Use Your Pre as a Modem with My Tether
Palm Pre users can now use their device as a modem and even as a 3G router with newly available unofficial software. A developer has created a application called My Tether which enables users to utilize the Pre's 3G connection much like a WiFi hotspot. This lets users share connections and link up laptops on the road over USB, Bluetooth or WiFi.
There are currently two versions of the application. A free version 1.5 requires some technical know-how and Linux hacking in order to install and configures, while a more user friendly version 2.0 comes with its own automated installer. The later option is available with a $10 donation. A tutorial for Windows users is available online here, and you can check out a video demo after the break.
Thanks to Make for the tip.
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RE: Silly Sprint
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: Silly Sprint
Y'know, there'd be a LOT more interest in the upcoming DevCamp this weekend if Palm had the Pre on another CDMA carrier, a GSM Pre, or even had a WebOS-based non-phone device such as a "Pre Touch".
For every person I know that switched to Sprint or is already a Sprint customer, there are 3 more cursing Palm for not making the Pre available elsewhere.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
RE: Silly Sprint
Seeing the practical imposibility though I would try to get Sprint to advertise "free tether" with a Pre. Rattle the compitition a bit.
RE: Silly Sprint
Face it, there are no good American cell carriers.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: Silly Sprint
The 800lb Gorilla: Has indisputably the best network. Also indisputably charges prices that you could charitably term "highway robbery". Has a tendency to control their handsets with an iron fist, demanding proprietary software and crippling built-in features. (In Oz, this would be Telstra)
The middle child: They want to be the 800lb gorilla but can't quite get there. Most of their customers are with them simply because they aren't the gorilla. It's more a vote against their competition than it is for them. (Optus)
Hey, we're cheap: The network isn't quite up to scratch and their handset selection at times feels like shopping at a factory-seconds warehouse, but the prices put the other two to shame. (Vodafone)
RE: Silly Sprint
-VZW has great coverage and solid CS. But they are atrociously expensive and have had horrible hardware for years.
-Sprint is cheap but their coverage and hardware (aside from Palm devices and the occasional HTC offering) usually leaves much to be desired. Their CS always leave much to be desired.
-AT&T is also pricey and has (mostly) poor coverage. They'd be toast if it were not for the iPhone (anyone remember how lame Cingular's offerings were in years past?)
-T-Mobile are simply too small to be a force to be reckoned with.
In all fairness, Alltel was a very solid regional offering (aside from their always dated lineup) until they were assimilated by Verizon.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
RE: Silly Sprint
As anal as it sounds, they are interested selling you two plans (one for your and one for your laptop) instead of doing a high volume, data as you want, plan. It is very short sighted. Fortunately for you and I, the carrier doesn't have final say on every feature that goes into a cell phones ROM and only what is turned on or off on shipment.
Eventually, they will give when their bean counters realize the market wants a multipurpose smartphone that lets all your equipment connect to the Internet instead of multiple bills. Recessions are good for things like this as we are in now.
A Mini-review.
But My Tether is clearly "nerds only" software at this point. While USB tethering works well for me, I still haven't been able to get wifi tethering to work consistently. (Curiously, several of the developers at the Chicago Pre Devcamp set up My Tether with their laptops today and at least one of them was able to get the wifi tethering working fairly easily but couldn't get the USB tethering to work.) This is definitely a YMMV situation.
Tethering generally works better with Windows XP as Vista tends to get temperamental about the security implications of downloading files to its "Program Files" directory.
Still, the bottom line is that I have it up and running and can connect to the 'net anywhere I have cell coverage. So hooray for My Tether. Windows reports a speed of 425.9 Mbps and that sounds about right. In practice, I get about half the speed of my home DSL connection out of my tethered Palm Pre.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
RE: A Mini-review.
My best geeky wires galore experience was in an airport sometime in early 2003ish. I had my Tungsten T with a serial Hotsync cable attached, with a gender changer or two on the end of that. That monstrosity was then connected to a SupplyNet serial cable going to my Motorola V60 phone. On top of all of that, my T|T was precariously perched on a ThinkOutside (or Palm) IR portable keyboard. It was an impossibly fragile kludge of a solution but I was able to sit at a small table and bang out responses to a few dozen emails, update my AvantGo channels, and send off some work I had just finished editing.
That said, I have determined that the ideal formfactor with the best compromise between portability and power is an 11.6" or 12" netbook with some kind of WWAN capability. The lack of officially supported Pre tethering (Thanks, Sprint!) is a huge bummer. I suppose the carriers all want us to make do with ExpressCard & USB modems.
Pilot 1000->Pilot 5000->PalmPilot Pro->IIIe->Vx->m505->T|T->T|T2->T|C->T|T3->T|T5->Zodiac 2->TX->Verizon Treo 700P->Verizon Treo 755p->?
OH, that's why no tether
http://now.sprint.com/nownetwork/mifiProductPage.html?id9=Ad_2009q3_mbb_mifi_anyspot_728x90
In short, I had always believed that the world involved magic: now I thought that perhaps it involved a magician.
- Chesterton
RE: OH, that's why no tether
But no, you have have to buy it along with a separate data plan, effectively doubling your monthly fees for the privilege of carrying an EVDO wifi hotspot in your pocket. (As opposed to hacking your Pre into an EVDO modem -- a pain in the ass but doable.) Too freakin' 'spensive Lucy.
Screw convergence
Palm III->Visor Deluxe->Visor Platinum->Visor Prism->Tungsten E->Palm LifeDrive->Palm TX->Palm Pre
Visor Pro+VisorPhone->Treo 180g->Treo 270->Treo 600->Treo 680->T-Mobile G1->Palm Pre
http://mind-grapes.blogspot.com/
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Silly Sprint