The ability to use your phone’s 3G internet connection as a source of on-the-go connectivity for laptops, called tethering, has long been a desire for mobile warriors. Yet each solution has significant drawbacks – official methods cost $, or you need to root your phone, or otherwise work around carrier limitations. Now Android hacker Koushik Dutta has come up with a way that is reportedly undetectable to carriers and doesn’t require you to ‘root’ your phone!
Fron his Google+ page:
Over the last month, I’ve been working on a new app. Tether Alpha is a USB[2] tether solution for Mac, Windows, and Linux that allows you to use your phone’s data connection to get internet access on your desktop or laptop.
ClockworkMod Tether does not require root on your phone and does not require a separate tethering plan. Tether should work with any carrier and phone, and is not blockable or detectable by carriers[1]. To get around the root requirement on your phone, Tether will need to install a virtual network adapter on your computer; so there is a PC side install. [3]
Right now the official site just has a placeholder, so if you want to try out ClockworkMod you need to hit up the Google + site and download the ‘alpha’ build. Note that “The UI is pretty rough, the icons, and general app design are not final. I am just looking to make sure the underlying services all work properly.” There are downloads for the desktop pairing software as well as the Android APK file … and if you don’t know what to do with an APK, perhaps you should wait for commercial availability of the utility!
Source: Slashgear
For those who need/want to save money, this is a great app to use. I worry that carriers will somehow start looking for the fact this is installed on your device, since they can’t detect it via the data transmission. Wonder if they will try to block or force this app to be not installable via the Android Market?