Getting Android Wifi Tether to work on Samsung Galaxy Exhibit

[TRS-80]

OK, so I have decided to go the "rooted but no CM / other ROM" route, for the time being. One thing I really need is wifi tether, as I use my phone constantly for laptop in truck and also for my Nook Tablet. The latter meaning that I cannot use ad-hoc mode. So I started playing with this today.

So far I have rooted, removed bloatware (actually, froze, using Titanium Backup), and downloaded and installed wifi_tether_v3_4-experimental1.apk from here. Seemed to install no problem, start and run.

But then something weird happens. The built in 4G Mobile Hotspot icon pops up in the notification area, stating "Tethering or hotspot active - Tap to configure." And it seems to be blocking Android Wifi Tether from getting out to the internet.

Now I looked through all the programs in Titanium Backup as well as Application Manager, thinking I could just freeze (or uninstall) the offending built in program, but I couldn't seem to find it.

Anyone have any success in getting this to work? Or further ideas?

I will continue working on this, but thought I would post here in the meantime and see if anyone else had any more ideas.

 

[TRS-80]

So far, seems like that "app" is not really an app at all, but perhaps part of the system. Or maybe part of the Settings app, or something. So if it's that involved / deep in the system, I may have to flash over to CM or something...

Continuing on researching this...

 

[TRS-80]

Yeah, further research basically confirmed the above. Looks like I will be flashing CM after all...

 

[TRS-80]

Alright, even though it seems I am having a conversation with myself, I will post this update. lol

I went ahead and installed CM11 (4.4.4) from here. After that I installed Android Wifi Tether, and fired it up expecting no problems. Unfortunately the exact same thing happened! I was shocked to see the same "Tethering or hotspot active" message pop up as before, when I activated the hotspot in Android WiFi Tether!

Now, I didn't know this at the time but apparently I didn't need to use Android Wifi Tether at all, as CM apparently comes with a hotspot built in. Now I don't know if Android Wifi Tether messed up anything in the WiFi software of CM or not, but the tether is not working. I even uninstalled Android WiFi Tether and tried the built in tethering in CM but that didn't work either. In both cases, I was able to connect to the AP, but not get out to the internet. I was using my Nook Tablet (running CM) to test this.

I have just begun some more reading, it seems as if T-Mobile somehow blocks this on their network with provisioning. So now I will investigate further in that direction.

In the meantime, has anyone gotten wifi tether to work on this phone, via any method whatsoever? If so, please share!

 

[TRS-80]

Alright, it's not something T-Mobile is blocking with provisioning (or maybe it is) but there is a very easy fix. Apparently this is only an issue with KitKat (4.4), so if you are still on JB (4.3) you may have not even experienced the issue. If you will recall, at this time I am now running CM11 / 4.4 installed from here.

For the full story, you can go here: *Updated* How to re-enable Tethering on KitKat. (New method on T-Mobile without root.) - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

But basically, I just followed the first instruction. This is taken from the above linked article:

TETHERING WITHOUT REQUIRING ROOT:

1. (T-Mobile) MODIFY THE APN: I have not fully tested this method on all phones, but all you have to do is use the APN: fast.t-mobile.com, then in the "APN type" field, add the value: "dun". Also in the "APN protocal" field, made sure the value is "IPv4". Thank you to user "cq1125" for posting this method, visit his thread for more info: http://forums.androidcentral.com/mot...e-no-root.html

Detailed instructions:
-In order to get to the APN menu, go to Settings -> More... -> Mobile networks -> Access Point Names.
-You will see a list of APNs similar to screenshot below. Tap on one of the T-Mobile title in the list to edit it's APN settings.
-While in the "Edit access point" window, in the field "APN", make sure you change the value from "epc.tmobile.com" to: fast.t-mobile.com
-Scroll down to the field "APN type", do not delete any of it's existing values, but add a comma "," and the value "dun".
-Also make sure the field "APN protocol" is set with the value "IPv4", as IPv6 doesn't work with tethering yet.
-Lastly, tap on the three dots menu button on the top right and select Save. Now you can exit.

There are actually some pictures in the linked article above if you need more clarity.

Now, I am not sure if these options are available of not in the stock ROM, as I said I am running CM from the above link.

Alright, now on to slay other dragons (wifi calling, annoying blinking notifications, etc... ). Good luck everyone!

EDIT: Oh yeah, just wanted to add, I did hit a MetroPCS / T-Mobile paywall when I started web browsing, but that was easily circumvented by changing my user-agent to "Linux Desktop." All other traffic (IRC, email, DropBox and Google Drive) seem to be able to get through just fine.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

Mega Uber Nuclear THANKS! to TRS-80 for this.

At least for now, it's working fine with my N4 on Metro.

There were a couple minor glitches you may need to address.

At least on the N4 on Metro, it Won't let you select and save the T-Mo APN. Tried it, rebooted, no joy, it shoots me back to the fast.metropcs APN. Bummer.

So, with no other choice, I changed the values above on the fast.metropcs APN. Added the "dun" and changed the IPv from 6 to 4. Enabled my user agent switcher (I used IE 8) and badabing badaboom, back to full tethering. Woot! Woot!

I still had been able to tether before, but only on Secured websites.
Now all seems to be working fine, at least until the Mothership figures out a new forcefield setting...

Again, Much Thanks! TRS-80.

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[TRS-80]

Sweet, glad to hear you got it working!