For Black Friday, Samsung Vibrant is FREE over at LetsTalk, also select Android smartphones have “Buy One Get One Free” deals.

Click Here to see the Samsung Vibrant FREE Offer

Compare to $99.99 at Amazon

via blackfridayandroid

This unlocking method for Samsung Vibrant actually works for all Samsung Galaxy S branded models but Engadget reports that Samsung Vibrant gets full 3G signals on AT&T while only getting Edge by doing the opposite of putting T-Mobile on Samsung Captivate.

I know some of you were wondering how to get Samsung Vibrant to work on AT&T and other networks outside the U.S., now you can.

For full step-by-step directions, head over to XDA Developers forum here.

In this post, we will show you how to USB tether your Samsung Vibrant and share your phone’s internet data network with your computer.

This method is “free” so long as you have unlimited data with T-Mobile and also it requires no rooting of your phone.

First, you will need to download Samsung Kies:

Download Samsung Kies here

Second, you will need to install the Samsung Kies program.

During install, just choose “Mobile Phone” so you don’t install all the junk.

Once install is complete, put your Samsung Vibrant into “Kies Mode” by going to Settings->Applications->USB.

Connect your Samsung Vibrant to your computer via USB cable.

Now, start up your Samsung Kies program on your computer then hit the “Home” button on your phone.

(You should see a screen like above on your Samsung Vibrant.)

Open up the Samsung Kies program on your computer and you should see that your Samsung Vibrant is recognized.

Find the “Tethering” icon and click on it.

Hit the “Seetings” icon and you should see a screen like below:

Here, enter “epc.tmobile.com” for APN Name and “*99#” for Phone Number.

Hit Okay, then hit the 2-phones icon button.

Give it like 5 seconds and the Samsung Kies should say “The Internet is connected”.

Btw, don’t use the default settings on the Tethering program for U.S. T-Mobile, it doesn’t work!

That’s it, now you can use your Samsung Vibrant as a 3G USB modem for your computer.

I believe there’s also ways to do it with Mac or Linux but we won’t go into that today, perhaps another time.

*Note – This method only works on Windows based computers right now.

(Here’s proof that I’ve got 3G USB connection to my computer off my Samsung Vibrant, not too shabby.)

It seems like there’s an easy fix for that as a hacker points out on XDA:

Step 1 – Disable “Use Wireless Networks” – Settings / Location & Security

Step 2 – Dial *#*#1472365#*#*

Step 3 – Under “Application settings” Change “Operation Mode” to MS Based

Step 4 – Under “SUPL/CP Settings” Change the SERVER & PORT to supl.google.com and port 7276 [ Do not use www. in front of supl]

Step 5 – REBOOT

Step 6 – Turn back on the “User Wireless Networks”

According to the hacker, this will allow your Samsung Vibrant to quickly connect and no more lag!

UPDATE: This method DOES NOT WORK (YET), but here’s how to USB Tether your Samsung Vibrant without rooting!

For those of you who want free wifi tethering on your Samsung Vibrant or any other Samsung Galaxy S smartphone (Samsung Captivate, Samsung Fascinate, and Samsung Epic 4G too), you can easily install the Android WiFi Tether app after you root your phone.

First, root your Samsung Vibrant or Galaxy S phone.

Next, browse to Android WiFi Tether download page here.

Then download the latest .apk file for Android WiFi Tether.

Open it up and install it.

Launch the app, setup your new Samsung Vibrant Mobile Hotspot and enjoy free wifi tethering for life.

And also tell your friends about SamsungVibrantHacks.com!

UPDATE: It seems that Android WiFi Tether is not supported (yet) because we need a re-compile the kernel with support for iptables, working on it, please check back!

Download Samsung Vibrant System Dump

What does rooting do for your Samsung Vibrant?

Rooting your Samsung Vibrant gives you superuser “root” access to your Vibrant’s system.  This can be great for installing 3rd party apps like the wifi tethering app and custom ROMs.  Sometimes you can get updates quicker through custom ROMs.

How to Root Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S!

The rooting method shown here will work on all Samsung Galaxy S Android smartphones including the T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant, AT&T Samsung Captivate, Verizon Samsung Fascinate, and Sprint Epic 4G.

1. Mount the SD card of your Vibrant after connecting it to your computer via micro USB cable.

2. Download this update.zip file below and put it in the root folder of your internal memory card. (not SD!)  You will see two drives connect when you connect your Samsung Vibrant to your computer.  Put it in the root folder of the one that has the folder “DCIM”.

Download file update.zip

Download update.zip

3. Unmount the SD card, then unplug your USB cable.

4. Go to Settings->Applications->Development and make sure “USB Debugging” is checked.

5. Plug the USB cable.

*Note – For Windows operating systems, you need to download this Samsung USB Driver Program:

Download Samsung Vibrant/Galaxy S USB Drivers

and run the Setup to install drivers.  

For Mac/Linux you shouldn’t need to install any drivers, lucky you.

6. Download and Install Android SDK.  Put the unzipped Android SDK into a directory like c:\sdk for easiness.

7. Run the SDK update program and update it. (Make sure you have Java installed!)

8. Open a command prompt (terminal) and browse to your sdk\tools directory:

For Windows, it’s something like cd \sdk\tools and for Mac/Linux, it’s cd /sdk/tools.

9. Type adb reboot recovery to reboot your Samsung Vibrant into recovery mode.

10. You should see a “blue” menu come up.  Using your Volume Keys, select “Reinstall packages”.

11. Your phone should find the update.zip file, install it, and reboot.

12. Once your Samsung Vibrant has rebooted, check for “Superuser Permissions” app under Applications.  If you see that then, you’ve successfully rooted your Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S Android smartphone!

Pat yourself on the back, go brew some coffee and next let’s install the Android Wifi Tethering app so you can start tethering free on T-Mobile’s data network.

Video of me rooting my new Samsung Vibrant

I’ve also documented the whole process while I was rooting my new Samsung Vibrant, there’s some mistakes I made but in the end I got through it.

You should watch the video if this is the first time you are rooting an Android phone, it will help clear a lot of the stuff you will need to do.

Errors?

If you get an error, you probably put the update.zip file on the SD card, not the internal memory.  Try putting it on the internal memory and try again.