iPad Tethering

Like many people, I had no desire to pay the extra money to buy a 3G version of the iPad and opted for the wi-fi only version. That left me looking for a tethering option for those times when I’m travelling and can’t get to a wi-fi spot.

While some “tether your iPhone to your iPad info” is already out there I thought I’d write up a quick step by step that I’ve sent to some family and friends via email.

Step 1. If you haven’t done it already, you’ll have to jailbreak your phone. Before you initiate the jailbreak you’ll need to do a clean install of the iPhone software (it won’t work unless you do it – I tried). Make sure you backup your iPhone before you reinstall the software. It’s a simple, one click software jailbreak (not for SIM cards) using Spirit Jailbreak.

Step 2. Once you’ve successfully applied the jailbreak, you’ll have Cydia installed on your phone.

Step 3. Tap Cydia and search “Rock Your Phone” and install the “Rock” app.

Step 4. Once installed, tap the Rock app and install the MyWi app (free 10 day trial, $10 for the full version).

Just a note that when I was creating a MyWi account it was buggy and it crashed several times (I confirmed this with a few other colleagues). Once we had the paid version, it worked great but I would suggest creating your account directly on the “Rock Your Phone” website and then logging into the app on your phone.

Step 5. Once MyWi is installed, tap it and turn on tethering.

Step 6. Go to your iPad > Settings > Wi-Fi> Locate the MyWi network and tap to connect.

That’s it. Your one time $10 fee will give you access to your existing iPhone data plan. My final tip is that if you have a limited data plan, be careful as your data usage can add up quickly.