Tether an Android Phone Using Proxoid

Jul 21, 2009 8:09pm GMT

Dmitri Popov

The Android Market features a few tethering applications, so it should be easy to use your Android phone as a wireless modem. Well, that's how the theory goes, anyway. In practice, however, these applications require root access to your phone's system, so you have to "root" your phone before you can tether it. Rooting an Android phone is not for the faint of heart, though, and there is the ever-present risk of bricking your device. Meet Proxoid, a proxy server application that lets you use your phone as a modem without hacking its system. Making Proxoid work does require a few steps, but the entire process is simple enough even for uninitiated users. Here is how to make Proxoid work with an Ubuntu-based system.

Start with installing the Proxoid application on your Android phone from the Android Market. On your phone, navigate to Settings - > Application -> Development and enable the USB debugging feature. On your Ubuntu machine, create the 90-android.rules file:

 gksudo gedit /etc/udev/rules.d/90-android.rules

Add the following line to it:

 SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bb4", MODE="0666"

Save the file and quit the text editor. Download and unpack the latest release of Android SDK. Connect the phone to the Ubuntu machine via USB and start the Proxoid application. Open the Terminal, navigate to the tools directory in the Android SDK folder and run the following command:

 ./adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080

The proxy server should now be running, but to be able to use it with Firefox, you have to modify the browser's proxy settings. In Firefox, choose Edit -> Preferences and switch to the Advanced -> Network section. Press the Settings button in the Configure how Firefox connects to the Internet group. Select the Manual proxy configuration option, then enter localhost in the HTTP Proxy field and 8080 in the Port field. Press OK to save the settings and close the window. Now you can browse the Web using the created connection.

Comments

tether

Batou Aug 20, 2010 3:40am GMT

Rooting the Android was a piece of cake. I'll try tethering shortly. Thank You!

Bluetooth

jkurtisr@gmail.com Jul 06, 2010 12:49pm GMT

Awesome.

I wonder if something like this could work over Bluetooth

Great!

theperfectreign@yahoo.com Jun 20, 2010 9:07pm GMT

This was perfect. Took me all of five minutes. I'd been trying to use my Blackberry to tether for some time with no success. This works like a charm.

I created a simple script to set this up for you - Also includes a Launcher on the Desktop.

Shannon VanWagner - humans-enabled.com May 28, 2010 5:29am GMT

I created a simple script to set this up. The script also creates an icon on your desktop to use to launch the connection. Check it out here:
http://www.humans-enabled.com/200...to-tether-your-verizon-droid-as.html

Works fine with opensuse 11.2 as well

holger May 26, 2010 11:31am GMT

Hi,

thanks for the description - I got it working with opensuse 11.2 and opera as a browser.
First I received the error

./adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
error: device not found

but then the permission hint worked.

Capitalism finally working

Dan May 23, 2010 6:14pm GMT

Tmobile better wake up, they don't have a 4G plan and Sprint is about to wipe them off the face of the planet with their HTC EVO deal. All those G1 customer's expensive 2 year data contracts are ending in the next few months so Tmobile had better step up with something! Personally I would stay with a 3G plan IF the carrier would offer tethering on top of their existing data plan *for no extra money*. The Sprint "8 WiFi user hot spot" for $30 EXTRA per month is outrageous and the 3G carriers could still compete by offering free single machine tethering. I'm fine using a cable, I don't need a WiFi hot spot, just give us what we should have had all along.

Tether Android

Chuck May 21, 2010 1:12am GMT

I was able to tether the HTC Droid Eris using the instructions you provided. Thanks for posting! The comment about the Network Proxy worked great as well. I setup a 2nd location to use for tethering.

network proxy

realgt May 07, 2010 2:36am GMT

You can have ubuntu forward all network traffic using the Network Proxy preference app. Simply set it up as localhost 8080 in there instead of in firefox

Why Proxy

Vic May 02, 2010 8:33pm GMT

What I don't get is why Mac and Windows users get a nice application with almost no configuration (PDANet). And we Linux users are stuck using a Proxy to get our Android Phones to work with Linux. What the hell? It's pathetic that we have to use a Proxy application to get a Linux phone to tether to a Linux PC/Laptop without having to root. It stinks!

Thanks!

Psionic Apr 23, 2010 7:35pm GMT

Hey this worked well for me with my moto cliq and ubuntu 9.10... Awesome post!

THANK YOU

Ondřej Šeliga Apr 23, 2010 12:07am GMT

Hi,

I would like to say THANK YOU! I was struggling with this problem since I bought my G1 (1 year) and now finaly I made it, thanks to Proxoid!

Again, thanks a LOT!!

./adb problem

petterwr Apr 16, 2010 1:44am GMT

in the tools directory when I type ./adb i get:
unable to execute ./adb: No such file or directory

same thing if i try sudo ./adb, but ls -l adb gives:
-rwxrwxrwx 1 petter petter 340920 2010-02-05 23:53 adb

probably a newbie mistake, but I have no idea where to go from here.. any help is appreciated!

Chrome

mcwho Apr 10, 2010 11:58pm GMT

Worked just as posted. No deviation necessary using Droid with 2.1 just upgraded a few days ago. Thanks!

Is there a way to forward all IP traffic through the proxy? I would like to be able to use SSH, Ping, etc. I setup Google Chrome similar to how the instructions for Firefox are posted. I used the pull down menu "Customize and control Google Chrome" and chose options. A new dialog window pops up with three tabs. I chose "Under the Hood". There towards the bottom you see "Network" and below that a button "Change proxy settings" I then select the "Manual proxy configuration" radio button and select the checkbox "Use the same proxy for all protocols" Enter "localhost" for the "HTTP proxy" and port "8080" was selected already.

There is a button at the bottom called "Apply System-Wide" but I still cannot use my Virtual Machines and other ports. Any ideas???

insufficient permissions for device

Chonnawonga Mar 13, 2010 9:01pm GMT

Hi,

For those who are getting the "insufficient permissions for device" error, try this:

1.on phone:
settings->applications->development; enable USB debugging
start proxoid

2.on laptop (after installing Android SDK and adding 90-android.rules)

cd android-sdk-linux/tools
./adb kill-server
sudo ./adb start-server
./adb devices
./adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080

3. Change network settings in your browser to manual proxy configuration with HTTP Proxy=localhost and Port=8080

All credit goes to iefbr14 at this post: http://androidforums.com/how-tips...systems-tested-linux.html#post136254

teather droid

jason Feb 26, 2010 1:46am GMT

So do i have unlimited usage on this or the 5 gig limit

I can't follow it.

Droid owner Jan 30, 2010 4:12pm GMT

I don't get where to make the file and how... do I need astro file manager for it???? Could you please make a video showing this; I can't follow what you're saying.

error: cannot bind socket

Julian Jan 20, 2010 7:54pm GMT

Hi There,

unfortunately it not working for me.

Everything is fine until:

./adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080
* deamon not running. starting it now *
* deamon started successfully *
error: cannot bind socket

Trying it via sudo doesn't help either. Is there anyone who knows what to do?

TIA Julian

Not a real solution

Bachus Jan 08, 2010 12:17am GMT

I moved from a Nokia N95 to the Milestone some days ago. Until now I've never even thougt that sharing a phone's internet connection via WLAN could be a problem. In fact, using "JoikuSpot" on the S60 based Nokia, I could easily open a WLAN hotspot - zero configuration on the mobile or client, and full internet connectivity.

On Android it seems all this is not possible. Having to configure clients and then only being able to use a proxy for access instead of full internet connectivity is too much of a pain and a real downgrade.

Worked perfectly - Thank you.

Panko Jan 03, 2010 4:29am GMT

I worked amazingly well. And simple. Thank you for this.

thanks

nkr Jan 02, 2010 9:18pm GMT

i did like comment #3
works perfectly, thanks!

Works beautifully!

EJ Dec 31, 2009 5:16am GMT

I've got this working on suse linux 11.1 no problem. I followed the directions here except I put lines into my
/etc/udev/rules.d/90-android.rules file as described on another forum (http://androidforums.com/how-tips...operating-systems-tested-linux.html) as follows

SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bb4", ATTRS{idProduct} =="0c01", MODE="0666",OWNER="brett"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0bb4", ATTRS{idProduct} =="0c02", MODE="0666", OWNER="brett"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="22b8", ATTRS{idProduct} =="41db", MODE="0666", OWNER="brett"

Just changed the OWNER="brett" to OWNER="myusername" and yahoo!
Sending this comment over 3G!

THANKS!!!!!

Working well but unable to log into encrypted? sites.

RYan the Newbie Dec 11, 2009 5:58pm GMT

I can't access my gmail, google calendar, facebook or hotmail since I started using this. I can get to the log-in pages but when I log-in i am told the destination cannot be found. Do I have some security settings wrong on my browser or on the phone?

No luck - until now

Dan Dec 09, 2009 8:51am GMT

Using sudo didn't do it, but I found details for tethering a Droid here:

http://androidforums.com/how-tips...-operating-systems-tested-linux.html

The secret is in the udev rules file.

sudo needed

Matt Dec 06, 2009 4:52pm GMT

@Dan try:
sudo ./adb

the sudo command is needed for many administrative functions

No luck

Dan Dec 04, 2009 9:52am GMT

I recently purchased a new Droid from Verizon. Nice phone, but it's $EXPENSIVE$. I figured that if I could tether it as a moden that I might get my moneys worth out of it, but no luck so far.

I think the sticking point is with the adb command. When I ran it, I got the following output.

$ ./adb forward tcp:8080 tcp:8080
* daemon not running. starting it now *
* daemon started successfully *
error: insufficient permissions for device
$

Any thoughts? I'll check back.

Why the problem with providers?

Vikingisson Dec 02, 2009 5:06pm GMT

I still don't understand why providers in N.A. have so many rules about tethering. If you have a data plan then what's the difference? If you use more than the plan's cap then you'll pay big time just like if you did that on the phone itself. Sure it is a lot easier to surf on a pc than the phone but a data plan is a data plan. Unless you have a so called unlimited plan then why the fuss? I'm happy with a cap, that should mean I can use up to that amount and it is none of their business what I use it for.
Luckily I don't have a problem tethering and I never go over my cap. My provider blocks SIP which again is a sin in my eyes, what I run is my business since I also pay for a cell plan in addition to a data plan. This is why I didn't have any kind of cell phone until Android came along and brought some hope to this brutal industry. Still sucks being in N.A. but much better than before.

Motorola Milestone

PP Nov 25, 2009 1:53pm GMT

For german users who buyed the moto milestone or verizon's droid, add this line to the udev file:

SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="41d8", MODE="0666"

Tethering

christopher Sep 20, 2009 3:05am GMT

@Janice
According to http://www.t-mobile.com/Templates/Popup.aspx?PAsset=Pln_Lst_DataPlan , tmobile allows up to 10gb per month.

But, as you said, be careful. The same page specifically says tethering is prohibited.

Regards,
Christopher

Tethering

4r4nd0mninj4 Sep 16, 2009 7:14pm GMT

I am so glad that Rogers allows tethering in Canada.

Reload configuration

sil Aug 28, 2009 6:05pm GMT

These instructions are perfect, except that after adding the udev.d file, you must reload udev's configuration with:

sudo /etc/init.d/udev reload

and then it will all work.

New Linux phone from Vodafone

Linuxforever Aug 12, 2009 1:35am GMT

I'm interested knowing what this one will be like in usability:

http://www.linuxphone.ru/forum/vi...c.php?f=5&t=909&p=4339#p4339

The screenshots show social activity possible on phone.

depressing

Alan Jul 28, 2009 1:54pm GMT

I agree with the first poster that this is a sad state of affairs when we have a separate word to describe "using the phone's Internet on the computer." I never realized how depressing it was until I moved from the US to Kenya. Everyone "tethers" here. If I move back to the United States I'll be so depressed that I need a special phone, software, plan, etc to do this obviously trivial thing.

depressing

depressing Jul 28, 2009 11:06am GMT

Why do the operators/manufacturers try to restrict users in this way in the first place? I don't get it.
Fortunately it's not like this in (most of) Europe, where I happen to live. We don't even have a word for tethering in my language, because it's something we consider so obvious. I've been "tethering" for pretty much all of this millenium and never gave it a second thought.
If a device is restricted in this way, I simply won't buy it - thanks but no thanks, especially to Apple!