iPod touch iPod Touch / iPhone IOS differences?

[marker227]

Hi, let me cut to the chase.

I know it's possible to tether an iPod Touch to any Nokia cell phone via Bluetooth to use the cellphones data network. I know this because I've done it. I just purchased an iPhone 5S thinking that I could tether to my phone just as I normally would with any iPod/iPad device. After I pair the two devices via BT, I get an error message saying "Device Not Supported". This message usually appears on both the Nokia and iPhone. The iPhone 5S does not have a sim card in it. I plainly want to treat the 5S as a glorified iPod Touch.

What I'm wondering is why can't I tether to an iPhone 5S, but I can tether to any iPad, or iPod Touch? Just to be clear, yes I do tether over Bluetooth.

If anyone is curious, I purchased the iPhone 5S over the new iPod Touch because of certain lack of features the new iPod has.

 

[OTACORB]

Makes no sense to me, I did that for a long time actually did an iPhone 5 tethered on a Samsung Note and it worked just fine. Try resetting the iPhone... oh one thing I did leave the old sim card in there and it would say the sim was not active, but that just when booting.

 

[marker227]

Were you tethering via Bluetooth or WiFi?

I did reset the iPhone and Nokia phone.

I setup the iPhone with a sim to get passed the "No sim card" alert page. Once I did that, I paired the iPhone with my Nokia. After successfully pairing is when I got that compatibility error message. The sim card was out of the phone by this point. I don't think that should make any difference though.

 

[OTACORB]

Were you tethering via Bluetooth or WiFi?

I did reset the iPhone and Nokia phone.

I setup the iPhone with a sim to get passed the "No sim card" alert page. Once I did that, I paired the iPhone with my Nokia. After successfully pairing is when I got that compatibility error message. The sim card was out of the phone by this point. I don't think that should make any difference though.

Wifi and I'd try leaving the Sim card in, it may not make a difference, but you never know for sure as I always leave mine in. I really don't see a reason to remove it. The one time notice that the sim isn't activated doesn't bother me.

How old is the Nokia phone as I recall in the past Nokia phones have never had very good bluetooth connectivity.

This iPod Touch has connected to 3 different car radio/head units, 3 different speaker docks and some headphones and its never given me an issue with any of them. So, I betting its the Nokia.

 

[marker227]

Wifi and I'd try leaving the Sim card in, it may not make a difference, but you never know for sure as I always leave mine in. I really don't see a reason to remove it. The one time notice that the sim isn't activated doesn't bother me.

How old is the Nokia phone as I recall in the past Nokia phones have never had very good bluetooth connectivity.

This iPod Touch has connected to 3 different car radio/head units, 3 different speaker docks and some headphones and its never given me an issue with any of them. So, I betting its the Nokia.

I don't tether via WiFi. I use Bluetooth.

I just tried my friends iPhone 4. That also says "Device not supported" when I try to tether to it. Nokia phones that are not smart phones do not have the option to tether via WiFi.

 

[marker227]

Any Nokia phone (that is not a smartphone, IE: not running Android OS.) can tether to an IOS device that is not an iPhone apparently. I've tried this with many different phones. As I said earlier, not all Nokia phones have WiFi. That feature is usually reserved for the smartphones or the more expensive models. I personally own a C3 and another Nokia that is similar in size. Both do not run the Android OS.

I stumbled upon this tethering feature by mistake. I'm not sure why it works, but it does. Most people don't realize it's possible to share internet via Bluetooth. I do it all the time. Sometimes with the BT protocol, or sometimes with just a USB cable hooked to my PC from my phone.

I'm still unsure why the iPhone doesn't allow an internet connection via Bluetooth, but the iPod/iPad does. It would have been nice to have tethering with the iPhone since I didn't want to upgrade to the iPod 6th generation.

 

[PhilHeron]

You may remember that I used the same setup as you - Nokia C3 and iPod Touch 5G, tethered over Bluetooth.
I got fed up carrying two devices, with two chargers, so I bought an IPhone 5s last month and moved my number over from the Nokia.
I just tried connecting my iPhone to my Nokia and, as you reported, I couldn't get it to work. No problems with my iPod or iPad.
Out of interest, if you've got an iPhone, why don't you just get a SIM card for it and use it as a phone?

 

[marker227]

You may remember that I used the same setup as you - Nokia C3 and iPod Touch 5G, tethered over Bluetooth.
I got fed up carrying two devices, with two chargers, so I bought an IPhone 5s last month and moved my number over from the Nokia.
I just tried connecting my iPhone to my Nokia and, as you reported, I couldn't get it to work. No problems with my iPod or iPad.
Out of interest, if you've got an iPhone, why don't you just get a SIM card for it and use it as a phone?

I have since returned the iPhone because of the lack of tethering ability. I am keeping my dumb-phone because AT&T offers unlimited data for $15 a month instead of the usual $30 (with GB limit) for smartphones. It's not the fastest speed, but it works wonders when I tether in my car to either a computer or my iPod. So in short, I am doing it because it's cheaper and allows me to retain unlimited data.