Tether the T-Mobile G1 without any Messy Rooting or Hacking

Tethering has been around for the G1 since it hit the market, but it always required gaining root access to the OS by loading hacked-up version of the firmware. From what I’ve read, the process is fairly painless, and there are few reports of bricking. But, once you’ve rooted your phone, you’d have to load up the software and make changes to SOCKS proxy settings in your browser to connect through the phone.

I’ve been very interested in the idea of using my phone as a modem in a pinch, but I never liked the idea of rooting my phone and dealing with the manual updating and vices that come with it (I’m not a developer, so there’s not a huge benefit). However, there’s a new freeware app, PdaNet,  that sets up your USB-connected G1 as a tethered modem using the WiFi or cellular connection on the phone. PdaNet has already done the job for BlackBerry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, iPhone, and now, it’s been ported to Android (for G1 only, for now).

The Android version of PdaNet is considered a “preview release” right now. It only allows for connection through the USB, while, for example, the iPhone version can be set up to join a wireless ad-hoc network and others connect via Bluetooth. Though, if you know what you’re doing, you could set up the computer that’s connected to the G1 to share the Internet connection across to the WiFi connection in the computer which is joined to an ad-hoc, effectively using the computer as a router and wireless access point of sorts, with the G1 as a modem.

I was very skeptical of the software; very skeptical that it wouldn’t work as advertised. But, sure enough, it installed without a hitch and the connection was made without a fuss from neither phone nor laptop. There’s even a 64-bit version, but I haven’t tried that one yet.

Just be careful not to violate any terms of service you may have, or go over T-Mobile’s “unlimited” 5GB cap! Word on the street is, though, that T-Mobile will not block tethering, and the 5GB cap is a “soft” cap, meaning, once you hit the cap, they’ll throttle your speed down below edge speeds.  Of course, none of this counts if you’re connected via WiFi, but in that case, why are you tethering??

(via GAB, and Android Community)

T-Mobile Ge 1

I Will Ask Google Before Asking Dumb Questions

Today’s lesson is a look into phonetic spelling, and the ramifications of including those in your posts! You may notice that the title of this post, “T-Mobile Ge 1″ is meant to refer to the HTC T-Mobile G1 (Android) phone, but the “G” is spelled phonetically. I decided to do this upon a discovery using my G1 after I received the RC-33 update adding the functionality to perform a Google web search by utilizing voice-to-text. When I attempted to search “T-Mobile G1″ it came out as “t mobile g 1,”which gave me pretty much the same results as if I had searched “T-Mobile G1.” This led me to perform searches based off of variations of “T-Mobile G1.” While I searched, Google provided suggestions, one of them being “T-Mobile Ge 1.”  Google suggests queries based of off similar terms with relative popularity. I figured if “T-Mobile Ge 1″ appeared in the suggestions, then enough people must be searching it. Plus, once I executed the search, nothing immediately obvious appeared, though, a few blog postings returned based off the occurance of “T-Mobile” and the official site was listed second. So, this post will serve as an experiment to see if people will come here after searching for “T-Mobile Ge 1.” Though, I suspect once the search results are returned, he or she will immediately realize it was spelled incorrectly. But… I shall see!

T-Mobile Data Service Outage [February 14, 2009]

A bit of breaking news here; Reports are coming in from Chicago, Oregon, California, and Arizona that T-Mobile customers are not able to access any data networks.  Cell phone calls are still able to be placed, and with the HTC T-Mobile G1 at least, WiFi is still usable (but that’s something the phone supports, not a network service). Reports starting coming in around 10pm PST, and as of this post, service is still unavailable. It is unclear if all phones are affected, or just the G1, though, I suspect it’s the data network as a whole.

There’s no official word from T-Mobile.

UPDATE: I checked my phone at 6:50am Pacific Time, and it was able to access the EDGE network (which is typical, no 3G where I am).

UPDATE: Outages are still being reported across the United States. Some one the T-Mobile forums are stating service reps are telling them the outages are still occurring only west of the Mississippi; “They’re workin’ on it.”

From the official T-Mobile Support Forums:
Data service outage?

Data outage? (an older thread, revisited)

A Personal Project: WiFi Scan & War Driving

I’ve created  a page that displays an interactive Google Maps mashup of wireless access points with dynamic pin colors and detailed information including geographical coordinates, type of encryption (if any), and signal strength. Below the map is a link to download the KML file for use in Google Earth. Most, if not all, of the points have been captured during wardriving (though, I may have been a passenger in the vehicle, or walking, or riding a bike), with an Android-powered smartphone using WiFi Scan.

As you’ll see most of the points are located in Turlock, California, USA. Other points have been captured while wardriving in Merced, and Dublin, California and various paths throughout Stanislaus, Merced, San Joaquin, and Alameda County.

Wardriving with Wifi Scan in California and beyond (at some point)