Activate tethering on Softbank iPhone

A friend of mine, @kuriburi, just sent me this to publish for him, so here you go:

So it was the news of the day: Someone managed to activate tethering on an AT&T iPhone 3G by means of a “carrier support file”, a.k.a. “ipcc”. Here in Japan, the story was a bit more tricky : Softbank declared that they would not support tethering on their network and had no plans to do so in the future either.

softbank-tethered

Nice! So, with those brand new Macbook Pro without any pc express card slot, how are we supposed to use Softbank’s data cards? This bothered me to no end thus I went on a search for a Softbank carrier support file that I could modify somehow. I stumbled onto this very interesting post on a Japanese blog that talked about the same thing, but with a beta version of the iPhone OS 3.0.

OK, well, doesn’t hurt to try with the official release, right?

Now I need to get my hands on that damn file. Turns out, it was right on my hard drive at work since August 2008. So I went to work and modified the file (which incidentally is just a bundle in a zip archive with a special extension) and tried to update my iPhone with it. The steps are simple :

  1. in the Terminal, execute defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool TRUE
    on windows, execute C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1 in a DOS window
  2. plug your iPhone to your computer via the USB cable
  3. in iTunes, display the summary page of your iPhone
  4. while pressing the “alt” (option) key, click on the “check for update” button
  5. you will be presented with a finder window. Locate the Softbank_jp.ipcc file, select it
  6. iTunes will now update your iPhone with the modified carrier settings
  7. Once finished, unplug the iPhone, go see into Settings>General>Network, and voilà! screenshot

Oh, before I forget, if Apple or Softbank issues an update through iTunes, wait a bit before updating… you never know…

Update: I updated the link with the latest file from @kuriburi that activates both tethering and MMS. よろしく!

Update: This IPCC file does not work with 3.1 update. If you value your tethering, do not upgrade yet.


Comments

377 responses to “Activate tethering on Softbank iPhone”

  1. pawned! Nice work kurisu! Now waiting for the link and 3.0 JB for Windows.

  2. w00kie tells me that the file has been updated. If you click the link in the post, you’ll get the new version.

    @Kurt: nope

  3. Sakabara Avatar
    Sakabara

    Nope… Sorry w00kie, it seems that the link for downloading the file is dead. Could you please check once more it is alive. I just got “File not found” upon clicking the link…
    Sorry for the trouble and thanks to Kurisu and you…

  4. ooops, sorry, my bad…
    i fixed the file, now everything should be fine

  5. dondocfrank Avatar
    dondocfrank

    Just downloaded the latest update and applied it! Works good! Thanks guys for all the hard work! ど〜も、ど〜も!

  6. Worked flawlessly! Thanks a bunch for the fix.

  7. Thanks so much guys!

  8. Dokuro Avatar

    The command for people on Windows 7 64bit should be as:
    Use the quotes,

    “C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes\Itunes.exe” /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1

  9. Not sure if i’ts me or my phone but I don’t see cellular data network under Settings/General/Network. Anyone knows how can I make this option to show up?

    I too can’t find the cellular data network menu? Why?

  10. and was wondering the location of the original carrier ipcc file if I ever want to revert! Thanks for this fantastic work!

  11. Kurt H Avatar

    You can ignore my instructions and discussion about Cellular Data Network tab. To see this tab, you need to edit the carrier plist file and add AllowEDGEEditng. @Kurisu’s file eliminates this requirement. Everything works fine with the latest file even without the CDN tab. @Kurisu’s file has a newer MMS proxy so I recommend following that.

    FWIW, the new proxy is smilemms.softbank.ne.jp:8080 . There is also a max message size setting of 307200. Everything else is the same as my previous post.

    Thanks @Kurisu for making my hack obsolete! :-)

  12. It all becomes clear! Thanks for the info… With the new iPhone out on the 26th, advertised as being able to tether, I wonder if Softbank are just holding back a legit version with a new price scheme worked out!

    There is a gap between what apple want to tell us the iPhone can do and what the carriers actually want us to do!

  13. Sorry to be obtuse, but the new file downloads as a folder called “payload”. How do I get the .ipcc file? Simply renaming did not seem to work. Thanks!

  14. Kurt H Avatar

    You are using Safari to download the file.
    You can fix this by downloading with another browser, or doing the following:
    1. Ctrl-click or right click the Payload folder and choose “Compress”
    2. Rename the resulting ZIP file as Softbank_jp.ipcc
    3. Select the resulting ZIP file and “Get Info” for the file by pressing command-I or using the menu command.
    4. Under “Name & Extension”, remove .zip from the end of the filename.
    5. Finder will prompt which extension you want to keep. Choose “.ipcc”

    Done.

  15. The Softbank’s page mentioned below states that the packets communication by tethering (although the term is not directly used) will not be covered by the capping.
    http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/price_plan/X/packet_full/
    It also states that the customers whose packet charges exceed JPY 50000 will be notified after the following day by SMS.

  16. Kurt H Avatar

    That page refers to users of the “X” data plan. Those disclaimers have been there since Softbank first started offering the “X” lineup of Windows Mobile smartphones. I used an X01HT for tethering on and off and the charges never showed up on my bill. Their explanation of ‘tethering’ not covered by the fixed price plan means that the fix priced plan does not apply to data communication over other APNs (such as the old ai@vodafone APN which is/was notoriously expensive.)

    It remains to be seen if they have developed some way to identify and bill separately for iPhone ‘tethered’ traffic. Since both PC data and iPhone data are going over the same smile.world APN, they would have to develop a way to identify and separate the traffic on the back end.

  17. Kurt: Thanks for your great instructions. Worked like a charm.

    Now that I have tethering here in Japan, I think the iPhone is basically perfect. It was the only thing missing. I doubt that SoftBank will ever let people have it legitamately, although I’d be happy to pay more for it. People here just dont catre aboit such things it seems.

    I know that we have to be careful to fly below the radar with tethering. I plan to use it only to download an occasional Mobile Me file, since the phone already does Safari and my email.

    What will others do with tethering?

    Again, many thanks for making it easy!

    Al

  18. Kurt H Avatar

    Ohh, I can assure you that people are interested in this feature. It’s just the old fashioned executives at these mobile phone firms that don’t understand the demand.

    The top three Japanese mobile phone companies (DoCoMo, au, SoftBank) run their business around the private consumer (families, high school girls, etc.) and pretty much target their entire business plan at the 18-24 demographic. Only in recent years have they woken up to the corporate market. Ironically SoftBank is one of the more forward thinking of these top three firms with au probably coming in dead last, just having finally released their first smartphone just recently.

    Users who want an unlimited data plan and tethering are over on EMobile, a young mobile startup that offers some pretty fresh choices. Unfortunately they have a fairly weak lineup and pretty poor overseas roaming, but they are growing rapidly.

    I’m actually glad the iPhone came out on SoftBank because it’s probably the least bad of the three Japanese big mobile companies. DoCoMo is like a government run company and au just doesn’t seem to understand anything other than teenagers and “freeters”…

    Personally I plan to use the tethering for my Hackintosh netbook (a Dell Mini 9) for those times when I need to do some slightly more heavy duty computing and for things that need a big screen, a mouse and a real keyboard. Probably really only use it once a week at most.

  19. dondocfrank Avatar
    dondocfrank

    It’s nice to hear all this info. about tethering and the cell phone society here in Japan. For me, there’s no going back to the cell I had before the iPhone, even more now that you guys worked so hard getting the tethering figured out! As far as I’m concerned, there aren’t really many more holes that need to be plugged. I’m more than satisfied and feel that anything else that comes down the pike, as far as apps and further refinements to the system software, are just going to be icing on the cake. (^o~)

  20. Kurt: You are spot on about the business plan for all 3 companies. I could not agree more. The sad thing is that even if consumers made it plain that they want change, the companies just never will.

    I fully agree that there is no going back. I was happy to sleep in the street last July 10th to get my iPhone. It is terrific, and I also agree that it is pretty much perfect now that we have tethering.

    Interestingly, I also have a Hackintosh, same as you, Kurt. It is now my favorite laptop because it is so easy to drag around. I love my MacBook Air, but the Hackintosh is just so small and light. It is more than enough when I am out and about. I also agree that once a week is enough for tethering but it sure is nice to know that I have that ability now.

    You guys all did a great job to get this out to the rest of us. Cheers!

  21. Well,

    I have followed these instructions to a T, and it appeared to work, up until the network preferences comes up.

    I have the option to connect via Ethernet Adaptor (en3), but no settings for all the other fields. Are there other requirements to get it to connect?

    Did you use DHCP? Manual?

    Thanks!

    Ross

  22. Kurt H Avatar

    Not sure about Windows PC but on the Mac, it just worked right away. No additional settings required.

  23. dondocfrank Avatar
    dondocfrank

    Ross,

    If I remember correctly, I was faced with that same window when I installed the first time. I was baffled by those fields, so I just hit the Return key and it started working perfectly without a hitch.

    dondocfrank

  24. NFO, Ross,

    After setting up tethering, reset your iPhone by holding down the power and home button at the same time… press again to restart…

    set up tethering through the settings as mentioned above…

    attach the iPhone with usb and allow itunes to sync etc…

    then on your mac

    1. open network preferences menu…
    2. select your iphone in the left hand side of the window…
    it appears as ethernet….
    3. configure: using DHCP, you should see an IP address etc…
    4. Check the Search Domains field, it should have the (softbank)sbm-vvs.ne.jp etc… info
    5. click apply

    should work!

  25. dondocfrank Avatar
    dondocfrank

    Hey wOOkie,

    I just noticed something about your home page. I’m typing these messages from my iPhone and your really nice nightview pict. of your neighborhood doesn’t show up like it does on my Mac.

    dondocfrank

  26. that’s because it’s a 250KB photos and it takes a buttload of time to download on an iPhone
    so i took it out of the mobile CSS style

  27. help! why couldn’t i even pass the first step at all??

    copy&paste
    “C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.exe” /setPrefInt carrier-testing 1
    to start>run field and it just doesn’t work.
    am i missing sth here?

    btw, i am using XP HE SP3
    thxthx

  28. dondocfrank Avatar
    dondocfrank

    I see, w00kie, thanks for sharing that with me. I thought maybe it was a programming flaw that kept it from downloading and displaying. No sweat. (^o~)

  29. @ryoi make sure iTunes is really installed in C:\Program Files\
    browse to the folder to check if it is really there, if not change enter the correct location in the start>run field

  30. Thanks for this all. Interesting setup.
    Cheers,
    Chris

  31. @w00kie yeah its right there.
    http://twitpic.com/86tt8

    if i can just only pass step one, i am all good…

  32. nvm! its all done!
    http://twitpic.com/88gz6
    thx for the fascinating tips!
    btw, any recommend bluetooth driver for windowsXP?

  33. midnightbrewer Avatar
    midnightbrewer

    I downloaded and installed the updated IPCC file, and not only does my MMS not come back, but now my tethering is enabled whenever I have the phone plugged into my laptop via USB. Things seem to be going from bad to worse. Any ideas?

  34. midnightbrewer Avatar
    midnightbrewer

    Cleared up the USB issue by deleting the associated ethernet interface in my network preferences (nice idea, but not if I’m going to risk getting on SoftBank’s radar every time I want to charge my iPhone), but still have the MMS issue.

    This isn’t my iPhone’s usual paired machine, so I’ll have to wait until i get home to do a factory reset, should that be the only fix available.

  35. kurisu Avatar

    @midnightbrewer have you tried to power down / restart your iPhone ?

  36. midnightbrewer Avatar
    midnightbrewer

    @kurisu Yep. Did a soft reboot and a hard reboot both, several times.

  37. Sakabara Avatar
    Sakabara

    Hi to all,

    A good friend of mine was at the annual Shareholders meeting of お父さん this morning. There was two questions, remarks from the floor about the fact that tethering will not be authorized in Japan (both of them strongly requesting tethering). M. Son said that allowing this feature would put too much strain on the servers, since Softbank has now more than 20 millions users. iPhone users are actually using 10 times as much bandwidth as regular phone users. With tethering, it would be 100 times as much for the same price plan and would be unfair to other users.
    When asked about the 3G in Japan, M. Son said that, month in month out, it is the most sold model of cellphone among the many models sold by Softbank. About the launch of the 3Gs, he showed his own to the shareholders crowd, saying it is even a better user experience than the 3G. Quite a good publicity stunt for the iPhone…
    Can’t wait to get mine on Friday, although it’s gonna cost me a lot to upgrade from the 3G :-(
    Cheers to all

  38. kurisu Avatar

    @midnightbrewer okay, well then yes, a restore might be in order. Though I’d suggest using the “reset all settings” function on the phone first to avoid the lengthy restore process.

  39. Just wanted to leave a comment. Thank you!!! Being at it all morning and half the afternoon. Ready to throw in the towel and saw this link.

  40. Are the mms text free with plan or it is pay per use? SMS is free correct??

  41. kurisu Avatar

    I think MMS is charged ¥0.21/packet, i.e. very expensive and not included in the normal plans.

  42. Thank you for your reply.
    I got another question that is not directly related to this topic.

    Do you know the apn settings for NTT docomo?

  43. how can they, with a straight face, charge you for MMS by the packet when you have an unlimited packet plan
    by the message I would at least understand (even though it would be criminal), but by the packet outside your パケ放題???

  44. Coming from service in the US, I don’t understand why Japan’s mobile plans don’t include packaged mins. It is a shame we have to pay for every 30sec use.

  45. akiba_kid Avatar
    akiba_kid

    Will this work with a prepaid softbank sim? i don’t want a contract >_<

  46. It may not work with another Softbank sim since the iPhone uses it’s own. I am sure it will work if the phone is unlocked.

    I didn’t know Softbank provides prepaid sim?

  47. kurisu Avatar

    @w00kie, how can they ? uhm… well, I don’t know HOW, but they still do anyway:
    http://mb.softbank.jp/mb/iphone/mail/sms.html

  48. midnightbrewer Avatar
    midnightbrewer

    Good news, everybody. After doing a restore and reapplying the IPCC file, everything works beautifully.

    I checked the page that kurisu linked to regarding the supposed MMS charge, but it doesn’t say that iPhone OS 3.0 users will start incurring a charge. That’s the generic page that explains about MMS for all phones, not the iPhone. I can’t find a spot that specifically states the iPhone is included OR excluded. I’ll be in there this weekend, though, so I’ll ask them directly then.

  49. midnightbrewer Avatar
    midnightbrewer

    I had a Japanese friend read the page and he says that the MMS charge only applies to out-of-network recipients. In other words, not really a big deal and circumventable by email.

  50. “” the MMS charge only applies to out-of-network recipients.””

    Meaning charges apply when sending mms to other networks (like nnt docomo) but free to any softbank users regardless if they use an iphone or not?

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