[Chase8332]

Has anyone used Tetherbridge before (tetherbridge[dot]com) ? There's lots of interesting information on tethering the main page but I don't know how it compares to other software. I tried to download it the other day but it woudn't install. I emailed their tech support (they said their was a problem with some 32-bit machines) and they put out a new version today, which I just downloaded. Going to try it now.

I've read the great reviews on the tether.com software and was just wondering if anyone's compared the two.

Thanks!

[FF22]

All I can add is that Tether works really well. When there was a problem with a new version a while ago, they were very quick to answer questions and get it back up and operating.

[jasoncliff592]

I think Tether uses their servers to forward tethering data so everything you send out or receive goes through their servers. I heard they only have servers in California before but don't know if they have added any elsewhere now. At one time some users of Tether suggested to them that they should distribute the server job to tether users themselves, much like how Skype works. A number of Tether users expressed the interest to participate in using their own home internet connection to forward other Tether users' data. Many feared carriers might shut Tether down by filtering out traffic towards Tether as it is quite easy to target just a small number of IP addresses. Tether rep replied and said it was an interesting idea. I saw all this on Tether's website a while ago. It does not look like they actually acted upon it. There are a lot of other reasons they would not like to do that.
Tetherbridge on the other hand claims they have no servers and tethering data go where you want them to go directly.
Apparently, these two use very different technologies.

[Chase8332]

jasoncliff - That's an interesting point, Tether would be a very easy target for a IP block. I was lso thinking that since there's no monthly fee, at some point they're probably going to have to expand their servers as usage grows and might reach a critical mass" with less money coming in from program sales and high maintenance costs. It wouldn't seem like the business model could run for a long time.

Tetherbridge is half the price (or I guess the same if you catch Tether on sale) but I haven't got it working yet. Not sure why, have to look into it tomorrow.

[wnm]

Been using Tether since it came out. The best thing about it is it keeps me on line continuously without dropping out.

[superfastlane]

I tried both Tether and Tetherbridge (trial only, did not pay for either). Performance wide, I barely noticed any difference. I tried internet speed test with speedtest.net and three runs for each. Both had variations from run to run but overall they had pretty much the same result.

Tether does have one advantage over Tetherbridge: Tether has bluetooth connection while Tetherbridge does not. I bet Tetherbridge may offer that down the road. This is just like Tether when it had only USB connection initially.

Market wide, Tether has a huge advantage with its installed base. When I searched "Blackberry tethering" on google, I saw it's all Tether and Tetherbridge was not anywhere to be found. Even when I searched "Tetherbridge", their home page did not even appear on top! Obviously, Tetherbridge is just a newcomer to the market. I think it will take sometime for Tetherbridge to become a real threat to Tether.

I found your posts very interesting. So, I went to both websites. Tetherbridge seems to be so forthcoming on their technology and touts about their technical advantages from all aspects. Quite obviously, they are comparing theirs with Tether's. Their arguments appear to be quite convincing. Tether, on the other hand, is so much more tight-liped about how their tethering works. Obviously, they know their weaknesses (perhaps may become fatal) and would not talk about them. I also tried both applications as mentioned above.

I would like to see them to have a price war so we can get a bargain. But I doubt it would happen. Tetherbridge probably would go for one but Tether would not afford one as they need to pay for their server operation and internet. A price war may just speed up the demise of Tether.

My take on this though is that Tether will eventually be taken over on the market by Tetherbridge due to their fatal technology flaws. They could suddenly die because carriers decide to act. Right now they do not really have any dent on the carriers' bottom line. As Tether stated, they had about 100,000 users for the first year. This is still nothing compared to the number of Blackberry users world wide. They could die because of their early success (more people now are only using the service but are not paying) as you have already talked about. Their business model smells so much like Maddoff. You use the money from the newcomers to pay the existing membership. With Tetherbridge coming to the market, they will take the market share away from Tether bit by bit even though they are new. This will just speed up the demise of Tether.

[ceb]

Any idea how this compares to PDANet?

[Pete6]

You can do tethering easily by instaling Desktop Manager 5.01. It has tehering built in - for free.

The massive advantage that Tether has over all the other products tah I have seen is that it mimics the phone's browser traffic so that your carrier does not see that you are tethering (well unless they really go looking).

Most (but not all) carriers charge an extra monthy fee if you tether so this makes Tether a very handy tool indeed.

[wnm]

I found it interesting that superfastlanes first post is detailed explanation of how Tether will go down the tubes.

[ben0727]

isnt everyone's first post like that? how they are going to take over the world? well right now i was on the fence on getting tether but i'll try tetherbridge just because solely its half the price.

[wnm]

Shame since Tether was on 50% sale through the 26th.

[phone9]

If they really made that many sales then they've made at least a few million $ and can afford to change how the app works if necessary. I don't think they're going down the tubes unless all tethering apps go down the tubes.

[SCrid2000]

Tether is the only one that will work for for OS 4.5 and below; well, mobishark does too, but I've heard bad reviews on it.
Tetherbridge looks like the best free option, but if you're gonna buy one, I'd advise getting Tether. Too bad the sale is over.

[phone9]

Anyone technical know why they have to go to such an extreme as having servers?

I almost set about making a tethering app, and all I was going to do was have a background app on the phone that relays packets between the cell network and USB or bluetooth, and a driver on the computer that relays packets between USB or bluetooth and a virtual network adapter.

[wnm]

My understanding is that by routing it through their servers it enables the application to use data rather than the cell modem. Supposedly, carriers can detect modem use as tethering and go after you if they have tethering limits. By setting Tether up as a data app, the only thing that can be detected is excessive data use.

[lpnlp]

The problem I had with Tetherbridge is it is slow and you have to constantly reboot your blackberry. It is cheaper but I would hold out for catching Tether at 50% off. It is easier to use and the speed is incredible. I have had great support I just wish the bluetooth supported Soliel

[johncaster]

Found the arguments on all sides helpful for me to make an informed decision in my own choice. I tried both and found both worked great. In terms of speed, I was not able to tell any real difference. I tried loading web pages and tried downloading speed test with speedtest.net 5 times on each. They both gave me close to 2 mb/s on average which I think is fantastic considering it was over cellular service. I noticed user "lpnlp" previously reported slow speed with Tetherbridge. Not sure what version of Tetherbridge he tried. I tried Tetherbridge 1.1.3 and Tether 1.4.3.7 on my BB.

I also digged into user reviews on both. Both had user issues on installation. Since I have them installed successfully, it was not a concern for me. Tether additionally had user complaints about operation. Most noticeably complaints about upgrade from 1.3 to 1.4 when some users complained about very slow internet to not working at all. Some asked Tether to list past versions so that they could downgrade to a known working version. This is the kind of things which I was concerned about Tether's server-based tethering. I am a programmer myself and I know very well we all make mistakes at one time or another. It is just not possible to have bug-free software. Just look at how many times we have a problem with our PCs, with internet access at home provided by ISPs, and with servers and network at work. There are just so many reasons services could be down: power outages, operational errors, you name it. In the Tether case, having Tether as another service provider when I tether makes me uneasy. Potential issues are not limited to software at the user end but at the server end as well. While my Tether v1.4.3.7 gave me no issue at all some other users were complaining about it. The problem could be at the server end which can happen even if the software at the user end is not updated at all.

I do not tether a lot but I want it to work when I need it. With another variable in tether service availability is not something I like. So, I went along with Tetherbridge in the end. Their differences in licensing policies and in pricing were not so much a concern to me. I just prefer to have something which is more likely to be there for me when I need it.

Just want to share my experience. Obviously, everybody has different priorities and may look at the options differently.

[dcscott]

I took a long hard look at both products and decided upon TetherBridge. After I purchased it I realized that it does not support many VPN protocols and so I am not able to access any of my company info such as Exchange Server. Pretty much killed it for me. That said, they really tried hard to make me happy and when they do finally support VPN I'll be a happy camper.

[dvjohnston33]

I tried TetherBridge on my 9700 a couple weeks ago and it worked out great. When I was just about to make a purchase, I found it did not work with my Cisco VPN client for connection to my company. So, I held off the purchase. I contacted support and they told me they were working on it. They sent me links to their pre-release software a couple of days ago. I installed it on my BB and laptop. Everything went very smoothly without a glitch, including connection to my company with Cisco VPN client. I have been testing it intensively for the last couple of days and found it has worked perfectly. No complaint and ready to purchase now. I don't know when they are going to release this new version. If you need VPN, contact their support and I am sure they will give you the links to try. BTW, they told me this new release has a trial period of 5 days and restarts the trial period if you tried earlier versions before.

[dcscott]

I took a long hard look at both products and decided upon TetherBridge. After I purchased it I realized that it does not support many VPN protocols and so I am not able to access any of my company info such as Exchange Server. Pretty much killed it for me. That said, they really tried hard to make me happy and when they do finally support VPN I'll be a happy camper.

At the time I posted the above comment, the fine folks at TetherBridge went out of their way to make me happy. About a week ago they contacted me to tell me they had a version that now worked with Cisco VPN. I downloaded it and found it to work flawlessly. I choose TetherBridge because I preferred their server-less methodology. I'll stick with them because they have given me some of the best customer service I've ever experienced with a vendor of BB software. Just pulled the plug on my AT&T tether service as the TB solution more than meets my needs.

[WayneThor]

I tried both and found the speed to be about the same on my DELL desktop PC. I had a problem with my ASUS Netbook though. I couldn't get either app to work. I worked with Tether support to find the problem but they eventually gave up. So I tried Tetherbridge. I had the same problem, but their support kept working with me day and night. I would try something at night and send an email and get a response right away. The problem turned out to be McAfee. I suspected it might be the problem and had turned it off without any success. However, when I re-installed McAfee everything started working great. Apparently, McAfee needed the Tetherbridge port to be present when it was installed. It didn't handle it when the port was added after the fact.

[Fuzzballz]

Tried Tetherbridge but due to the fact that it limits the number of simultaneous connections, the vast majority of web sites are ****-slow. I mean 2KB per MINUTE slow. I don't know why it does this. A simple page will download quickly but as soon as you go to one that is at all complex, even just my iGoogle home page with multiple RSS feeds, it becomes slower than a 1200 baud modem, literally. Totally unusable for me, unfortunately.