Tethering

Now that Geohot has released the blackra1n RC3 jailbreaking tool, activating tethering on an iPhone 3G or 3GS is a snap. Many international users already have tethering, meaning they can share their iPhone data connection with a computer. AT&T does not offer this option in the US.

Fortunately it's never been simpler to tether if your iPhone is running the latest firmware (3.1.2). Follow these steps to activate tethering, just keep in mind you are breaking all kinds of agreements with AT&T and Apple in the process.

AT&T does not currently allow tethering on the iPhone even though Apple's iPhone OS 3.0 includes the feature. The company is still deciding what a tethering data plan for iPhone would cost and how it would be structured.

Tired of waiting? If you have an iPhone 3G or 3GS running OS 3.0 and a computer running iTunes 8.2 on Mac OS X here's how to activate tethering. You will be able to connect your computer to the AT&T data network using USB or Bluetooth via your iPhone.

In the brief hours that Nullriver's NetShare iPhone app was available on the iTunes store it generated quite a buzz. Apple quickly had the application pulled, even though Nullriver claims it never violated Apple's developer guidelines. Some have cited AT&T's terms of service as the likely reason for Apple's action. According to new rumors, a tethering solution may be on the horizon for iPhone users with no interest in jailbreaking their phones.

An online forum user allegedly received a brief email from Steve Jobs himself, stating that Apple was currently discussing iPhone tethering with AT&T. The carrier already offers tethered data plans for Blackberry devices on their network at an additional cost of $30 per month.

Mostly because it's relatively not that exciting, we've been a bit lazy in getting this story posted. The other day, via a new third party application called srelay (a SOCKS proxy server), you can now tether your iPhone EDGE connection to your laptop or desktop via WiFi. Yes, it could come in handy in a pinch, but sharing an EDGE connection with a full fledged PC isn't nearly as exciting as it would be if the iPhone were 3G.

Of course, this application and functionality is only available to you if you've hacked your iPhone. Like all other iPhone hacks, you need to start with the jailbreak hack. Once completed, you can then install srelay on your iPhone, set up a direct computer to computer WiFi connection, and off you go. The video below provides a HOWTO and demonstration of the process.