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What you see in that screenshot, that was earned.

I'm on the plane and I want an hour of free Gogo (read: crappy) WiFi on my laptop (so I can push the code I'm probably the most proud of, more on that another time). The problem is that the free T-Mobile WiFi is apparently only available on mobile.

So after trying to just use responsive mode, and that still (almost obviously) not working. I realize it's time to bring in the big guns: A User Agent switcher. Small catch: I don't have an add-on for FF that can do that.

So on my phone I find an add-on that can and download the file. To send it to my computer, I initially thought to go through KDEConnect, but Gogo's network also isolates each system, so that doesn't work. So I try to send it over Bluetooth, except I can't. Why? Because Android's Bluetooth share "doesn't support" the .xpi extension, so I dump it in a zip (in retrospect, I should have just renamed it), and now I can share.

After a few tries, I successfully get the file over, extract the zip, and install the extension. Whew! Now I open up Gogo's page and proceed to try again, but this time I change the user-agent. Doesn't work... Ah! Cookies! I delete the cookies for Gogo (I had a cookie editor add-on already), but I had to try a few times because Gogo's scripts keep trying to, but I got it in the end.

Finally that stupid error saying it's for phones only went away, and I could write this rant for you.

Comments
  • 15
    Where there's a will, someone will find a way.
  • 3
    ... what i would do is:
    1. connect by phone to whatever it is that only allows connecting by phone

    2. turn my phone's hotspot on

    3. connect the laptop to the hotspot.

    why doesn't this solution make sense/why wouldn't (or didn't) it work?
  • 2
    Hotspot nowadays requires permission from your Service Provider, and if I use something like netshare (which works through WiFi-direct and a http proxy), I wouldn't be able to git push (ssh).
  • 0
    @F1973 btw, you should probably fix your description to say something like "invisibily bald and bearded" (yes, I made up a word, but you know what it means).
  • 0
    @F1973 so, invisible beard?
  • 0
    @F1973 ah, I see, so maybe add "(formerly)"
  • 0
    Now all you gotta do is rotate MACs and delete cookies every so often.
  • 0
    @Midnight-shcode Service provider permission and that still uses data on most phones as most phones can't both broadcast and use Wi-Fi (obv if you're dropping a car payment on a phone, they do, but y'kmow)
  • 1
    @Parzi there's wifi direct, which allows you to both be connected and host at the same time.
  • 0
    @pseudonim my phone has that but it still requires carrier permission and uses data. it's also a separate option from cell hotspot.
  • 2
    I've given up on inflight internet. It's flakey at best, and theft at worst.
  • 1
    @Parzi have a look at an app by the name of Netshare+, it does a hotspot through wifi direct and an http proxy. It's quite nice, the only downside is that it's http/s traffic only.
  • 1
    @SortOfTested why do you think I wanted it for free?
  • 2
    @pseudonim
    Wouldn't even at this point. 😸
  • 0
    @SortOfTested I'm on a plane, and I had 5 hours of free time... As well as a commit to push.
  • 0
    What’s that OS, it looks better than other distros

    Almost thought for a second you’re using Opera GX
  • 1
    @010001111 Arch with material shell
  • 0
    @pseudonim it did exactly the same thing the settings wi-fi direct thing does, being exactly the same shit as a mobile hotspot.
  • 0
    USB tethering should've worked, no? I never had issues with WiFi being not tetherable or that there even is such a policy in the standard. Even on mobile contracts that disallowed tethering in the terms it was never was technically limited for me.
    ¯\_ (ツ) _/¯
  • 1
    @Parzi I don't know about you, but it's the only thing that works for me.
  • 1
    @saucyatom I guess you're lucky.
  • 0
    @saucyatom Same deal...
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