FreeTether brings WiFi, USB, and Bluetooth Tethering to all webOS devices 99
Huzzah and hooray - tethering is now easy (well, easier) for webOS homebrew aficionados to install and use. Thanks to WebOS Internals (with a special shout out to PuffTheMagic), a lovely little app called FreeTether is available to anybody who's daring enough to enable the test app feeds in Preware and download. It will tether via WiFi most easily, but can also handle both USB and Bluetooth tethering if you prefer to kick it old school.
Obligatory caveats: if the terms Preware, testing feed, and bugs scare you, well, we recommend you wait a bit longer to try it. More importanly, remember that while this app will enable tethering for any webOS phone, what effect that has on your data costs is between you and your carrier - buyer homebrewer beware.
In our testing thus far it's a little slower than we'd hoped, but this thing is still in beta stages and given how much work we imagine went into this app, we're not going to knock it. Take a look at the buglist if you're interested and be sure check out the source link for more info.
Finally, if this sort of thing helps you or just makes you smile, WebOS Internals is always happy to take donations.
99 Comments
FYI, the USB tethering on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard will not work... so Mac users don't tear your hair out trying.
We have some ideas on how to make USB networking work for Snow Leopard, but it involves quite an invasive kernel modification and we don't know if it will work yet.
-- Rod
Actually, since the USB tether comes up as a Microsoft RNDIS device; the same as Windows Mobile phones do, Mac users should be able to use MarkSpace's MissingSync software to do a USB tether, as it supplies a RNDIS driver.
Not sure if it would work out of the box with the freeTether version, but seeing as it works with the standard Microsoft one from Activesync/WMDC; I don't see why not.
Any idea (time frame) when this will be out of beta testing and available via a Preware download?
As always, that depends completely on how the alpha testing progresses.
-- Rod
check the time this was posted 420 haha
Note that PuffTheMagic and egaudet are the co-developers for freeTether.
-- Rod
Wifi tethering doesn't seem to be working on my Sprint pixi :(
I guess you would have to ask yourself how it even could. Your Sprint Pixi does not have a WIFI radio, therefore doing WIFI tethering would be pretty much miraculous. These webOS Internals guys/gals are good, but they are not THAT good!
The appropriate place for problem reports on alpha testing software is in the forum thread or bug tracker, not as a comment on an article.
-- Rod
Very excited for this! Although I might wait for the updated, mainstream Preware version, this is exciting news. Hope the alpha testing goes smoothly. ;)
Strange enough, could it be that the WiFi tethering only works with WiFi devices? Can't seem to get the DHCP Server lit.
freeTether is awesome. Great job.
now I can tether the nookColor (and laptop, when I feel like dragging it around), when on the road. sweet!.
wow, works amazingly fast and well, donation on the way!!!!
I'll stick with what I've got for connectivity, but the Homebrew crew is the reason I'm staying with HP/Palm . . . You guys are awesome!
had a tough time finding this puppy on PreWare. It us NOT under Testing but WebOS Internals/ Applications/ System Utilities.
haven't tried it yet. Hope it works.
I have preware on my pre minus but can't figure out how to get the test aps feed added. Don't see it as a default feed to turn on/off. Is there a custom url I should know to add it? Thanks and keep up the great work!
jamie- take a look at http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Testing_Feeds
This is odd, I don't see Freetether under this path.
I added the URL to the feeds and I don't get Freetether
Never mind... I get download error, I guess I will wait until it becomes available later. :-)
Thank you thank you thank you thank you.
A gadzillion thank yous! I've been trying to make this work before to no avail. I turned on the testing feed, downloaded, and woot woot its workin!! My Apple Touch is online and jammin!!
my feelings for you have always been real
Just tethered my iPad (which is incredible) It was a slow (Ping 300+, Dl .11mbs Ul .14mbs), but it worked!
One problem, I closed the app and restarted, now the wifi won't stay "on" it switches back to off immediately. (even after restart) Anyone else having this issue? (btw bluetooth and usb both seem to work)
Turn off WiFi on the phone to get WiFi tethering to work. The same thing applies to USB, where if you are using the phone to sync your music or treat it like a removable drive, you can't do USB tethering since it is "in use".
Bluetooth has its own share of problems since when pairing a device, you need to have Bluetooth discovery turned on, but doing so means the tethering won't work.
I have tried turning the wifi off, however, it still will not allow me to turn the wifi "slider" to the on position. It jumps right back to off.
Are you using a password? I was seeing the same problem with a password under 8 characters. Making it longer fixed the issue.
Please note that turning any of the toggles on will turn the respected interfaces on (i.e. wifi off and into AP mode, bluetooth discoverable, or usbnet enabled).
The toggle turning off means there was an error condition somewhere, so far the only time I've personally seen it is with WPA passphrase
I'm curious about the differences/advantages/disadvantages of this vs myTether?
Free, open, easy, supported and works on 2.0.
I was thinking the same thing. Everyone is making a huge deal of this, but I've had it for a year now... and it only cost me $10. Everyone is so happy about this, but they weren't willing to spend $10 on it?...
myTether would've had to be re-written for 2.0 in C (posted this in their forums)
Also - Aonic (mytether dev) hasnt been on those forums in 5 months +
So I've enjoyed the $15 myTether for the past year or so and gotten more than that value from it - but i'm moving to freeTether now, and donating :)
Yeah, I dunno what's up with Aonic. Can't say I can complain as myTether's worked mostly fine for a year, too, with one or two little glitches I've gotten used to. (Often have to enable tethering twice to get on, etc.)
Totally weak for him to jump ship though, and much rather use freeTether (legit open source) when it's available. Better homebrew gets another of my voluntary dimes anyhow!
You were savvy, Aonic... wherever you are.
is it possible to make this app's usage come out of my 'mobile hotspoot' usage, that is the extra 5 gb that verizon provides specifically for this purpose for us vz users? (I get 5 gb for tether, 5 for on-phone usage) ok will post on the thread too..
you only get 5gb for on phone use? i thought it was $29.99 for unlimited w/ vzw.
unlimited data is free on sprint, I feel for all you verizon followers... Paying out the ass for something that should be included in you plan...
Dieter, I think you need to add an asterisk to the word "all" in the title of this article. It seems people think this will magically give their Sprint Pixi's a wifi radio and allow them to tether to the Pixi with it.
Either that or just add the word "almost" in front of the "all".
lalala
It works on my Sprint Pixi via BT. "All" is accurate, though WiFi tethering would be an amazing feat given the hardware configuration of the device.
I'm on a new MBP, and given my choice of phone I suppose that BT is the only option available to me. Worked like a champ though - I'm very excited about this app!
Has anyone had any luck getting this to work on a first gen, palm pre on Sprint..
I was able to connect and then I started to get a data sharing now allowed message on the phone.
It works on my Pre -
I have a Sprint Overclocked Pre & downloaded freetether a couple weeks ago. What do I do next? I enabled ip forwarding and the ip address line is empty. Do I have to download something else or does it just work with only the freetethering app installed? Thx in advance
You have to give it a few minutes for the laptop to detect the Pre wifi. It works just fine on my laptop. It is just too COOL!!
You have an old version...
Sounds like you have the OLD freeTether.
All hail to the Webos internal GODS.... Thanx a million... Now my wife and I can both enjoy tethering.. I was able to do it.. But now her phone will be able to tether.. for some reason hers wasn't able to tether... But I am sure you guys have come to our rescue...
Thanx again..
And keep up the good work..
:)
I've added the webOS internals test feed (all) to Preware. But I don't see freeTether anywhere. Has it been taken off? What am I doing wrong?!
also add the pre specific arm7 feed
Thanks.
Works fantastic on webOS 2.0! Great job, guys!
I'm still not finding this app? I added the testing feed to no avail? Please help?
ken
I can't find it either...
Only had a chance to use the WIFI feature on my VZW Pre Plus with this and it works great! I also have the testing feed listed in preware but had to dl freetether from the wiki page directly. You guys going to enable secure WIFI so it requires a pw to connect?
good job. although i dont technically need it w/ my free mobile hotspot, it still give major props to yall.
your 5gb limit free hot spot, it's funny when verizon followers brag about something they get for free hahahaha
Its not in the ALL feed, only the Pixi (and I guess Pre) test feed
TO ALL WHO CAN'T LOCATE FREETETHER: Go to this website. http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Testing_Feeds
Add the test feed through PreWare on your device that fits your device (Pixi not capable of anything to do with wi-fi... Sorry) Follow the directions listed on that page. I just did it using my Sprint Pre(-) and now im posting this comment using FreeTether to power the laptop.... Awesome Job!!!!
I'm guessing this would be swiftly removed from the official app catalog? Are the APIs it uses even available in the webOS 2.0 SDK? If not ignore my first question but feel free to answer the second.
Aside from usb & bluetooth, is this just as useful/fast as the Mobile Hotspot app I installed using Quick Install? I remember there were some ipk's that had to be installed using WebOS QI not preware.
If you added the feed but cannot find it in the location noted in the comments above; do the following...
Delete the feed you just entered, create the feed again with the appropriate link, (IMPORTANT) ENTER THE NAME AS LISTED ABOVE THE FEED LINK. An incorrect name only shows a fraction of the packages. Enjoy :)
I'm happy with this test! Donation on the way!
results:
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1098831687.png
Awesome! Got it and it works great! Thanks and donation is on the way :)
Dew and jeanjean, try tracking it thru preware,available packages, then tap feeds on bottom of page, then wenos internals testing, application, system utilities, and freetether should be there (at least that is where i found it). Tap and then launch. Havent been able to try yet, bit will soon as i get home tonite. Hope this helps.
The article mentions what is presumably poor throughput, but running the Ookla test in rural VT I was seeing 1.17 Mbps down and .33 Mbps up. Now in suburban CT I'm seeing .31 Mbps down and .08 Mbps up. So network variability seems to come into play here. Don't blame the app!
This is a really nice application!
Nice, and much cleaner looking. Threw my dime and nickel in the pot, though I'll hold off until beta.
So those who've tried it, does it have a session data use monitor? That *other* one has it, but it reads out fubar.
Ok I did everything that the link above says... but i cant find fretether.... My quiestion is: at the end is arm7 or armv7??? I've a pre with Sprint... any idea?
also i get second screen before preware start reload.... i guess is a error screen.... any help?
so I ran into a small issue. Freetether worked great. But my mobile hotspot (vzw) said I didn't have the carrier feature needed to make it work after using freeT. A phone restart resolved the issue. So.. Minor gitch that's all.
Just got the program for my Sprint Palm Pre - works great - I am using it Via Wifi right now.
did you get a second screen like a error... cuz i did everything and i dont get anything... Im also have a sprint palm pre ....
Everything worked fine on mine. No error screen.
Just installed and works like a charm. The money donated was worth every penny.
Working great. My speed is actually faster then the old freetether. Running on Verizon's Palm Pixi Plus with webOS 1.4.5. Added the WebOS-Internals Testing feed for the Pre and found it! Great job guys!!
i don't user it. Why?
Help,I want to breath some life into my palm TX. I pair my TX and PPre using bluetooth. I select bluetooth i freetether, I check i connection and no device is connected.
Basically I want to have my TX connect to internet via my palm pre. Any body succeeded PalmOS to webOS tethering, Instructions please
regards
The Palm TX has a wi-fi module -- use that to connect to the Palm Pre instead of bluetooth.
I have a Treo 680.. now THAT I'd like to tether via bluetooth. Anyone? :P
For those that made the same mistake as me.When adding the test feed to preware.It reads armv7 not arm7.I feel dumber.
MyTether has been working fine for me. AND it works with PC & Mac. Hopefully this one will include mac support.
FreeTether runs on webOS, not PC or Mac...
ok, so day 2 on the palm pre (sprint) and an archos 101 internet tablet.
The wifi works great when tethering to my IMac but is buggy when trying to connect the archos tablet It doesn't get an ip unless i restart the unit, and the phone in most cases. Not sure what is making it hang..
The bluetooth tethering works great. So that is what i am using for now
The USB tethering, I have not used yet.
All in all you guys ROCK.. thanks for continuing to bring WEBOS great technology..
....
after 4 hours last night i just do it againg.. and finally it work.... OMG!!!!! donationis on the way!!!!!! Thanks to all who r working no only in this... but for the hard work!!!!!
if you really want Freetether working... after folow the steps... u most need to restart u phone...
Does this new freetether remove the need to install freetetherd first like it used to be? Sorry - still figuring out how to do this - most definitely going to give it a shot now that I have my pre- overclocked.
Will this app ever be easier to download? For instance, straight from the phone?
if you follow the instructions and have preware already installed, then yes, you can.
thanx! It worked fine once I downloaded the right version. Also would I need to worry about Sprint charging any extra fees for running this app? (i have an unlimited plan)
I've been using Mytether for months now and my data usage has been off the charts. No extra charges :)
These guys are the best. Simple setup, has been working awesome. Donations are definately worth it. Thanks again guys!
Hey thanks for the updated freetether it's awesome. One thing though, when I try to connect to windows messenger on my laptop, it won't connect does anyone know why?
where do I download FreeTether for my palm pre?
The http://ipkg.preware.org/feeds/webos-internals/testing/arm7 url keeps giving me an error (a page long error on the Pre 2 and a wrong url error on the pc). Anyone any ideas how to solve this? This way I can't find Freetether and it's probably the reason I can't find Ubercalendar.
Anyone?
This is the correct URL:
http://ipkg.preware.org/feeds/webos-internals/testing/armv7/
where can i download this its not my preware
I just found it i added the URL to my preware and let me tell you this freetether is awesome im using it right now! :)) thanks a lot to the maker off this app
I have a Palm Pre (P100UEU, hw. version A) with Palm webOS 1.4.5
FreeTether v1.1.3 works very-very-well in WiFi and USB modes in a Windows 7 Starter environment. I can´t test it in Bluetooth mode.
Download test results (Operator: Movistar Spain): http://www.speedtest.net/result/1395903587.png
This is really a very useful application and I had only a little problem: to run it in USB mode a NDIS driver is needed and it was not installed on my W7/32, solved as follows:
-in the Device Manager, there is a device called RNDIS Ethernet Gadget with the yellow triangle alarm icon
-right click it, select Update Driver
-Browse My Computer for the driver->click in the bottom "Let me pick"
-Select as device type "Network Adapters"
-Select as Manufacturer "Microsoft Corporation" (be careful, don`t select "Microsoft")
-Select "Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device"
-Click Next and install it
Donation on the way!
proud owner of a touchpad, getting a webos phone next week, probably veer. Will freetether allow me to take ATT plan without tethering and use free tether to accomplish wifi connection to my touchpad?
hi TouchPad owner with a windows phone, will this allow me to sync and use my phone internet?
thanks
I had Freetether and Mobile Hotspot on my last Pre, but on the one I activated yesterday, since I can't find Mobile Hotspot, am I good to go with just having FreeTether now?
Thanks.
Doug