This week I got a Samsung Focus Flash. It's a nice upgrade from my first-generation LG Optimus 7. Although I have a Nokia Lumia 710, I can't actually use it because it still doesn't support tethering. While the Focus Flash does support tethering (or "internet sharing"), the functionality is tied to AT&T. I don't have AT&T; I'm using an MVNO as my cellular provider. That means I simply can't activate tethering. Additionally, I can't update the OS to the latest released build, 8107 at time of writing, because AT&T refuses to update their current phones to anything beyond 7720 until Windows Phone codename "Tango" comes out. Well, that's not good enough for me.

The phone's software is tied to AT&T, and I don't like that. I shouldn't have to be tied to AT&T's rules just because that's how the phone was initially configured. So I decided to fix these issues plaguing my phone. It turned out to be pretty easy. Here are the steps I took to enable tethering and updating.

1. I dev-unlocked the phone. Since I have an App Hub account, it was a piece of cake.
2. I interop-unlocked the phone, following the Samsung guide in this XDA thread.
3. I installed the WP7 Root Tools.
4. To enable tethering without asking for AT&T's permission, I used the Root Tools' registry editor to make the following changes:
   1. [HKLM\Comm\InternetSharing\Settings] OpenMarketEnabled=dword:1
   2. [HKLM\Comm\InternetSharing\Settings] EntitlementURI="./Vendor/MSFT/Registry/HKLM/Comm/InternetSharing/Settings/OpenMarketEnabled" (without quotes)
5. To enable OS updates without AT&T's software blocks, I made these registry changes:
   1. [HKLM\System\Platform\DeviceTargetingInfo] MobileOperator="000-88" (without quotes)
   2. [HKLM\System\Platform\DeviceTargetingInfo] MOName="OPN" (without quotes)
6. Finally, to ensure the settings took hold, I rebooted the phone.

After applying the above changes, I could freely tether as well as update the phone to build 8107 through Zune. Please note that I am not advocating following the above steps because changing registry values is extremely dangerous and can potentially brick your device. However, if you're like me, and you refuse to use an artificially crippled device, you could un-cripple it.