Related
just curious, is there any particular reason why USB tethering hasn't been hacked yet?
i know there are app's but is there something at the core of the Android OS or HTC part of the OS that is completely blocking USB tethering without the hotspot function.
one would like to believe that, if a programmer wanted to, they could simply do a dump of their current system, then call Sprint and sign up for the hotspot, let it get initialized on the phone, then do a dump of the phone again and do a comparison.
and then shut off the service as soon as you are done using it.
Sprint will prorate the monthly fee if you dont use it all month.
Sprint sends something to the phone to say "Hotspot initialized, Hotspot Authorized" and there has to be something in the OS that is either altered or added that can then be emulated or spoofed in a rooted rom.
thats my thoughts on it.
is there anyone with the knowledge and not just b.s. talk who can actually answer this properly?
3rd party apps are fine but not when they have to be installed on the client side of the link (the pc)
the flipside is that you can simply keep it on your memory card and just pull it off the memory card and install it on whatever pc/laptop you want to tether to.
but again, a 3rd party application to do this i do not believe is needed.
Windows sees the phone as a internet device to be used, so whatever PDANet is doing, should be able to be done on the phone alone, right?
Google Tetherbot... Free, no software on host PC.
v_lestat said:
just curious, is there any particular reason why USB tethering hasn't been hacked yet?
i know there are app's but is there something at the core of the Android OS or HTC part of the OS that is completely blocking USB tethering without the hotspot function.
one would like to believe that, if a programmer wanted to, they could simply do a dump of their current system, then call Sprint and sign up for the hotspot, let it get initialized on the phone, then do a dump of the phone again and do a comparison.
and then shut off the service as soon as you are done using it.
Sprint will prorate the monthly fee if you dont use it all month.
Sprint sends something to the phone to say "Hotspot initialized, Hotspot Authorized" and there has to be something in the OS that is either altered or added that can then be emulated or spoofed in a rooted rom.
thats my thoughts on it.
is there anyone with the knowledge and not just b.s. talk who can actually answer this properly?
3rd party apps are fine but not when they have to be installed on the client side of the link (the pc)
the flipside is that you can simply keep it on your memory card and just pull it off the memory card and install it on whatever pc/laptop you want to tether to.
but again, a 3rd party application to do this i do not believe is needed.
Windows sees the phone as a internet device to be used, so whatever PDANet is doing, should be able to be done on the phone alone, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does the hotspot feature have to do with USB tethering?
you have to pay the $30/mth for the hotspot feature in order to enable USB tethering, it is part of the feature set and says so right in the description of the package.
that is why you get the Error 67 if you try to usb tether and have not paid for the hotspot feature.
tetherbot seems interesting but truth be told, again you are using a 3rd party app to initilize the connection, ADB.
i guess the next question would be, do you have to do the proxy setup everytime you usb tether? or just once?
it would only take 10sec to write a .bat file with the instructions, but i guess it comes down to why hasnt it been hacked to just run ... without all the other stuff.
again, Tetherbot is doing something that is opening the door to a final solution.
if its an app on the phone thats cool and i completely understand but having to alter the communction system between your pc and phone (by using adb to set a proxy port) seems wierd.
why the proxy settings. is port 1080 the only open port on the phone side of the link when usb is plugged in?
i could see that, but if 1 port is open, then they all can be openen, its just a matter of letting it.
i guess i dont see the need for the whole proxy system. shouldnt there be some command to just open everything up like it normally would be and not just one port?
v_lestat said:
just curious, is there any particular reason why USB tethering hasn't been hacked yet?
i know there are app's but is there something at the core of the Android OS or HTC part of the OS that is completely blocking USB tethering without the hotspot function.
one would like to believe that, if a programmer wanted to, they could simply do a dump of their current system, then call Sprint and sign up for the hotspot, let it get initialized on the phone, then do a dump of the phone again and do a comparison.
and then shut off the service as soon as you are done using it.
Sprint will prorate the monthly fee if you dont use it all month.
Sprint sends something to the phone to say "Hotspot initialized, Hotspot Authorized" and there has to be something in the OS that is either altered or added that can then be emulated or spoofed in a rooted rom.
thats my thoughts on it.
is there anyone with the knowledge and not just b.s. talk who can actually answer this properly?
3rd party apps are fine but not when they have to be installed on the client side of the link (the pc)
the flipside is that you can simply keep it on your memory card and just pull it off the memory card and install it on whatever pc/laptop you want to tether to.
but again, a 3rd party application to do this i do not believe is needed.
Windows sees the phone as a internet device to be used, so whatever PDANet is doing, should be able to be done on the phone alone, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just download PDAnet from the Market. USB tether no monthly charges.
v_lestat said:
you have to pay the $30/mth for the hotspot feature in order to enable USB tethering, it is part of the feature set and says so right in the description of the package.
that is why you get the Error 67 if you try to usb tether and have not paid for the hotspot feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not to be a pita - but I've never seen usb tethering in any description of the hotspot feature from Sprint, can you point it out? I've never had the need for either the hotspot or usb tethering, so I probably just glossed right over it.
I don't really see the need for him to point it out. If you are that curious, just go look... what he is telling you is correct. You cannot ICS without the $30 fee... hotspot OR tethering. (Unless it is hacked). I am pretty sure there is no confusion on the hack though. This is widely done with rooted phones. So it isn't a matter of people not knowing how... it is a matter of having the priv on the phone to do it. Without root, other 3rd party options are the only way.
edufur said:
I don't really see the need for him to point it out. If you are that curious, just go look... what he is telling you is correct. You cannot ICS without the $30 fee... hotspot OR tethering. (Unless it is hacked). I am pretty sure there is no confusion on the hack though. This is widely done with rooted phones. So it isn't a matter of people not knowing how... it is a matter of having the priv on the phone to do it. Without root, other 3rd party options are the only way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fair enough - the way he described it, I thought it was a sprint thing and not a hack. I was looking, but I was looking in all of the Sprint materials (website, user guide, etc) about the hotspot feature and wasn't able to find anything about it also allowing usb tethering - only the wireless tethering. I wasn't doubting him or anything. Like I said in my other post, I thought I just missed it since I never really looked into the hotspot feature before.
fachadick said:
fair enough - the way he described it, I thought it was a sprint thing and not a hack. I was looking, but I was looking in all of the Sprint materials (website, user guide, etc) about the hotspot feature and wasn't able to find anything about it also allowing usb tethering - only the wireless tethering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
technically it is a sprint thing and the phone has to be hacked to make it work.
the hack being rooting the phone.
Sprint locks the phones, so when you enable USB tethering on the phone, your PC sees it, calls it an internet connection at something like 460mbps (because its usb) and expects internet traffic in and out of that connection.
BUT
the phone checks itself and sprint, then says, oh wait, i dont have the hotspot feature enabled because i dont have the authorization key,,, so... no USB tethering, and here is your Error 67.
now the authorization key is just a theory but a legitimate one and one that is used daily on thousands of devices.
if it is all surrounding the hotspot feature, which it very well may be, then i guess finding a hack for the hotspot would be next. and not wifi tethering for root users, but a legit hack to the HTC/Sprint program.
usb tethering is available for paid app's or free apps that just make a proxy.
i guess my whole point is to just ask what is it about the usb tethering that isnt hacked to NOT give the error 67....
there is something there that can be bypassed or otherwise....
Instead of complaining that something hasnt been done or done fast enough for you, do a search!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712706
Quite active thread with the dev themselves posting often. It is close to being finished with a few kinks needing to be worked out.
superevilllama said:
Instead of complaining that something hasnt been done or done fast enough for you, do a search!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712706
Quite active thread with the dev themselves posting often. It is close to being finished with a few kinks needing to be worked out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where was i complaining? i think i clearly asked aplain and simple question.
i was aware of that thread until it was broken and not working (the tether function) then i moved on...
i am not sure why its in apps and themes where it should be more into the development section even though it clearly is an app
but either way i will investigate it more as i see there is more chatter about it working.
superevilllama said:
Instead of complaining that something hasnt been done or done fast enough for you, do a search!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=712706
Quite active thread with the dev themselves posting often. It is close to being finished with a few kinks needing to be worked out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this doesn't work on froyo kernels ATM
and what he is asking for isn't a freaking APP READ he is asking about making a rewrite to the core of the phone to allow NATIVE tether without adding some kind of app to work around the issue.
Hey guys.... so
I've personally wanted this myself, yes there are other 3rd party apps, then you have to install their software on your machine...petty of me I know, but what can I say.
So after rooting with a bunch of ROMS on my EVO, I moved to FreshEVO which so far is my favorite.
Today I upgraded to v 3.4.0.1, according to the release notes, this has just what the original poster is after:
Changes from Fresh Evo 3.3.0.1 to 3.4.0.1:
* Based on a new Sprint OTA (3.30.651.2)
* New kernel by HTC (g0f673ed)
o Modified slightly to allow apps2sd and remount to work
o Has fps unlocked by default, straight from HTC's source!
* Upped MMS size limit to 5mb (thanks to calkulin)
* Added mod to prevent MMS from compressing image unless it's over 5mb limit (thanks to calkulin)
* Added mod to unlock Sprint wired tether so that you can tether straight through the normal USB menu when you plug in your phone (thanks to calkulin. If it's not working for you then you are probably missing drivers on your computer. Check device manager. Works on 3g or wifi only)
* Updated Wireless Tether to 2.0.5-pre-11
* Updated DarkTremor apps2sd to 2.7.5.2
* Updated Google Maps to 4.5.1
* Updated Google Search to 1.1.2
* Updated YouTube to 2.0.26
* Updated busybox to 1.16.0
* There were no radio updates or updates to any system apks or jars in this OTA.
* 3.4.0.0-3.4.0.1: Fixed a browser bug. Find the small patch in Fresh Updater if you were on 3.4.0.0 already
Just thought this may be useful for those who have not come across it as yet.
Cheers
Sheldon
Why is stealing 30$ a month from sprint OK, but movies/tv warez stuff is off limits?
I get that our phones have unlimited plans, but when your tetherd to a computer there is a huge difference in usage. If they dont have the 30$ tethering charge, then they cant make enough money to keep internet unlimited. If they cant do that then we just wont have unlimited data in the future.
Also how can this forum justify not allowing info on streaming movies, which would add up to the cost of a netflix subscription (9$), while at the same time allowing a practice that costs 3 times that AND will lead to the crippling of our data plans?????
Sorry to play devils advocate but this has bothered me for a while.
um, excuse me for being a party pooper, but it has been hacked. Look for caulkin's evo fixes. One of these is the usb and wifi authorization fix. It still can't work with 4g because the authorization is somewhere else with that, but it works both ways perfectly on 3g just as fast as without. U r welcome
dk
scev5 said:
Why is stealing 30$ a month from sprint OK, but movies/tv warez stuff is off limits?
I get that our phones have unlimited plans, but when your tetherd to a computer there is a huge difference in usage. If they dont have the 30$ tethering charge, then they cant make enough money to keep internet unlimited. If they cant do that then we just wont have unlimited data in the future.
Also how can this forum justify not allowing info on streaming movies, which would add up to the cost of a netflix subscription (9$), while at the same time allowing a practice that costs 3 times that AND will lead to the crippling of our data plans?????
Sorry to play devils advocate but this has bothered me for a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've only used tethering to see how it worked once, when the device was still on 2.1, and then, 4G had that bug which allows it to run for free.....
Personally, I dont think that allowing tethering on the device would put much of a dent in Sprint's profit margin at all.
Wifi tethering allows you up to 8 devices, but split this on 3g or even 4g and your speeds are going to be anything but spectacular.......
Usb tethering limits to 1 device, but at higher speeds yes....still the bandwidth coming through to the phone I have found to be only for use in emergencies, since its by no means near my cable connection (even on 4g, since indoors my 4g strength is 1/5 bars).
Now if I'm travelling with a laptop, the first thing I'm going to do is go to a coffee shop, pay 4 or 5 bucks for some coffee and get a real connection, not rely on tethering off my phone.
If I was out in the middle of no where, the battery usage alone of the phone and/or laptop would not exactly have me sitting around for hours downloading gigs of data.
With as much as I use this phone (and I use it a lot), streaming, downloading roms, music, market apps, browsing, email....I still have yet to see my data usage exceed 300Mb per month.
Downloading on 4G for large files is acceptable, but the dent to my battery is such that it is not worth the effort, 3g is painful enough for large files that I feel like I'm still living in Africa (yes I'm from there with the good ol 56k modem).
I'm not supporting stealing at all, but if anything would hurt Sprints finances, it would probably be the ginormous amount of dollars they sponsor to things like nascar, not the small portion of subscribers that are technically literate enough to root their phones and get free tethering, let alone how much they would actually use it.
Over the past 2 weeks, I have tried to research the answers to my questions, but could barely find anything on this particular subject. So it's my first time posting to this forum, and my situation is a little embarrassing. I have had my htc evo for about 1 1/2 years, and I finally decided to root it 2 weeks ago. I've been with sprint for 6 years, and am on the unlimited data family plan, as well as the sprint hotspot feature on my phone, which I pay them 30 dollars additionally every month. I pretty much exclusively use my phone for all tasks and browsing and downloading etc, so I didn't get this feature for the "wireless tethering" , I actually got it so I could discontinue my home wireless internet through cox communications, so my phone is my only wifi source at home. I almost never use an actual pc!
I rooted my evo for 2 reasons mainly: 1) I am sort of an app addict, and I needed to free some space on my phone. I especially love using different keyboards ( which are often very large files). 2) I love customizing my home screens, but want to be able to use icons from icon packs such as crazy home's, with ADW launcher etc. I did a factory data reset on my phone before rooting, and I think I backed up all my apps to my laptop... but I wanted to start fresh anyway, so have not bothered to restore them from my pc to my phone.
Two days before I rooted my phone, Sprint temporarily disconnected my account do to Past due payment. I'm not going to get into the details, But I can't afford to pay off my balance until May. It is what it is, I'm not whining or complaining, times are a little tough for me financially and i just have to deal with not being able to make calls or text for a month. Lol, it's harder than I thought! It's pathetic how dependent my family has become on cell phones and texting for communication. We don't even have a land line. Just to give you a quick background, I didn't even know what sd card was, or a usb cable, before I got my htc evo. I'm not tech savvy at all, But when I first learned what this phone could do I was hooked. I have a laptop at home, But I never use it because a few keys on the keyboard are broken. As a matter of fact, The first time I actually plugged my phone into my pc, was when I rooted it!. I used the unrevoked 3 method, which was fairly straightforward. Because I have no data access right now, I was unable to update my profile etc. And of course, without data access I cannot take advantage of the free wireless tether.
My main question is, did I make a mistake in rooting my phone while not having network access? Right now, if I'm not in a wifi area I basically can't do much with my phone. I downloaded a few apps that allow free calling over a wireless connection, and facebook chat,etc... so I can communicate with my family as long as I'm in a wifi zone. But, I have been afraid to do anything else with my phone because I wanted to do a little research on this. I know some of you are probably thinking, why didn't she research it before she rooted? Lol, I would be saying the same thing! I didn't even think about it until I was done routing and it told me to update my profile. Since then I've been a little freaked. I'm hoping I didn't Make a bad choice. I just wanted to the able to access a few icon packs lol.
Is there anything I should know, or have done differently? Or does it make no difference at all? I guess basically what I'm getting at, is can I go ahead and reset my phone again and start flashing roms, just like I would if I had network access?
Again, please forgive me if I sound ignorant in this matter... because I am. Any advice will be much appreciated.
You can start flashing roms as normal. You didn't make a bad choice rooting without data access, because whether you do or don't doesn't make a different. i would say just make a back up of your apps in titanium backup, then backup your rom before flashing.
And you can pm me if you need any help.
Post neglected...double post.
I would say to reflash ur rom but it might not work try to go back to the sense rom if u have it backed up once u do that update everything under ur settings nd updates nd if it still don't work the only other thing I know u can do is unroot it and take it to.sprint so thay can look it
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
Kriskat74 said:
Over the past 2 weeks, I have tried to research the answers to my questions, but could barely find anything on this particular subject. So it's my first time posting to this forum, and my situation is a little embarrassing. I have had my htc evo for about 1 1/2 years, and I finally decided to root it 2 weeks ago. I've been with sprint for 6 years, and am on the unlimited data family plan, as well as the sprint hotspot feature on my phone, which I pay them 30 dollars additionally every month. I pretty much exclusively use my phone for all tasks and browsing and downloading etc, so I didn't get this feature for the "wireless tethering" , I actually got it so I could discontinue my home wireless internet through cox communications, so my phone is my only wifi source at home. I almost never use an actual pc!
I rooted my evo for 2 reasons mainly: 1) I am sort of an app addict, and I needed to free some space on my phone. I especially love using different keyboards ( which are often very large files). 2) I love customizing my home screens, but want to be able to use icons from icon packs such as crazy home's, with ADW launcher etc. I did a factory data reset on my phone before rooting, and I think I backed up all my apps to my laptop... but I wanted to start fresh anyway, so have not bothered to restore them from my pc to my phone.
Two days before I rooted my phone, Sprint temporarily disconnected my account do to Past due payment. I'm not going to get into the details, But I can't afford to pay off my balance until May. It is what it is, I'm not whining or complaining, times are a little tough for me financially and i just have to deal with not being able to make calls or text for a month. Lol, it's harder than I thought! It's pathetic how dependent my family has become on cell phones and texting for communication. We don't even have a land line. Just to give you a quick background, I didn't even know what sd card was, or a usb cable, before I got my htc evo. I'm not tech savvy at all, But when I first learned what this phone could do I was hooked. I have a laptop at home, But I never use it because a few keys on the keyboard are broken. As a matter of fact, The first time I actually plugged my phone into my pc, was when I rooted it!. I used the unrevoked 3 method, which was fairly straightforward. Because I have no data access right now, I was unable to update my profile etc. And of course, without data access I cannot take advantage of the free wireless tether.
My main question is, did I make a mistake in rooting my phone while not having network access? Right now, if I'm not in a wifi area I basically can't do much with my phone. I downloaded a few apps that allow free calling over a wireless connection, and facebook chat,etc... so I can communicate with my family as long as I'm in a wifi zone. But, I have been afraid to do anything else with my phone because I wanted to do a little research on this. I know some of you are probably thinking, why didn't she research it before she rooted? Lol, I would be saying the same thing! I didn't even think about it until I was done routing and it told me to update my profile. Since then I've been a little freaked. I'm hoping I didn't Make a bad choice. I just wanted to the able to access a few icon packs lol.
Is there anything I should know, or have done differently? Or does it make no difference at all? I guess basically what I'm getting at, is can I go ahead and reset my phone again and start flashing roms, just like I would if I had network access?
Again, please forgive me if I sound ignorant in this matter... because I am. Any advice will be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not being able to update the profile won't make any difference at all, if you have no data connection to begin with. Once you're able to get things situated, and you need to get your phone activated again, you'll just need to make sure you're on a Sense rom before you activate it again. No worries, you can flash away all you want, with or without a data connection.
Also, how have you had your Evo for 1 1/2 years!? They were released June 4th last year!
Ha ha really? I feel like I've had this evo for years.. since the day I got it I've been like a kid in a candy store! Thanks for the reassurance everyone. Unfortunately, I've just encountered the problem with the SD card not being recognized by my phone or my PC. According to my research, I'm supposed to find this file on my SD card under android. secure and delete it? But my PC isn't recognizing my card, and my apps that are on SD are seen by my phone. I get a force close when attempting to unmount SD. My market apps won't install or uninstall.... ugh. Like an idiot,I never did a Nandroid backup. I really don't care about losing my app backups though,I just don't want to mess up my phone. All this information is overwhelming me... Nandroid this, titanium that, recovery boot, drivers, and on and on.... so much advice is outdated I don't know which to follow. I'm a dummy! That's why I need my smartphone to help me out lol.... how do I fix this?
Eek....I just saw a gigantic spider.... creepy..
in a nutshell, you can do anything with your phone, without data access, or service.
I rooted and flashed the ROM I did for my old Moment, after it had been turned off so I could sell it.
Now that you are rooted, I uses Titanium backup for all my apps/data. I only backup actually apps, not HTC stuff, etc, or anything that comes with the ROM you flash.
You can tell this becasue the apps are in white lettering in the Backup menu.
At least they are on mine, and I use all default settings.
rooted without data access
Thanks everyone...I fixed my problem with my sd card, turns out mine had gotten corrupted so I will deal with that later.I just put in my other card and Im back in business....lost all my personal info though. Thats the least of my worries. Someone said I can do anything on my phone without data service, but they must mean only when I am in Wifi zone right ? See, unfortunately, I dont live in a populated area. I have no wifi access at home and there are hardly any free wifi spots in town. At home, I can see that there are wifi networks around (linkys via cox communications), but they are locked. Oh, thats another question i had....why do people lock their wifi? I never did, and I have no problem letting others access mine when they need it. Should I? If so, why?I am so sorry if I sound clueless again, but Im learning a little more every day thanks to people like you!
So as far as communication, Im out of luck. A couple months ago,I had an issue connecting to the network while i was at home, but i just turned on my sprint hotspot and i had instant network access so i couldnt call or text, but i was able to get a hold of my daughter on facebook lol. How did my phone do that? I dont get it. I am going to a couple of those prepaid phones tomorrow so we can make calls in the meantime.
As far as navigation, any tips on how to find any apps that dont need network access that work well? I found a couple, but they seem so complicated to set up. And, I tried Nettalk for making calls over wifi but it only works sometimes. I read about apps that offer free sms and calls over wifi but I couldnt find one that was stable.
I cant wait to get my service restored..I didnt realize how much I depended on it. I still havent flashed any ROMS...Im a little nervous. I still dont totally understand what is different about my evo now tthat its rooted, but i plan to educate myself once I get full access to wifi again.
Any advice/tips is very much appreciated. Thanks again for this useful forum.
I've got a fairly limited data plan, so I try to keep an eye on data usage.
The built-in 'Data Usage' meter is very useful, but it also show some inconsistencies. For example (see the attached image) yesterday it claimed that I used about 10Mb of data, but also no apps used data during this period.
The total data appears roughly consistent with what my operator says (Sunrise, Switzerland), but I'd like to know what application was responsible, so that I could disable it.
I'd love to run Wireshark, or something similar to see what's going on here, but I guess that's impossible on a non-rooted device.
Is this a known problem? Is there anything I can do to limit this behaviour?
Device details: Stock Galaxy Nexus, running 4.0.1.
I tried switching 'Mobile Data' off altogether, and that appears to stop the data flow.
As soon as I turn it back on, however, I'm up to about 1Mb/hour 'background' seepage, that doesn't show up as any specific app.
What is the normal background data rate for things like Google services?
I tried to 'reverse tether' the device so that I'd be able to sniff the data coming through my Linux computer, but apparently the device needs to be rooted for that to work. (Something to play with over the weekend...)
Bump
Does anyone have any ideas?
Try Network Counter from mapeapps in the Market. It provides a per app breakdown...
danger-rat said:
Try Network Counter from mapeapps in the Market. It provides a per app breakdown...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll try that!
i have a 500mb data plan and last month the network said i hit the limit whilst the phone said I'd only used 430mb. using 3g warchdog to monitor this month......
So today I got the letter in the mail from AT&T telling me that I need to stop tethering or that I'll lose my old grandfathered in unlimited data plan and be moved to plan that supports tethering and a data cap.
I called the number they gave me to get some info on what they were going to say they told me very generally that they have detected tethering and that if I don't stop by the end of the month, they will bump my plan. She gave me a laundry list of things that are considered tethering, from wifi hotspots to getting internet access for a gaming console.
I pressed very hard to find out what exactly I have done that they register as tethering more than anything I wanted specifics. She told me several times that they couldn't give out specifics as that is proprietary information. When I suggested that this might just them trying to force me onto a more expensive plan since they were unable to give me any proof that I had been tethering, she paused and said that she's wait while I look in my phone for tethering apps. I told her I don't have any tethering apps and she told me to look again. After some back and forth, she told me that the mere existence of a tethering app on the phone was considered tethering.
Beyond the issue of tethering at the moment I'm bothered that they even know what apps are on my phone and that they might use the existence of an app as justification to alter my service.
Has anyone heard of the carrier looking at apps like this before? From a privacy standpoint, I'd like to see if there is some way to keep their nose out of my business. Anyone know of a way to keep AT&T out of my phone?
If you were to have a tethering app on your phone (and of course, you don't), what would it be? i.e., if AT&T can detect certain apps, what, do you suppose (without admitting anything incriminating), are the apps they're talking about?
I can't imagine they'd be crazy enough to surreptitiously audit the content of a subscriber's phone, and then tacitly admit to it with this sort of inquiry. But I could imagine that they can detect tethering "signatures" via snooping network traffic. For example, if you tether to a PC and use that to browse the internet, the user agent will look different than when the phone's browser is being used. Or if you left a tethering session running and they saw your phone pulling down updates for Microsoft Windows, that'd sure be a dead giveaway. There's little if any reason to pull anything off Windows Update with a phone. They could maybe get away with detecting that sort of thing since they wouldn't be looking at data content, just whether or not the data source was consistent with a smartphone or not...
willp2 said:
So today I got the letter in the mail from AT&T telling me that I need to stop tethering or that I'll lose my old grandfathered in unlimited data plan and be moved to plan that supports tethering and a data cap.
I called the number they gave me to get some info on what they were going to say they told me very generally that they have detected tethering and that if I don't stop by the end of the month, they will bump my plan. She gave me a laundry list of things that are considered tethering, from wifi hotspots to getting internet access for a gaming console.
I pressed very hard to find out what exactly I have done that they register as tethering more than anything I wanted specifics. She told me several times that they couldn't give out specifics as that is proprietary information. When I suggested that this might just them trying to force me onto a more expensive plan since they were unable to give me any proof that I had been tethering, she paused and said that she's wait while I look in my phone for tethering apps. I told her I don't have any tethering apps and she told me to look again. After some back and forth, she told me that the mere existence of a tethering app on the phone was considered tethering.
Beyond the issue of tethering at the moment I'm bothered that they even know what apps are on my phone and that they might use the existence of an app as justification to alter my service.
Has anyone heard of the carrier looking at apps like this before? From a privacy standpoint, I'd like to see if there is some way to keep their nose out of my business. Anyone know of a way to keep AT&T out of my phone?
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Are you on stock AT&T rom?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using XDA Premium HD app
While I hope for their own sake that they aren't auditing software on the devices, I suppose they could be watching what people download. For instance, some tethering apps are just not available in the Play store if you are coming from AT&T or Sprint. I could see that perhaps in one of the many TOS agreements I clicked OK on without reading there was something that said they could sniff around my phone.
I assumed they would be looking at traffic, but after being quite vague over and over again, she was very specific about a tethering app. Agreed that as soon as a PC goes online it creates all kinds of traffic that wouldn't look like a smart phone.
I am using the stock / not rooted AT&T ROM at this point. I normally root right away, but I haven't really had a need on this one.
I would root and use a different ROM if I felt like it would keep their noses out of my junk. Even if I was tethering, I'm not using a crazy amount of data so I find the whole thing pretty silly.
Now I am thinking that if they do change my tethering plan without my permission, I have to assume that I can break my contract if I want and move elsewhere. Just not sure where I could get another Note II with unlimited data at a decent price.
willp2 said:
While I hope for their own sake that they aren't auditing software on the devices, I suppose they could be watching what people download. For instance, some tethering apps are just not available in the Play store if you are coming from AT&T or Sprint. I could see that perhaps in one of the many TOS agreements I clicked OK on without reading there was something that said they could sniff around my phone.
I assumed they would be looking at traffic, but after being quite vague over and over again, she was very specific about a tethering app. Agreed that as soon as a PC goes online it creates all kinds of traffic that wouldn't look like a smart phone.
I am using the stock / not rooted AT&T ROM at this point. I normally root right away, but I haven't really had a need on this one.
I would root and use a different ROM if I felt like it would keep their noses out of my junk. Even if I was tethering, I'm not using a crazy amount of data so I find the whole thing pretty silly.
Now I am thinking that if they do change my tethering plan without my permission, I have to assume that I can break my contract if I want and move elsewhere. Just not sure where I could get another Note II with unlimited data at a decent price.
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Also make sure you DONT use internet explorer that is a NO NO for tethering with AT&T they see the browser agent and KNOW that`s not possible without tethering.
hyelton said:
Also make sure you DONT use internet explorer that is a NO NO for tethering with AT&T they see the browser agent and KNOW that`s not possible without tethering.
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Prove I haven't just changed my agent string to make the stupid app server think I'm on a windows desktop and using IE.
One of my friends pinged me 2 days ago. He got the friendly text stating tethering isn't allowed without a tether plan. No tethering on his part, just a lot of vevo traffic.
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You could setup a linux machine at home and keep that running. Setup an SSH tunnel from your phone to your home linux box and tunnel all the tethering traffic through that. To AT&T that would just look like an encrypted ssh connection.
You could also run a Windows virtual machine on your phone. It's already been done.
Darkshado said:
You could also run a Windows virtual machine on your phone. It's already been done.
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That wouldn't help. FIrst, I don't think there are any hardware network drivers for windows for the Note II, so it wouldn't be able to get internet. Second, If he did have internet, he would still run into the same issue of unencrypted traffic being sniffed by at&t. Sure he could setup an ssh tunnel from windows, but at that point it's just silly to run windows on the note just to encrypt traffic.
I assume one could use any VPN like the SSH tunnel or something like hotspot shield or similar as long as all traffic is forced through the tunnel and there really would be no way for anyone to tell what you are doing.
willp2 said:
I assume one could use any VPN like the SSH tunnel or something like hotspot shield or similar as long as all traffic is forced through the tunnel and there really would be no way for anyone to tell what you are doing.
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YA, thats the idea. As long as traffic is encrypted somehow there is little that AT&T can sniff.
DeMiNe0 said:
That wouldn't help. FIrst, I don't think there are any hardware network drivers for windows for the Note II, so it wouldn't be able to get internet. Second, If he did have internet, he would still run into the same issue of unencrypted traffic being sniffed by at&t. Sure he could setup an ssh tunnel from windows, but at that point it's just silly to run windows on the note just to encrypt traffic.
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I think he was perhaps referring to why there was traffic that looks like it originated from a PC coming from my phone. So if someone was running a VM on the phone itself it would produce some PC looking traffic. If that was the idea there, I assume tethering to a VM is still tethering?
Yeah: Provided you can run Qemu or Virtualbox you can run Windows in it, and it will have network access just like any VM would from a full sized computer. My point is that you can make a non-tethered phone generate the very same sort of IP traffic a computer would.
Heck, if the Fujitsu LOOX F-07C can run on AT&T, you don't even need a VM to generate connections to Windows Update and a desktop IE user agent!
I got the same message last week. I don't tether at all. I'm on cleanrom 4.5. Tried to request what apps they suspect me of using but wouldn't tell me either. I know all the apps I have on my phone as I keep things very simple. I will admit I do use a lot of data (4-4.5 gigs in 2 weeks lol)
I use Pandora and tunein app to stream music all the time. Only thing that I recently did out of the normal routine was use the desktop view on Google chrome. Would that give a different browser signature?
pyo said:
I got the same message last week. I don't tether at all. I'm on cleanrom 4.5. Tried to request what apps they suspect me of using but wouldn't tell me either. I know all the apps I have on my phone as I keep things very simple. I will admit I do use a lot of data (4-4.5 gigs in 2 weeks lol)
I use Pandora and tunein app to stream music all the time. Only thing that I recently did out of the normal routine was use the desktop view on Google chrome. Would that give a different browser signature?
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Yes, it would show a user-agent string without indicating mobile. But not likely something to trigger a tether notice, as I use desktop view all the time. It's likely the high data usage that makes them think tether.
-----
I would love to help you, but help yourself first: ask a better question
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
willp2 said:
So today I got the letter in the mail from AT&T telling me that I need to stop tethering or that I'll lose my old grandfathered in unlimited data plan and be moved to plan that supports tethering and a data cap.
I called the number they gave me to get some info on what they were going to say they told me very generally that they have detected tethering and that if I don't stop by the end of the month, they will bump my plan. She gave me a laundry list of things that are considered tethering, from wifi hotspots to getting internet access for a gaming console.
I pressed very hard to find out what exactly I have done that they register as tethering more than anything I wanted specifics. She told me several times that they couldn't give out specifics as that is proprietary information. When I suggested that this might just them trying to force me onto a more expensive plan since they were unable to give me any proof that I had been tethering, she paused and said that she's wait while I look in my phone for tethering apps. I told her I don't have any tethering apps and she told me to look again. After some back and forth, she told me that the mere existence of a tethering app on the phone was considered tethering.
Beyond the issue of tethering at the moment I'm bothered that they even know what apps are on my phone and that they might use the existence of an app as justification to alter my service.
Has anyone heard of the carrier looking at apps like this before? From a privacy standpoint, I'd like to see if there is some way to keep their nose out of my business. Anyone know of a way to keep AT&T out of my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To the OP, did you tether ever?
I am worried that innocent people will lose their unlmtd plan? We need to find out if their detection system is wrong?
Wait, I signed up for 2 lines around 3 or 4 months sgo and they said because I got the max 6gigs of data a month I could tether all I want. I haven't for more than 10 minutes but I have noticed that AT&T sales reps speak in half truths. I was told if I paid the 10 a month for insurance I could break it by throwing it at someone" Well I added my 2nd line 10 days later and only then found out about a $200 deductible. I was definitely never told about a high deductible upon signing with them. I dont hold back though. I had all prorated charges waived.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2
DeMiNe0 said:
You could setup a linux machine at home and keep that running. Setup an SSH tunnel from your phone to your home linux box and tunnel all the tethering traffic through that. To AT&T that would just look like an encrypted ssh connection.
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That's exactly what I do and no problems thus far
Tethering detection has been discussed many times. The consensus is that they detect tethering by examining the TTL (Time-To-Live) value in the packet. When you tether a device, it shows a different TTL value than the one used in data packets sent by the phone and that's what they look for. There are other tricky things they can examine in the packet headers that can be used to detect tethering, but those are more complicated and take more effort on the part of the the wireless provider.
From what I read, it looks like SSH tunneling over a VPN would allow you to tether without detection, but I haven't heard of any definitive test on this. The biggest problem I see with that approach is that it really slows down your connection.
Here's a very technical paper that discusses tethering and methods to defeat it: Tethering Camouflage
These guys created a test app that rewrites packet data to hide tethering. In the article, they compare their method to using a VPN, which they imply will do the trick. Their opinion is that wireless providers will eventually give up on trying to enforce tethering restrictions because people will find ways to defeat it and it will cost them more than it's worth.
cyrano821 said:
That's exactly what I do and no problems thus far
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Same here got an ipcop firewall with open VPN Created certs for my mac and Android devices and no issues as of yet.
So, since I've got this over monster I've had a shocking number of issues. From sudden influx of crap followers online, people sending photos of some of those little people some people keep as pets.
But, it was probably a month in kept getting restarts that left my wall paper different, noticed key guard was in the running processes and Samsung wasn't able to give me much info at all.
Frequently my antivirus Would randomly flag some huge archive that would appear in Google vending folder and for some reason my weather app for my gear fit updated EVERYDAY
Today a series of unfortunate events and my phone did a factory reset shortly after a drop. I actually find that interesting because I don't know the drop or one of my...well call them gremlins. (Let's face it most of things i have attributed are probably just me going into PTSD blah blah blah... )
But today Turn process I did streamline to get Nic cards logging up and go and build to set up a good firewall get ad blockers going but I wanted to see what happened. And I go my weather app eventually.
And for some reason over in reddit they tend to think permissions like this are normal (I know Samsung's calculator is more than a calculator but mine once had almost every permission with about 800MB storage taken up.
So, This weather app seemed a little abnormal look up the IP address, looked up the company and, I looked furlough their partners for Samsung and Knox (didnt Find the one)
Just a quick assumption;
This module has the Hotspot 2.0 and REALLY likes its certificates. I noticed the option to share Your Wi-Fi with someone is always default toggle on.
If you scroll through the websites what we do you see that they are very proud that they have the edge one of the largest threat assessments for everybody when hop away from 1 of their servers , how many of them there are etc. And I Have this feeling that my device is actually just a nice little go between allowing others access to the internet while gathering their data points.
I can't actually post links but if you do their site plus this thing takes you right to the talk about their platform. Gove the data that goes through phones, that is good for anything from Cambridge analytica code level stealing countries to just figuring out how stable and great 5G is
/us/en/
what-we-do/intelligent-platform
I've seen the Address actually go by in my primary bp and add blocker but that 1 doesn't give me per app metrics so not sure what else goes to them.
Also, suddenly I think I know at least partially why they don't want flashed ROMS(?), at least yet.
I'd actually really like to know if anyone else, specifically related to 5G sees these also. Given the timing of that release device and anal FMRi weather app there. And for some reason even though I use a little cheaper company gives me unlimited data they have swapped my network several times between bigger company the smaller company. Its same towers and stuff usually so no big deal but, doesn't normally do that. (Have noticed that actually from the Galaxy store I see that quite often, but the "same" download from play store different version number less permissions)
(By the way hello this is the 1st device actually looking to rooting, prior the risk of that access to someone else was too much. Thanks for letting me join the community, I do hope I catch on quick ans don't drive any one too crazy)
(I tried to add in pictures of the weather app permissions and everything but can't post pictures either)
A drop shouldn't cause a factory reset... if it was caused by software you have an apk(s) that are trashware.
A 3rd party launcher put mine in a boot loop... twice.
If you did a recent firmware update it may have corrupted that load, reload as you did.
A virus or trojan are suspect as well. Run Malwarebytes and Trojan scanner. Some malware may not always be detected.
If you suspect a virus after a reload be careful what you load and bring into the system including the on SD card and any backups. Start with the base load and add only apps from Playstore at first. Go from there if it runs ok. Be wary of updates, one at a time, look for issues as you progress.
Same with backup data... if it's there you'll need to isolate it or dump all the data.
Use a package disabler like PD MDM to block bloatware from running and to troubleshoot.
blackhawk said:
A 3rd party launcher put mine in a boot loop... twice.
If you did a recent firmware update it may have corrupted that load, reload as you did.
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I was worried so, as I'd never seen it i just know these things actually include that hardware backed encryption. I had worries that I had knocked that loose and might have issues with it later. (Accelerometer is off bit it seems now)
I can say likely:
1. Third party lock screen with data wipe. Not highly reviewed but was but trashy. May have accidently in the tussle woke the screen with motion and performed a wipe.
2. Package disabled. I play with what I can get away with disabling. Some Knox stuff is bit touchy.
3. I'd managed to start process of adding a second secure folder on a secondary profile. It hadn't like it but stayed working.
Or combo 2 & 3 but lock screen most likely I'd say
HungryRobotics said:
I was worried so, as I'd never seen it i just know these things actually include that hardware backed encryption. I had worries that I had knocked that loose and might have issues with it later. (Accelerometer is off bit it seems now)
I can say likely:
1. Third party lock screen with data wipe. Not highly reviewed but was but trashy. May have accidently in the tussle woke the screen with motion and performed a wipe.
2. Package disabled. I play with what I can get away with disabling. Some Knox stuff is bit touchy.
3. I'd managed to start process of adding a second secure folder on a secondary profile. It hadn't like it but stayed working.
Or combo 2 & 3 but lock screen most likely I'd say
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Get a good case like the Bolt. High G impacts can cause internal damage but usually not especially if in a case.
I don't use secure folder, encryption or any screen lock especially 3rd party. Any apk you give administrator rights to lock the phone can effectively trash your OS load in a heartbeat.
Have had passwords get corrupted (rare) before and gotten totally locked out on a laptop bios.
That machine is now useless.
On Androids you can reload to recover if all else fails but a reload takes a lot of work...