Another Killer App

While writing the previous post, I thought that Remote Desktop would be the killer iPhone app, but now I've changed my mind. The new killer app is SSHD. Why would an SSH server on a phone be a killer app? Who cares about remotely logging in to their phone's command line?

The answer is that SSHD can apparently run a full SOCKS proxy server with the -D command. Using that, it's possible to use the phone's cellular internet connection on your computer. The setup looks like this:

Tethering an iPhone's data connection

Yesterday my Comcast connection went down (stupid Comcast), so I had to try it out in order to get back online and get my Dancing Matt fix. It worked surprisingly well - it wasn't really obvious that I was using a phone connection, except that the speeds were pretty slow.

I ran a speed test on the bandwidth, and these were the results:

iPhone Download Bandwidth Speed Test

208 kbps is not that bad by modern standards, and it definitely works if your main ISP connection goes down, or if you're stuck at a wedding with no WiFi.

If coverage is good, a 3G iPhone would probably be significantly better. If you need to save cash it might even be fast enough to use as your main home ISP. Hmm..

Posted on July 10, 2008
Comments (3) Trackbacks (0)
  1. Can it be done as peer-to-peer, or do you need a wireless hub to connect to two? Aka, can I use my laptop anywhere I have 3G coverage? 🙂

  2. not enough upload speed to play games man

  3. It can be done either way – peer-to-peer works by setting up an “ad hoc network”. So yes, you can use your laptop anywhere there’s 3G coverage, which is what’s so cool about it 🙂

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