Tutorial: Turn Your iPhone Into a Wireless Modem

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.* 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 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: Disable Sleep

Don’t let your iPhone sleep, because you’ll get disconnected. In iPhone’s settings, go to General–>Auto-Lock and set it to "Never."

Step 9: Open NetShare

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

Step 10 (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.

**Update: August 7, 11 p.m. PDT: I’ve received some reports of people unable to get NetShare to work properly after following these instructions. I’ve run into this problem once: The software is glitchy, that’s for sure. Try rebooting your iPhone if NetShare doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of activity. If that doesn’t work, try slightly tweaking the IP addresses: 192.168.10.3 for the TCP/IP settings, for example, and 192.168.10.5 for the SOCKS Proxy.

*Update: August 3, 9:18 a.m. PDT: Yes, we’re aware the app has been removed — again. We will look into this and keep you posted.

(Photo credit: Florent Brunel/Flickr )

(Screenshots by Wired.com)