iPhone 3.0 MMS And Tethering Set-up Guide
For everyone who cant get tethering and MMS working on the beta firmware, i give you a little guide!
Enjoy;
As those of you that follow the many mac related blogs will know, someone hacking around in the code of the new iPhone 3.0 beta found that there was indeed built in support for internet tethering, the process of allowing you to use the iPhone 3G / Edge connection to provide network access to another device (e.g. a MacBook). Apple acknowledged that support was built in yet was dependent on network provider and therefore wasn't available yet.
After doing a bit of research, I managed to find the IPCC file which contains the network settings for O2 UK (my network) pre-hacked to enable not only internet tethering but also MMS which still hasn't been turned on by O2 (who haven't replied to my emails about why it isn't available yet). You can download the file at
drop.io/o2ukipcc and getting set up is as easy as holding alt (or shift if you're on windows) whilst clicking the "check for updates" button on the iPhone screen of iTunes. This will open a browse dialog box in which you need to choose the IPCC file that you just downloaded. Pressing OK will update your iPhone with the new network settings (takes around 5 seconds) and then after restarting your iPhone you'll find the MMS options are all available (including a camera icon within the Messages app) and the Internet Tethering panel is now available within Settings -> Network.
This photo shows my MacBook successfully using the internet via O2 thanks to my iPhone connection. You can connect via either BlueTooth or USB but I couldn't quite get the BlueTooth connection going so am using the standard dock cable in this photo. I've opened up iTunes so you can see the version number (and also that there is a new "Phone Number" section) and also Network Utility which shows the USB Connection transferring data correctly. You can also see the network is O2-UK on the iPhone and that there is no ethernet or wireless network enabled on the MacBook.
I found the speed to be very good at home with full reception of 3G but I don't know how well it will fare under different circumstances (e.g. on a moving train) but I'll try and find out tomorrow. It's also debatable as to how long this particular hack will work once O2 find out about it but it's interesting to see it working for the time being. Oh, and I don't take any responsibility if you apply the hack and end up with a bricked iPhone that doubles as a paper weight, or if the phone blows up, sleeps with your wife, takes up a career in bank management, or any other number of wild possibilities.
If you have the iPhone 3.0 beta but are not on the O2-UK network, then you can learn about how to make your own IPCC file at
gist.github.com/81465
I recommend using the 'all sizes' option on the photo to be able to see all of the details clearly
