iPhone Tethering on iOS4 through Commcenter Hacking (IE Free) (4.0-4.3.2 compatible)

[Diode]

Thanks to Wortel over on Xsellize and jav4 there is a commecenter patch for the 3G/3GS/4G phones that works on all iOS versions (4.0-4.3.2)

With 4.3.1/2 this now enables the Personal Hotspot function


CommCenter Patch by wortel / jav4(4ALL4) - Please note 4.3.1/2 hack is only for 4G and 3GS at this time. 4.0-4.2.1 is supported on all phones

Old Patches:

4.0-4.2.1 (All phones):

CommCenter Patch by wortel (4ALL4)

4.1:

Patch for Commcenter 4.1 3G/3GS/4G (4.1-4)by wortel
4.0.1:

Patch for Commcenter 4.0.1 3G/3GS/4G (1.1-3)by wortel

*NOTE* As this requires SSH and command line, it is not for the inexperienced hacker. Please use caution! I am not responsible for any damage you do to the phone (although most mistakes should be fixable by a restore).

I was able to enable native tethering on my iPhone 4 running 4.0.1 on the US AT&T network. Facetime works, tethering works, I have not tested MMS yet but I assume it works, too. It was somewhat tricky to figure out, since there are so many partial instructions on the webz and I kinda suck at stuff like this. I'll try to list the steps here so others can follow.

1. Jailbreak your iPhone 4 on the jailbreak website.
2. Open Cydia and install OpenSSH. (Follow the instructions to change your root password!)
3. Download wortel's Patch for Commcenter 4.1 3G/3GS/4G (4.1-4)by wortel (the file listed above
4. Use Cyberduck or another SFTP client to log into your iPhone.
5. In the Directory /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreTelephony.framework/Support, Back up your CommCenter to your PC/Mac in case things go sour.
6. Browse to /var/tmp and upload the file ccp4.1-4_wortel.deb
7. SSH into your iPhone and run the patch by typing:
dpkg -i /var/tmp/ccp4.1-4_wortel.deb
8. Reboot your phone

Now we need to either edit your carrier.plist or replace it with the one below (for AT&T only).
here's the link to the carrier.plist file: http://www.multiupload.com/2OXWAIQ594 (AGAIN AT&T only)

Two Options at this point (Editing or replacing with the above file):

Option 1 if replacing:

9. Use cyberduck or another SFTP program to connect to your iPhone and browse to:
/var/mobile/Library/Carrier Bundle.bundle/
(the above should be a symlink to /System/Library/Carrier Bundes/ATT_US.bundle/)

10. Download your carrier.plist file from your iPhone and save a copy of this original file, just in case.

11. Upload the replacement carrier.plist file
12. On your iPhone, open Settings / General / Reset and reset your network settings.

or

Option 2 if editing:

9. browse to /System/Library/Carrier Bundes/your_carrier.bundle/

10. Download your carrier.plist file from your iPhone and save a copy of this original file, just in case.

11. Open the downloaded carrier.plist in your favorite text editor

12. Under APNS->APN look for something with your carriers WAP settings. Change the type mask integer from 4 to 53 - which should change allowing MMS to MMS, data and tethering. A explanation of these numbers is here. If this does not work, play around with the numbers until something works for your specific carrier.

13. save the file to a different location and replace the file on your phone.

14. On your iPhone, open Settings / General / Reset and reset your network settings.

Finally remember to turn on tethering in Settings->General->Network->Internet Tethering. You'll need to either connect your phone to your computer via USB or have it already paired via bluetooth. The latest version of itunes is also needed.

To ensure you keep facetime, make sure the following lines are in your carrier.plist file you are using:

*NOTE* Due to the nature on how Facetime works (sending a special SMS to the number below) it appears t-mobile (and supposedly other carriers) are not handling the SMS properly. Please let me know if this works for your specific carrier.

For AT&T Only:

<key>PhoneNumberRegistrationGatewayAddress</key>
<string>28818773</string>

For other carriers:

<key>PhoneNumberRegistrationGatewayAddress</key>
<string>00447786205094</string>

*Due to the way Facetime communicates with Apple, text message charges may appear for unsupported carriers

If your using a older IPCC file or custom carrier bundles keep note that for iphone4, carrier png files need to be double the resolution. All you have to do is make new logo's with a higher resolution and add @2x on the end of the filename.
Like this:

• Default_FSO_CARRIER_BASE.png
• Default_FSO_CARRIER_BASE@2x.png
• FSO_CARRIER_BASE.png
• FSO_CARRIER_BASE@2x.png

 

[Smith288]

This works great! Nice job wortel

 

[Applejuiced]

Would this work with 4.0 also I assume?
Nice, hope they release that into a nice and simple cydia patch soon

 

[Diode]

Would this work with 4.0 also I assume?
Nice, hope they release that into a nice and simple cydia patch soon

There is a patch for 4.0, but it doesn't include support for the iphone 4.

I personally wouldn't recommend it as he made some other changes in the newer patch.

 

[Applejuiced]

Thanks for the info bro.

 

[ToroidalZeus]

http://hackulo.us/forums/index.php?/topic/79890-enable-tethering-on-ios-40-401/

Here is another link, same thing but this works on both 4.0 and 4.0.1 but NOT iPhone 4.

P.S. In some ways this link is a lot nicer then others because it also shows how to force Cellular Data Network icon to appear.

 

[Nate025]

This method works great, and is an awesome alternative to some of the more costly options being offered through Cydia/Rock. Using my MBP on the Windows 7 side, I noticed I needed to manually connect the two devices after pairing them via Bluetooth in the appropriate devices pane.

Now I'm having no problems using either the USB tether or the Bluetooth tether. Thanks again for bringing this to our attention Diode. Credit to Wortel for the patch and Crispix for some nice instructions as well.

Posted from my computer on a Bluetooth tether from my jb iPhone 4 running 4.0.1.

 

[Applejuiced]

http://hackulo.us/forums/index.php?/topic/79890-enable-tethering-on-ios-40-401/

Here is another hack, same thing but this works on both 4.0 and 4.0.1 but NOT iPhone 4.

Damn it, you had to add that at the end

 

[Diode]

Never mind - unlock coming out doesn't touch the commcenter.

 

[illutionz]

Since the OP has covered most of the details, I just want to post some word of caution

Before you run the .deb script, please back-up your Commcenter
The Commcenter files are located in

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreTelephony.framework/Support

I personally copied the whole "Support" folder and have backup on all my unmodified Commcenter before running the script.

---------------
Also, as shown above, you might want to backup the carrier.plist before you copied the modified one.

This is located in

/var/mobile/Library/Carrier Bundle.bundle/

Just some stuff for your safety

 

[titans1127]

This worked great. Only issue I had was after resetting network settings it caused the phone to boot up right into safe mode. All I did was a normal reboot then another reset network settings and then went to settings and native tethering was enabled. Good thing nothing bad happened even though I had the all the files that had CommCenter in the file name saved and the carrier file saved as well. Gonna keep those on my Mac just in case anything happens.

This is great, I didn't want to bother with Rock at all on my phone and now I don't have to. Native tethering and the Handylight app replace MyWi (Handylight can take care of wireless tethering), and I would only be using My3G for the Youtube app (only have a 3GS) but m.youtube.com solves that problem.

Hopefully At&t can't see that your tethering if only using a tiny amount of data in each session. I don't need to see an extra $20 added to my bill unexpectedly.

 

[thelatinist]

http://hackulo.us/forums/index.php?/topic/79890-enable-tethering-on-ios-40-401/

Here is another link, same thing but this works on both 4.0 and 4.0.1 but NOT iPhone 4.

P.S. In some ways this link is a lot nicer then others because it also shows how to force Cellular Data Network icon to appear.

The link to download the patches does not work. Do you happen to have them?

 

[doolin.nc]

Why does the link say carrier.plist but the file is an .XML?

 

[illutionz]

Why does the link say carrier.plist but the file is an .XML?

It's a .plist file for me....

 

[doolin.nc]

It's a .plist file for me....

Weird. I just re-saved it but still.

...and booted into Safe Mode.

EDIT: Worked! Woot.

 

[mytakeontech]

Worked for me no reboot issues! thx

 

[WilliamG]

Any chance of a Cydia download instead of all the manual hackery?

 

[dZp]

Thanks for the info. Easy to do and it works great!
Now I can really enjoy my unlimited data when on the move.

 

[Maverick1337]

Thanks for the info. Easy to do and it works great!
Now I can really enjoy my unlimited data when on the move.

I can do all this, and even get to this point, but I don't get the blue Internet Tethering bar at the top, nor can I see anything on my mac under network settings. I installed everything in the order written and the deb installed fine. I just do not know how to get tethering to work after I see the option to turn it on.

 

[m3coolpix]

Thank you for the detailed posts on this.

Perfect example of why I choose to be a 'contributor' here at MR. My $25/year is better spent here, and enjoy all the info shared.

In less than 36 hours I've gone from 3.1.2 tethered JB on my 3Gs, to 4.0.1 untethered JB with the ability to USB data tether my MacBook Pro. Sure I could've found the info on other websites.....but the MR crowd is much more civilized, and the info concise and accurate (and if someone posts inaccuracies, their errors are pointed out quickly).

Awesome. So much better than than a Rock app MyWi purchase on either of the iPhone iOSs.

 

[Diode]

I can do all this, and even get to this point, but I don't get the blue Internet Tethering bar at the top, nor can I see anything on my mac under network settings. I installed everything in the order written and the deb installed fine. I just do not know how to get tethering to work after I see the option to turn it on.

Did you turn tethering on under settings in the iphone? Do you have a old profile installed under network settings on the phone?

 

[ulbador]

It's a .plist file for me....

For Apple, most plist files ARE in xml format. The ones that aren't straight XML text are binary encoded.

 

[scottuf]

I can do all this, and even get to this point, but I don't get the blue Internet Tethering bar at the top, nor can I see anything on my mac under network settings. I installed everything in the order written and the deb installed fine. I just do not know how to get tethering to work after I see the option to turn it on.

after you turn on the switch either connect it to your computer's USB (if on a mac, net prefs may open, just hit apply), or connect via bluetooth. The blue bar only appears when actually tethering.

i must say this is the best way to tether, much better than mywi, unless you are trying to tether an ipad i suppose.

 

[ulbador]

after you turn on the switch either connect it to your computer's USB (if on a mac, net prefs may open, just hit apply), or connect via bluetooth. The blue bar only appears when actually tethering.

i must say this is the best way to tether, much better than mywi, unless you are trying to tether an ipad i suppose.

I definitely agree. This is far better than tethering via MyWi wireless just for the security concerns. But MyWi is the only way to tether a device like an iPad (well not only way, but the other ways are horrible and complex).

 

[importraverxx]

I cannot find tmobile_us.bundle in the Carrier Bundles folder. Is this the reason why my Facetime would not activate? it stuck on "waiting for activation"

or could the US version of tmobile under a different name? I have tmobile_at, tmobile_bg...etc but no _us so i'm not sure how i can modify the plist.

Please help me. Thank you.