I'm currently use a Vodafone internet dongle for on the move internet access, but would like to get an iPhone (or similar) that will allow me to tether my Macbook. Has anyone successfully done this on an Orange contract?

Even if you get a phone that makes it easy (htc desire does, not sure about iphone), it is more hassle and way slower than using a good dongle.

Plus the amount extra that phone companies charge for allowing tethering is often roughly similar to the amount it costs to have a dongle. You will quite likely get away with tethering on a normal contract, but with hard data limits, it could be very expensive if you overrun your limit (like hundreds of pounds if you're not careful). Also If you get caught tethering without permission most contracts say they can charge per mb for it – typically about £2 a megabyte. That would make me worry.

Add to that the premium you pay for having an iphone or similar (between 10-15 quid a month extra for same number of minutes), and dongles look pretty good value.

Joe

Oh and if you do want to do this, I'd get something you can tether using a usb cable – more reliable than using bluetooth or wifi to tether. Rules out iphone I think, htc or nokia will I think do this.

What Joe said is pretty much what I'd heard, tethering=bad but my uncle-in-law was telling me he'd managed to get a good deal for his blackberry and could use it just fine with his laptop, think it was with orange not sure tho.

Not quite answering the question…..but I've been using the 3MiFi for the past few months on prepay. Have been very impressed with the available speeds and the device allows you to hook up to 5 devices over WiFi. The "dongle" itself is small enough to slip in a coat pocket, backpack, etc.

You can do stuff with Blackberrys
google Tetherberry

Thanks folk. It looks like Apple do support USB for tethering (a few details here), but price plans are harder to find. I will of course ask in store but I'm not holding out for accurate information!

Alini – that looks interesting, particularly as I have an iTouch and while on the move my missus [who does the same job as me] is likely to be with me having internet requirements. Hmm.

About £5

http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/11/03/orange-iphone-tethering-price-beats-o2/

I signed up for o2 teathering for my MBP and iPhone. Was not worth the £10 per month I cancelled after 2 months as it was not as fast as the standalone USB dongle my mate used sitting next to memwho was on the same network!

I'd go standalone dongle and just buy an IPhone 4 anywayz cos they iz cool innit 😀

I have the tethering option enabled on my O2 3GS iphone. costs an extra £10 a month and has a 10GB cap. I couldnt find out much ablout this bolton online, but they were happy to tell me about it when I rang O2 up. Once setup it couldnt be easier to use either.

It works on USB and Bluetooth, and is pretty quick on both to be fair. USB is faster, but both are quicker than my Wifi in the flat.

Well, here's some real, recent experience…

I have an iPhone 4 on Vodafone – just bought it at the weekend to replace my 3G…

It was literally a case of switching on the tethering switch in the settings app and then pairing the phone with my MacBook Pro. OS X automatically recognised there was a "bluetooth network" and did everything else.

Also, when I subsequently plugged in my iPhone via USB, up popped a box saying that a USB network was available.

Both options worked first time with very little effort on my part. Really good UX.

Rachel

Errm! Allthegear you did ad tethering to you package didn't you?

billysan – a 10Gb cap is pretty sizey! Looking at the Orange price plans I'm thinking about the £35 tariff (excluding tethering charges) which is 750mb.

oxnop – I like your thinking, but as I'm now doing less travelling (woohoo!) it's a bit pointless for me to have both.

The tetherberry page looks interesting although I hadn't considered a Blackberry. I really have been out the "smartphone" game for too long!

allthegear – can i ask what tariff/payment plan you're on?

Just to clairfy, my tarif is normally £35 a month, the tethering bolt on adds an extra £10.

I got my contract when O2 still did unlimited data. which seems a bit odd than that Ive got a cap on the data tethering bit. Ive not yet come close to 10GB however so am not bothered.

A few points:

1. iPhone tethering is normally configured on your phone by your carrier so they can charge you extra over your normal data connection (typically £10 a month or so).

2. It's possible to configure an iPhone to use use the standard data connection for tethering, but a) you possibly need to jailbreak it, and b) your carrier will get upset if they realise you are doing this (which they might if they check your network traffic for any reason).

3. Other smartphones such as Android and windows mobile devices allow easy tethering using your standard data connection. However, you can easily go over your data allowance if you use it often and get charged. Your contract might also have a small print condition that says 'no tethering', in which case your carrier might try and charge you lots if they think that's what you are doing.

That all said, I tether my phone to my laptop and other devices fairly regularly without paying any extra (on orange), but I don't use a huge amount of data while I'm doing it.

3 mobile do not prevent tethering of iPhones – however they "advise" you to buy some kind of add on.

However you get 1 gig a month of data – so if you are looking at light usage only you might get away with it on a standard tarif.

I haven't tested it out yet – I'll give it a go next time I am travelling with my laptop (which is not very often!)

I use my Blackberry to tether quite a lot as I get faster speeds on it than I do with the Victorian broadband cable that BT use.

It is p1ss easy to do and I have not incurred any extra charges from VF for doing using it so.