So I currently have two iPhones, one on T-Mobile, and one on Spectrum Mobile (Verizon network). I have a Beryl 7 router that I tether my Spectrum iPhone to. I am able to bypass Spectrum’s hotspot limit (data is detected as on-device usage) by setting the TTL to 65, and this also worked with Verizon when I was with them. But I am unable to figure out a way to get this to work with my T-Mobile iPhone. I’ve tried many different TTL values with no luck. Turning the VPN on or off also doesn’t change anything, it’s still being detected as hotspot data. Is there still a way to make this method work with T-Mobile and the Beryl 7? Or is getting a physical SIM card and a 5G router like the Mudi 7 with a cloned IMEI the only way that still works with T-Mobile? What about with an Android phone and the Beryl 7?
Note: This is with a phone plan, not a tablet or a data-only plan.
The TTL/HL count is not the only way that carriers can tell you are hotspotting. There are several other factors, like Deep Packet Inspection (from the carrier) which could be used to determine if activity that seems to be typical on a Windows laptop is detected, in addition to an iPhone, and others.
On some carriers, they use different APNs for hotspot mode, which is how they might also find hotspot traffic, even if the TTL/HL is set to +1 higher. However, I personally have not tried to bypass tethering limits, which means there might be other ways. You could try a 5G router to manually set the APN, or use an android device with flexible cellular settings.
fwiw, i use verizon visible for 5+ years, has true unlimited hotspot.
as i write this, my google pixel 10a is running the hotspot, and the beryl7 is connected to the hotspot using repeater mode.
my laptop, my tablet and my ebook connected to the beryl7
remote access, using remoteutilites, and rustdesk work fine.
so does tailscale and viewing websites is fast.
youtube, on my tablet, mostly runs at 480p, but if my laptop is using up too much bandwidth, youtube runs as 360p
Hi,
You may try setting both the IPv4 TTL and IPv6 Hop Limit (HL) to 65 in the advanced settings of the tethering connection, then disconnect and reconnect the USB tethering connection before testing again.
However, please note that this may not always work, as some mobile carriers may still be able to identify tethering traffic even when the TTL/HL values have been modified.
It is also possible that the SIM subscription itself restricts or does not allow data sharing, in which case changing the router settings may not affect how the carrier classifies the traffic.