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AT&T still mum on iPhone tethering

By | March 15, 2010, 12:17pm PDT

Summary: A reader expresses his frustrations about AT&T’s lack of iPhone tethering.

A reader sent me this email expressing his frustrations about AT&T’s lack of iPhone tethering. I couldn’t agree with him more:

Where the heck is our AT&T tethering!?  I can’t believe that the iPhone still doesn’t have tethering in 2010!  Promise after promise, time just seems to pass with the same “coming soon.” We’ve heard that it will be out at the end of summer 2009 then at the end of 2009 but now it’s all just “coming soon.”

Blackberries do it, Palm Pre does it better (with a wireless hot spot!), my old Sony-Ericsson from 2003 did it. I understand the overwhelmed network argument to a point, since in some locales AT&T is just doomed with infrastructure inadequacies, but it is starting to frustrate.

It is time that they get their act together, with the iPad on the horizon how are they going to handle it? If there is going to be such network demand, that means there is a market for it and I can’t see why AT&T isn’t glad to take our money and run. Make the investment AT&T so we can finally catch up with the rest of the world.

Amen brother.

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AT&T Corp., Palm Pre, Smart Phones, Networking, Wi-Fi, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Wireless And Mobility, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

Talkback Most Recent of 20 Talkback(s)

  • Palm Pre Wireless Internet Tethering
    Not only does Palm Pre do it..but a non-monthly fee option is also available. I use it everyday for business; internet web browsing runs much faster tethered to a laptop compared to browsing on the mobile device. Wireless Internet Tethering is a business man's best friend...can't live without it! Thanks Palm Pre!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    zdnetviewer
    15th Mar 2010
  • Not iPhone, its AT&T
    As well as your Palm Pre tethers, so does my iPhone. The issue at hand
    isn't the iPhone not tethering, its AT&T not enabling the profile to turn
    tethering on on their network.

    One can always Jailbreak and install the $10 MyWi app. Not only does
    it enable tethering on any network, it also allows you to turn your
    iPhone into an adhoc WiFi access point. Works just fine.

    In terms of ease, at least under OSX, tethering with an enabled iPhone
    is as simple as plugging it in via USB or pairing it via bluetooth and
    connecting to the network. There is no step 3.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tk77
    15th Mar 2010
  • iPhone == AT&T
    Unfortunately AT&T is integral to the iPhone (by Apple's choice, not ours) so any AT&T problem is indistinguishable from an iPhone problem to me. You can't really say "just jailbreak your iPhone" because then it's no longer an iPhone. And suggesting something illegal as a workaround is just silly.

    The iPhone doesn't support tethering, at least in the US.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    frylock
    16th Mar 2010
  • Jailbreaking Illegal??? What U.S. LAWS are you talking about?
    There is absolutly no LAW that says you can't modify the iphone any way you want! It may break your 2 year Apple care service agreement, IF you didn't do a firmware restore in iTunes before bringing it in for service, but you are not breaking any laws whatsoever!

    No longer an iphone? What may I ask, I am really going to enjoy your answer, is it then? A grilled cheese sandwich?

    Or an iPhone with more functionality than what you can buy from Apple.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    rustyshakleford
    17th Mar 2010
  • Umm, not really "more functionality"
    The phrase "an iPhone with more functionality than what you can
    buy from Apple" really isn't correct. The functionality was always
    there, it's just disabled.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tlmurray
    18th Mar 2010
  • Tethering is bad for at&t
    There is a very good business reason why at&t won't let iphone users tether. If they did so then their data plan for iPad would be pointless. Since a vast majority of ipad owners are also iphone users, they can just tether the ipad to their iphone.

    But if there was no tethering then the ipad users would have to buy yet another data plan. See how well that works for at&t. Make you buy the same stuff over and over.

    They know they can make apple fanatics pay for just about anything.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    rengek
    7th Apr 2010
  • My AT&T Blackberry Bold Tethers
    I use it several times a week. I wish it was WiFi so I did not have to connect it to my laptop with the USB cord, but regardless it tethers. The problem is, 3G on AT&T is very spotty where I live & work, but this is a company issued device so I have no choice with the service.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    tgschmidt
    15th Mar 2010
  • RE: AT&T still mum on iPhone tethering
    I also used to tether with my trusty Sony Ericsson and
    briefly enjoyed iphone tethering pre-3.1 thanks to a
    simple hack. I've considered jailbreaking or downgrading
    the software in order to tether. As with most hardware on
    AT&T, they impose limitations and are unfortunately
    holding the consumer back. For instance, prior to the
    iphone I tried a 3G Sony Ericsson handset they offered. It
    did tether, but AT&T software version, had disallowed
    permissions to install 3rd party apps such as Google Maps.
    I was outraged. I am very interested in the upcoming SE
    Xperia X10 and Vivaz Android smartphones, but am afraid
    that AT&T's dictatorship will handicap the devices
    potential.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    studiovisit
    15th Mar 2010
  • RE: AT&T still mum on iPhone tethering
    As soon as Apple blesses an alternative you better sell your
    AT&T stock!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    hanksd@...
    15th Mar 2010
  • RE: AT&T still mum on iPhone tethering
    Well I ditched most of AT&T I have a iPhone 3Gs and I have pay as you go because I have a sprint Blackberry and overdrive so I surf on the overdrive and it all just works

    I know some people complain but in most of my travel sprint has not had an issue and since I know the cost it so much better a deal than iPhone! Sure hope iPhone comes to the CDMA side!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    matt@...
    15th Mar 2010
  • RE: AT&T still mum on iPhone tethering
    AT&T would loose money if they allowed Tethering, which would interfere with their AT&T anywhere plan with the USB plug in device that, they sell for that plan and other plans that exploit the USB Wireless adapter.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    wzen@...
    16th Mar 2010
  • RE: AT&T still mum on iPhone tethering
    Yeah I agree. Just jailbreak and quit complaining about the lack of functionality on your iPhone. I've had tethering on my iPhone for awhile now and it works like a charm.

    I also didn't have to install MyWi and my phone still can function as an ad hoc.

    It's necessary to jailbreak to see the full power of the iPhone - IMO.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    TheDarkHalf
    16th Mar 2010
  • If people just using their iPhone as an iPhone...
    ...has brought AT&T's network to its knees, how could
    they possibly deal with a few million more people doing
    serious Internet on it through their PCs?

    Also, I'd imagine that some of the fixed ISPs (Comcast,
    TimeWarner, etc) would be against this as well. How many
    people would give up their landline Internet connections
    if they're already paying for and getting full-blown
    Internet access through their iPhone?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    JohnMcGrew@...
    16th Mar 2010
  • It's like with healthcare
    the US is lightyears behind the rest of the world.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    rhon@...
    16th Mar 2010
  • Really?
    In what way?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    JohnMcGrew@...
    16th Mar 2010
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