[GUIDE][TMO][VZW] Hide Tethering Data with NO 3RD PARTY APPS

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niry

New member
Jan 8, 2012
4
4
IPv6?

Thanks for letting me know about this. I was talking to some people about using this method and they said it was a hit or miss in terms of hiding their tethering usage. I'll update the OP to include what you said as a fix, for people to try out if it's not working

Anytime. I just noticed .5mbps again and found that removing IPv6 from the laptop helps. (I think that getting IPv6 from t-mo is a new thing, but not 100% sure)
EDIT: it seems like there are other issues with t-mobile IPv6 implementation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Advice_to_T-Mobile_IPv6_users
 
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BrettB0727

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Oct 20, 2011
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Edit: Working fine in High Sierra 10.13.5. Needed to do a few other things in Android 9.0 to make it work.
 
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jasonmerc

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Dec 14, 2012
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www.ixquick.com
Lemme confirm that this works on Verizon too. Verizon said on my basic unlimited plan that tethering would not be included and I'd be capped at 600 kilobits per second speeds. I just did this method and tested with Verizon and as you can see by the screenshot, my speeds are far exceeding their limit for me because my tethering data looks like normal data

30d8nbq.jpg
 
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otrap

Member
Nov 6, 2015
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Chi-Town
I know this is an old post, and I hate to necro, but I just tested this out (currently running Ubuntu 18.04), and it was tracked as wifi tethering by T-Mobile. Looks like they've plugged this.
 
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jasonmerc

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Dec 14, 2012
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I know this is an old post, and I hate to necro, but I just tested this out (currently running Ubuntu 18.04), and it was tracked as wifi tethering by T-Mobile. Looks like they've plugged this.
It's fine, my hope was to keep this as a running log that can change with the times. Already had to do it once before.

There are a couple considerations for this: one is are you on a stock ROM on a phone from Tmobile? That might have other safeguards that custom ROMs dont that allow them to track your data usage with greater accuracy. Two is are you using a custom DNS resolver? Check the first post about using a different non-Tmobile DNS via a module you can flash in Magisk.
 
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mydarkthawts

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Apr 20, 2017
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Auburndale
I'm going to add my current experience to this thread for those still looking for up to date information relating to this thread.

I use Simple Mobile's $50 plan which doesn't include tethering as an advertisement or option

I have found that by using a VPN on the phone itself prior to starting the tether operation(wired and wireless) using a rooted Blu Vivo 5R allows truly undetectable and unthrottled thethered data usage.

I've been using this method for years and consistently get over 700GB's a month with no cut offs and slow downs.

I've recently been using it with easytether plugged into one of my many openwrt flashed wireless routers USB port and my phone acts as a modem to the wireless router without any issues. It also keeps my device fully charged and no heating issues as it's through the USB 3.0 port vs the wifi hotspot.

I have a number of lifetime VPN memberships and most of them were only 40 bucks to get, like KeepSolid VPNUNLIMITED, and that works exceptionally well.

No need to change TTL if VPN is used on the phone itself. The beefier the phones CPU, the faster the data speeds are with the VPN enabled.

I've also noticed if VPN is slowing down your data because of a slow phone CPU, you can use the openwrt router to change the TTL and also act as the VPN point so it doesn't overwhelm your phone.
This of course requires the wireless router to have a beefier CPU and that is less common and more expensive to get your hands on.

For most people, using a VPN on their computer and changing the TTL before it leaves the computer to the tethered phone works as well.

I've done all of these with absolute success on Simple Mobile and Straight Talk.

I've used pdanet/FoxFi, easytether, and numerous other tethering methods including just creating a proxy on my phone that devices connect to through the local network. They all work.


Figured I'd give my experiences and data on this awesome thread.
 
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mydarkthawts

Member
Apr 20, 2017
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Auburndale
I also want to post this for everyone's reference as it seems to be the best thing out right now and it legitimately works.

Basically, you generate a iPad IMEI and then activate any new ATT sim card on the sign up/activation page ATT supplies for you(found in the link) and you can put the sim card in any device without having to worry about TTL, VPN or other means to hide your hotspot/tethering usage.

This is the EXACT same thing that those eBay sellers are offering and charging for. You can do it for free at your own expense of just a sim card and the monthly 34.99 purely unlimited data plan. And since it's prepaid, if you don't like it, you can cancel it with no worries. If you like it, you can start it again with no issues.

Here are the plans and the place you activate at ATT official site and the fine print: https://buyasession.att.com/sbd/Common/ShopRatePlans.action

Here is the sub Reddit related to it and how to make it work along with user input of everyone else doing it and easy to follow guides (I got the links from there):
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoContract...ead/ett4ajf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x
 
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Technocian

Senior Member
Oct 24, 2012
125
33
Detroit, MI
It's fine, my hope was to keep this as a running log that can change with the times. Already had to do it once before.

There are a couple considerations for this: one is are you on a stock ROM on a phone from Tmobile? That might have other safeguards that custom ROMs dont that allow them to track your data usage with greater accuracy. Two is are you using a custom DNS resolver? Check the first post about using a different non-Tmobile DNS via a module you can flash in Magisk.

I'm running on Arch Linux with a stock Galaxy S9+ ROM. I followed both the TTL and APN steps, but T-Mobile is still throttling tethering data. The only thing that's worked for me was ClockworkMod Tether using both the desktop and Android app together. However, the Linux build of their desktop app is broken and hasn't been updated since the early 2010's.
 
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billa

Senior Member
Mar 30, 2006
848
385
The same TTL hack can be accomplished on a PC too by these two commands in CMD prompt on your PC (persistently), but you still can't share your PC's data connection using Windows Hotspot or Connectify, there's still something else blocking it. If anyone has a solution for that, drop a line please.

netsh int ipv4 set global defaultcurhoplimit=65 store=active
netsh int ipv6 set global defaultcurhoplimit=65 store=persistent

If still having problems, then disable IPv6 in your WiFi or RNDIS adapter under connections (depending if you're tethering through WiFi or USB).
 
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    If you're like me, a PdaNet customer running Linux who's sad that there's no build of PdaNet designed for Linux for hiding tether usage over USB Tethering, then fear not! After some research I've devised a plan to hide USB tethering usage from carriers that DOES NOT require PdaNet!. I've tested this myself on T-Mobile and Verizon, and on both of these carriers it looks like it works just fine. This does not mean that it will only work with these carriers, these are just the ones I've tested myself (with the exception of the appended notes below). If you have another carrier not mentioned here, please test this out and let me know if it works for you and I'll add it to the OP at the bottom

    Here's a precaution I'd take on Android too, just to make sure the carrier really doesn't find anything out:
    Go to Magisk Manager and get yourself the OpenDNS or DNSCrypt addon and install that. I think Verizon is catching on that I'm tethering somehow through DNS, even when I use VPN. By setting my DNS on my phone's LTE connection to something that's not-verizon, this should allow me to dodge that. I recommend you doing it too as a precaution

    Here's what you have to do for Linux:
    1) Hop over to your Linux machine, open a terminal emulator, and type the following commands (with root privileges):
    sudo sysctl net.ipv4.ip_default_ttl=65
    echo 65 | sudo tee /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_default_ttl


    What this does is sets your PC's network packets to have a Time To Live of 65. This is to make it seem like the packets were originated from your phone instead of your PC. Android's default TTL for its packets is 64, so when the PC sends packets to your phone through tethering with a TTL of 65, they have a TTL of 64 by the time your phone sends them out to T-Mobile's towers (the internet).

    2) If you want to have the PC's TTL set to 65 on every startup so you don't have to keep entering the two commands above again and again every time you reboot, add the following line to your PC's /etc/sysctl.conf file and save:
    net.ipv4.ip_default_ttl=65

    Here's what you have to do for Mac: (credits for the instructions and post going to @BrettB0727)
    For those wondering how to do this on a Mac, it can be done temporarily using:
    Code:
    sudo sysctl -w net.inet.ip.ttl=65
    Or permanently by creating or editing /etc/sysctl.conf to add
    Code:
    net.inet.ip.ttl=65
    if you end up creating the file, you will need to be sure and do:
    Code:
    sudo chmod 0644 /etc/sysctl.conf
    sudo chown root:wheel /etc/sysctl.conf

    Here's what you have to do for Windows:
    1) Open up regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

    2) Make a new REG_DWORD entry in there called DefaultTTL and set it to 65

    3) Reboot

    NOTE: I've found that downloading files can be finicky. I was able to download an MP4 video before without it detecting I was using tethering data, but when I tried to get a .zip file from ModDB T-Mobile found out what I was doing. Just take warning that not all forms of network traffic will be hidden when tethering.

    NOTE 2: Confirmed by @triggerlord to work with WiFi Hotspot, as well as with Simple Mobile

    NOTE 3: If you're one of those people who have trouble hiding their data with this method, take @niry's advice and see if it helps: he said to remove `dun` type from pcweb.t-mobile.com APN and add it to the end of the fast.t-mobile.com one (if it's not already there)

    NOTE 4: Still seems to work on Verizon with a VPN in 2024
    2
    Lol, this fixed my Simple Mobile (powered by T-Mobile) tethering issues. Nice! This works with the WiFi hotspot feature too BTW.
    2
    I've used 60gb no throttle.
    2
    I haven't been able to get over 500kbps using this method. Is this approach still working for folks in 2018?

    It works in combination with altering the `type` string in the APNs: remove `dun` from pcweb.t-mobile.com one and add it to the fast.t-mobile.com one so it will read `default,supl,hipri,fota,dun`.
    1
    The same TTL hack can be accomplished on a PC too by these two commands in CMD prompt on your PC (persistently), but you still can't share your PC's data connection using Windows Hotspot or Connectify, there's still something else blocking it. If anyone has a solution for that, drop a line please.

    netsh int ipv4 set global defaultcurhoplimit=65 store=active
    netsh int ipv6 set global defaultcurhoplimit=65 store=persistent

    If still having problems, then disable IPv6 in your WiFi or RNDIS adapter under connections (depending if you're tethering through WiFi or USB).