iSpot jailbroke already – 4G hotspot for everything?

Last week, I wrote about the new iSpot, a 4G MiFi-like hotspot designed to connect your Apple Mobile Products at blazing speeds. The unit is locked-down to accept only specific mac addresses and this prevents users from using the iSpot to laptops (even Macs *gasp*) and other non-Apple gear. The trade off is a paltry $25 per month charge for service aimed to compete with AT&Ts plan and 3G built-in radio. But now, some users have figured out how to root the device and get around the security.

I used this quote in the announcement, ““With the iSpot, Apple customers don’t have to sort through confusing service plans with overage fees, nor do they have to worry about how much data they’re using,” said Thomas Enraght-Moony, senior vice president of marketing at Clearwire. “Instead, with CLEAR, customers can run all of their Apple mobile devices at true broadband speeds for a single, simple monthly fee.”

And then promptly made fun of it in my Who’s on Crack in Tech column, “Unfortunately, it seems ridiculous to me. Here’s superfast (let’s just say it is, OK?) WiFi but you can’t have it on your laptop. I can’t think of a better reason to hack this thing or jailbreak the iPad to spread some 4G love around. Crippling the device to minimize your risk seems childish and short-sighted. Bunch of crack heads.”

This disclaimer sits above the instructions on how to open the iSpot up: “Disclaimer: Whenever you “jailbreak” a device like this you risk bricking it and getting into some trouble. Be nice and be fair! Do this to learn, gain access on devices that aren’t working correctly (which a lot of people are running into right now), extend the capabilities by installing extra software, etc.” Fair enough.

The instructions provided allow users to root the device, remove the mac address restriction and then prevent OTA software pushes that will likely come to squash the rebellion, er, stop the work around.

Read: [Wojo's Playground]