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Tethering idea... and a question

Ok, so, I have an OpenVPN setup at home, and I'm connected to it with my phone. I've been using VPNs for years and based on my previous experiences, I have a thought, and a couple questions...
Does every single packet go out through the VPN or only the ones destined for an IP on the private subnet? If it indeed passes every packet over the VPN (as with others I've used), why couldn't one just tether it after that? Would all data not then go over AT&Ts network and out to the internet via my home connection?
I've actually been musing about this for a while, but never bothered to actually connect my phone to my home VPN until now to even think about trying it.
Anybody have any unique insight on this?

N0ctrnl said:
Ok, so, I have an OpenVPN setup at home, and I'm connected to it with my phone. I've been using VPNs for years and based on my previous experiences, I have a thought, and a couple questions...
Does every single packet go out through the VPN or only the ones destined for an IP on the private subnet? If it indeed passes every packet over the VPN (as with others I've used), why couldn't one just tether it after that? Would all data not then go over AT&Ts network and out to the internet via my home connection?
I've actually been musing about this for a while, but never bothered to actually connect my phone to my home VPN until now to even think about trying it.
Anybody have any unique insight on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It entirely depends on how your VPN is set up. You can set up a VPN that will require all traffic to be routed through the VPN, or you can set up a VPN to only route traffic destined for that internal network to be sent over VPN.
And there's no reason you couldn't do that. If they are indeed detecting tethering by the content of data, you could set a VPN to pass all traffic through the VPN, and encrypt it so that they would never know what data was actually being sent. The biggest thing to be aware of is speed. If you are passing all traffic through VPN, your internet speed will immediately be reduced to the maximum speed your home internet connection can upload data. So if your home internet is 1 Mbps up, then your max speed is going to be 1 Mbps up now because you have to wait for that system to send the data along (plus overheads for encryption and processing of data, etc).

AJerman said:
It entirely depends on how your VPN is set up. You can set up a VPN that will require all traffic to be routed through the VPN, or you can set up a VPN to only route traffic destined for that internal network to be sent over VPN.
And there's no reason you couldn't do that. If they are indeed detecting tethering by the content of data, you could set a VPN to pass all traffic through the VPN, and encrypt it so that they would never know what data was actually being sent. The biggest thing to be aware of is speed. If you are passing all traffic through VPN, your internet speed will immediately be reduced to the maximum speed your home internet connection can upload data. So if your home internet is 1 Mbps up, then your max speed is going to be 1 Mbps up now because you have to wait for that system to send the data along (plus overheads for encryption and processing of data, etc).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I fully understand the performance penalties of pushing all data through a VPN. Really, I only tether my phone down at my workshop to update orders and print shipping labels. It's about 200MB a week, and I could do it over dialup if I had one. Not an issue at all.
Thanks a bunch for your thoughts. It's pretty much what I thought. I'll just have to brush up on my OpenVPN knowledge and see if I can make sure it's all routed over the VPN.
Note: Consequently, I just got a text message from AT&T letting me know I'd automatically been switched over to a tethering plan since I was still tethering. The rub here is I have not tethered my phone a single time in the last 3 months! I actually have a 2GB plan on my old Captivate that I've been using. I called into AT&T and the lady I got was really cool. She said there must be something triggering the tethering alert on their side and she filed an extension for me so I wouldn't get switched over automatically.
So, I don't know what AT&T is really using to detect tethering, but it's indeed throwing out false positives. I've also only used 809MB since the beginning of my billing cycle (November 21), so I doubt very much that it's excessive data usage. I use some interesting things like wifi connected file managers and remote web desktop, but surely those don't trigger it (?).

Ok, so, I just did a test using whatismyip.com. It shows my wifi gateway here at work when using wifi with the VPN on, and it shows the AT&T IP when connected with wifi off. So, that shoots the idea that all traffic will go over the VPN by default when connected. I guess I'm going to have to dig a little deeper to get it working that way.
The "Redirect Gateway" option in the VPN settings seems to work perfectly. I'll keep testing and see what I can come up with as far as a tether goes!

[Q] Are you using your phone as a modem or personal hotspot? Three UK

Hi Guys,
I wonder , if there is some way to cheat my mobile network provider, who block my htc one x , when I want to use it as a modem or wifi hotspot .
When I open my web browser on my laptop I can see
"Are you using your phone as a modem or personal hotspot?
Reference SIM002
Connecting your phone to other devices to use it as a modem so they can access the internet (also called "tethering") is not what your plan was designed for.
If you're on a Pay Monthly plan other than The One Plan and you want to tether, you'll need to buy an Add-on. You'll then get a tethering allowance. Unfortunately our Pay As You Go tariffs and some of our older Pay Monthly plans aren't compatible with tethering Add-ons.
To find out what Add-ons you can get on your plan, and to buy an Add-on, visit your My3 account on your phone or computer and select Buy Add-ons.
If you're having problems accessing the internet on your phone after you've seen a warning message about tethering you just need to turn your phone off and back on again. You'll need to buy an Add-on if you want to keep tethering.
If you're looking for an internet connection, our Mobile Broadband offers great value for using the internet on devices like tablets and laptops. Find out more about our Mobile Broadband at three.co.uk/mbb."
However Skype and FB messenger work fine.
I'll be grateful for any help

gregor1467 said:
Hi Guys,
I wonder , if there is some way to cheat my mobile network provider, who block my htc one x , when I want to use it as a modem or wifi hotspot .
When I open my web browser on my laptop I can see
"Are you using your phone as a modem or personal hotspot?
Reference SIM002
Connecting your phone to other devices to use it as a modem so they can access the internet (also called "tethering") is not what your plan was designed for.
If you're on a Pay Monthly plan other than The One Plan and you want to tether, you'll need to buy an Add-on. You'll then get a tethering allowance. Unfortunately our Pay As You Go tariffs and some of our older Pay Monthly plans aren't compatible with tethering Add-ons.
To find out what Add-ons you can get on your plan, and to buy an Add-on, visit your My3 account on your phone or computer and select Buy Add-ons.
If you're having problems accessing the internet on your phone after you've seen a warning message about tethering you just need to turn your phone off and back on again. You'll need to buy an Add-on if you want to keep tethering.
If you're looking for an internet connection, our Mobile Broadband offers great value for using the internet on devices like tablets and laptops. Find out more about our Mobile Broadband at three.co.uk/mbb."
However Skype and FB messenger work fine.
I'll be grateful for any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone came across such a issue ? Is there any work around? Can I use my HTC as a modem and my network provider won't notice this ?

gregor1467 said:
Anyone came across such a issue ? Is there any work around? Can I use my HTC as a modem and my network provider won't notice this ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try pdanet from playstore or try using opera browser or chrome on your pc , laptop

anyone else managed to get around this? ive got the exact same issue with sim009 as the error code.
I am trying to tether via usb and ive tries wifi on my windows laptop
I have also tried to mask and emulate the headers of an android browser on my windows machine but it keeos refering me to the Three oage saying im tethering and ita blocked.
Any help woukd be seriously appreciated
Thanks

Subscribed! Had a WiFi tether app which I used to use on the Note 3 on Three UK but now got a new phone Nexus 6P and can't tether using that app on three as it uses my allowed "tether allowance" of only 4gb/month on an unlimited plan
I want to tether to my Nexus 7 tablet without rooting the 6P.
Sent from my Nexus 6P using XDA Forums

How does T-Mobile define tethering?

I've seen some discussion suggesting that they simply check for a browser desktop user-agent. Some have suggested that, due to this, tethering with an android tablet doesn't count as tethering. Others have said this untrue or only partially true.
Has anyone tested with different user agents to see what is counted as tethering and what is counted as mobile data?
Even if this is true, what about email and other non-http data use? How does T-Mobile determine whether it is normal data or tethering data?

I called T-Mobile and asked this exact question. A female tried to elicit a witty response of their network being notified when the app is used, and it counts data used from thereon out as tethering. So I then asked how it detects whether or not the data usage comes from the phone or tethered device when the hotspot is on... she basically said it just does.
That was a load of crap. I used my Nexus 10 on my Nexus 4's hotspot for three months. I had unlimited 4G data and 2.5GB of hotspot data. I don't know if any of this accrued as hotspot data, but they never cut off my service or redirected me to purchase more - so I would say it only picked it up as an Android device, or the phone itself, and did not count the data.
Even using a laptop, it only was able to detect web browsing as hotspot data usage. I could still play games online and such even after hitting the limit.

Somewhere around 4.1.2 Google added flags to tethered traffic on stock android per carrier request that allows the carriers to see tethered traffic and then do what they want with the flagged traffic, upcharge for tethering, block it, etc. Or of course do nothing. These are often removed in the roms as the part of the feature you see as "added tethering".

agent
I have unlimited Tmo. sometimes going to 40-50GB per month. I use my laptop at various location with the phone tethering. I use Chrome UA Spoofer (user agent), and change it on my laptop when i want to use it thru the phone. it has some limitations, bu tit is on case by case(i.e. site by site case). It works

I should also note that, according to T-Mobile, if you are on the unlimited plan you will never be cut off or see the upsell page if you go over. If you go over the 2.5G of hotspot data, you will be throttled to 2G speed for the remainder of the month.

tmobiles plans all include tethering/hotspot. all besides the completely unlimited high speed data include unlimited tethering. the unlimited high speed data plan include 2.5gb tethering with an option to purchase 2 more gb at $15.

They've definitely changed something in the past month or two. I was able to tether to my ipod w/o any issues. I hit my 500mb limit today. I figured, no big deal, will just fire up my vpn (L2TP) from the ipod. Done deal, right? Nope. They can still detect it somehow.
I will have to check it out on my pc. I have a hunch they can somehow tell that tethering is enabled on the phone.

Sprint data notice!!!

Hey guys, has anybody had any issues with Sprint's "UNLIMITED" LTE network? They sent me a data notice because data abuse. Is there any way to workaround this problem? Never had this problem. Thanks

Never seen that before. What plan are you on (old unlimited plan or new unlimited freedom plan)? How much data did you use?

i have the old unlimited plan $10 more to each line. I have been with sprint for 10 years. I currently have no contract with them. I used about 100 to 200 GB

Were you using a significant chunk of data in hotspot mode? I vaguely recall (from an online discussion years ago) that even with an unlimited plan and even if hotspotting is authorized on your account, Sprint can ban you if your hotspot data usage is higher than X% of your total usage or if it exceeds Y GB. I don't remember X or Y.

I understand but is there a workaround this problem? Something that won't let them notice ?

I don't know, but if too much hotspot-based data is triggering Sprint's warning, then MAYBE, MAYBE:
1) Running through a hotspot VPN app would blind Sprint to the type of data that's being used. (I once read that PC/Mac web-calls leave different footprints that Sprint can detect.)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.free.vpn.proxy.vpnhotspot
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hotspotshield.android.vpn
2) Or if the Galaxy S5's built-in Hotspot software is reporting its data usage to Sprint, then maybe a 3rd party hotspot app would help.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kr.core.technology.wifi.hotspot
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foxfi

Thanks! Yes I used a lot of data in hotspot mode. But would I be able to use the unlimited data with these apps in hotspot mode without them noticing? Also I have a custom ROM.

there is no workaround to their "data abuse". Even though they tout their plans as unlimited, there is a limit. They will always refer back to their TOS (terms of service). Sprint has a very tight grip on their data in certain areas as they lease their airtime from other carriers towers. Good luck with your plight, youre not going to win this data war with sprint

Does anybody know if the ClockworkMod Tether app would work since it's connected via usb? how could i know if they're tracking me by pc browsers or are they tracking by data usage?

each browser has its own signature it uses when connecting to a site, so they can tell if its a mobile device or not. Some APKs mask the data usage at the app level

hey i found some info on editing the TTL on your pc. but i found it on a Tmobile base network. I have no idea if it would work? Just wanted to make sure before i do. thanks

The TTL has nothing to do with masking the source of data, it just tells routers how many hops the packet can make on the network.

If you ran a proxy app on the PC (like UltraSurf) or a VPN, I wonder if that would completely mask transmission data from Sprint.

please let me know it it works or if there is any other apps that may work

Tethering w/T-Mobile & EasyTether now counted as tethering (SIM1/SIM2 issue or DPI)?

Tethering w/T-Mobile & EasyTether now counted as tethering (SIM1/SIM2 issue or DPI)?
Hi Everyone,
Been using my OP6 and loving it on TMobile. I noticed, as with other unlocked phones, tethering with EasyTether USB does not get detected as tethering...until today. For example, last month I had 0.0GB Tethering and did occasionally tether with Easy Tether.
My cable modem was acting up today and I switched to Easy Tether to do a WebEx video call (and forgot about it)...and happened to check and they counted 1.1 GB of tethering in 4 hours -- ouch!
The only change was I switched the SIM card to SIM slot 1 a few days ago, as it had been in SIM 2 because of some VM clearing issue I read about.
I am wondering if they detected tethering in because of SIM1 vs. SIM2, or did deep packet inspection and picked something up?
BTW...I also noticed today that tethering was slower than it usually was...not throughput which is usually 70-80Gbits around here, but more latency (like they were monitoring something).
Has anyone gotten WiFi Tether Router working on this phone? Any other thoughts?
BTW -- I did switch back to SIM2 because my VM's have not been getting erased since using SIM1. Also rooted on OOS 5.1.9 if that matters.
I also have a 3 year VPN subscription so I can avoid DPI but it's a hassle...
MW

How are you using it? Without a vpn or with a vpn? Because I have read Sprint and T-Mobile are really looking at vpn usage, And T-mobile has been warning people and Sprint counting as hotspot. I personally on my own if no one knows about this would run it over a https tunnel, then your vpn is hidden the software is called stunnel. Many vpn providers use stunnel now, you just have to enable it.
Just noticed it has been awhile since they were last on here.

155424 said:
How are you using it? Without a vpn or with a vpn? Because I have read Sprint and T-Mobile are really looking at vpn usage, And T-mobile has been warning people and Sprint counting as hotspot. I personally on my own if no one knows about this would run it over a https tunnel, then your vpn is hidden the software is called stunnel. Many vpn providers use stunnel now, you just have to enable it.
Just noticed it has been awhile since they were last on here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will cover you 95% f the time, and you don't even need VPN or EasyTether:
1) Install VPN Hotspot (great open source app), use it to turn on system WiFi tethering, and then route all the traffic over WAN0 even if you are not using a VPN.
2) Note that root su "Settings put global tether_dun_required = 0" should do the same thing, but you can do both to be sure.
3) Install Change TTL, set enable on boot, and tell it to set TTL to 64.
Now occasionally, T-Mobile will still detect some tethering, but it only picks up maybe 5%, and even if you go over the limit they don't seem to be able to throttle since your traffic is routed over the non tethering APN. They may also be detecting some because I am not sure if Change TTL supports IPV6...the IPV6 TTL setting is Hop Limit or HL and since TMobile uses IPv6 by default...? To test this if you care, you could setup an IPv4 APN.
Regarding VPN -- I think they may automatically count this as tether, but I don't really know. I have NordVPN and a PPTP VPN to our home and vacation home and could test further, but I haven't because you don't really need a VPN.
Hope this helps,
MW

What is the limit on tethering? I've never run into a problem but don't use it much either.

nujackk said:
What is the limit on tethering? I've never run into a problem but don't use it much either.
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Click to collapse
On my plan TMobile 1+ for business it is 10G before throttling.
One month my home internet was down and I was tethering and had switched to iDrive cloud backup from CrashPlan so for two days it was just blasting data through the tethering connection. It registered 35.1 GB Tethering and 389 GB of non-tethering (nearly all tethering) and was still not throttling at all.
Besides that one special case, I have never registered more than 1 or 2GB tethering using the method outlined above even though I have probably used well over 10 a few times....
MW

Sounds like I don't need to worry about it then. I only use it for my android deck in my truck. Mostly music