Unlimited Tethering for ZTE Zmax Pro MetroPCS/T-Mobile

[anubis2048]

**UPDATED**
** 01/10/17**
STILL WORKING AS OF JANUARY 10th 2017
Credit - Me
If you are here, you must want unlimited tethering for your ZTE Zmax Pro. Windows 10 is now officially supported and this method will work on all versions of Windows above Windows 2000. This method is not recommended with games because of the very high ping.

This method is VERY fast and VERY easy if you are on the go or if you don't care for gaming.
What you need :
Windows XP or higher / Linux hasn't been tested
UltraSurf
Unlimited data plan with MetroPCS/T-Mobile/Sprint(Sprint has not been tested, but should work)
FoxFi

1. Download FoxFi and install it on your Zmax Pro.
2. Download UltraSurf to your PC
3. Start FoxFi and host your hotspot.
4. Start UltraSurf on your PC and then connect to your hotspot.
5. Enjoy
Want unlimited tethering for gaming on Steam/PSN/Xbox Live or just want to tether to other android/ios devices? Follow the guide below and watch this video.

We now have unlimited tethering again thanks to YGB and Jaykoerner!

What you need :
FoxFi(pay for it for the unlocked version, it's worth it!)
Administrator access on your PC/Mac
A PC running Windows 2000 - Windows 8.1.
OR
A Mac running OS 10.0 or newer.

Use FoxFi to launch the wifi hotspot, and on your PC you must do the following -

Just tried and it works! For those who dont know how (that was me a few minutes ago) here's cut&paste from Microsoft Help:

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
2. From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters.
3. In the right pane, add the following value:
Name: DefaultTTL
Type: REG_DWORD

Then double click it and add value 65 as hexadecimal.

4. After that, please restart the computer and check the result.

After your PC is rebooted, it should not use hotspot data.

YOUR PHONE DOES NOT NEED TO BE ROOTED IF IT IS THE ONE HOSTING THE HOTSPOT
For Android users you must have a rooted device and use this app :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.segin.ttleditor&hl=en

For Mac users
Open terminal and enter : sudo sysctl -w net.inet.ip.ttl=65

For IOS users you need a jailbroken device and a terminal emulator installed. Enter the same command used in OS X that I posted above.

Ubuntu based systems : echo 65 | sudo tee /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_default_ttl - thanks to MasterChief87

Hope you guys enjoy!

 

[anubis2048]

Deleted

 

[jaykoerner]

As of today, August 20th 2016 the Unlimited tethering is patched. MetroPCS changed something in their towers and now the HotSpot app works as advertised meaning we no longer have unlimited data.
FoxFi Wifi is detected.
FoxFi USB does not work.
FoxFi Bluetooth tethering is NOT detected.
Standard USB tethering is detected.
Standard Wifi tethering is detected.
Standard Bluetooth sharing is detected.

Now we know what works, how do we make it work?
You need a PC with bluetooth or another phone. A Nexus 5 would work best.
This guide is for PC users. Android users can follow the guide published by PDANet+ by downloading PDANet from Google play and going to the "Help" section in their app. Go here to get PDANet+ : http://pdanet.co/
PC w/ Bluetooth users.
Download FoxFi on your phone and PC. http://foxfi.com/
Unpair your phone from your PC if it has already been paired using the standard Android settings.
Open PDANet on your phone and enable Bluetooth mode with "Hide Tether usage" enabled.
Go on your PC and pair with your phone. If a pin code does not show up on your phone, check the notifications for it and confirm the pairing. Do so on your PC as well.

After both are paired, open PDANet on your PC and select Bluetooth pairing. If you do not see your phone, stop bluetooth sharing in PDANet on your phone and start it again. Once you see your phone in the list on your PC you can connect to it and then PDANet on your PC will connect to the internet using your phone.

This will stop all tether usage from rising on your account but there are drawbacks to using Bluetooth.
CONNECTION SPEEDS WILL BE MUCH SLOWER. AVERAGE DOWNLOAD SPEED IS 1.5MB/PS

Hope this guide helps you guys out! I know how you all love your tethering! This is the only working method without root! Once this phone is rooted I will post a new guide that will offer much better speed!

Well fudge it, figured Bluetooth would still work it's just annoying to use. Well it's what we got.

 

[anubis2048]

Well fudge it, figured Bluetooth would still work it's just annoying to use. Well it's what we got.

It's fast enough for normal use. It's kinda like hotspots at McDonalds, but slightly faster. Plus you can do this just about anywhere if you have the spare phone.

And I have the paid version, I paid for it myself. You could try APKhere DOT com or 4shared. FoxFi is worth it though.

 

[Zerox1203]

Blue tooth connection with pdanet is dropping very frequently. Do you experience the same. My laptop is Window 10

 

[anubis2048]

The connection was consistent for me. Try to update your bluetooth drivers on PC.

 

[Zerox1203]

Do you have problem connect to a Van through Bluetooth. My said connected(no media).

 

[gsnca]

Those speeds won't cut it for me - are there any other phones known to still work with unlimited tethering?

 

[anubis2048]

I've actually discovered a better way to get this working, but you can't play games using it or download from steam using this method. It's OK for YouTube and shit and restores full speed. I will update this tutorial to show it.

 

[jaykoerner]

I've actually discovered a better way to get this working, but you can't play games using it or download from steam using this method. It's OK for YouTube and shit and restores full speed. I will update this tutorial to show it.

i'm going to try running a vpn server on android instead of a proxy and see if it works, will give a update if so. if it does then that would allow the best bypass currently

 

[jaykoerner]

no luck, need root

 

[jaykoerner]

no luck, need root

 

[ygb]

I know this method is very condensed and less tech savvy users will have a little trouble, but I'm sure if you are determined, you will be able to do this.

I am less tech savvy and was able to do it after some trial and error with the firefox plugins. Thanks, this was a lifesaver!

(Easytether bluetooth for me cuts off the connection every few minutes)

 

[anubis2048]

No problem YGB!
And jaykoerner, just use any VPN on your phone and then use the proxy. Personally I don't bother because MetroPCS doesn't seem to detect the usage anyway. I have confirmed that the VPN+Proxy combo works, you can test it by searching "My IP" in Google and clicking the first link. It thought I was in Canada lol.

All in all, with both of these methods it isn't THAT bad. Unlimited web + slow everything else is much better than PAY PAY PAY. Also, if you compare the bluetooth speeds (max 1.5MP/PS) to throttled hotspot (What? 128KB/ps?), bluetooth is still fast and offers a speed similar to public hotspots. The proxy method will leak tiny amounts of information, especially on Windows, but that's like 1MB an hour if you're careful.

 

[gsnca]

How would you do this on a phone that is rooted?

 

[anubis2048]

How would you do this on a phone that is rooted?

You could host a VPN server off your phone which would be just like the proxy, except it would work with all applications.

 

[ZMAX4EVER]

Ummm. You know, I don't want to have a "big mouth" about this, but have you tried using the "hotspot" option in the pull down menu instead of the metro hotspot app? Or are you saying that they blocked what that method allows. I'm not sure if it has changed, but when connecting via the pull down method, usage seems to be tracked... but incorrectly (only registers a tiny amount of data). I haven't tried it recently though.

 

[anubis2048]

The icon in the pull down menu is just a shortcut to the application, pretty sure it's still detected.

 

[ZMAX4EVER]

The icon in the pull down menu is just a shortcut to the application, pretty sure it's still detected.

I will try it again tonight, but I noticed originally that when choosing hotspot from the pull down menu, the data was being counted but incorrectly (10% being counted, if even that) without any added apps. I'll double check...

 

[anubis2048]

I've already tried, the only way so far is to use bluetooth or HTTP proxy.

 

[jaykoerner]

No problem YGB!
And jaykoerner, just use any VPN on your phone and then use the proxy. Personally I don't bother because MetroPCS doesn't seem to detect the usage anyway. I have confirmed that the VPN+Proxy combo works, you can test it by searching "My IP" in Google and clicking the first link. It thought I was in Canada lol.

All in all, with both of these methods it isn't THAT bad. Unlimited web + slow everything else is much better than PAY PAY PAY. Also, if you compare the bluetooth speeds (max 1.5MP/PS) to throttled hotspot (What? 128KB/ps?), bluetooth is still fast and offers a speed similar to public hotspots. The proxy method will leak tiny amounts of information, especially on Windows, but that's like 1MB an hour if you're careful.

figured out how they are filtering the data for tether checking it's via TTL a simple windows registry edit will bypass it(set it to 65, so when it takes the hop to the phone it will be at the proper counter of 64), and if you need to share the internet connection with other devices you should be able to setup a fidler rule to modify it on the fly an share the internet through the computer. pain in the ass but works, also explains how the proxy was working because it resets the TTL, doing this make tether just as unlimited as before.

 

[ygb]

figured out how they are filtering the data for tether checking it's via TTL a simple windows registry edit will bypass it(set it to 65, so when it takes the hop to the phone it will be at the proper counter of 64), and if you need to share the internet connection with other devices you should be able to setup a fidler rule to modify it on the fly an share the internet through the computer. pain in the ass but works, also explains how the proxy was working because it resets the TTL, doing this make tether just as unlimited as before.

Just tried and it works! For those who dont know how (that was me a few minutes ago) here's cut&paste from Microsoft Help:

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
2. From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters.
3. In the right pane, add the following value:
Name: DefaultTTL
Type: REG_DWORD

Then double click it and add value 65

4. After that, please restart the computer and check the result.

 

[jaykoerner]

Just tried and it works! For those who dont know how (that was me a few minutes ago) here's cut&paste from Microsoft Help:

1. Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
2. From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters.
3. In the right pane, add the following value:
Name: DefaultTTL
Type: REG_DWORD

Then double click it and add value 65

4. After that, please restart the computer and check the result.

You can also get a old Linksys router and modify all TTL going through it while using it as either a ap connected to a PC, or a wireless bridge connected directly to the wireless hotspot, info here http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Iptables#Modifying_the_TTL pretty advanced stuff and you need a router that can be flashed to dd wrt, can find somem used on eBay for 10-15$, don't blame me if you brick the router trying to flash dd wrt and not following all of the directions

 

[anubis2048]

You can also get a old Linksys router and modify all TTL going through it while using it as either a ap connected to a PC, or a wireless bridge connected directly to the wireless hotspot, info here http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Iptables#Modifying_the_TTL pretty advanced stuff and you need a router that can be flashed to dd wrt, can find somem used on eBay for 10-15$, don't blame me if you brick the router trying to flash dd wrt and not following all of the directions

Funny, I was going to post a guide on just how to do that using a spare router in a few days, it isn't that advanced if you already have a spare router. The issue is that bandwidth is completely destroyed since you are using a router to host a connection that is already a victim of reduced bandwith.

 

[jaykoerner]

Funny, I was going to post a guide on just how to do that using a spare router in a few days, it isn't that advanced if you already have a spare router. The issue is that bandwidth is completely destroyed since you are using a router to host a connection that is already a victim of reduced bandwith.

Not if you use it as a ap, connected to either a dedicated client bridge or to a PC sharing it's connection via LAN, also the degradation in speed is still more then what I get from metro so as long as I don't want to communicate over the local network to other devices it really doesn't matter