ANTenna Blog -- Apple

On my list of "ten things I wish I could do with the iPhone 3G but can't," tethering would be near the top. Tethering is when you use a broadband mobile phone as a high-speed Internet connection for a laptop computer. The phone is connected to a 3G network, and the laptop is tethered to the phone (via Bluetooth or a USB cable).

The iPhone 3G won't tether, at least not in the United States, and it's not because of any technological limitations. It's because Apple and AT&T (the exclusive U.S. carrier) won't allow it.

Why not? AT&T has two good reasons. The first is that the amount of bandwidth on their 3G network would explode. Imaging if someone used a tethered iPhone 3G as their full-time Internet connection for a Windows, Mac or Linux laptop -- or even a desktop. AT&T's network is built for a low volume of occasional Web traffic, not for that type of always-on broadband usage.

The other reason is financial. AT&T offers a metered 3G data service for laptops, using an external cellular modem. The DataConnect plan costs $60 per month for the first 5GB of data, at least in the SF Bay Area. If AT&T allowed the iPhone 3G to be tethered, some number of subscribers might cancel their the laptop cellular plan.

All may not be lost, however. Remember, this is a business limitation by Apple and AT&T, not a technological one. A company called Nullriver has created an application that runs on the iPhone 3G, called NetShare, which enables tethering.

I'm anxious to try it out: While I like to use WiFi whenever possible, every so often, I find myself in a location (like a hotel room or some airport terminals) where no Ethernet or WiFi broadband is available for my laptop. I can use 3G on the iPhone, but I really want to use my laptop.

The challenge is that Apple isn't sure if it likes NetShare. The $9.95 application appeared on the iTunes App Store on July 31 for a few hours, then disappeared. It showed up again briefly on August 1, but then vanish without a trace.

According to the folks at Nullriver on August 1,

Update 2: Apple has taken it down again, with no explanation yet again. Update: NetShare is now back up and available from the AppStore! We're not quite sure why Apple took down the NetShare application yet, we've received no communication from Apple thus far. NetShare did not violate any of the Developer or AppStore agreements. We're hoping we'll get some feedback from Apple today. Sorry to all the folks that couldn't get it in time. We'll do our best to try to get the application back onto the AppStore if at all possible. At the very least, we hope Apple will allow it to be used in countries where the provider does permit tethering.

The company added on August 4,

We've finally gotten in contact with Apple. Looks like the lack of communication was due to automated e-mail systems being employed on both ends, which resulted in e-mails being lost in transit. We're working with Apple to get NetShare back up on the AppStore.

Let's hope that Nullriver, Apple and AT&T work this out... Because then I could move to another item on my top-ten list, "Use my Apple Bluetooth keyboard with iPhone."