[T-Mobile LG V10 General] Arr123:
Some research into bypassing T-mobile’s tether restrictions reveals there are several things carriers can do to detect hotspot usage and block those packets:

-is hotspot data sent through a second anp?

-does carrier mark the packets coming through the wlan interface?

-do they filter by user agent strings?

-do they view the ttl?

-do they block urls that phones do not use?

-do they have a monitoring app pre-installed? (ex delete com.tmobile.pr via titanium backup)

Getting around these restrictions while using the native hotspot functionality requires work-arounds that I did not go far enough to successfully implement. One cannot by default edit the APNs for instance. I had to set up a duplicate, but theorize T-mobile was still routing to the hotspot APN I could not edit. With root access (which I have) it should be possible to achieve success, but I have found satisfactory non-root ways of achieving unlimited internet with MetroPCs (owned by T-mobile). I have, however, compiled a number of resources and may look back into what hacks must be used on the native app in the future. If anyone has a good guide on how you're getting hotspot with the Nougat LG V10 please post!

It stands to reason that one must use a non-native application to disguise the tether usage, or significantly modify the native one. After stalling with the mods, I pursued the non-native of attack and found (2) independent working ways to get unlimited tethered internet.

Wifi Tethering apps

I tried various wifi tether apps and without additional modifications or configuration I could not get them to work including:

-native hotspot (which works despite not having a hotspot plan, but t-mobile blocks)

-Wifi tether router by Fabio Grasso ($2.90) (requires root access)--(t-mobile was blocking the connection)—in discussion with developer on how to get working, will update. UPDATE: After back and forth with dev, he recommended using a VPN. His app does route the VPN through the hotspot connection if that feature is toggled. I have not tested. Potentially, changing the TTL of the computer may do something.

-Open Garden Wifi Tether—crashed when attempting to start service

Wifi Direct apps:

Wifi apps such as NetShare (red-themed play store entry is completely free, several paid versions) which use the native wifi direct functionality create a proxy server through which you can connect to via wifi. These DO WORK without additional modifications, but most native desktop apps on your computer cannot access the internet. All websites will load however. You have to set up your internet connection as through a proxy server on the client side but do not need to install additional software. A GOOD OPTION TO HAVE. I have found that one sometimes may need to stop and start the service to get it to give you internet access. The way I do it is start then quickly bring up the wifi menu, computer recognizes the network and connects quickly. If there is too much of a delay between starting and connecting via the client Netshare(Pro) doesn’t seem to work without a quick disable/enable afterwards.

USB tethering apps:

Rely on the phone’s native USB debugging feature in the hidden developer tools menu. (Go to about phone, software info, and tap on build repeatedly until enabled.) NO ROOT required. I tested Easy Tether ($9.99) and ClockWorkMod Tether ($4.99). Both worked well. PDAnet+ may also fall into this category but I have not researched. THIS IS MY PREFERRED METHOD so far. It is also possible to USB tether to certain types of wifi routers and thus get wifi for the home.

-There are PC, Mac, or Linux applications and drivers which must be installed on the computer side.

-Must have USB debugging enabled, and USB options set to Photo Transfer (Media Transfer does not work, and why I originally failed with ClockWorkMod…otherwise probably would have not pursued root!)

-These USB tether apps have the benefit of reducing the heat generated by your phone (no wifi signal generation), so runs cooler (think chips last longer) and uses less energy than when you have wifi hotspot enabled. For this reason, and for the phone being so handy when connected to my laptop, I actually prefer this method. Plus you have access to the pictures and DICM folders of internal storage so you can transfer stuff to the phone fairly immediately. To get full access, however, you’ll have to switch to MTTP mode, which on LG phones such as this V10 will break the internet connection. Other phones may not have this particular issue.

Bluetooth Tether apps:

Easy Tether and probably PDAnet+ support Bluetooth tether. With easy tether I wouldn’t suspect any issues at all using this.

Potential other methods WHICH SEEMED PROMISING, I sorted through a lot! For your inspiration:

-One youtuber mentioned using a desktop hospot application + PDAnet+ to get legit wifi hotspot functionality. The desktop PDAnet+ application apparently disguises the tethering operation. Video here: https://youtu.be/D98abWOkkQI

-Exposed framework and tether for rooted devices (did not try): https://highonandroid.com/android-a...n-rooted-android-att-t-mobile-sprint-verizon/

-Claims you’ll be able to tether any rooted android with this rooted wifi app and particular settings (similar to wifi tether router) https://highonandroid.com/android-a...android-smartphone-or-tablet-universal-guide/ (UPDATE: I tried, app is not compatible with the phone)

See comments section of this article for the below quotes: https://www.groovypost.com/howto/hide-data-usage-get-truly-unlimited-tethering-tmobile-one/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“The main issue I see people having is the lack of apn editing. This has been my setup for four years now

-Dd-wrt with iptables to edit the ttl value to 65 -Change TTL on windows PC to 65 so that it appears data is coming from the phone. (41 in hex = 65 in dec) https://social.technet.microsoft.co...o-live-ttl-in-windows?forum=w7itpronetworking

-Changed apn of hotspot to match the apn of normal mobile date. Doesn’t matter if you use fast.xxxx.com or alpha/beta BUT YOU CANT USE THE ORIGINAL HOTSPOT APN it’ll say mobile web or some ****. If you do you will be routed through their hotspot server and tracked. I’ve done this on iOS and android.

-FOR THE FOLKS THAT SAY THE VPN DOESNT WORK. Once again you MUST change the apn AND you have to make sure that your traffic is actually being routed through the VPN, in my experience on both android and iOS hotspot traffic bypass your phones VPN, and VPN on the router/computer traveling through the phone can be tracked if the phone isn’t the one using the VPN, to make it force traffic through the VPN I had to use the for data option in the tether me app on iOS. These things all work if you do it properly.”--Wifi tether router does have this VPN routing function but I have not tested.

"My COMBO works for me on T-Mobile unlimited.

Nexus 5x – rooted 6.01 with “settings put global tether_dun_required 0”

PLUS

Asus n31u router (w/ net.ipv4.ip_default_ttl = 65, bridge mod)

Works for Window 7 desktop and laptop, chromebook, and tablets. All about 80 Gigs last month”

“The TTLstands for “time to live” it is a counter on the data you send for its maximum hop count, or the number of devices it can travel through, for ever device it goes down by one, windows has a default TTL of 128, while Android has one of 64, if you change the TTL for windows to 65 when it gets to the phone the TTL will go down by one makeing it equal 64 the same as the phone. There are more adwanced way to do this so you can run a whole network off this by using a router with either DD-wrt, Tomatos or open-wrt or a dedicated pc running either pfsense, linux, or freebsd to act as a router and mangle the TTl on the fly, the benefits of this is it gets ALL of the data(windows seem to miss a small amount arohnd 5%) and its possible to edit the User agent in ways that dont mess up websites with squid and just appending the device.”