HOW to USB tether Vibrant with MacOS X (TMO)

[siirial]

I am coming from a g1 originally (back before cyanogen had 1000 followers), most recently a N1 (busted the screen last Friday, doh!). One thing I enjoyed is being able to tether to either of the old phones with wifitether. Lack of CM6 and a stable wifitether.apk for the vibrant leaves me unable to work while I am out and about without wifi access.

Did some reading around, and playing and this is what worked for me. I have a rooted vibrant (but this su shouldn't be needed), macbook pro, and os x 10.6.4.

*** Note: I had to have USB debugging enabled to get MacOS X to prompt setting up the vibrant as a USB modem. Not having this enabled didn't work.***

1. Connect your Vibrant to your Mac with the USB cable.

2. MacOS should prompt you saying that there is a device connected and not set up. If it does not, click on the Apple Menu, select system preferences. Select the Network pane.

3. The device should have been named as SAMSUNG_Android. Select it.

4. Start with the advanced options. Click the button that says 'Advanced.'

5. Under the Modem tab, use these options:

Model: Samsung​

Model: GPRS (GSM/3G)​

APN: epc.tmobile.com​

CID: 1​

6. I left the DNS, WINS, and Proxies tabs alone

7. I read on a blackberry forum that under the PPP tab, 'TCP Compression' had to be checked.

8. Click 'OK' and return to the Network Pane.

9. I used these settings for the SAMSUNG_Android configuration.

Telephone Number: *99#​

Account Name: username​

Password: password​

*** Note: I remember from the pre-Android days that the username/password didn't matter. I believe the keys to it working on TMO are the number and APN, and most likely the Modem info. ***

This is what worked for me on Tmobile in Florida. Your mileage may vary. If you can get this to work with different settings, please share here.

 

[zoid_99]

Works like a charm! Thanks OP. This is being posted from my tethered Mac.

 

[zoid_99]

Works like a charm! Thanks OP. This is being posted from my tethered Mac.

Oh yeah, and I'm not rooted.

 

[PolishDude]

will def have to check this out when I get home

 

[heygrl]

I figured something like this would work, but I never really bothered past *99***#* GPRS/GPRS

 

[ttabbal]

Nice! Thanks! I was wondering if that would work when I saw the modem prompt pop up. I just didn't have time to chase down the settings. Works fine here.

 

[siirial]

I did some more reading on some old forums, and confirmed that the username and password are not important. They should work with empty fields.

 

[Jon C]

It wouldn't work with me for blank U/P, but with 'username' and 'password', I am happily tethered.

Thanks, OP.

 

[siirial]

It wouldn't work with me for blank U/P, but with 'username' and 'password', I am happily tethered.

Thanks, OP.

Good to know. Thanks for testing! The forums I was reading were old and for blackberries and winmo. Thought the settings wouldn't make a difference for the device.

 

[jroid]

This is the first time usb tethering actually works for me on any device. Even with usb tethering enabled in CM6 on my nexus one i could never get it to work, only wifi tethering did. Just did this, and i'm currently tethered. First time I plugged in my vibrant and that samsung_network popped up I had an idea I could tether but i never looked into it. thnx OP

 

[heygrl]

Well, that tethering method is one that only works on PC's.

 

[PolishDude]

Anyone know if this works on Tiger 10.4? I dont seem to have the same options under the modem tab...i dont have samsung listed as a possible model, nor the gsm portion of the model or a place to put the apn?

 

[mingkee]

Actually, if you set USB mode to Kies, tethering should work with Cradlepoint router or XP/Vista/7 with Kies Suite installed.
I tested it with Behold II (Samsung USB studio mode) and use Samsung Mobile Modem for setting up dial-up networking, and it works 100%.
No USB debugging required.

 

[Raceves]

Running 10.6.4 and this works. Currently USB tethered and not rooted. Thanks OP!

 

[bullale]

Running 10.6.4
NOT rooted.
Got 1.6Mbit down and 1.2Mbit with 0 bars. (I know the bars aren't accurate but just saying that the signal isn't as strong as it could be) Faster than my cable upload.
Thanks OP!

 

[cashless]

Running 10.6.4.

Not working.

I get a message that says, "The communication device selected for your connection does not exist. Verify your settings and try reconnecting."

Question: In the network devices panes is the the 'SAMSUNG_Android' device connected with a green light before you hit the connect button. Mine is amber and the status is "Not Connected".

My other configured devices (Parallels Host adapter) are green and show connected statuses, even though I don't even have Parallels installed anymore.




Then again, I had all kinds of fits just making my sd cards mount on this mac. I think my phone is really defective. I still have one more day on my remorse period. Oh well.

 

[humblehyper]

How do I do this with a Windows PC? XP or Windows 7. Thanks!

 

[Jon C]

Running 10.6.4.

Not working.

Strange.

Mine is amber until it connects. Once connected, you have a call timer in the status bar, and the notification orb turns green.

I followed the instructions perfectly, and it works without a hitch.

You're just using 'username' and 'password'?


Oh, if you need to purge your system of Parallels (I recommend this), use AppZapper. I remember Parallels messed with my system settings and caused a number of issues. Alternatively, you could try reinstalling the latest OSX firmware update, or trashing the USB preferences and instructions to generate a new file.

 

[cashless]

Strange.

Mine is amber until it connects. Once connected, you have a call timer in the status bar, and the notification orb turns green.

I followed the instructions perfectly, and it works without a hitch.

You're just using 'username' and 'password'?


Oh, if you need to purge your system of Parallels (I recommend this), use AppZapper. I remember Parallels messed with my system settings and caused a number of issues. Alternatively, you could try reinstalling the latest OSX firmware update, or trashing the USB preferences and instructions to generate a new file.

Didn't need AppZapper, but getting rid of the Parallels connection fixed the problem!


Thanks!

 

[sonnyg95]

This is awesome. Worked for me on 10.5.8 with settings given by OP. Thanks again!