Level 1

22 points

iOS14 iPhone USB tethering broken for Linux/OpenWRT

A number of forums are reporting that iOS14 iPhone USB tethering is broken for Linux/OpenWRT, though it still works fine for e.g. W10:

https://forum.openwrt.org/t/has-the-ios14-tethering-issue-been-resolved/74949

https://forum.gl-inet.com/t/can-t-tether-w-iphone-gl-ar750s/11286/14

I am personally experiencing this issue. Post my iOS14 upgrade, USB tethering still works fine for me to my W10 laptop, but not via my OpenWRT router (OpenWRT 19.07.04 on GL-iNet B1300). Other forums imply the same broken behaviour on various flavours of Linux :(

Is anyone else inconvenienced by this? And more importantly, does anyone have any ideas how to get a fix/work around?

Thanks.

Posted on Sep 24, 2020 6:58 AM

Top-ranking reply

f.morelli

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Nov 29, 2020 5:16 AM

So guys. It seems that a fix has been found.

https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice/issues/1038

In practice Apple change a piece of protocol and a quick fix (could) exists (https://github.com/jpirko/linux_mlxsw/commit/f33d9e2b48a34e1558b67a473a1fc1d6e793f93c)

Obviously, routers' os vendors have to implement this fix. For example for GL-INET someone has already implemented this one http://download.gl-inet.com/firmware/snapshots/20201126/ for the others (as me) we need to wait for the official patch by our vendor but I hope it's only a matter of time.

Thanks Apple for your support and help your customer during force smart-working due to quarantine and outbreak.

This is the last time I auto-update your FW, and suggest to everyone to switch-off it.

View in context

Similar questions

69 replies

griffo62

Level 1

4 points

Nov 4, 2020 2:39 AM in response to dayzed007

Done! thanks :)

Nov 5, 2020 12:27 PM in response to iDongPro

Update about new release iOS 14.2 ?

Nov 6, 2020 4:18 AM in response to f.morelli

iOS 14.2 does NOT fix this.

Chazzmoo

Level 1

4 points

Nov 8, 2020 2:13 PM in response to phrichuk

Ios 14.2 is not a fix

STBN2570

Level 1

10 points

Nov 29, 2020 5:19 AM in response to f.morelli

Yes, thank you Apple for your great support!

An Ex-Apple-Fan

itxp

Level 1

4 points

Nov 29, 2020 11:01 AM in response to Spinninglens

So no solution yet, by any chance does someone know what changed in ios? I want to get it work on ubuntu... on windows works but only with itunes opened, don’t know why... no itunes on linux... sucks

itxp

Level 1

4 points

Nov 30, 2020 10:54 AM in response to jonasbg

There’s defensive a fix. If it works with itunes opened on windows there should be a patch for linux in the near future... i’m very optimistic

itxp

Level 1

4 points

Nov 30, 2020 10:55 AM in response to Alan Cook2

Hope for a ubuntu patch as well...

Dec 31, 2020 4:54 AM in response to phrichuk

Any update?

Oct 12, 2020 11:14 AM in response to phrichuk

Looks like iOS 14.0 broke Linux compatibility via some non-backwards-compatible interface changes. It doesn't affect Windows. People are trying to fix it from the OSS community side (see discussion on this libimobiledevice issue: https://github.com/libimobiledevice/libimobiledevice/issues/1038).

But I haven't seen any sign of successful USB tethering yet on Linux and iOS 14.

STBN2570

Level 1

10 points

Oct 21, 2020 10:40 PM in response to sean1002

Yes. No change, no fix unfortunately with ios 14.1. It is so annoying!

Tethering via wifi is not stable, the connection is getting lost after some time and the iPhone‘s wifi-hotspot is not visible anymore (why?!?). One has to switch the personal hotspot off-on, then the wifi-hotspot is visible again and devices can reconnect.

Oct 22, 2020 5:46 AM in response to phrichuk

Agree’d, infact I spent a good part of the night on the phone with 1st & 2nd level support over at apple. When I tried to convince them the seriousness of my situation & pleaded for assistance to roll back to iOS13.7, their answer was simply “we didn’t officially support linux tethering before, and it’s not our priority now”.

I’m not interested in bashing apple right now, I just need a solution to get my family back online that doesn’t cost me new infrastructure again. Apple’s only suggestion was “buy a new hotspot” which of course also means a new data plan to go with it 😢. I hope someone at apple has a heart and helps put priority on this

Oct 22, 2020 5:56 AM in response to dayzed007

A possible solution would be to USB tether your iPhone to your Mac, then go to Sharing in your Mac's settings and share your internet connection. Then connect an ethernet cable from your Mac's network port to the WAN port of your router. This should give everyone on your home network internet access.

Oct 22, 2020 8:05 AM in response to dayzed007

I'm guessing Apple won't fix it, as 3rd party providers are already developing fixes for this. Synology has a hot fix for their latest update for the RT2600ac that restores USB tethering. Tested and tried. This is why I think that Apple won't fix this, and that this simply requires driver changes.

Oct 22, 2020 1:31 PM in response to Hector Miranda

@Hector. I mentioned the Synology hot patch you spoke about in the dd-wrt forum, and was asked to contact you if you can help locate a copy of the submitted code or at least a link to the original source. Possible?

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

iOS14 iPhone USB tethering broken for Linux/OpenWRT