Debunking the Multi-NAI Myth

[jaydunning]

Ok, so if I'm following, all the technical aspects lead to the conclusion that no registry tweaks perform any valuable contribution towards using the ICS progam to tether. Meaning the process should work simply by launching ICS, launching PIE, connecting desktop, and remembering to disconnect on Mogul when finished on PC.

Sprint is allowing the tethering, and currently has the means to be aware of it despite currently used registry tweaks. Unless there is a true ICS Multi-NAI disable, we are able to tether only due to Sprint's good graces, which only last as far as our data usage patterns don't get red-flagged, or Sprint decides to no longer look favorably upon casual tethering.

What is hard to understand is the multitude of forum posts indicating an Error 67 is solved or influenced by the (useless) registry tweaks. It also calls into question whether PDAnet truly provides an "invisibility" in the sharing process it invokes, or simply a simpler, 1-click pretty interface operating the same "detectable" tethering process detailed above.

[ebmorgan]

Well, if you disable NAIs then your phone will have no way to to locate Sprint's auth servers to authenticate while roaming. That might be the cause of the error 67s.

What someone needs to confirm is if ICS uses the wmodem.exe app that the MultiNAI disable reg heack applies to. If it doesn't use wmodem, then the MultiNAI hack is useless. But then again, if people are getting error 67 while using ICS, then the NAIs might be needed.

As for PDAnet, since it requires ActiveSync as the connection transport, I would assume that Sprint sees it as normal device operation and not tethering.

Thought, people?

[hunterdg]

Originally Posted by luv2chill

Hehe letsgoflyers81, he said "no 'I thinks'"

1. No, wmodem is not ICS. ........

luv2chill, thank you for your invaluable answers.. i suppose had i considered that ICS uses PAN over BT rather than DUN, i could've figured out that ICS ≠ Modem...(that and the correlation btw xp ICS and wm ICS).. My brain is slow.. It's a friday! But seriously thank you for the straightforward answers. You've been a great help!

Originally Posted by luv2chill

Actually there's a recently-published hack to do it over wifi as well...

WHAAAAAA???!!! this is the MOST obvious solution to me, i was peeeved when i found out only BT & USB were supported! .. you wouldn't happen to have a linky would you???

Originally Posted by luv2chill

...but still--no modem-based anything. Wmodem is what you're after--it is capable of USB (serial) or BT DUN and simulates a modem on the connected PC. However, I have not checked to see if the BT DUN profile is included with the mogul. If it isn't then that probably explains why the DUN reg entry keeps getting set back to 0 automatically.

The multiNAI reg entry, BTW, is useless... always has been. Useless for wmodem and doubly useless for Internet Sharing.

If I can answer any more questions let me know.

I'm amazed how much mis-information is floating around these forums then.. i've waded through pages and pages of crap!! Your theory concerning the BT DUN profile/DUN reg entry sounds way too legitimate for it to be coincidence.

when i get a chance to play around i'll post back.. hopefully this weekend.. but the fair's in town so i can't guarantee anything.. haha

@ ebmorgan, my apologies for the 'sorely' comment.

it appears (as luv2chill stated) that the wmodem application and the ICS application are unrelated. This makes logical sense.

I'll have to play around and see how i get error 67's..

anyone know why we have both "Sprint PCS" and "Phone as Modem" connection options if they both do the same thing?


I've read all over these forums that people are tethering without PAM plans.. but now i'm not sure how much of that is BS...

my goal is to find a way to tether WITHOUT a PAM plan, and WITHOUT any third party software..(pdanet)

prior to obtaining my mogul, i was on the 39.99 unlim PAM with my Fusic & BT DUN..NO Sprint connection manager.. i hate un-necessary complication.

the second i read the "disable multi nai" hack thread, i called up and removed the pam plan..Now i'm regretting it!

if there's a way around it though, then no sense in paying un-necessarily. (I'm a firm believer in "if it can be done a better, cheaper way, then i want to figure out how to DO it)

[ebmorgan]

Originally Posted by hunterdg

anyone know why we have both "Sprint PCS" and "Phone as Modem" connection options if they both do the same thing?

Is it possible that "Sprint PCS" = M.IP1 and "Phone as Modem" = M.IP2? That's my theory. Thus using ICS and "Sprint PCS" results in Sprint seeing the connection as normal on-device usage. "Phone as Modem" results in the use of the wmodem app and M.IP2 resulting in Sprint seeing a tethered connection.

Thoughts?

[luv2chill]

Well that theory is out the window because there is no MIP.2 in use on the mogul. Look for yourself--dial ##PST# and click view. Then click the left softkey and you can see the MIPs for yourself. The Default is the ESN-based, the MIP Profile 1 is the user name auth added by IOTA. That's it--the rest are all blank.

BTW, I am moving this thread to the mogul/titan forum since it relates directly to that device.

[ebmorgan]

Go read hunterdg's big post in the first page of this thread. According to him it is used. It's M.IP for PAM. Just because it's blank doesn't mean the phone doesn't use it. Example: even M.IP1 is blank when you first get the phone proir to it being provisioned.

[luv2chill]

Originally Posted by ebmorgan

Go read hunterdg's big post in the first page of this thread. According to him it is used. It's M.IP for PAM. Just because it's blank doesn't mean the phone doesn't use it. Example: even M.IP1 is blank when you first get the phone proir to it being provisioned.

(Emphasis mine)

You can't use a blank MIP connection. The MIP1 is blank when you get the phone because it doesn't have any of your personal data in it yet (how could it? That's how it ships from the factory). When you do an IOTA then that MIP gets filled in with your user name as the NAI. Similarly if the handset were PAM-enabled the IOTA would have populated the MIP 2 field with a NAI of:

username@modem.sprintpcs.com

If the phone has been provisioned and it doesn't have a modem NAI in it then there is no way for Sprint to know you're tethering.

Hope that clears it up for you.

[hunterdg]

guys.. I had just 'assumed' (we all know what that does) that the mogul was PAM-enabled, and thus M.IP 2 was populated with [username]@pam.sprintpcs.com.

i have not eer verified this, i just 'assumed'...

as of now, (and according to sprint, as a result of my removal of the 'pam' plan), my device is failing to IOTA.. (ticket has been opened on sprint's end)
in my troubleshooting steps i have reset all the M.IP's so for me, M.IP 1 & 2 are blank till my device can once again IOTA. I will at that time double check the M.IP 2 field and verify luv2chill's statement that it is, infact, NOT used on the MOGUL..

I can only assume he's correct though, as he has a mogul..

if a phone is PAM-capable (or rather, capable of detecting tethering), regardless of whether a PAM plan is attached, BOTH M.IP's are populated as i described in my long post..

the code i mentioned briefly, that creates these two M.IP's, is called IP_BASIC.
(i mention this so that no assumption is made that the M.IP 2 is not created/populated unless a PAM plan exists.. this is simply not true)..

If the mogul infact, does NOT get M.IP 2 populated, this explains how users are able to tether without any usage charges. the M.IP nai disable myth is BUSTED!!!

will keep you updated, although i trust that luv2chill knows what he's talking about

p.s.... if an M.IP is blank, it is useless...

[hunterdg]

Originally Posted by ebmorgan

Is it possible that "Sprint PCS" = M.IP1 and "Phone as Modem" = M.IP2? That's my theory. Thus using ICS and "Sprint PCS" results in Sprint seeing the connection as normal on-device usage. "Phone as Modem" results in the use of the wmodem app and M.IP2 resulting in Sprint seeing a tethered connection.

Thoughts?

this is certainly a valid assumption if M.IP 2 is in use...
I'll have a 'second opinion' confirmation hopefully sometime within the next 36hrs (ticket ETR)

[Krayziepop]

hunterdg, I had to go through this with Sprint twice myself, so I think I may know the solution to your problem. Even after Sprint had attempted several things on their end to fix it, nothing worked. So the tech I had on the line told me to do a Master Reset of the phone. Before you do this though, you will need to go into the ##(MSL)# PST tool and get your MDN and your MSID (this will save you from having to call Sprint later to reactivate) I can't remember which ## code brings up the menu where you can do the master reset from... maybe someone else in here can shed some light on it. I would find it, but I am running colonel's hybrid rom on my Mogul, and most of the ## codes dont work... Anyway, once you get it master reset and it all comes back up, just ##(MSL)# back into PST and put in your MDN and MSID values you wrote down earlier and let the phone reset. Once thats done, the phone is reprogrammed and your first IOTA should work as normal now. The master reset wipes out ALL data on the phone, including your M.IP profiles and all provisional information. Basically its like pulling the phone out of the box again.

Its up to you if you want to try it... but thats more than likely what they will have you do anyway. It worked right away for me, so maybe it will help you out some.

Ok... watery eyes... itchy eyes... its gotta be time for bed.