An Android (such as the Google G1 phone) can be tethered to a computer running Mac OS X, allowing the computer to browse the web. The device is connected to the computer using a USB cable. The web is browsed with Firefox. The detailed communication procedure is documented here.

This article is only intended to give a brief overview of AndroidTether and provide a link to the download page.

1. overview
2. copyright and guaranties
3. download AndroidTether
4. launch AndroidTether
5. advanced preferences

1. Overview

1.1 What is Tetherbot?

Tetherbot enables an Android device (such a Google G1 cellular phone) to be used as a network interface to provide a MacIntosh OS X laptop with an Internet data connection. It provides mobile, wide-area Internet access for the computer via the cellular-phone network — for instance where unrestricted WiFi is not available. This process is generally referred to as “tethering.”  In addition to expanding the range of Internet access for the OS X computer, Tetherbot enables the features of the OS X device to overcome the limitations of the Android device, so that one can use a more fully featured keyboard and Flash-enabled web browser (Firefox), to access webbase e-mail and browse the web efficiently. Tetherbot runs on the Android device, and requires a mirror application to run on the computer.

1.2 What is AndroidTether?

AndroidTether is designed to automate the process of tethering and eliminate the need to reconfigure your computer system every time you wish to tether. You should refer to the terms of service of your cellular service provider before tethering. AndroidTether runs on the computer, and connects to Tetherbot.

2. Copyright, guaranties, cost.

Copyright

Written by (c) Xavier Schott 2009.

Guaranties

none.
The software is provided  “AS IS”; “thegothicparty.com/dev” and “the author” make NO GUARANTIES and NO WARRANTIES OF ANY TYPE, expressed or implied, including NO WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Again, none.

Cost

free

3. Download AndroidTether

Start here:

Download AndroidTether 0.91 for Mac OS X.

4. Launch AndroidTether and Tetherbot

Tethering is automatically started upon launch, and stopped when quit.
You can also stop and restart the connection using the Stop/Start button.
Thus, when you are done, simply quit AndroidTether. Refer to the complete procedure, device installation requirements, and how to use Tetherbot  here.

5. Advanced Preferences

It is possible to change AndroidTether ports to accommodate to changes in Firefox or Tetherbot.
The local port (left number) refers to the SOCKS Host: localhost Port: 1080 setup in Firefox

The remote port (right number) refers to Socks Proxy Server on: 1080 setup in Tetherbot

Note:
AndroidTether will conflict with adb. You cannot use adb and AndroidTether simultaneously.

6. External links

• Android proxy

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This mechanism requires two independent pieces of software, namely Tetherbot on the Android device, and AndroidTether (or alternatively Terminal and the Android SDK) on the Macintosh.

The objective of this article is to clarify the installation and setup process for Mac OS X. It does not apply to other operating systems.
A general understanding the Tetherbot documentation may be helpful.
The screen shots relate to Tetherbot.apk 39.57KB” (in lieu of a better version) and Firefox 2.0.0.16 on Mac OS X 10.5.5.

This article is divided in 2 sections:

1. Things to do every time
   • Launch Tetherbot on the device
   • Launch AndroidTether on the computer
     (alternatively, launch Terminal on the computer)
   • Change some Firefox preferences
2. Installation to be done just once
   • Installation of Tetherbot on the device
   • Installation of AndroidTether on the computer
     (alternatively, install the Android SDK)
   • One-time Setup of the device
   • One-time Firefox setup

1. Things to do every time

1.1. Launch Tetherbot on the device

Connect the computer to the device using a USB cable.
Launch Tetherbot and tap “Start Socks”.
If everything goes well, the proxy server will start on port 1080.

1.2. Launch AndroidTether on the computer

Starting AndroidTether will automatically setup the connection.

1.3. (alternatively, launch Terminal on the computer)

On the Macintosh, launch a Terminal window. Assuming here that you have installed the Android Software Development Kit. See step 2.3 for details.
In Terminal, type exactly “adb forward tcp:1080 tcp:1080“.
Note that the syntax is “adb forward tcp:{local port} tcp:{remote port}“.
The {local port} is the SOCKS host mentioned in section 1.4
The {remote port} must match Socks Proxy Server on: 1080 mentioned in section 1.1

1.4. Change some Firefox* preferences

On the computer, launch Firefox.
Go to “Firefox>Preferences…>Advanced>Network>Settings…”.

• “Manual proxy configuration:”
• “SOCKS Host:” to “localhost”, “Port:” 1080
• “SOCKS v5″

Note that “Port: 1080″ represents this time the {local port} parameter in “adb forward tcp:{local port} tcp:{remote port}”.

Firefox is now ready to browse the Internet.
Restore the original setting after you are done tethering the device or you won’t be able to browse the web with Firefox. For added security, restore item 2.5 as well.

(*) Safari does not provide preferences to manually change the proxy, which is a sine qua non condition for the entire mechanism to function. System Preferences must be changed instead, with various levels of success.

2. Installation to be done just once

2.1. Installation of Tetherbot on the device

2.1.1. Prior downloading Tetherbot on the G1, you must change the “Home>MENU>Applications>Unknown sources” setting and “Allow install of non-Market application”.
Warning, this is a dangerous and potentially unsafe action. Review the warning carefully.

2.1.2 Using the G1 Brower, go to http://graha.ms/androidproxy/Tetherbot.apk to download Tetherbot.

2.1.3. After download completes on the device, simply select the “.apk” Android Package to install.

2.2. Installation of AndroidTether on the computer

AndroidTether is a Macintosh OS X application that will setup the computer side of the communication automatically.
It runs in just one click, and does not require the download of the entire Android SDK.
AndroidTether is lightweight, flexible, free, and can be downloaded here.

2.3. (alternatively, install the Android SDK)

Install the Android Software Development Kit.
Once installed, follow the instructions on adding android-sdk-mac_.../tools to your PATH.
The alternative is to execute adb from the tools directory:
( cd .../android-sdk-mac_.../tools ; ./adb forward ...)

2.4. One-time setup of the device

To use Tetherbot, you will need to perform these operations:

On the device, turn on “USB debugging”
“Home>MENU>Settings>Applications>Development>USB debugging”
Additionally, you may want to turn on “Stay awake” as well.

2.5. One-time Firefox setup

This change allows Firefox to fetch DNS information from the proxy. You must allow it to tether the device.
For maximum security, restore it to false after each use.

1. In Firefox, File>Open Location… about:config.
2. Add the Filter: “dns” for clarity
3. select the Preference network.proxy.socks_remote_dns and set it to true
(hit <enter> or right-click).

These changes have been tested on Firefox 2.0.0.16 and Firefox 3.0.5.

3. External links

• Tetherbot
• AndroidTether
• Android Software Development Kit
• Tetherbot.apk

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