How to share a tethered Internet connection

IOS Tethering

Tethering is a term used to denote the sharing of a device's Internet connection with other devices that attach to it. IOS devices can share their Mobile Internet connection with other devices via WiFi, Bluetooth or a USB cable.

If a Windows PC is to use a tethered USB connection, it must have the following software installed:

1. AppleApplicationSupport.msi
2. AppleMobileDeviceSupport.msi

The above files can be extracted from any iTunes distribution via 7-Zip (or similar). Of course, if iTunes is already installed on the PC, the above files will already have been installed and no further action is needed.

Once the Windows PC is connected to the mobile device via USB, a new device called Apple Mobile Device Ethernet will be available, and NAT32 can be configured to use that interface as an Internet connection, thus making it available to all other machines that are communicating via NAT32.

If the Windows PC connects to the mobile device via WiFi or Bluetooth, no Apple software needs to be installed, and NAT32 can share the WiFi or Bluetooth connection in the usual way.

Out of the box, most iPhone devices correctly support tethering via WiFi, Bluetooth and USB. However, the iPhone 4 running the last available IOS Version 7.1.2 correctly supports tethering via WiFi and Bluetooth but not via USB. The only known solution for this problem is to jailbreak the device. This can be done very easily by connecting the iPhone to a PC and running Pangu Version 1.2.1.exe. The procedure takes just a few minutes, and once jailbroken, tethering via USB again works correctly.

Out of the box, iPad devices fitted with 3G/4G mobile Internet hardware correctly support tethering via WiFi, Bluetooth and USB.

Jailbreaking

Generaly speaking, jailbreaking should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. The iPhone 4 tethering problem described above is one situation where a jailbreak is the only solution. Because the Apple Corporation has long since abandoned the device, no further updates will be forthcoming, so it is highly unlikely that any other solution to the problem will ever appear. Fortunately, the Pangu jailbreak is quick and easy to apply, and the device will then function correctly.