Tethering allows you to use your internet connection on your G1 on your laptop or computer, giving your computer access to the internet wherever you go.  This will require a rooted G1 as this is an unsupported feature and actually has the possibility of violating your cellular contract.  However as long as you don’t use this as your primary internet source, download from p2p networks, or download large files; your cellular provider won’t even know.  This is great for those times you want to check a page or chat but are tired of using the small device to di it.

If you wish to Root your Android G1 we have a guide here.

1. Navigate to http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/ from your phone’s browser or email yourself the download link
   • If you know what QR Code is you can scan the code found at the bottom of their page
2. Click on the download found on the right side of the above page
3. Open the download once it is finished, If it complains about it not being from the google market:
   • Click settings and check “Unknown Sources”
   • Click Ok and then reopen the download
4. Click Install
5. When install is done click “Open”

Tethering

1. Launch the App
2. Touch the green symbol.
3. Join your computer to the wireless network your Android G1 just made.
4. Browse the web.

Configuration (Menu > Setup)

• Enable/Disable Bluetooth Tether.
• Wifi Encryption / Passphrase (Require Password to Get on the Network, must be a 13-character key)
• Change SSID (Wireless Network Name)
• Enable Access Control (Only computers you specify can access, uses MAC Addresses.)

Helpful Hints

• Enable 3G on your phone (Settings>Wireless>Mobile Networks). Your Tether speed is only as fast as your G1’s Speed
• Have your phone be charging (AC or USB) because 3G drains your phones battery
• Don’t make your passcode easy to guess. Be sure to change it often

Did you know paypal generally charges a fee of 3% + $0.30?  Well if you are just giving the person money and you trust them, you should send it to them as a “gift” (located on the personal tab).  Paypal currently does not charge any fee’s when sending money via a gift; however it probably would harder to “dispute” a fund, which is why we say make sure you trust them if you expect them to send you anything.

How-To

1. Login to Paypal.
2. Click Send Money as you normally would.
3. You should be on the screen where you can input who and how much money to send.
4. Above “This is a purchase of: Goods, Services, Ebay Item” there are two tabs, click Personal
5. Select the Gift Button
6. Continue and Send

With all the hype about jailbreaking the iPhone, we figured we would give you a guide on “jailbreaking”(rooting) the G-1.  You will lose the ability to upgrade OTA (Over-The-Air) as it would kill your root, your phone is still upgradable, it just won’t do it on its own.  We are going to reflash the device, so please backup any data you may need such as your contacts!

This process should take the average user 15-30 minutes to do and will “void” your warranty, however it is possible to hide the evidence so you are still covered!(Details at the bottom)

Note: This guide is US Only, UK People please ask in the forums if you need a help with rooting your device.

What you gain:

1. Ability to alter system files, this means you can now do things like installing a new theme
2. Run special apps such as tether.
3. Backup your entire system
4. Relocate your applications/cache to your /sdcard

The Process

1. Downgrade to RC29
2. Obtain root
3. Upgrade to desired ROM

Downgrading to RC29

1. Download the RC29 NBH file.
2. Connect your Android G1 to your computer so we can write to your SDCard
3. Place this file on your sd card (it is best if you format the card to FAT32 before this step, if you run into errors try that).
4. Turn the device power off and make sure your sd card is inserted.
5. Hold down the camera button while you turn on your phone to enter bootloader.
6. Once in the bootloader press the camera button.
7. After it finishes, press the trackball and perform a soft reset by pressing “Call” + “Menu” + “End” to reboot.

Obtain Root

1. Once your phone boots to the desktop hit the <enter> key twice and then type “telnetd” and press <enter> again (Yes, it will start up a contact search, don’t worry. Just type it.)
2. On your phone download Android Telnet client run it and connect to “localhost”. If you are unable to connect, try steps 1 and 2 over again until you can. Also, you can try doing a factory wipe (alt+w in the recovery menu) and retrying if all else fails.

Upgrading ROM

1. Download CyanogenMod v3.4.6 ROM to /sdcard and rename it to update.zip (when you are done it should be “/sdcard/update.zip”).
2. Download the modified recovery and unzip it.
3. Place”cm-recovery-1.2.img” in /sdcard
4. We will now need to flash the modified recovery so go back to the “root-terminal” previously used and Enter the following commands:
   • mount -o remount,rw /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
   • rm -f /system/recovery.img
   • flash_image recovery /sdcard/cm-recovery-1.2.img
5. Reboot your phone, but do not do a recovery yet.
6. Once fully rebooted, power off your phone (hold power and select “Power Off”),
7. Turn your device on and hold home until you enter the recovery console
8. When you enter the recovery console hit “alt+S” on your phone. This will flash the update.zip file that you downloaded and placed there. If you have any problems with this step you missed something above.

Back Out / Unroot

Incase you started this process or wish to restore it back in order to go back “in warranty” we have a guide here.

[via: Android Unleashed]

This will completely restore your G1 software to what it was like out of the box.  We recommend doing this whenever you will be giving physical possession of your phone away for long periods of time, such as when you sell, replace, and/or send it in for repair.  Not only will this hide any software modifications you have done which basically “unvoids” your warranty but also clear out your personal data.

1. Ensure your phone is connected and you can write to /SDCard
2. Download the Original G1 SPL and rename it to “update.zip”
3. Copy update.zip to /SDCard
4. Go into your phones recovery (Hold the home & power button)
5. Push Alt+S on your G1 to flash it with update.zip
6. Download the RC29 NBH and place it in the root of your SDCard
7. Load your phones bootloader (Hold the Camera & Power button)
8. Press the Power button to start the update (Do NOT interrupt this process)
9. Hit the action key (Trackball down) and your phone will reboot.
10. At this point your phone will be unrooted but it will have the out-of-date RC29. Your phone should download updates OTA(Over The Air) soon but you can also force this by going to Settings>About phone>System Updates