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I used a friend's Android (2.3) phone that allows USB tethering, subheading: "share phone's mobile network with PC."

Android lets me set 2 tethering settings, under "USB tethering type":

  • Windows
  • Mac OS X

Naturally, Linux isn't officially supported, but I suspect someone has run into this before. What do I need to on my Ubuntu 12.04 setup to get it to recognize either of these connection types for USB tethering?

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  • Can't you try both and test which works better?
    – desgua
    May 30, 2012 at 21:18
  • You would be better off if your friend would root their phone... then it would work across the board without giving an OS option.
    – itnet7
    May 30, 2012 at 21:55
  • 3
    I do USB tethering all the time with my Android phone, but per the above it is rooted and using a custom ROM.. CM 7.2. Once the phone is in tether mode, Ubuntu recognizes it as a "wired" connection, no other configuration is required.
    – Kendor
    May 30, 2012 at 22:29
  • @desgua, I tried both and neither worked! I suspect rooting may be the only solution, unless there's something on the ubuntu-end that can mimic PC or MacOS and solve this. May 31, 2012 at 18:45
  • Maybe you can get an app at Google Play to just turn on usb tethering, default? It works great at Ubuntu.
    – desgua
    May 31, 2012 at 19:34

2 Answers 2

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My last phone ran Android 2.3 and i had no problems with USB tethering. I could set the USB connection to default to tethering and all i had to do was plug it in to my Linux laptop and it was online. So it's not Android 2.3 - but it may be your carrier. I believe Optus may not allow tethering on prepaid. I'm with Telstra and they do.

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  • I think you're right---oddly, it was setting the default that worked, rather than just changing the current setting. I assume without changing the default, it was still trying to mount the drive or something? Not sure, but it works fine now. Jul 24, 2012 at 19:21
  • gsm galaxy nexus here. I only have the option to enable usb teethering, no prompt about OS type. May 21, 2013 at 4:59
  • @FredThomsen: That prompt only appears if no OS is set in the tethering options. Jul 24, 2013 at 20:20
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Yes..I have also experienced same problem. This is due to carrier. I am from India. There are two carriers namely IDEA and AirTel. I was able to connect with IDEA on 3G but for AIRTEL no luck but when I switched Airtel network to 2G, I was able to connect sadly speed was low. May be you can change the network type

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