[AusNOG] 'X' carrier tethering on iPhone v3.0

[Mark Newton]

On 19/06/2009, at 12:59 AM, Scott Howard wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 12:11 AM, Andrew Cox  
> <andrew at accessplus.com.au> wrote:
> Possibly OT but no doubt of interest to some of us.
> Anyone with an iPhone using the new v3.0 firmware can enable  
> tethering on Optus right now.
>
> Just be aware that it's probably not going to be/stay free...
>
> http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/optus-iphone-tethering-comes-at-a-price-20090618-cizn.html

Having trouble understanding how Optus (or any other carrier) can
distinguish between tethered access using their $10 per month paid-for
option, and tethered access using http://tetherme.lstoll.net/
that the end-user has set up without consulting them for free.

I think carriers who charge $10 per month for a configuration file  
that the
end user can create themselves are being a bit precious, and I really
wish that tech journalists didn't maintain the facade by pretending that
this is a feature that's under the carrier's control.

In the SMH article above Stephen Hutcheon writes, "Optus says the  
service
will not be available to customers on pre-paid plans," the article  
really ought
to have questioned Optus' credibility in making such a bizarre statement
instead of just leaving it sitting out there like that.

You've been able to do this without carrier support on jailbroken  
iPhones
since 2007.
http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/use-your-iphones-internet-connection-on-your-laptop-327066.php
Now Apple supports it on non-jailbroken phones, and all of a sudden the
carriers expect everyone to believe that it costs extra?  Yer.  Right.



   - mark


--
Mark Newton                               Email:  newton at internode.com.au 
  (W)
Network Engineer                          Email:   
newton at atdot.dotat.org  (H)
Internode Pty Ltd                         Desk:   +61-8-82282999
"Network Man" - Anagram of "Mark Newton"  Mobile: +61-416-202-223





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ausnog.net/pipermail/ausnog/attachments/20090619/a2cffa03/attachment.html>