Android Magazine UK - Issue No. 49

Hacker Zøne

T

ethering is where you share your Android

device’s internet connection with other

devices, such as your laptop. But sometimes

it makes more sense to share your computer’s

internet connection with your Android. This can

be achieved v ia reverse USB tethering.

Reverse USB tethering is useful in several

situations. For example, maybe there’s only a

single internet port available and you want

Internet access on both your Mac and your

Android, or maybe you’re running low on

batter y and want to charge your A ndroid

device while accessing the internet.

This tutorial shows you how to reverse

tether. This requires a rooted device with USB

tethering capabilities. To check whether you

have access to USB tethering, connect

your Android to your computer using

the USB cable. Then access your

Android’s Settings>More>Tethering

and portable hotspot and check

whether you can select USB

tethering. If you can’t select USB

tethering, you will need to fl ash a

ROM that has USB tethering

enabled, such as CyanogenMod.

You’ll also need to have

BusyBox and Terminal Emulator

installed on your dev ice, both of

which are available from the

Google Play store.

Once you’ve successfully

reverse tethered, the fi nal few

steps show you how to

quickly and easily share your

Android device’s internet

connection with your Mac,

so regardless of which

dev ice has the internet

connection originally, you

will always be able to

access it on both your

Mac and your A ndroid.

Reverse USB

tethering for

Mac

Share your Mac’s Wi-Fi

connection with your Android

phone or tablet

Works with » Varies with device Diffi culty » Intermediate

Connect your Android device to your

Mac with the USB cable. On your

Android, go to Settings>More>

Tethering & portable hotspot>USB

tethering. Then on your Mac go to bit.

ly/1vvDXUK and download the

HoRNDOS driver so that your Mac can

use Android’s USB tethering mode.

Enable USB

tethering

1

If you do fi nd that some apps

are failing to connect to the Internet,

then you may be able to kick-start the

connection using an experimental fi x.

To do this, launch the Terminal

Emulator. The fi rst step is fi nding the

name of your specifi c 3G interface,

so enter busybox ifconfi g to begin

a full search.

6 Experimental fix