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How to Use an iPhone as a Modem for a Laptop

By J. Benjamin Stevens on Posted in How Do I ... ?, iPhone

Rumor has it that AT&T will officially allow "tethering" later this year, which will enable using an iPhone as a modem to connect laptops to the internet.  If you do not want to wait, you can follow the following steps to begin tethering your Mac right now:

  1. On the iPhone, goto help.benm.at in Safari.
  2. On that web page, scroll down to Mobileconfigs –> Downloads –> USA –> ATT and install the profile.
  3. On the iPhone, go to Settings –> General –> Reset –> Reset Network settings (this step is to enable Visual Voicemail).
  4. Restart the iPhone just in case, especially if it does not reboot at this point.
  5. Turn on Bluetooth on the iPhone in Settings –> Bluetooth.
  6. On the iPhone, turn on tethering in Settings –> General –> Network –> Internet tethering.
  7. On the Mac, click on BlueTooth icon in upper right menu bar or in System Preferences –> Bluetooth. Choose “Set up a BlueTooth Device”
  8. Setup and pair the Mac with the iPhone, make sure the iPhone is in BlueTooth discoverable screen.
  9. Click on BlueTooth icon again in upper right menu bar, choose your phone from the drop-down menu and connect to network.

Source:  "10 Steps To Turning Your iPhone Into A Modem For Your Laptop" by Eugene S. Melchionne, published at Legal Practice Pro.

  • Bob S.

    Have you reviewed the TOS with AT&T to see whether this is a violation? I had read somewhere else that AT&T considers tethering to violate the TOS and will cancel.

  • Bob B.

    I have the same concern as Bob S. I have read that AT&T will frown heavily on folks who try this.

  • http://camdenlawoffice.com Kevin Camden

    I tried this and it disabled my voicemail. I had to delete the setting and reset to regain voicemail.

  • Gary

    I followed the process but thereis no tethering option under Settings>general>network. I do have the Benm.at is installed and shows under profile, Can you help? Thanks

  • Tropic

    Any updates on this process? Cause I tried using the website above and it still is not working.

  • xxQQ

    ME TOO: I followed the process but thereis no tethering option under Settings>general>network. …. Can you help? Thanks

  • Mike R.

    To Tropic and xxQQ:
    What software version are you using? The Benm profile doesn’t work if you are on 3.1 or later without a jailbreak. It doesn’t even work on 3.1.3.