Enable internet tethering with etisalat and du on iPhone

Note: this is a longer version of an article written by Oliver Jackson appearing in the upcoming September issue of Shufflegazine.

As a freelance photographer, it’s very important for me to be available to existing and new clients at all times, not only over the phone but also by email to send quotations and upload images. And since the release of Apple’s iPhone OS 3.0 update, I’ve been taking advantage the new internet tethering feature on my iPhone 3G to connect my MacBook Pro to etisalat’s 3.5G network while I’m out and about.

I discovered a problem when I first installed OS 3.0 however – no tethering menu!

The Network settings menu as it appears after installing OS 3.0. But where's the Internet Tethering menu?

Apple has a close relationship with many carriers, which subsidize Apple’s expensive 3G and 3GS iPhones by bundling them into long-term contracts with their customers. iPhone data usage is higher than on any other mobile phone, and many carriers are cautious about restricting data use over their limited 3G networks. As a concession to these carriers, Apple has disabled internet tethering by default, and to enable it requires an update from your mobile phone carrier.

If you call etisalat’s iPhone support today, the helpful agent will tell you that etisalat does not officially support internet tethering, but if you know how to do it, you can enable it. This is a little cryptic, but what it boils down to is this: etisalat, being the dynamic and forward-looking company that it is, has yet to release the necessary carrier update to enable internet tethering on the iPhone. (At the time of publishing, it’s been nearly three months since OS 3.0 was released, while the last iPhone carrier update on Apple’s servers is dated 5 December 2008). However, etisalat doesn’t prohibit internet tethering either.

So how can you enable iPhone Internet Tethering on the etisalat or du networks? There are two ways to do this. The first is to visit a website like http://www.benm.at using the Safari browser from your iphone and create a new .mobileconfig file using your carrier’s Access Point Name settings, which you can then download directly to your iPhone. This is a very quick and simple way, but unfortunately it doesn’t allow you to configure Internet Tethering and MMS at the same time. A better method is to download or create a carrier settings, or .ipcc file. Carrier settings files are updates from your carrier that can be sent to your iPhone through iTunes or over the data network as an MMS. They are used to configure many settings specific to that carrier, such as a logo, voicemail, data and MMS settings. Over at the EmiratesMac.com forum we’ve created some custom .ipcc files for etisalat and du that:

• Add a nice etisalat or du carrier logo in the top left corner.
• Enable the “Cellular Data Network Menu in Settings>General>Network and fills in the data, MMS, and roaming voicemail settings for etisalat and du.
• Enable the Internet Tethering toggle in Settings>General>Network.
• Fix a bug in OS 3.0 that sends an SMS to multiple recipients as an MMS, making it more expensive.
• Enable emergency dialing: 999 (police) 998 (fire) & 997 (ambulance)
• Enable Network Identity and Time Zone (automatically updates the system clock on some carriers)
• Add a services menu for various additional carrier services in Settings>Phone>(Carrier Name)

To download the latest custom etisalat or du .ipcc file for your iPhone, head over to the EmiratesMac.com forum, and visit the OS 3.0 FAQ in the iPhone Support and Troubleshooting sub-forum (http://shuffle.to/iphone30faq). Once you’ve downloaded it to your desktop, you’ll have to enable ‘carrier testing mode’ in iTunes in order to install it:

On a Mac:
1. Quit iTunes
2. Launch Terminal in Application>Utilites
3. Type the following command into the Terminal window:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool TRUE
4. Press Return and quit Terminal
5. Connect your iPhone and launch iTunes.
6. Select your iPhone from the list of devices on the left, then hold down the Option key and select “Check for Update.”
7. Select the downloaded .ipcc file.

On a PC:
1. Quit iTunes
2. Press Windows Key + R to open the run dialog. Type “cmd” then click OK to launch the command prompt
3. Type the following command into the Command Prompt window.
“C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe” /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1
4. Press Return and close the Command Prompt window.
5. Connect your iPhone and launch iTunes.
6. Select your iPhone from the list of devices on the left, then hold down the Shift key and select “Check for Update”
7. Select the downloaded .ipcc file.

Important: IMMEDIATELY force-restart your iphone by holding down the power and the Home buttons for ten seconds until it shuts down automatically. Press the power button again to turn it back on. Once it’s restarted you should be able to see the Cellular Data Network and Internet tethering menus under Settings>General>Network.

Network settings menu with the Cellular Data Network and Internet Tethering menus enabled. Notice the nice new etisalat icon in the menu bar!

That’s it! Now you can enable Internet tethering on your iPhone. While you can also connect through Bluetooth, I recommend USB, as tethering takes a lot of power from the phone and you may as well charge your iPhone while you’re connected anyway. Go to Settings>General>Network>Internet tethering, and follow the instructions on screen.

Decide how you would like to tether. The rest is almost automatic. Once it’s activated you’ll get a blue bar across the top of your screen.

Of course, if you do use tethering, you’ll want to buy a 3G data package, as your laptop will suck data at up to 7.2 Mbps and the prepaid rates are horrendous! In the end I settled for etisalat’s 1GB package for AED 195, but for most users starting out on 3G data usage, the 100MB plan for AED 95 should do fine to begin with.

A final word of warning – the 3G data packages don’t apply to the older eWAP data network. If you see an ‘E’ on your iPhone instead of “3G”, be aware that you are paying the standard usage rates, and by using tethering that can quickly add up – just after I first enabled tethering I managed to lose over AED 100 in less than a minute when I received an email with 12MB of attachments!

Being able to use my iPhone on the road has helped me many times in the last two months when I couldn’t get access to a public wifi, and thanks to the new Internet Tethering feature, I can relax and know that as long as I have my iPhone and my laptop with me, I can always be in touch with my clients from almost anywhere in the UAE.

If you’d like to learn more about .ipcc files, you can visit us at the EmiratesMac.com forum, where you can even learn how to make your own custom carrier settings files. If you do visit, be sure to say hello to me – we’re always glad to see new members and we’ll be happy to help you with any other mac problems or questions you might have!

Oliver Jackson is a professional photographer in Dubai. You can see some examples of his work at his website: http://www.gierran.com.