisz]

I am curious to know if I can tether from my iPhone to my iPad 2 Wifi only. If so, how do I do this?

 

[Irish Rose]

In order to do this without paying an extra fee to your wireless carrier each month, you will need to jailbreak your iPhone. Once you have done this, you can download one of two well known tethering apps in Cydia called; PDANet (recommend if you have AT&T), or MyWi. Both of these apps will allow you to tether your iPhone with your iPad 2.

Sent from my iPhone 4 using iPF

 

[Crisz]

But, I can tether without jail breaking for a monthly fee. I don't know the first thing about jail break...lol!

 

[twerppoet]

You don't list a location, so this may be irrelevant. In the U.S. you need to have your carrier (either AT&T, or Verizon) add the tethering plan. It costs $20 a month and has a 2GB limit. Once you do that you will have a new Hotspot item in your iPhones settings. There you can turn it on, give the hotspot a name, and set the password.

Once activated, set up, and turned on, you can join that hotspot just like any other wireless network. It will even work for your computers, up to five devices.

I believe the feature is only available for iPhone 3GS and newer, if that applies. There is also a bluetooth tether option available for the iPhone 4. It is a little harder to set up and slower, but less visible to passersby.

 

[Crisz]

Thanks for your help

 

[noddy]

I've just changed my plan with O2. I'm now on an iPhone 1gb plan which includes tethering. For what i do, 1gb is plenty.
Only problem is, I have a 3GS handset and for some unknown reason, the wifi tethering isn't an option- only Bluetooth and USB. Since you can't connect an iPhone and iPad together with a USB cable, it's Bluetooth only. Having said that, it works and pairs straight away. I'd prefer the wifi option though.

Does anyone know why Apple have omitted the wifi tethering from the 3GS? Especially as they still sell them here in 8gb form. Before mine activated, it stated in the setting menu that it was wifi.

 

[dobbey]

From what I've heard it's iPhone 4 only

Sent from my Desire HD using iPad Forums

 

[NYHorsewoman]

You don't list a location, so this may be irrelevant. In the U.S. you need to have your carrier (either AT&T, or Verizon) add the tethering plan. It costs $20 a month and has a 2GB limit. Once you do that you will have a new Hotspot item in your iPhones settings. There you can turn it on, give the hotspot a name, and set the password.

The hotspot plan is extra??? True with Droid also? Verizon?

 

[twerppoet]

The hotspot plan is extra??? True with Droid also? Verizon?

In the US, yes it is extra from both AT&T and Verizon, who have almost identical Hotspot plans for the iPhone 4. And yes, when I had my Droid X the hotspot plan cost the same $20. My data plan for the phone itself is unlimited. I'm not certain if that is still an option on Verizon. I've heard they are/were considering tiered plans similar to other carriers, but since I payed full price for my iPhone I am still on the same contract as when I had the Droid X.

 

[NYHorsewoman]

In the US, yes it is extra from both AT&T and Verizon, who have almost identical Hotspot plans for the iPhone 4. And yes, when I had my Droid X the hotspot plan cost the same $20. My data plan for the phone itself is unlimited. I'm not certain if that is still an option on Verizon. I've heard they are/were considering tiered plans similar to other carriers, but since I payed full price for my iPhone I am still on the same contract as when I had the Droid X.

So given that I would use it sporadically to connect my iPad to the Internet when I didn't have other wifi available, wouldn't I be better off with the iPad wifi plan which I can turn on and off if I want too? I thought you could use the mobile hot spot at no extra charge (silly me!) I have unlimited data plan for my Droid with Verizon. Due for a new phone next month. Now i'm not sure which one to get... New HTC or iPhone 4.....

 

[twerppoet]

So given that I would use it sporadically to connect my iPad to the Internet when I didn't have other wifi available, wouldn't I be better off with the iPad wifi plan which I can turn on and off if I want too? I thought you could use the mobile hot spot at no extra charge (silly me!) I have unlimited data plan for my Droid with Verizon. Due for a new phone next month. Now i'm not sure which one to get... New HTC or iPhone 4.....

The plan for the iPad will be more flexible, and cost you less if you really do turn it off. The benifit of the iPhone hotspot is that you can use it with more than the iPad, any Wi-Fi device can connect to it.

I don't 'know' that Verizon has stopped unlimited planns, so check with them. If they have, or do, it will probably affect all phones, not just the iPhone. Also, as long as you don't let your current plan laps you will probably be grandfathered to the unlimited plan.

 

[NYHorsewoman]

So is it possible to drop all our phone data plans (currently 3 Verizon phones at $29 each) and instead get a mifi for $60/month? I read on line that someone suggested this but I thought you couldn't have a smartphone without a data plan in place but I am so angry to be paying for $90/month for phone data and then the home business Internet data plan then miff on top of that! There really should be a "group option" or family plan or something.

Edit: duh, just realized that people wouldn't have access to internet then outside of the house.

 

[twerppoet]

Pretty sure each smart phone has to have it's own data plan. Most of the features that make 'smart' don't work without one. The MiFi would be extra, not an instead. Unless you need the extra data (5GB for the MiFi), or need something that will not drain the iPhone battery, it's not worth it.

I had a MiFi with a netbook for a while. The MiFi was ok, though 4 hours is a bit short the netbook's battery wasn't any better. The MiFi now sits by my desk, where I occasionally notice it and remember I'm supposed to try and sell it on Craigslist.

The netbook gets dug out from under a pile of junk once or twice a month for updates, or to check something Ubuntu out since I set it up to dual boot. It isn't worth the gas or postage to bother trying to resell an Acer One Netbook.

 

[NYHorsewoman]

Gotcha And yeah I have a HP Netbook collecting dust right now too... Actually here's a list...

Old windows desktop with barely enough memory to do anything
Old windows desktop with some memory and good for Internet access for the kids
Two old IBM laptops, one works, one doesn't ( just sold another one to a neighbor)
One old gateway laptop that won't turn on
One HP Netbook bought refurbished
One new HP laptop for my daughter for college
One new Sony Vaio for me (purchased pre iPad so now it's something for my youngest to watch HULU on)
On old Mac laptop that my husband loves and uses
One HP desktop for my biz which is awesome and I love it
One 64gb iPad 2 for me with Verizon
One 32gb iPad 2 just bought for my husband without 3G access

So that's 12 computers for 4 people. That's sad.