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By Ex on June 10th, 2009 172

I can hear the cries for help already. But thee worry no more.

Can the new Rogers/Fido tethering policy be prevented?

Read about the new Rogers/Fido Tethering policy here.

So can it be prevented…the short answer: maybe.

Before we begin, the policy only really negatively affects Rogers/Fido customers with a 500MB Data plan that have added or are going to add a 500MB Data plan. So this post is for you guys.

If you have a 1GB Data plan or higher already or are planning on getting a 1GB or higher Data plan, you can ignore this post entirely and read this one instead.

The Situation

What is currently happening is most of the Rogers/Fido customers that are running version 3.0 iPhone software released at WWDC have the Internet Tethering option blocked when they try and access Internet Tethering. It is blocked in Beta 3.0 and will be blocked in the official June 17, 2009 release of 3.0 as well.

Customers with a 500MB Data plan that have added or are going to add a 500MB Data plan will not be able to call in to Rogers/Fido and get tethering enabled by Rogers/Fido unless they upgrade their data plan to atleast a 1GB Data plan. I don’t know about you, but I like my 500MB and do not plan on spending more.

However, if you have a 1GB Data plan or higher already or are planning on getting a 1GB or higher Data plan, you can ignore this post entirely and read this one instead.

The error message that Rogers/Fido customers are getting on their 3.0 iPhone is:

Set Up Internet Tethering

To enable tethering on this account, contact Rogers (or Fido)

So it would seem that this is the method in which Rogers/Fido will control this new tethering policy.

The way they do this is through iTunes. Rogers/Fido have what are called IPCC files or “iPhone Carrier Configuration” files. These files are loaded onto Rogers/Fido iPhone’s and give you MMS, Tethering, etc.

In this case, in order to enable tethering, you must call in to Rogers/Fido, have them place an “internet tethering promotional SOC code” (pronounced “sock”) on your account and then tethering will be enabled. The only catch is this is where Rogers/Fido get you because remember, if you have a data plan less than 1GB, Rogers/Fido will not activate tethering.

I like to call this “Cash Grab” because there should be no reason why you cannot tether on a 500MB data plan.

So how do you avoid this? The answer is get a custom Rogers mobileconfig profile.

I have been using a custom Rogers mobileconfig profile throughout all of the Beta periods of OS 3.0 and to this day I have tethering enabled and working fine on my 500MB data plan (I also have MMS working fine). So it would seem that as long as you have the custom mobileconfig profile, you’re all good!

But what if I already download OS 3.0 and tethering is blocked?

Do not worry if you already downloaded the 3.0 software and tethering is blocked. All you need to do is get the custom updated mobileconfig profile.

So what are the steps?

Proceed at your own risk. Playing around will this stuff can (but unlikely) negatively effect your wireless bill

Here are the steps to activate tethering on your iPhone 3G/3GS with OS 3.0 without having to call Rogers/Fido or increase your monthly fee and data plan to 1GB or higher:

1.) Ensure you have an iPhone 3G/3GS running OS 3.0 and atleast a 500MB data plan

2.) Click here on your iPhone 3G/3GS and choose your carrier, Rogers or Fido, and then tap “Install”.

3.) Ensure the profile is installed by going from your home-screen to Settings > General. Scroll to the bottom and tap “Profile”. You should see the “rogers_com.mobile” profile.