My question is about Tethering (using the iphone) to connect my laptop to the internet when traveling..
Well, it's not ready, officially, through AT&T yet. So, if you are going to be a "normal user" of the iPhone, you won't be able to do it right now. But, it will come, down the road...
BUT, there is a way to do it, by "jailbreaking" your iPhone. However, I don't recommend anyone doing it. It's basically "hacking" your iPhone and getting around Apple's apps and being able to load up whatever is "out there" from hacks and others programmers -- outside of Apple's iPhone store. It's a "real hack" of your iPhone.
And for that, anyone who wants to "hack their iPhone" really doesn't have to be told by me how to do it, they'll figure hacking their own iPhone on their own, not through me. If someone can't do that, without some help from me, then that tells me they don't need to hack their iPhone... LOL..
That's not saying something bad about you or anything, but just to say the "real hackers" know how to do that already. If you're not a real hacker, you basically don't need to wreck your iPhone... :-)
Here's an article on the subject...
October 8th, 2009 | by Ben Parr
When Apple announced iPhone OS 3.0, one of the somewhat unexpected but awesome features Apple added to it was Internet tethering. Ever since its June release, the iPhone has had the ability to provide 3G internet to your laptop via USB or Bluetooth. So why aren’t you able to tether right now? AT&T, of course.
Even though tethering will likely carry a monthly fee, AT&T’s already stressed network isn’t ready for thousands, if not millions, of tethered iPhones. It’s the same reason that it delayed the rollout of MMS. But with MMS now out and AT&T’s recent support for VoIP via 3G, you’d think tethering wouldn’t be far behind, right?
Wrong, according to the Wall Street Journal’s Digits Blog. We’re just going to have to wait a while longer.
AT&T, when it originally announced that support for tethering and MMS would be delayed, stated that it wasn’t supporting the feature in order to “offer the best possible customer experience.” Translation: the AT&T network could and likely would explode. Today’s statement from AT&T reflect that this has not changed.
While it’s likely that tethering will arrive late this year, it’s still embarrassing that many non-U.S. carriers supported both MMS and tethering right off the bat and AT&T is still struggling, months later. Apple has been dropping iPhone exclusivity in other countries recently. A lack of tethering support only provides Apple more incentive to drop the agreement.
Star, hey thanks for the great info and article. Hopefully (Tethering - AT&T) will just be a few months out, that I can wait for.
Thanks!