That was a good read, thank you
Comment on I have unlimited cellular data on my phone but not if I use it as a hotspot.
orangeboats@lemmy.world 8 months agoThis also explains why VPN is a possible workaround to this issue.
Your VPN will encapsulate any packets that your phone will send out inside a new packet (its contents encrypted), and this new packet is the one actually being sent out to the internet. What TTL does this new packet have? You guessed it, 64. From the ISP’s perspective, this packet is no different than any other packets sent directly from your phone.
BUT, not all phones will pass tethered packets to the VPN client. Mine doesn’t! In this case, TTL-based tracking will still work. And some phones seem to have other methods to inform the ISP that the data is tethered, in which case the VPN workaround may possibly fail.
mhz@lemm.ee 8 months ago
southernbrewer@lemmy.world 8 months ago
You can also just increase your laptop’s initial TTL by one and then they can’t tell.
Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 8 months ago
How do you do this?
southernbrewer@lemmy.world 8 months ago
On MacOS this will do it:
Can’t personally speak for other OSes at present. Here’s a SO post about Ubuntu: askubuntu.com/a/670276 With some routers you may be able to change the TTL for all connected devices: jv.ag/blog/GLinet-TTL-Change/