Disqus
Wow.
I wrote a piece a little while ago about the Internet Tethering not working too well on the iPhone/MacBook Pro combo (I think it could just as well be any Mac), but I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad….!
As I noted previously, I’ve been doing some testing of the Tethering to see how it performs – the simple summary was “not good”. However, given that most of these tests had been in areas of only average data coverage, I figured I ought to give things another shot – big mistake!
What I’ve now found is that even in areas of good 3G coverage, the data rates are not very excellent, and even worse, I am beginning to think the Tethering implementation is buggy. Why do I say this? Well, tethering has managed to crash both iTunes on the Mac, and completely lock the 3GS, to the point where it needed the power/home key combo to turn the thing off.
This is really quite disappointing indeed – the 3GS should have everything it needs to make it a great data modem, but I wonder if there is just too much else already going inside it’s shell for it to dedicate sufficient resources to the job. Bear in mind it’s got to hold up a cellular connection really well, and also pipeline the data over USB to the MacBook – something which dedicated USB data modems seem to do with great aplomb.
If I had any doubts, they are now confirmed – I’ll be cancelling the Tethering add-on I have, and buying a separate data modem from probably Vodafone or 3 – let’s see how they perform!
If you do still want to try out Internet Tethering, you can visit the O2 website here.
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
-
preyingrazor
-
Eryk
