# I want to tether my airport to my iPhone.



## exwinman (Jun 21, 2009)

The 6gig plan on an HSPA network would make a pretty decent backup internet connection. For that reason I would want to tether my iPhone to my airport. It does have a USB connection on the back. Would that be possible? is it a simple upgrade or more like a firmware update from Apple? Does anyone else want to tether their iPhone to airport or am I just crazy?!?!


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

exwinman said:


> The 6gig plan on an HSPA network would make a pretty decent backup internet connection. For that reason I would want to tether my iPhone to my airport. It does have a USB connection on the back. Would that be possible? is it a simple upgrade or more like a firmware update from Apple? Does anyone else want to tether their iPhone to airport or am I just crazy?!?!


I wouldn't go so far as crazy per se ... 

I've not seen any reports of being able to do this, wouldn't know how to go about it so I'm inclined to say it's not doable ...


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## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

can you not share a connection from a tethered mac?


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

exwinman said:


> The 6gig plan on an HSPA network would make a pretty decent backup internet connection. For that reason I would want to tether my iPhone to my airport. It does have a USB connection on the back. Would that be possible? is it a simple upgrade or more like a firmware update from Apple? Does anyone else want to tether their iPhone to airport or am I just crazy?!?!


Firstly you need to jailbreak your iPhone, then you can install _iPhoneModem_ using the Cydia installer...

iPhoneModem - fast and easy sharing of iPhone's Internet connection


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## Paul82 (Sep 19, 2007)

Why would you need to jailbreak? just tether via USB or bluetooth if you want to avoid the wires ( you'll pretty much need to be plugged in though as the combination of an active 3g conection and an active Bluetooth connection will burn through your battery) but then share it from the mac on your wireless network if you want more than one computer connected.


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## exwinman (Jun 21, 2009)

I tried sharing my tether connection to my Airport this aft. My game consoles and the other computers in the house (mac and pc) were able to connect through wifi to the airport but no internet connection was found. I think the issue is with DHCP conflicts or something.

I setup my macbook to share my connection from "Rogers Tethering" (ethernet adapter en03 if you haven't renamed it) and then to share to computers using ethernet. The ethernet is plugged into the internet (WAN) port on airport and the airport is set to bridged mode (it's supposed to use the macbook's DHCP server). Tethering is on and I can surf via tethering on my macbook. 

I also tried to setup the ad-hoc network by sharing my connection from "Rogers Tethering" to computers using Airport. Same deal I could connect to the local network but failed to find the internet. This setup has worked before for other people so I must be doing something wrong.

I will try again later tonight when I have time. I think the problem lies in the DHCP server, or in the "sharing" of the internet connection. I'll just have to find the right settings I guess.


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## exwinman (Jun 21, 2009)

*Unsuccess*

I fail at life and at sharing Rogers 3G tethering internet connection. Has anyone else been successful at setting their mac to act as a 3G router via iPhone? Too bad Apple canned the app NetShare that thing would've satisfied my desire for having multiple users on a 3G connection.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

exwinman said:


> I fail at life and at sharing Rogers 3G tethering internet connection. Has anyone else been successful at *setting their mac to act as a 3G router via iPhone*? Too bad Apple canned the app NetShare that thing would've satisfied my desire for having multiple users on a 3G connection.


1. This is an entirely new and different request to the one you made originally.

2. A 3G connection is certainly way better than nothing, but with multiple users I should think the average speed would drop down to near-dialup levels. Haven't tried it myself.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

exwinman said:


> Has anyone else been successful at setting their mac to act as a 3G router via iPhone?


If what you mean is ... set up their iPhone 3G to share it's 3G data connection wirelessly with other computers (tethering) then, Yes, and it works quite well.



exwinman said:


> Too bad Apple canned the app NetShare that thing would've satisfied my desire for having multiple users on a 3G connection.


Do you want to use your iPhone's 3G connection to set up a wireless network that you can share? This is what _NetShare_ did (when it was available). If so, you can do this with _iPhoneModem_ but you have to Jailbreak your iPhone to install _iPhoneModem_ via the _Cydia_ Installer app (see post 4). 

Here's a guide for jailbreaking your iPhone 3G. *Make sure you read it carefully and follow instructions exactly to avoid problems.* Note - ** this is NOT for the new 3Gs **

Gizmodo - Step by Step Guide to Jailbreak and Unlock iPhone 3.0 - jailbreak iPhone 3.0 guide

Jailbreaking will automatically install the Cydia application. Open Cydia and you will see a list of apps that you can install, one of which is iPhoneModem.


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

No, the USB port in Airports are for printing (and disks in some models) only. They aren't general purpose ports and there's no code in the Airport's firmware to go looking to the USB port for an Internet connection. Sorry.


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## exwinman (Jun 21, 2009)

Yeah I heard the same thing about the USB port being restricted so I started looking into sharing the tether connection through internet connection sharing in system prefrences (as per groovetube's suggestion). That's where I am now trying to setup connection sharing from Rogers 3G to computers using Ethernet or AirPort. 

The idea is to get multiple users accessing the internet through your Rogers 3G connection. As Chas_M points out it'll probably be slow as hell but c'mon the connection speeds are getting faster and faster. Major cities are supposed to get 7.2mb/s down now. 

Thanks Z06jerry for the suggestion! I would take an iPhone mobile hotspot in lieu of not being able to connection share with others users via macbook. I guess I should have mentioned earlier that I'm using a 3GS so it may not work for me. Will iPhoneModem work with an iPhone that was jailbroken with ultrasn0w? I'll give it a try anyway... didn't really want to JB my new iPhone yet but I will to get this to work. Also, you said people have successfully shared their tether connection with other computers? Damn, I am doing something wrong then. I will recheck my settings and try again. Thanks!

Interesting sidenote (offtopic): Once my MacBook is all tethered up I can go into the Network Utility and find my assigned IP from the tethered connection. Would this be an IP rogers assigned? It's funny because the IP starts out the same as some linksys routers (192.168.x.x).


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

That's standard protocol for most routers, and when tethered your iPhone is acting as one.


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## exwinman (Jun 21, 2009)

*Great Success!*

I got it all to work they way it should. I had to reinitialize my system preferences because of an internet sharing problem. Once I had fixed my problem with internet sharing everything worked in a very apple way. (Share the 3G in 5 minutes or less). With internet sharing working properly I was able to share the Rogers 3G tether connection over my MacBook's airport to a PC notebook and an iPod Touch. That's four users simultaneously sharing a 3G connection. Speed was good between the four but I wouldn't want it as a primary connection. It would probably be good enough for something like a mobile workgroup. This was adequate for my curiosity. 

Sharing the 3G connection to the ethernet and then plugging in an AEBS' wan port into my MacBook's ethernet also worked however only when the AEBS is in bridge mode. Since the MacBook handles the IP's you are still limited to the number of users (to ten I beleive). So, bringing in an AEBS doesn't help unless you can directly tether the iPhone to your router. 

Thanks Chas_m. I didn't think my phone was acting as a router, rather I thought of it more like a modem. I thought it might have been Rogers gear giving me the IP. If it's a router then would it support multiple users via BT and USB? 

Thanks to everyone for the help!


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## Siebel (Aug 18, 2005)

*Cradlepoint*

This is another way to use it your iPhone with an Airport.

Just plug your iPhone into the CBA250 and use the Ethernet port to plug it into your airport.

CBA250 Cellular Broadband Adapter | Cradlepoint Technology

At my cottage, I use this config with a Bell ExpressCard and it's working fine. I can share an internet connection with my 2 iPhone, an iPod touch and 2 MacBook. I use Skype to make and receive calls.

Using the USB connection, it should work.

As soon as my iPhone wireless signal is working at my cottage (with Bell or Telus), I will remove the Bell's ExpressCard and use an iPhone unless the monthly price for tethering is higher than Bell package.


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## fbartolom (Apr 1, 2010)

*Time capsule as hub with no wire*

Hullo,

I have a peculiar problem in my apartment. First thing off, ADSL does not reach my area, altough it belongs to Rome, the ethernal city... In my home I have a Mac book, a time capsule, an AppleTv, an iPhone3GS and a Satellite Receiver IPBOX9000.

My desire would be to grant internet access to all these devices with a single point of access. Presently I use an internet usb card that I connect to the mac book. Each time I want to connect the AppleTv to the internet I need to disconnect the macbook from the TimeCapsule network and share its internet access, and then move the AppleTv from the TimeCapsule network to the shared one from the macbook; then reverse the operation when I am done otherwise the backup from the TimeCapsule would not work; as for the receiver, lacking it a wireless connection, I found no solution altogether as, by wire, I have frankly no idea what network the MacBook projects, given DHCP does not work.
As you may guess this is quite a pain in the heck. Basically I see a number of possibilities:
1) Configuring the default router of the time capsule to be the MacBook; problem: the ip address of the MacBook is dynamic and allocated by the time capsule itself.
2) Attaching something airwired to the TimeCapsule that so would be in the correct position; problems: I read the iphone tethering may not be used, nor may the usb key be connected to it with success.

Any suggestion?

Thanks,
Fabrizio Bartolomucci


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