NoWayOut In the US, all the three big carriers do it.

My carrier is Verizon. They write:

Many of our monthly phone plans and certain prepaid plans let you use 5G Ultra Wideband, 5G and 4G LTE Mobile Hotspot on capable devices for no additional monthly charge.

I looked at my "plan features" page and it says only:

Personal Hotspot

Use your shared data to turn your smartphone into a Wi-Fi connection for your other devices.

So it's not clear to me that I have a tethering quota. They may have some plans with tethering limits, but that may be avoidable - on Verizon and maybe also on other carriers.

    NoWayOut Are you running a full system VPN on Windows? If you aren't, they can see you're connecting to Windows services and therefore must be running Windows. Raising the TTL by 1 and running a VPN should be adequate. You should verify that the TTL is being raised with the way you're configuring it.

      a month later

      NoWayOut That's due to TCP fingerprinting methods, other people say use a VPN but if you can get away with not using one as I currently do, that's faster.
      Linux's TCP/IP stack is very similar to Android, so it's easy to look like an Android phone.
      macOS you can make look like iOS easily. For Windows I am not sure, but it is very different compared to both macOS and Linux.
      There is anti-DPI programs for Windows that are more comprehensive than the macOS and Linux alternatives, so you might not have to worry about it.

      N3rdTek
      PDANet+ or PairVPN needlessly slow down your internet. They're either outdated, or over-complex methods.

            felikcat
            Hey, thanks for this! I haven't tested it yet, but if it works it would be heaven sent! I was wondering how T-Mobile detects hotspot usage and hadn't been able to evade the detection using the various online tutorials and the advice given here.

                felikcat

                Hi, this cannot raise the TTL, and macOS' PF does not support TTL mangling unlike iptables.

                Thanks for throwing light on this issue. It is nice to hear from someone who actually understands how MacOS works, instead of immediately assuming it must mimic Linux.

                  5 days later

                  felikcat
                  I am sorry, but your guide was completely incomprehensible to me. What am I supposed to do if I want to use my GrapheneOS Pixel 7 Pro as a hotspot for my MacBook Pro?

                  Am I supposed to install anything on the Mac?

                  Or just install Power Tunnel on the Pixel (did this, used the VPN method, hotspot usage was detected right away)?

                  Also, I assume we are talking about Wi-Fi hotspot, as I never use USB.

                  Please clarify!

                  Thanks.

                    AlanZ

                    I was wondering how T-Mobile detects hotspot usage and hadn't been able to evade the detection using the various online tutorials and the advice given here.

                    If I understand correctly, they check the TTL counter of the passing data packets (that your internet traffic is wrapped in). If there are extra "routers" (like a wifi hotspot) on the way from cell service router to the target device, the TTL will be lower, than it would have been if the packets originated from the smartphone, since when passing each router the TTL value get's decremented by one.

                    So to bypass this, you need to change (increment by 1) the default initial TTL value (64 on MacOS) on your connected device - i.e. your MacBook, so the cell service doesn't notice the difference from the stock android initial TTL (which is 64, as I understand) once the packet reaches your service provider:

                    sudo sysctl net.inet.ip.ttl=65

                    Haven't tried doing that myself, though.

                        Look, not to sound petulant, but all of this obviously does not work. It is just bunch of untested "what ifs" and even in the best case scenario (phone acting as a hotspot for your computer) is this a real hotspot? The way I see it, a real hotspot would let any device connect to it without the device being modified. What if I want to connect an IoT device? Should I modify its TTL? This is preposterous and half-assed. It is obvious that no one knows exactly how T-Mobile is detecting hotspot use and no one knows how to prevent hotspot detection on the phone without modifying the connected device.

                        • de0u replied to this.

                          traveller
                          As has been mentioned above, this does not work in MacOS.

                            AlanZ It is obvious that no one knows exactly how T-Mobile is detecting hotspot use [...]

                            Earlier in this thread is some highly plausible information about non-TTL methods.

                            AlanZ [...] and no one knows how to prevent hotspot detection on the phone without modifying the connected device.

                            That is a strong claim, e.g., see:
                            https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/30 (but note that management requests that people express interest via the thumbs-up button, not by a text comment).

                                  de0u
                                  Thanks. I gave it a "thumbs-up" so hopefully one day. As for the above techniques - they didn't work for me. Always detected by T-Mobile.

                                    felikcat
                                    Then why don't I experience any issues, or others comment similar things on the apps? You say over complicated, how's the less complicated ones working for ya?

                                      5 months later

                                      I need unlimited tethering to work correctly on the phone, not by modifying a whole bunch of stuff on your computer. What if I need to supply unlimited internet to a IOT device, that can't be modified?
                                      In that sense, no, GOS does not remove carrier restrictions.

                                        • [deleted]

                                        • Post #53

                                        AlanZ True. One might say that's a privacy issue also.

                                          AlanZ GOS does not remove carrier restrictions.

                                          GrapheneOS does remove carrier restrictions. There's nothing GrapheneOS can do about a provider blocking network traffic when they detect something they don't like.

                                          GrapheneOS does not, to my knowledge, change the behavior of how hotspots work. Those aren't the same thing. It may be possible to make a change to avoid detection, but I don't know for sure.

                                            3 months later

                                            I know this post is old but for those who are still seeking ways to tether with a restricted carrier here's another option:
                                            https://www.technadu.com/how-to-share-a-vpn-connection-on-android-without-root/258827/

                                            Note that this option doesn't work if you can't turn on hotspot at all.

                                            Also, a few things not mentioned on the article:

                                            1. make sure to manually select an IP address for the http proxy from the app's settings besides 0.0.0.0, otherwise connected devices can't find the internet. (This may be a GrapheneOS-only thing)
                                            2. it also routes DNS traffics if you enabled Private DNS on your phone.

                                            Again, not confirmed with T-Mobile but hope somebody finds this helps.

                                              GrapheneOS The way I understand it is that if you raise TTL by 1 on a Laptop connected to a GOS device hotspot you have to remove the "dun" parameter from the APN.

                                              If that's correct why is this the case? Why do I have to remove "dun" then?