freeTether update to bring Wi-Fi tethering for the masses 79
The folks at WebOS Internals continue to push the envelope for outstanding homebrew applications, and apparently they don’t take breaks over the winter holiday. Developers PuffTheMagic, and egaudet have been hard at work collaborating on a major update to the much-loved freeTether app for webOS.
PuffTheMagic noted that when freeTether was first developed as a proof-of-concept, much of the architecture necessary to permit Wi-Fi tethering wasn’t available in webOS without some pretty significant binary hackery (or breaking copyrights). This limited the then-and-current version’s intrinsic functionality to USB tethering only, as well as enabling some of the bits needed to hack Mobile Hotspot onto a Sprint Pre.
That has changed with the maturing nature of webOS, specifically with the implementation of Mobile Hotspot’s necessary backbone architecture in webOS 1.4.1. Using that backbone, the homebrew developers have built their own service and reworked freeTether enough that the next version promises to be a major advance.
According to egaudet, “everything will just work,” including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB tethering. There will also be better controls and more elegant methods of enabling USB-tethering functionality than previously possible, like removing the need for a reboot. Even some of the extra bells and whistles, like lists of connected devices (like that available with Mobile Hotspot), will be available in the new version of freeTether. Best of all, although the UI is subject to change, this new version of freeTether is expected to be ready for release within a week.
As always, the folks at WebOS Internals do their work in their spare time and are funded entirely by donation. Like so many other WebOS Internals releases, freeTether promises to dramatically increase the utility of our beloved webOS devices. So, we might recommend that you show your appreciation with a donation to PuffTheMagic and egaudet to help cover their costs.
Source: WebOS Internals (Twitter)
79 Comments
Awesome. This will be a great addition to my new PalmPad! Thanks!
Indeed, I will be using my phone to wifi my palm pad, for the occasional use of it when I am outside my home wifi.
Great News. If/When available, I will definitely jump at the opportunity to put this on my Sprint Pre. At that time, I would also like to donate, and it appears that the link you provided is not sending me where you would like it to. (I get to PayPal, but would be guessing who to send it to) ;) Any advice?
The link should open as a payment to: PuffTheMagic / egaudet Collaborations
Reference: freeTether
Otherwise, perhaps send a message to those devs directly and/or visit the WebOS Internals site to see the best way to donate.
Working now. When the post first came up, it was loading a general page. Who knows. Thanks though! Very excited for this.
Where can we get the current version? I don't see it in my preware feeds.
I purchased "mytether" and it worked great back during 1.4.1 but hasn't worked since 1.4.5
freeTether has been available as a separate ipkg installation for a while (requires freetetherd ipkg as well). I've been using it almost since v0.0.1 (what I have installed now) has been available. Plugged into my notebook at airports to keep the phone charged, it has saved me considerable money when stuck on layovers. It's simple to use once it's installed.
The current freeTether application page (http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Application:FreeTether) mentions that it's available through the testing feeds on Preware. However, enabling testing feeds (which is a manual process) also opens you up to some risk of flaky apps doing bad things to your phone, possibly requiring the use of WebDoctor to get back to an acceptable state.
And what happened to my paragraph breaks?
you have to put in br html tags now, I think.
I'm not entirely clear on what this app is designed to do. I'm not really familiar with the concept of tethering. Is there a home page I can read?
Tethering means that you can use your phone's internet connection to connect another device to the internet. So you can power the internet for your laptop, iPad, PalmPad, iTouch and more without having to pay for an internet service for those devices directly. Just be careful not to use it too much because your carrier will get upset if your data volume is off the charts high.
How is using this app different from using the Mobile hotspot app?
AFAIK, with Mobile Hotspot, you can only connect to your computer via Wifi-- this allows you to use Wifi, Bluetooth, or USB to connect.
Also, Mobile Hotspot is only on Verizon, so for people on all the other carriers, this gives you a tethering solution that you didn't have previously.
I use it daily. Does that mean at I don't need a patch to forward the ip or turn it on everytime the app open?
Yep no patches needed ;)
i sent the app to my phone. i tapped on it and as it started to install a message came on and said "this application is not avaliable for your carrier" i am on Sprint and people here talk about it working for them. what do i need to do? thank you in advance
I havnt been able to figure out how to get tethering to work on my sprnt phone in a few months. Hopefully this'll change that! Yes?
Puff once again, you did it again... You guys at webosinternals are awesome... Bring all the cool advances to the Pre.. I am and will always be a sprint customer.. So the Pre is my phone of choice.. and you guys keep making the Original version still exciting with all you do.. I will keep on donating to you guys.. Just keep on making my pre new again over and over..
Lovin It....
Fantastic! Just sold 2 of 3 MiFi's, I can finally dump it too!
Here is a more updated screenshot: http://ompldr.org/vNnM0Zw
Excellent news!
This is great!! Question: When using Mobile HotSpot on my Sprint Pre or my gf's AT&T Pre Plus, the data always goes out whenever a new device connects. Will that happen with the new freeTether? If not, I'll definitely make the switch!!
"Tethering" means your Pre will generate a "hotspot" from the 3G network that you can use to link your laptop or other wireless network device to and connect to a 3G (EVDO) network for browsing. This works just like one of those wireless cards people use on their laptops to connect to the internet. This would be especially useful on Sprint since the unlimited data plan means you can browse all you want without paying extra for exceeding a data cap. I purchased My Tether about a year ago and rarely use it. On Sprint you cannot simultaneously use EVDO & talk at the same time which means you are disconnected from the internet every time the phone rings. Unless you connect via USB your battery gets chewed in about an hour. Plus it's not very stable (often limited or no connectivity) Hopefully freeTether fixes the stability, power consumption and overheating issues.
Also, THANKS FOR THE SPAM in this forum dingleberries!!!
This PufftheMagic dude sounds like my kind of guys Lol.. Nice work!!
What's the difference in this app and the MOBILE HOTSPOT? Mobile HotSpot works on ANY Pre, no matter the carrier.
I guess I don't understand the advantages of this compared to Mobile Hotpsot.
Anyone?
The big differences between MHS and freeTether are:
1) FT works on all carriers, MHS is really only for VZW
2) FT will work for BlueTooth, USB and Wifi where as MHS is only for Wifi
Just donated to the cause. The developers in the webOS community truly provide value to the many webOS users like me, and that's value for which I'm willing to pay.
Thank You Very Much, Puff and WebOS Internalz!! You guys are the REAL saviors of webOS!! You guys must REALLY Believe!! A factory Pre is NOTHING without your Homebrew apps!! You talk about Bluetooth tethering. Does this mean you can access to Bluetooth for transferring data also? Or is that on it's way? Have you found a way to access the mix and camara yet? That would be Great!! Keep Up The Great Work! I Will Donate! You guys ARE webOS!! Keep webOS Alive!!
Thank You, Puff andWebOS Internalz. I Will Donate! Keep webOS Alive!
As with Verizon before, the use of Mobile Hotspot costs extra with SFR in France, even if you have an unlimited data plan. Does FreeTether give the possibility of bypassing paid tethering fees? ...and how does SFR "know" tha tethering is being used, instead of just the Pre consuming data???
Puff, do you know the answer to my questions?
sorry for the repeat, my pre is actting up! My earlier question was, have you found a way to access the mic and camara to be used my apps yet? And since you can now Bluetooth tether, can you also transfer data to another cell, via Bluetooth? Thanks again! Keep webOS Alive!
Keep the updates cominf. As somone else said above me, without the patches, I would have sold this thing long ago.
yes please rid us from the need for "mytether" abandon-ware...
For the record, aonic: you suck...
This sounds amazing -- I have yet to try any of the tether solutions, but, have always been interested: does anyone know if there is a good FAQ or thread in the forums I could read-up on to find out more?
The reason I've been reluctant to install is I seem to remember (a while back) when I first bought Chapura Pocketsync, that they warned users against using these solutions (as it would block Chapura's ability to sync). I always assumed it was a simple matter of enabling / disabling a switch depending on whether I wanted to tether or sync, but, I never dug further.
Regardless: This is great news. The more 'mainstream' this app becomes, the better for all of us.
Freetether is only active once you launch it and then it stays in the background, but IP forwarding can be enabled or disabled at will. It doesn't hurt to try it, and you can always delete it if you need to.
SO this should work with the wifi-less sprint pixi via BT or USB? Awesome if so. Thanks guys!
It should, as I do all my tethering over USB because it sucks the battery dry otherwise (I've actually had it use more battery than it can recharge even when plugged into the notebook on lengthy downloads). There is a package available for the Pixi as well.
Just donated. Can't wait for the updated tether app to come out. Thanks guys for all your hard work.
Ok, Mobile Hotspot can be put on ANY carrier's WebOS phone using PreWare, the IPK is out there. So besides using BT connectivity or USB connectivity to tether, instead of a WiFi Hotspot, what's the diff?
This is a big deal. I think HP and Palm should just purchase webOS internals and help the have funding to be the R&D team at Palm. They clearly have a grasp and understanding of the core system. Imagine what they could pull off it they could actually get access to the latest code and not be behind all the time. Imagine how much they could do if they knew the roadmap better. They could focus on really cutting edge stuff if they knew that some of the more standard apps were already part of the roadmap.
xwhizx last time I checked yes us Sprint Pre and AT&T pre plus users can put mobile hotspot on our Pre's but the moment we go to use it we get a message that says something along the lines of Sprint (or AT&T) does not support wifi hot spot on this device and then blocks the app from working.... Been awhile since I messed with that approach but ya that's what used to happen.
Good show! Fantastic idea to put the donation link in the copy. Donation en route ... Confirmation number: 0HN16606MK484770D.
Thanks! I just donated.
I would honestly like to see Palm add Preware to the next release of webos. Of course this would have huge cavets. This would fix the issue that Keith was griping about on the last Palm Cast. How you have to still be technical to get the most out of webos.
and yes before other start... it could cause more issues in the end.
This fall, I was in remote New Hampshire (my pre plus usually lives in SoCal), and used the Verizon MHS with Bluetooth to hook my notebook up to the interwebs. At least that's what it looked like. . .Made the Pre discoverable, went to the Bluetooth area in Windows 7 and told it to connect: voila!
I'm all for MyTether, nonetheless!
Thanks for the hard work. Just donated.
I have a Pre Plus with at&t will this app work for me too on the 3g network?
I need to know where to find the app PLEASE ANYBODY.. I look through internals on my Pre central mobile app and couldn't find it.. PUFF help me I am on sprint and I really need that app.. Can anyone point me in the right direction..
It's a manual installation via ipkg right now unless you have the Preware testing feeds enabled. In either case, you need both freeTetherd 0.0.3 (http://ipkg.preware.org/feeds/webos-internals/testing/armv7/us.ryanhope....) and freeTether 0.0.1 (http://ipkg.preware.org/feeds/webos-internals/testing/all/us.ryanhope.fr...) for it to work. Install in that order.
It should be noted that tethering works automatically on Linux, but may require a driver installation on Windows. Don't remember where to find it, though. :\
There's gotta be more required than just that right? I've got those two things installed and doesn't seem to do much...
EDIT: Never mind. Another problem solved by reading more thoroughly. :)
to bad palm and hp don't work as fast as webos internals
This is exciting! When should I expect the app to hit the Preware "shelves?" Also, how difficult is the manual install mentioned above? I just got a wifi iPad and would love to hook it up to my Pre!
Using the URLs that I provided, you should be able to install it using Internalz, or by using WebOSQuickInstall (which is how I originally did it).
I highlighted the address, clicked the Neato! extension in chrome, and it loaded straight to internalz and installed.
Man do I love webOS.
I can only find/install the older version (thanks for helping with that!) but how do I now tether my iPad to my phone with it? I am not understanding the application at this point ?!?!?!?
How come I've never heard of this before?!
I've been regularly using MyTether recently due to changing ISPs and it's served me really well so far. I donated $15 for it and would most certainly donate for freeTether. Really can't wait for the new release.
I have installed the IPK of Mobile Hotspot on my Pre on Sprint. Has worked fine since day one. It also works on Verizon phones as well. Just install the IPK.
Surely the screenshot version isn't available yet ? I have downloaded it manually and it is the earlier version. The article does say it is coming, not here yet ? The only version I can find is 0.0.1, which doesn't have the screen as shown above ?
If you know where that version can be found now, please let us know.
He's been committing updates to the Git repository for the last month or so, but has not published an updated version. The 0.0.1 version, however, works well on my Pre.
Could someone email me the link to the mobile spot application or email it to me? louboy23@yahoo.com
Thanks alot !
just donated 10 dollars this app sounds great
I wonder (hope) if this version will better support WiFi tethering to the iPad. Using MHS to do so is dismal.
Gosh I would love a how to...
To much to ask?
Thanks!
I have been using myTether for a while and donated. It works great. How is freeTether different from myTether?
just donated, app looks awesome. Thanks guys.
I tried using Mobile Hotspot on AT&T. After the warning screen that it wasn't supported, it worked for a while. Eventually, it quit; my 3G would disappear any time I activated it.
I put the testing feed into my PreWare and have not been able to find this. I'd really like to get this working.
you have to wait for a bit til your 3G signal returns then it will work. Sometimes it takes almost 2min for it to come back but it works. Very interested in FT
That's helpful to know. Thanks!
Sounds great! 1 question, I'm on verizon and I get 5gb MHS and unlimited mobile web. If I used freetether whould It be unlimited ( as if I was browsing with my pre) or would it come off my 5gb?
where can i get the app at? i cant find it anywhere?
Like some others, I've been lucky with MyTether (after multiple thrashes). Before I get rid of it I want to make sure this will work. 1. Is this a stand-alone app, or are there other programs to install? 2. Could it co-exist with MyTether on the device?
I downloaded FreeTether from the link in the comment above and it looks nothing like the photo in the article. Is there any place that explains how to set it up to use? The Also, the Preferences section is grayed out on the Menu.
Thanks!
Michael
Would love some confirmation from the app developers as to whether this will be pre/pre plus/pre2 only, or also available for the pixi family.
can someone send me the link and the how to on installing the windows drivers, is the emulator needed to get this app working properly?
how do I get the app?
This may be a weird question but has anyone successfully tethered their Spint Prē to their HDTV in order to update the TV's firmware? (I don't have high speed or wi-fi internet where my set is.) Wondering if this should be possible. What about for USB tethering and downloading a movie from Hulu or Netflix directly to the set? I suspect the bandwidth probably isn't there yet. Let us know if otherwise.
for those of us who are Twitter-challenged is there an update on th the expected release date on the update?