• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Hotspot ONLY on 4G?!?

N

nycbhh

Member
I just got off the phone with a Sprint Customer Care Specialist who kept insisting on telling me that I could only use the hotspot option if I had a 4G signal
 
If you don't have access to a Wimax network I would advise against even buying the Sprint Hotspot service. The only advantage it offers as of now is that it will share a Wimax connection via Wifi. If you want to share EVDO over Wifi then you have plenty of much less expensive options available.
 
One of the guys from Engadget said this was the case... think I heard it on their most recent podcast.

But then again I've heard the exact opposite from other sources, so I guess we'll have to wait for an EVO owner to respond...
 
Incorrect.. I am trying to find the review but they were using 3G only because they were in a non-4g area. I want to say it was CNET because they are in New York

Update: wasn't Cnet... They drove to Philly to test it. They said briefly that they switched to 3G after testing the 4g hotspot but it isn't clear if they were testing the hotspot on 3G
 
In all honesty, I'm probably going to go with a free option anyway. I just wanted to find out from her specifically how the billing would work if I were to go with the "official" Sprint option (could I easily add and remove the service depending on my needs, etc.) only to be told that I could not get the service because I am in NYC and NYC doesn't officially have 4G and that it would not work over 3G. I then asked her about the scenario of having it when NYC does have 4G officially available and I was in a building that had spotty 4G coverage that I would be able to still use the hotspot even if the EVO might be switching between 4G and 3G and she said absolutely not, that it would only work if the phone was receiving a solid 4G signal.

But on the subject of "plenty of other options," are there any that I could use to create a wifi hotspot with the phone that doesn't involve rooting?
 
Rigmaster said:
I wouldn't even attempt it on 3G anyway. Don't have that much time left in a day or my life.
Click to expand...


EVDO Rev. A isn't THAT bad... no streaming media but it's good enough to surf around.

Isn't it funny how we've all become so used to fast connections? I remember 14.4k (sigh).
 
Rigmaster said:
I wouldn't even attempt it on 3G anyway. Don't have that much time left in a day or my life.
Click to expand...

My main reason for wanting the hotspot would be to be able to continue using apps on my iphone (via the EVO enabled hotspot) that are not yet available on Android. A 3G powered hotspot would be enough for that.
 
nycbhh said:
In all honesty, I'm probably going to go with a free option anyway. I just wanted to find out from her specifically how the billing would work if I were to go with the "official" Sprint option (could I easily add and remove the service depending on my needs, etc.) only to be told that I could not get the service because I am in NYC and NYC doesn't officially have 4G and that it would not work over 3G. I then asked her about the scenario of having it when NYC does have 4G officially available and I was in a building that had spotty 4G coverage that I would be able to still use the hotspot even if the EVO might be switching between 4G and 3G and she said absolutely not, that it would only work if the phone was receiving a solid 4G signal.

But on the subject of "plenty of other options," are there any that I could use to create a wifi hotspot with the phone that doesn't involve rooting?
Click to expand...

Remember... there are reps that don't have a clue. One of these such reps told a friend of mine today that 4G wouldn't be available in Miami until late 2011, and she referenced a memo that was sent out a few days ago... yet I messaged a PR rep for sprint yesterday and was told "Miami 4G will officially launch sometime this summer/fall".
 
snapbox said:
EVDO Rev. A isn't THAT bad... no streaming media but it's good enough to surf around.

Isn't it funny how we've all become so used to fast connections? I remember 14.4k (sigh).
Click to expand...

Yeah. I guess I always choose to forget it if I can't go at max speed. I only see myself doing it with my laptop trying to either get a very large file or to stream.

I'm in the camp of I'll be saving so much after switching from ATT that most things won't matter. I don't like the $29.99 at all, but since I'd really only be using in a situation where I'd be writing it off as a biz expense, it's not a deterrent. If I do need to hotspot though, I'd only do it on 4G. Otherwise I'd go pay for access to a fast network rather than via 3G.

I wish everything was high speed, and I did everything I could to avoid the web when it was dial-up even up to 56k.:)
 
Thanks Sikclown, I was SURE I had read that was the case. Thanks for the confirmation.

Now I just need to figure out if I can do a hotspot without paying the Sprint fee and without rooting :D
 
I thought PDAnet was only for USB tethering (and I don't think I could connect an EVO and an iPhone via USB). Can PDAnet create a wifi hotspot? That would be very cool if it can :)
 
nycbhh said:
Thanks Sikclown, I was SURE I had read that was the case. Thanks for the confirmation.

Now I just need to figure out if I can do a hotspot without paying the Sprint fee and without rooting :D
Click to expand...

Your welcome... Feel free to hit thanks on my post :) haha. Umm yeah PDAnet works great for tethering via USB (never tried Bluetooth) but I think the only way to do it wirelessly in 2.1 is to root and then download a program that does it (requires root)
 
I was afraid of that. I've jailbroken my iphone and that was fairly easy, but I've glanced at rooting instructions of other Android phones and it sounds complicated. In fact, truth be told, I have no idea what some of the instructions even mean, so I'm a bit nervous about it.
 
nycbhh said:
I was afraid of that. I've jailbroken my iphone and that was fairly easy, but I've glanced at rooting instructions of other Android phones and it sounds complicated. In fact, truth be told, I have no idea what some of the instructions even mean, so I'm a bit nervous about it.
Click to expand...

Nah if you search around the forums there are some very easy instructions on rooting a device. Of course it depends on the device but Rooting my Hero was easy as jail breaking my iPad
 
if u think rooting looks hard now you should see how it was done when I got my first Android (G1) LOL. it's much easier now, just look around. heck, as easy as it was to root my N1 it seems like they want you to root these phones LOL. just make sure there are no hardware issues first



Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk
 
Just tested it out to confirm. My droid connects just fine to the wireless evo hotspot whether I have 4g enabled or disabled (and it is displaying 3G when the 4G radio is disabled and the hotspot is enabled).
 
Rigmaster said:
Yeah. I guess I always choose to forget it if I can't go at max speed. I only see myself doing it with my laptop trying to either get a very large file or to stream.

I'm in the camp of I'll be saving so much after switching from ATT that most things won't matter. I don't like the $29.99 at all, but since I'd really only be using in a situation where I'd be writing it off as a biz expense, it's not a deterrent. If I do need to hotspot though, I'd only do it on 4G. Otherwise I'd go pay for access to a fast network rather than via 3G.

I wish everything was high speed, and I did everything I could to avoid the web when it was dial-up even up to 56k.:)
Click to expand...

I just canceled my $60 / month sprint unlimited 3G data laptop modem to go with the evo as a hotspot replacement for only the extra $30 / month. It's going to save me $30 / month and I have access to 4G. My previous plan was to get one of the battered powered 4G sprint wireless hotspots. Glad I didn't as I'd be stuck on a 2-year plan with it.... The only drawback seems to be I might pickup the 5 GB / month limit now (I was grandfathered in from an old plan with no monthly quota).
 
This is direct from Sprint's info packet on the EVO
$29.99 Sprint Mobile Hotspot provides:
− Up to 8 simultaneous data sessions over 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot
− Data usage is unlimited while on the 3G or 4G Sprint network
o Off-network data roaming is subject to a 300MB data usage limitation
o MiFi and Overdrive, while Hotspots, are considered Mobile Broadband devices and subject to
3G data limitations
− Phone as Modem is available by purchasing
Click to expand...
 
Correct. My friend at sprint says currently there is no limit and definitely will be no 4G limit, but they may end up putting the 5 GB limit on 3G data depending how actual usage patterns and network congestion turns out. Hopefully we can all be grandfathered in on unlimited if we complain though.
It took a fair bit of complaining with my original Sprint 3G laptop modem which was unlimited in the marketing terms and contract on Sprint when they introduced the 5 GB cap.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom