Short story before we start, i was aw Quakecon 2009 earlier this month and the network would not allow steam connections to cut down on bandwidth abuse, but my Steam install had not updated in a while so i could not play any of my Steam games on the LAN. if i had setup this Tethering solution all of my problems would have been solved. if you have an android phone id recommend you get tethering setup even if you don’t think you will need it. because when you do its already too late.
So this is how to setup your android device to act as a proxy for connectivity to the Internet, or Tethering!
First off, like most unconventional solutions, you need to enable installing non market android apps. To do this Hit Menu then settings then Applications, then check the Unknown Sources box. While your in that area we will also need to enable USB Debugging to do that go to Menu then Settings, Then Applications, then Development, then check the USB debugging box. Now we are ready to install the app to allow for Tethering. To facilitate this I’ve generated this handy QR code. Just open the Android Barcode Scanner and scan this:
We are done with the Device settings for now. next we will need to turn to the computer you want to use tethering with, usually a laptop but it can be any computer. You should already have the android driver installed, If your have an up to date Windows or MAC computer you can skip that, but for a Linux compy you’ll need to go Here to install the Android Driver.
Now you’ll want to install the Android SDK! Quick and easy install, but its a 100MB+ Install Mac, Windows, and Linux installs can be found Here. When your done installing, plug your phone into the computer, and run the app we installed “Proxy app”.Press the “Start Proxy” Button. Now open a Command prompt in the folder that you uncompressed the SDK. Navigate to the location of adb.exe.For example mine was “C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Desktop\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r3\tools” as the folder containing the file. so i hit start, then run, then cmd, then typed “cd c:\Documents and Settings\Username\Desktop\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r3\tools”. once your there type “adb forward tcp:8080 localabstract:Proxy” for a windows box, or if your on a Linux or mac “./adb forward tcp:8080 localabstract:Proxy”. This will start the Proxy server running on port 8080.
This is the easy part, set firefox to use a Proxy server to do that go to Tools > Options > Advanced > Network > Settings > Manual proxy Configuration, and fill in the HTTP proxy as localhost, and the port as 8080. Hit OK and your done!
You can now access the Internet on your computer through your Android Phone! Enjoy!
