How-to: iPhone Tethering via Bluetooth on a Mac

By Derick Ng | Published: 19th June, 2009

Alright. Everyone is excited with the just released iPhone OS 3.0 and so am I! To be honest, I have never used Bluetooth on a Mac before and the way to setup tethering just feels a little different from what I expected. No, I did not try tethering via USB since I very much prefer wireless. The steps below should work for anyone whose mobile service provider (I am on SingTel by the way) does not explicitly disable tethering.

  1. Ensure that the settings Internet Tethering and Bluetooth is set to On on your iPhone.
  2. Click on the Bluetooth icon on the menu bar (the top right corner of your screen with lots of icons).
  3. Choose Set up Bluetooth Device.
  4. Click Continue then Mobile phone and Continue again.
  5. Ensure that you are on the Bluetooth settings page on your iPhone. You should see your iPhone listed under the list of Mobile Phones then click Continue and Continue (notice the number of Continues?) again.
  6. The Bluetooth Setup Assistant on your Mac should now be showing the PIN required to pair up the iPhone so just enter the PIN as shown into your iPhone and “touch” Connect.
  7. Now, your Mac and iPhone are finally paired. Ensure that Use device as a network port is checked and click Continue.
  8. Congratulations and we are done with the set up!

Every time you wish to connect to the Internet via your iPhone, click on the Bluetooth icon on the menu bar again and choose Your iPhone > Connect to Network. Once connected, you should see a nice blue Internet Tethering banner pulsating on your iPhone. Have fun!

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  • Hi Derick, My name is Krisztian Gyuris and I was wondering if I can repost this howto (with proper attribution to my gadget site)? http://bit.ly/bE1A2L

    Thanks for your positive reply in advance!
  • Hi there, sorry for the late reply. Yes, feel free to repost with a link back to this page. Cheers. :)
  • Cerise
    The only trouble is, in the UK O2 charge an extra £15 a month for tethering...
  • Kate
    This may be a lame question, but is this possible with iPhone 3G, upgraded? Thanks!
  • Yes, I am using the iPhone 3G as well. It is basically a feature of the iPhone OS 3.0. However, if you don't see an Internet Tethering option under Settings > General > Network, you may have to search for your unofficial carrier settings (if available).

  • chrsfrwll Great How To for tethering your iPhone via Bluetooth http://tinyurl.com/mwqdr2


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • Great How To for tethering your iPhone via Bluetooth http://tinyurl.com/mwqdr2


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • Jeff Shi
    Totally awesome, will try it out with this method. Thanks!

  • @dericknwq That is a freaking cool how-to: iPhone Tethering via Bluetooth on a Mac http://bit.ly/OJXWT Thx! How about laptops, heh?


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

  • Blogged: How-to: iPhone Tethering via Bluetooth on a Mac http://bit.ly/OJXWT


    This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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