As you’re no doubt aware, Steve Jobs indicated1 before the launch of the iPad that tethering to an iPhone would not be a supported feature. True to his word, my WiFi-only iPad does not tether via Bluetooth to the iPhone (as a matter of fact, they won’t pair at all). Unfortunately for me, I’ve sold my laptop. This means I can no longer tether the iPhone’s 3G connection to the laptop and set up an ad hoc WiFi network for the iPad to connect to.
Fortunately the Spirit jailbreak2 tool was released just after the launch of the 3G iPad this past weekend. The Spirit jailbreak uses a common exploit to the iPad and iPhone to jailbreak, and consequently, I was able to jailbreak my iPhone 3GS running the latest firmware/baseband. I installed MyWi3 a tethering application that goes beyond Apple’s Bluetooth/USB tethering to provide tethering via WiFi, similar to the Verizon MiFi. I set up a WiFi network and password protected it. Thanks to the iPad’s network memory feature, every time I launch MyWi, it starts the protected network, and the iPad automatically connects. Smooth and seamless.
The only problem I’ve had with this setup is the bandwidth usage. In 40 minutes I used up 33Mb down and 6.5 up. This was just doing basic web browsing, email, and a speed test. I don’t know how tenable this usage is on my 6GB/mo plan.
Here’s a screenshot of my bandwidth up and down in Toronto on Rogers 3G network.
I’ll think about jailbreaking my iPhone too once I inevitably get a WIFI iPad. It’s only a matter of time before Rogers figures out who is tethering their iPhone. In the last few years, I’ve barely used half a gig of data a month on my phone — ever. To suddenly shoot up to 6 gigs a month would be a red flag to Rogers. Still, it’s better than paying another data plan.
Thank you for your reply Nigel. I would take a slightly different perspective. If you pay for your 6GB/mo, Rogers allows tethering via iOS 3.0 and higher. Whether you tether via supported Bluetooth/cable tethering, or unsupported jailbreak with WiFi should be irrelevant.