Browse internet on your laptop using your iPhone

[pande_monium]

Ok.. so you're out and about and want to browse internet on your laptop, but don't have the USB broadband stick. But, you've got an iPhone !! Hook it up to your laptop !! Here's how...

What do you need to do?
You need to "tether" your iPhone with your laptop in order to use the internet connection on your laptop. This is done by simply joining an ad-hoc network on your laptop and installing an app called "PDANet" via "Cydia" on your iPhone.

What do you need?
A jailbroken iPhone
A laptop - Mac or PC, don't care. Guides for both here ;p!
A printout of this guide (for the 1st time)
Umm... a little patience?

On the iPhone...
Install PdaNet on the jailbroken iPhone via Cydia by going to
Manage -> Sources -> ModMyi
... then scrolling down to PdaNet and clicking install.

On the laptop... (Following Guide taken from June Fabrics)



Windows XP:

1. Go to Control Panel->Network Connections, then right click on Wireless Network Connection and select Properties from the menu.
2. Select Wireless Networks tab, under Preferred networks, click Add.
3. Give a name to your network in the SSID box such as "iPhoneNet".
4. Check "This is a computer-to-computer (ad-hoc) network and select "OK" to close the settings.
5. Now on your iPhone go to Settings->WiFi and "iPhoneNet" should show up in the list unless your computer is already connected to a router. Tap on it and your computer should go online.

On Mac OS X:

1. Click on the Airport icon at the top of the screen.
2. Select Create Network, give it a name such as "iPhoneNet".
3. Now on your iPhone go to Settings->WiFi and "iPhoneNet" should show up in the list. Tap on it and your computer should go online.

On Vista :

1. Right click on the network tray icon at the bottom of the screen.
2. Select "Connect to a network", then "Set up a connection or network".
3. Select "Set up a wireless ad hoc network and "Next", then enter a Network name such as "iPhoneNet". Also check "Save this network".
4. Now on your iPhone go to Settings->WiFi and "iPhoneNet" should show up in the list. Tap on it and your computer should go online.

WEP network key is optional but strongly recommended. (Remember all computers/iPhones nearby can see your computer and connect to it.)


Potential trouble-shootings:

• If you have created ad-hoc network before between your computer and your iPhone (in order to use other tether apps or access the phone from the computer), it is very possible that you have assigned static IP addresses. You need to undo that and go back to "Obtain an IP address automatically" (aka DHCP) on both ends.
  To verify that your computer is connected to your iPhone properly, the IP address of your computer should equal to your iPhone's IP address plus 1, and the DNS of your computer should become 68.28.122.93. If it is empty or has a different value, then it means DHCP hasn't done its work and you need to re-connect.
• If you have a hard time establishing/maintaining a stable ad-hoc WiFi connection between your iPhone and computer, you might want to change the channel number of your computer's network adapter to a different value. It is very possible that there are interference from other WiFi signal sources.
• If "Acquiring Network Address" takes longer than 10 seconds on the computer, something may be wrong with the WiFi signal and you should try to disconnect and reconnect.
• If you are able to connect WiFi but your computer could not open any web pages, try to open the Weather app on the iPhone and see if the signal icon turns into "3G" on your iPhone. If the Weather app fails to update eventually then something is wrong with either the WiFi settings or the data signal.
• Having slow data connection? PdaNet connects as fast as your iPhone does and testing shows at least 1.2Mbps at one occasion. But "3G" is not always "3G" - there is a time and there is a place :-)

Useful Tips :

• The current version supports OS 2.1 and 2.0. Always check this page first before you upgrade the iPhone OS to a higher version.
• After the connection is established and working, bring PdaNet to the foreground and turn the phone off. This will not drop your connection but will reduce battery usage.
• When you are done with PdaNet, turn the WiFi Router off explicitly.
• Even though the current version does not support VPN (will be fixed later) from the computer, you can still use VPN as long as you are able to setup a VPN connection on iPhone after the PdaNet connection is established. All computer traffics will then go through the VPN connection.