We saw the release of iPhone 3.0 firmware, a remarkable release in the iPhone history though without tethering support for some countries (US-AT&T being the BIG one!). Well, folks at BenM.at have achieved a feat that enables you to experience a seamless iPhone tethering experience! Seriously, this couldn’t have been easier/simpler!

Before you start :

1) Make sure you download and install iPhone firmware 3.0 from iTunes 8.2.

2) Make sure not to exploit this service thereby alarming ATT and giving them a chance to slap you with a hefty monthly bill, we don’t want that to happen!

3) I tested this on an iPhone 3G 3.0 which took me less than 2 minutes for the whole process!

Step by step instructions :

1) ATT customers, launch MobileSafari and visit http://help.benm.at/usa.php

2) Touch on ATT and you will see the following screen

3) Touch on Install followed by touching on Install Now on the prompt that displays

4) Press the home button and navigate to Settings -> General -> Network. Touch on Internet Tethering

5) Choose either USB or Bluetooth. I chose USB to start with. (Please note USB tethering speeds can be twice that of Bluetooth’s)

6) Choose Internet Tethering ‘On’

7) Now, connect the iPhone 3G to your Mac (PC should be no different) using the USB cable provided. You should see the following prompt

Click on ‘Network Preferences’ and you should see a new N/W interface at the end (Ethernet 4 or en4 or the like). Hit the Apply button. Make sure you disable WiFi on your Mac as well as iPhone 3G to test tethering. The Network window should now show the following settings

9) Launch your favorite browser and start browsing! I got decent speeds for browsing on the go.

Few Observations/Facts :

1) The iPhone got warmer as I used the tethering service. Not so PDANet like-warm but warm!
2) I wrote this post on my Macbook Pro which is connected to the iPhone via USB exploiting tethering feature which ATT is not ready to offer yet! All the images in this post are uploaded using this service too, not bad upload speeds either.
3) Don’t use this service unless you really need to! You don’t want to alarm ATT in the process!
4) There were no hiccups in the hour long ‘tethering’ experience!

Enjoy the temporary fix and post a comment if you have a fact to share or help to offer/devour!

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5. iPhoneModem (One Click Access!) App Review : Verdict – Best Alternative to NetShare, Works the best!