Copying files from Laptop to iPhone without wireless

sfaust · Aug 13, 2009

I've been in a situation multiple times now where I find myself without convenient wireless access, but with a good clean cell/3G signal. Since AT&T has seen fit not to allow the use of the cell as a modem, I need to be able to transfer a PDF or text file on my laptop to my iPhone, and then use mail to send it out.

I've looked or various options to move the files from the laptop to the iPhone, such as Air Sharing, FileAid/DiskAid, QuickFiles, iDisk, etc. Most required a wireless network in order to transfer the files. FileAid/DiskAid works perfectly via the USB cable, but do not allow me to do much with the files other than view them (no e-mail, copy/paste options, etc).

So far, I am at a loss as to how to do this.

Basic task; Copy a file on the Laptop to the iPhone via the USB cable, then have an option to e-mail it to a third party.

Any ideas? Utilities?

Thanks for any help;

Stephen

philgilder · Aug 13, 2009

if you're using a mac, just create a new network under the airport menu, and connect your iphone to it.

if on a pc, i have no idea

Small White Car · Aug 13, 2009

What kind of laptop do you have?

With OSX you can create a wireless network using the computer's wifi card and then connect to that with the iPhone.

Are you using Windows? Does it not have that ability? I really don't know.

But if you have a Mac, just create a temporary network.

EDIT: Phil, lol. Not just the same advice, but the same "I don't know!" part too.

-aggie- · Aug 13, 2009

philgilder said:
if you're using a mac, just create a new network under the airport menu, and connect your iphone to it.

if on a pc, i have no idea

That's the same thing he can do with FileAid via USB. He still won't be able to do anything with the files once on the iPhone. I searched, as well, for a solution to this, and basically it seems all the apps that can manipulate the files use wifi.

sandman42 · Aug 13, 2009

philgilder said:
if you're using a mac, just create a new network under the airport menu, and connect your iphone to it.

Small White Car said:
With OSX you can create a wireless network using the computer's wifi card and then connect to that with the iPhone.

Both these answers will get the file onto the iPhone, but the OP then wants to be able to e-mail the file. Air Sharing, for example, doesn't support that. Do any of the other apps?

-aggie- · Aug 13, 2009

sandman42 said:
Both these answers will get the file onto the iPhone, but the OP then wants to be able to e-mail the file. Air Sharing, for example, doesn't support that. Do any of the other apps?

Read my post above.

sfaust · Aug 13, 2009

Thanks for the quick replies

I tried the AirPort create network, but the iPhone didn't seem to see it. I can see it in the Settings>Wi-Fi and can choose it, but the Apps (QuickOffice, iDisk, Folders) reported that it didn't see any Wi-Fi networks.

There must be something I missed. Here is what I did;

Settings>Network>AirPort
Turned AirPort on
In NetworkName, selected Create Network
Named it Laptop, left channel at Automatic (11)
clicked OK
It appeared to crate the network and self-assigned an IP address

With the USB cable disconnected on the iPhone;

Settings>Wi-Fi> I selected Laptop

It showed a good signal, a check mark next to Laptop name, but the iPhone icon bar does not show a wireless network symbol, only the cell signal, AT&T, and 3G symbols.

When I get into the Apps, they do not see the network either

philgilder · Aug 13, 2009

Files can email docs from directly in the app, as can several others

Files also has an FAQ showing how to connect

EDIT: Phil, lol. Not just the same advice, but the same "I don't know!" part too.

Haha!

sfaust · Aug 13, 2009

BTW; I have a MacBook Pro.

The apps I use mostly with the wireless which allow me to send the files via e-mail are iDisk and Quickoffice Files, both of which allow me to send files via e-mail if I can get the files into them. Both require Wi-Fi and will not work with USB. FileAid/DiskAid work with the USB, but don't have an option to e-mail.

Ideally, creating a wireless network between the Laptop and iPhone would give me all I need, OR an app that uses USB and has an e-mail option.

philgilder said:
Files can email docs from directly in the app, as can several others

Files also has an FAQ showing how to connect

Files seems to leaves me in the same boat as Quickoffice Files and iDisk. Without wireless, I can't get the files from the Laptop to the App on the iPhone.

-aggie- · Aug 13, 2009

philgilder said:
Files can email docs from directly in the app, as can several others

Files also has an FAQ showing how to connect

Haha!

But does it work for USB?

philgilder · Aug 13, 2009

iphone.aggie said:
But does it work for USB?

no, but you can create a wifi network on a mac

you may need to restart the laptop, as some update (one of the 10.5.x updates i believe) made creating wireless networking a little buggy

sfaust · Aug 13, 2009

philgilder said:
no, but you can create a wifi network on a mac

you may need to restart the laptop, as some update (one of the 10.5.x updates i believe) made creating wireless networking a little buggy

Rebooted the MacBookPro and the iPhone. The iPhone tries to connect, askes me for the password and accepts it and looks connected. Yet if I look at the details for that connection, under the DHCP tab I can see the IP address and Subnet Mask fields are filled in, then disappear, then reappear (always with the same info). I also tried to renew the lease, etc. I never get the Wireless symbol on the iPhone, just the 3G. The Laptop shows the 'server' box in the AirPort symbol in the menu bar.

Any ideas on what I can try/test to resolve this? Am I missing something in setup?

Thanks for all the help so far. At least now I know a direction to work toward.

Stephen

philgilder · Aug 13, 2009

sfaust said:
Rebooted the MacBookPro and the iPhone. The iPhone tries to connect, askes me for the password and accepts it and looks connected. Yet if I look at the details for that connection, under the DHCP tab I can see the IP address and Subnet Mask fields are filled in, then disappear, then reappear (always with the same info). I also tried to renew the lease, etc. I never get the Wireless symbol on the iPhone, just the 3G. The Laptop shows the 'server' box in the AirPort symbol in the menu bar.

Any ideas on what I can try/test to resolve this? Am I missing something in setup?

Thanks for all the help so far. At least now I know a direction to work toward.

Stephen

hmm, i don't know what to suggest. works fine for me.
in the network settings, when you have created your own network, is it set to automatically assign IP addresses?

sfaust · Aug 13, 2009

philgilder said:
hmm, i don't know what to suggest. works fine for me.
in the network settings, when you have created your own network, is it set to automatically assign IP addresses?

I believe so since when I create it on the MBP there is no option to supply an IP address, and the AirPort icon in the Network Settings shows 'Self-Assigned IP'.

On the iPhone, it will show me a IP address and Subnet, but those values can't be changed.

Here is some additiional info;

On the laptop, it appears to be using 169.254.135.149, subnet 255.255.0.0, and on the laptop the DHCP addresses are 169.254.187.212, subnet 255.255.0.0. This seems odd to me. I can't change the iPhone values as they are display only best I can tell.

I think now that I know I should be able to setup a wireless network from the MBP, and it will solve my issue, I'll start a new topic somewhere more specific to the network setup problem and work it there, rather than here.

I appreciate all your help since now at least I'm pointed in the right direction.

Thanks everyone,

Stephen

fireshot91 · Aug 13, 2009

sfaust said:
Copying files from Laptop to iPhone without wireless

Hmmm, you mean wired?

philgilder · Aug 13, 2009

try this, still might not work though

madmak · Aug 13, 2009

For USB Use http://www.i-funbox.com/ or the iphonebrowser. Great user experience, fast, and Free.

sfaust · Aug 13, 2009

philgilder, thanks for all the effort on this, pic and all

But still to no avail. Everything as you showed in the pic with the exception that I don't get the 'dot' where the wireless symbol would be on the iPhone, it just shows 3G. Also the address info in DHCP displays and disappears in a regular cycle, probably trying to connect then giving up. My iPhone apps don't see any Wi-Fi, and I never see the iPhone shared on the MBP. With the exception of the last three images, everything is golden up to that point. It's just not making the connection. Bummer ;(

----------

madmak, both of those are for windows. I didn't see any MAC versions.

sfaust · Aug 13, 2009

fireshot91 said:
Hmmm, you mean wired?

Yes and no. Think of sitting in cabin in the woods. No wireless internet or ethernet port available. A file you want to send is on the laptop. You have a good cell/Edge/3G signal on your iphone and can send e-mail. But you need to move the file from the laptop to the iphone in order to e-mail it. Thats the issue I am facing.

I think the create network option will work for me, but I can't get the iphone to talk to the laptop in that configuration. I'm trying to solve that now.

FSUSem1noles · Aug 13, 2009

sfaust said:
Yes and no. Think of sitting in cabin in the woods. No wireless internet or ethernet port available. A file you want to send is on the laptop. You have a good cell/Edge/3G signal on your iphone and can send e-mail. But you need to move the file from the laptop to the iphone in order to e-mail it. Thats the issue I am facing.

I think the create network option will work for me, but I can't get the iphone to talk to the laptop in that configuration. I'm trying to solve that now.

This has worked GREAT for me! and I do believe it's the solution you're looking for!!

http://forums.mactalk.com.au/36/57450-how-use-iphone-usb-mass-storage-file-viewer.html

PS- On second thought, this doesn't let you email the uploaded files, so you may not be interested in it after all..

-aggie- · Aug 13, 2009

FSUSem1noles said:
This has worked GREAT for me! and I do believe it's the solution you're looking for!!

http://forums.mactalk.com.au/36/57450-how-use-iphone-usb-mass-storage-file-viewer.html

PS- On second thought, this doesn't let you email the uploaded files, so you may not be interested in it after all..

Yeah, you can use FileAid to get files to the computer. However, like Discover you can't email. Ugh, you got me all excited. I was doing all this and then I had problems getting Discover to see anything and I was coming back here to ask and then I saw your PS.

sfaust · Aug 14, 2009

FSUSem1noles said:
This has worked GREAT for me! and I do believe it's the solution you're looking for!!

Yea, I agree. My goal is to figure out why I can't create a wireless network. That would solve my problem.

iphone.aggie said:
Yeah, you can use FileAid to get files to the computer. However, like Discover you can't email. Ugh, you got me all excited. I was doing all this and then I had problems getting Discover to see anything and I was coming back here to ask and then I saw your PS.

Quickoffice, MobileMe iDisk, Files, and a few others will allow e-mailing the files once transferred to the iPhone.

There are times I really miss my Blackberry, and this is one of them! It would be effortless and a non problem to start with. The iPhone is so basic when it comes to normal business needs, but it does have a Zippo lighter and level

kate-willbury · Aug 14, 2009

lol at all these silly little workarounds people have to do because apple decided not to let you even use your iphone as a portable thumb drive like every other phone/media player.

sfaust · Aug 14, 2009

For anyone else in my shoes that can't get a AdHoc network setup, here is a link to the solution that fixed the problem I had. All is now well

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2049667&tstart=0

Here are the details;

1 with airport on, open sharing under internet & network preferences

2 highlight internet sharing (don't check the box yet)

3 choose an option for 'share your connection from' - my imac is wired to my modem, so I opt for ethernet. if your mbp connects to a wireless router, i would choose airport.

4 check a box for 'to computers using:' here the choice is airport

5 click the 'airport options' button > here, whether or not you've created the adhoc network through any other means, it wouldn't hurt to fill the data fields again. on at least one occasion, the info here (password) was different than the password i created for the same ad hoc network i created through airport's taskbar menu > click ok

6 check the box for internet sharing

7 confirm that you want to start sharing

8 the icon on the taskbar should fill in with an upward pointing arrow

9 on the iphone, open wifi settings and choose the ssid name for the network and input the password (if you opted so for your network)

This allowed me to create a wireless network, connect to it from the iPhone, transfer the files, then use the cellular network to e-mail them out (using iDisk or Quickoffice Files app on the iphone).

Next time I get a call from a client for an estimate where I don't have any internet or wireless access, I can still get it to them as long as I have a cell signal.

philgilder · Aug 14, 2009

Good job on getting it fixed!

One little note on internet sharing, you can't share your airport connection to others over airport

Copying files from Laptop to iPhone without wireless

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