Tutorial: Turn Your iPhone Into a Wireless Modem

August 1, 2008 by wizTEQ Staff
Filed under Tip of The Day, Wireless

Wired: Gadget Lab

Here at Wired.com a few of us were excited about turning our iPhones
into wireless modems with the $10 NetShare application — but none of
us could get it to work. Fortunately, we got our connections up and running with some help straight from
NetShare’s maker, Nullriver. So we’ve created a step-by-step tutorial
in case you’re stuck, too.

Before we begin, do note that we could not get FireFox 3 to work with
NetShare using Nullriver’s settings; the company said it only tested
the app on FireFox 2. Safari, however, works just fine. Without further
ado, here’s our tutorial:

Step 1: Download NetShare

Search for NetShare in the iPhone’s App Store (yes, it’s there now). Pay 10 bucks and download it.

Step 2: Create a New Network

On your Mac, click on your Airport icon and select "Create Network." Type whatever
name you’d like: We used "iPhone tether" with the channel set to
Automatic (11). Then click OK.

Step 3: Open System Preferences –> Network

In the Network panel in System Preferences, select your Airport connection and click "Advanced."

Step 4: Configure TCP/IP

Choose the TCP/IP tab. Select "Using DHCP with manual address" and set your IPv4 Address to 192.168.10.2.

Step 5: Configure Proxies

Click the Proxies tab. Now, checkmark the "SOCKS Proxy" box and enter
192.168.10.1 in the SOCKS Proxy server. After the colon, enter 1080 as
the port number. Click OK and then hit the Apply button.

Step 6: Select Your Network on iPhone

In your iPhone’s Settings app, choose your the network you created and hit the blue arrow.

Step 7: Configure Static Settings

Hit the Static tab and enter 192.168.10.1 for the IP address.

Step 8: Open NetShare

Now open NetShare and run Safari on your Mac. You should be able to start browsing the web.

Step 9 (Optional): Confirm Connection

If you want to double check whether you’re connected, load Terminal (in the Utilities folder) on your Mac and type "ping 192.168.10.1." If you see some activity,
you’re all set.

(Photo credit: Florent Brunel/Flickr )

(Screenshots by Wired.com)