• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Unlimited Tethering for ZTE Zmax Pro MetroPCS/T-Mobile

even when i edit it, the traffic is still counted, so either way its something samsung did with the os, i edited it by hand so i know it took, there is a physical file that sets ttl it's under something like proc/sys/net/..... , idk it's just not working i have tried that app before it was even posted nothing works.

The app does not work on all Android devices. If it doesn't work, then you could try to look in the Play Store for another app that does the same.

Is there a way I could hook up my phone to my TV to watch Netflix?
If you use an adapter, then yes.
If you're using a smart TV, then no. It will detect the tether usage.
 
The app does not work on all Android devices. If it doesn't work, then you could try to look in the Play Store for another app that does the same.


If you use an adapter, then yes.
If you're using a smart TV, then no. It will detect the tether usage.
You are just skiming what i say, i said the app didn't work so i manually did it, i just edited the default _ttl file in the system, that should have worked after a reboot, but it did not, so i then tried linux commands tk change TTL, even the few that went through didn't help traffic was still counted, all im saying is Samsung sucks, and have probably edited the networking portion of Android for this rom.
 
The app does not work on all Android devices. If it doesn't work, then you could try to look in the Play Store for another app that does the same.


If you use an adapter, then yes.
If you're using a smart TV, then no. It will detect the tether usage.
You are just skiming what i say, i said the app didn't work so i manually did it, i just edited the default _ttl file in the system, that should have worked after a reboot, but it did not, so i then tried linux commands tk change TTL, even the few that went through didn't help traffic was still counted, all im saying is Samsung sucks, and have probably edited the networking portion of Android for this rom.
 
The app does not work on all Android devices. If it doesn't work, then you could try to look in the Play Store for another app that does the same.


If you use an adapter, then yes.
If you're using a smart TV, then no. It will detect the tether usage.
I have two different RVs one is a smart TV and one is a older Samsung ....and what's an adapter? Sorry I'm new to all this
 
You are just skiming what i say, i said the app didn't work so i manually did it, i just edited the default _ttl file in the system, that should have worked after a reboot, but it did not, so i then tried linux commands tk change TTL, even the few that went through didn't help traffic was still counted, all im saying is Samsung sucks, and have probably edited the networking portion of Android for this rom.

Some Android ROM's don't respect changes made to settings like that because they normally aren't able to be changed by the user. Samsung has modified a ton of networking related stuff in their ROM's to curb tethering bypassing and various other crap. Try getting AOSP ROM and it might work.

And sorry for skimming, I as tired as hell.
 
Last edited:
Some Android ROM's don't respect changes made to settings like that because they normally aren't able to be changed by the user. Samsung has modified a ton of networking related stuff in their ROM's to curb tethering bypassing and various other crap. Try
getting AOSP ROM and it might work.
And sorry for skimming, I as tired as hell.
No dice, would have done it if I could, there is twrp but no Roms for the tablet :(
 
**UPDATED**
** 10/04/16**
We now have unlimited tethering again thanks to YGB and Jaykoerner!

What you need :
FoxFi(pay for it for the unlocked version, it's worth it!)
Administrator access on your PC/Mac
A PC running Windows 2000 or newer.
OR
A Mac running OS 10.0 or newer.

Use FoxFi to launch the wifi hotspot, and on your PC you must do the following -


After your PC is rebooted, it should not use hotspot data.

For Android users you must have a rooted device and use this app :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.segin.ttleditor&hl=en

For Mac users
Open terminal and enter : sudo sysctl -w net.inet.ip.ttl=65

For IOS users you need a jailbroken device and a terminal emulator installed. Enter the same command used in OS X that I posted above.

Hope you guys enjoy!
Fyi that registry value you are editing should be set(not saying it doesnt currently work,they might just be droping all packets less then 64, but if they edit the firewall your config will be blocked on windows) 41 in hex, because hex is base 16, and that equals 65 in base 10, you can see this by the numbers in () next the the vaule after it is saved, also you could just use the command promt (as admin) and run netsh int ipv4 set glob defaultcurhoplimit= 65 and it will put the value in automatically

EDIT: they clearly are not droping all packets less then 64, because windows defaults to 128 for the TTL, not sure if it currenlty works with your settings but it should definitely be set to 41 in hex so it is at the correct value of 65
 
Last edited:
Either way it's not being detected. I went from 28GB to 61GB over the past few days while my hotspot usage has stayed at 2.5GB. I don't think MetroPCS is hellbent on catching hotspot users, or else they would have implemented other features to circumvent us getting around it.

I also feel the same about T-Mobile. I have a feeling that they're just trying to make it seem like there is no way around so the vast majority of users never attempt this, but they don't care about the few that do because of all the work involved to get it working. They've eliminated the vast majority of hotspot bypassers, the last <10% isn't a problem to them, and that makes sense. We are so few, and the rest of the regular customers are so many. We couldn't possibly disrupt traffic, and I think they know that, and that's why we are getting away with this.
 
**UPDATED**
** 10/04/16**
We now have unlimited tethering again thanks to YGB and Jaykoerner!

What you need :
FoxFi(pay for it for the unlocked version, it's worth it!)
Administrator access on your PC/Mac
A PC running Windows 2000 or newer.
OR
A Mac running OS 10.0 or newer.

Use FoxFi to launch the wifi hotspot, and on your PC you must do the following -


After your PC is rebooted, it should not use hotspot data.

For Android users you must have a rooted device and use this app :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.segin.ttleditor&hl=en

For Mac users
Open terminal and enter : sudo sysctl -w net.inet.ip.ttl=65

For IOS users you need a jailbroken device and a terminal emulator installed. Enter the same command used in OS X that I posted above.

Hope you guys enjoy!


I need someone to help shed some light. if my zte zmax pro can't be rooted and
this forums title is
Get Unlimited Tethering Back - Best Method "Until" Phone is Rooted
Then why does it say that "For Android users you must have a rooted device and use this app :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.segin.ttleditor&hl=en"
Are there any similar apps w/o me having to root?
 
I need someone to help shed some light. if my zte zmax pro can't be rooted and
this forums title is
Get Unlimited Tethering Back - Best Method "Until" Phone is Rooted
Then why does it say that "For Android users you must have a rooted device and use this app :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.segin.ttleditor&hl=en"
Are there any similar apps w/o me having to root?

The phone sharing the wifi does not need to be rooted, but if you want to connect a separate device to your wifi, you need to have it rooted or else it will show up in tether usage.
The hotspot device doesn't need root, the android devices connecting to it DOES.
 
For whatever reason it is still counting tethering sometimes and I cant figure out why. If I reset everything, restart my phone/computer and change my ttl sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt.

On windows 8.1 using a usb wifi stick.

If I ping myself it shows TTL=101

Anyone have any ideas?
 
If you reboot your PC with the hotspot on, let your computer automatically connect to the hotspot and then disconnect for about 30 seconds and reconnect and it should no longer detect tether usage. I just had this problem too.
 
For whatever reason it is still counting tethering sometimes and I cant figure out why. If I reset everything, restart my phone/computer and change my ttl sometimes it works and sometimes it doesnt.

On windows 8.1 using a usb wifi stick.

If I ping myself it shows TTL=101

Anyone have any ideas?
you have it set wrong, use decimal and 65, or 41 and hex they both are the same number 65 in base 10 i never had to reboot or anything, or simpler just run this in command prompt as admin "netsh int ipv4 set glob defaultcurhoplimit= 65" - without the quotation marks of coarse, you can then ping 127.0.0.1 to check your ping should then be set to 65
 
Last edited:
Unfortunately this does not work for me. I have an LG F60 (rooted) with metro. I've checked and the ping is set to 65. I've tried with wifi tether and tether through usb and it keeps going up. Should the TTL on the phone be changed to the same as on the pc? The app was set to 64 so I tried that and then I set it to 65 and still counts towards my usage. Rebooted, redone the TTL on the phone every time I reboot that too. Maybe add a VPN into the mix? If so, which one?

Also, I have been tethering with usb for like over a year with no probs till last month when I got throttled. Another thing now is that if I usb tether I will get some sites that show as mobile which had never happened before. I think the hide tether feature on FoxFi is no longer cutting it.
 
Is your PC running Windows 10? Because you can't change the TTL in Windows 10 anymore. And no you don't change it on your phone, only on your PC. Since your device is rooted, I suggest you try Wifi Tether Router, that might work for you.
 
No its windows 7. I did send an email to FoxFi support to see if they were aware of Metro bi-passing the hide tether option and this is what they said. "It seems that recently T-mobile has started flagging some users for high
monthly data usage. It does not happen to everyone." So it seems I had been flagged.
Anyhow, I am trying Wifi Tether Router now and i've added a different APN to the mix to see what happens.
I'll keep you posted and thank you for all of you guys work.
 
I switched from my Zmax to a Galaxy Core Prime and with Wifi tether router you can route the wifi hotspot through a VPN internally so you never have to worry about leaking data, I use expressVPN and it's good enough for everything except gaming.

Shockingly bluetooth DUN is better for gaming because the latency isn't a real issue, it's just the speed.

How can I route the hotspot through a VPN?
I have Wifi Tether Router, OPENVPN, Torguard, PIA, 3C Toolbox Pro, FoxFi (ALL PAID), and nothing works! Plus, my phone is rooted.

I got it to work by:
1. Rooted Phone
2. Wifi Tether Router (configured my phone)
3. Changed TTL to 65 using TTL Editor on the rooted phone with hotspot
4. Connect my Mac to the hotspot from my Android with the ttl change as well
5. The connection between my Mac and hotspot is super fast!

BUT when I try to connect my iPhone to the hotspot, the speeds are slow again. I tried using Torguard on the Android with the ttl edit, but it didn't work. HELP!
 
Last edited:
Run the VPN application on your phone and then go into Wifi Tether Router settings and enable "VPN Route" and start the hotspot. The key is to connect to your VPN before starting wifi tether router or it won't work.
 
You can also get a old Linksys router and modify all TTL going through it while using it as either a ap connected to a PC, or a wireless bridge connected directly to the wireless hotspot, info here http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Iptables#Modifying_the_TTL pretty advanced stuff and you need a router that can be flashed to dd wrt, can find somem used on eBay for 10-15$, don't blame me if you brick the router trying to flash dd wrt and not following all of the directions

What was the exact command you used to set the ttl to 65 in ddwrt? Where do you enter the command? In the administration tab?

The method seems to work - last month when I reached 8gb wifi tether I got a text saying my hotspot data was used until the next cycle. Today, in my phone under data settings, it shows a hotspot data use of 11 gb after downloading 2 linux isos as a test, and it's still working normally.
 
Run the VPN application on your phone and then go into Wifi Tether Router settings and enable "VPN Route" and start the hotspot. The key is to connect to your VPN before starting wifi tether router or it won't work.

Are you telling me it was that simple?! I could've saved some $. Thank you!
 
Honestly, you shouldn't even need a VPN. Just use the TTL trick and you should be fine. The only thing you really need a VPN for is PSN/XBL.
Steam isn't detected.
 
Back
Top Bottom