How to bypass "tethering block" on Three network?

[funkylogik]

Haha no problem man... ok then, i dont boast about geeky stuff :beer:
The

 

[John Bean]

Id get a prepay sim and put it in your dongle :thumbup:

I don't think that works, or at least it didn't when I tried it years ago.

When I used a dongle it was significantly cheaper than data on a phone, but in the years since then phone data prices have tumbled leaving dongle data prices behind.

Reading this thread brought back a few recollections from the past, especially regarding the use of alternative APNs; the "3internet" APN is the one used by dongles but allowed by phones too (probably an oversight) and I suspect the use of that APN is not unconnected with the lack of tethering restrictions - devices using 3internet are expected to be tethered to a PC of some sort.

Perhaps the differences of opinion about tethering on 3 seen in this thread are really down to the APN used rather than anything else.

 

[Slug]

the "3internet" APN is the one used by dongles but allowed by phones too (probably an oversight)

Three are one of the few networks to use a single APN for all data services; most other networks have two, one for "default" or "internet" + "supl", and another for "mms" depending on the server through which that particular data type is routed. Both pre-pay and contract devices use the same APN.

 

[John Bean]

There are (at least) two APNs: "3internet" and "three.co.uk", the former being the default used by dongles and the latter the default used by phones.

It's true that both contract and PAYG devices use the same APN(s) but it's demonstrably not true that there is only one APN available. I have both defined, and each works slightly differently with respect to some of the "adult" blocks that 3 applies by default on three.co.uk but not on 3internet.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah i can tether on the default APN but 3 put a block on searching .apk or torrent sites so i use the 3internet APN :thumbup:
(Ps i dont use pirated apps)

 

[John Bean]

Some of 3's "adult" filters is bizarre too, which is how I discovered the 3internet APN some years ago to allow me to use the Dilbert app I was using at the time which was blocked on three.co.uk but not on 3internet.

Dilbert humour may not be to everybody's taste but 3 seems to be the only one that thinks it's too "adult" to be allowed to be seen on phones

 

[funkylogik]

Lol yeah its crazy. Another good thing about the 3internet one is thats it, "3internet" is all you have to enter so if you flash a rom that doesnt have APNs on it, its easy to remember

 

[John Bean]

I suspect that MMS doesn't work on 3internet (I don't use it so I don't know) but for all normal internet data it works fine. The default APN is still there but I can't remember ever needing to use it.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah i never use mms either mate

 

[Slug]

I have both defined, and each works slightly differently with respect to some of the "adult" blocks that 3 applies by default on three.co.uk but not on 3internet.

Now that's VERY interesting.....

I put a 3 PAYG SIM in my GS2 when I upgraded to the XZ and the "3internet" APN was configured automatically. Any new handsets I sold also used this, as seen here. Comparing it to 3's own settings page here, the only difference is apparently the APN name, which is cosmetic, and the dotted decimal vs URL MMS server address, which won't resolve to a PING. However, if as you have both experienced different behaviour using one vs the other, this apparent similarity..... isn't.

 

[John Bean]

My Nexus 4 - a new replacement under warranty - configured "three.co.uk" as the APN just as all other phones have over the years. The only SIM that has ever configured "3internet" by default was the one that came with the dongle I had. I have no idea why yours behaved differently.

I haven't checked whether the blocks are still different depending on APN but they certainly were a year or so ago last time I checked. I may check again if I get bored

 

[funkylogik]

They are. When ive wiped my phone then go to use tTorrent it doesnt work until i remember to create the 3internet APN :thumbup:

 

[funkylogik]

Now that's VERY interesting.....

I put a 3 PAYG SIM in my GS2 when I upgraded to the XZ and the "3internet" APN was configured automatically. Any new handsets I sold also used this, as seen here. Comparing it to 3's own settings page here, the only difference is apparently the APN name, which is cosmetic, and the dotted decimal vs URL MMS server address, which won't resolve to a PING. However, if as you have both experienced different behaviour using one vs the other, this apparent similarity..... isn't.

both those settings arent what im using mate.
I use
NAME: anything
APN: 3internet

Nothing else, just hit SAVE :thumbup:

 

[Slug]

NAME: anything
APN: 3internet

Nothing else, just hit SAVE :thumbup:

Either Three consider the cosmetic name and APN address itself interchangeable, or neither have any bearing on the blocking of tethering; the absence of MMSC/server/proxy settings in the default APN settings appears to reinforce this. Logically the above APN config simply shouldn't work.

Here's an exercise for you when you've some spare time.... try an APN config with something nonsensical like "foobar" as the name and APN address. I'm betting you'll still have full access.

p.s. in case of doubt, I'm not arguing against you or John. I'm simply trying to understand how so many apparent contradictory APN configs can give similar end results. With other networks a single incorrect figure screws the pooch completely!

 

[funkylogik]

Ill try that now mate...

 

[funkylogik]

lmao youre right!!
So i set foobar as name and apn and it connects.
I noticed that when you create a new APN, these things are there by default

...right this is strange, pics cant be uploaded now using AF app

 

[funkylogik]

sorry that issue was unrelated. Uploaded this using "foobar".
These are the settings that are there by default when i create a new APN and i dont touch them.
Ill try a torrent now..
... so, i can use any mad word as APN and it still connects but only 3internet bypasses the torrent block

 

[John Bean]

... so, i can use any mad word as APN and it still connects but only 3internet bypasses the torrent block

"3internet" - the APN itself, not the name you give it, seems to be the key here. I'm surprised that any random name works but the fact remains that only "3internet" in the APN field gives the results I need with respect to blocking.

FWIW the default created by the phone had the name "3" and APN "three.co.uk"; the one I added I named "Better 3" with the APN "3internet".

As I said I think the "name" field is a red herring, it appears to be simply a label for user convenience to allow meaningful names to be attached to APNs that may be gobbledegook in human terms.

 

[bladesman]

Lol yeah its crazy. Another good thing about the 3internet one is thats it, "3internet" is all you have to enter so if you flash a rom that doesnt have APNs on it, its easy to remember

It's quite a while since I flashed a ROM without APN settings. Saying that the custom ROM scene has moved on so far in the last couple of years.

 

[bladesman]

Have you guys with nexus⁴/5 noticed that [via the 3app] your deal has got a new addition - 500 photo messages ?

As I have Unlimited data & don't use anywhere near 5000 texts or my minutes allowance I never look at my allowances via the app apart from the odd occasion. When I did I noticed this extra allowance of 500 picture messages.

It seems that it has something to do with the nexus automatically converts group text messages into MMS.

 

[funkylogik]

It's quite a while since I flashed a ROM without APN settings. Saying that the custom ROM scene has moved on so far in the last couple of years.

Just the other night i tested illusion rom for the international s3 and it didnt have APN on it but that was a build straight from some dudes computer lol. That was a highly experimental build though just to check if it booted and ran gapps (it did)

 

[animal47]

I have been on a 3 unlimited data plan now for around 18 months and used to have trouble with my phone browsers blocking me and accusing me of tethering even though I wasn't. I rang 3 and complained and they did something their end which they said would sort it and it hasn't played up since, the best bit is that I can now tether to anything as well so in order to sort my problem they must have actually turned tethering on for me.

 

[John Bean]

The official "fix" for adult content blocking is to contact 3 and ask them to remove it; in my experience the blocking is far more broad than "adult" - it even blocks Dilbert! - and from what you write it sounds like the same blocking filter is also used to check for tethering.

Bypassing the "adult" clocks by whatever means appears to also bypass any checks for tethering, so asking 3 to "unblock" a particular SIM has much the same effect as using the "3internet" APN instead of the standard "three.co.uk".

Edit (later): I just checked out the 3 app and discovered something interesting: if I set the default "three.co.uk" APN the app behaves normally, displaying basic usage locally and connecting to the mobile version of the 3 website for everything else. If however I use the "3internet" APN there is no local display of usage - instead I'm taken straight to the full desktop version of the website, implying that the system expects that the "3internet" APN means the device is being used with a full size PC.

This is what I have always believed to be the case based on general behavioural clues but it's nice to see it confirmed by this specific behaviour of the official 3 app.

 

[bladesman]

My photo messages allowance has now disappeared ? Don't know what is going on.

Originally to remove the Adult content block the only way was to make a

 

[goral]

HI
I notice something strange. I factory reset my xperia T. And now any time when I just put "on" tethering I receive sms from three:
(To use Personal Hot spot, or tether, you need to buy an ...)
Before factory reset tether works very well - I just use it for android tablet, so was no problem with any identification.
Any idea how three now I put on tethering before I just connect any other device to phone?
On my old phone, when I put this same sim card everything is normal.