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

Shift and mobile hotspot

S

smudgeyjoe

Newbie
When I got the phone, I was really looking for it to be a mobile hot spot for my iPad. That's why I got the Shift instead of it's Daddy. That being said, just two days with it has been enough to see it is wonderful in it's own right. One of the employees at the Sprint store at my mall told me about using it as a mobile hot spot for my my iPad without having to pay Sprint extra. As a retired teacher on limited funds, that really appeals to me, but if it is more than minimally risky in terms of negating my warranty, I would have to thnk it over. I'm inclined to do it.
 
Sprint is quite lenient about rooting and warranty. While they can crack down on that, the primary deal there is to not be the kind of bazootiehead that modifies your phone and complains to Sprint. The Evo forums are full of people reporting rooted phones being accepted under warranty, and I've yet to see one where an Evo rooter was denied.

Once we have a full rooting and dev community, the risk for disaster is pretty low. Myself, for instance, I run the stock rom, looks like like regular, only it's rooted - so, I got rid of my bloatware, and installed a high-performance kernel that also allows tethering.

A note on that - don't overdo it. Sip from the fountain, don't slurp from the tether firehose. If they see you downloading huge numbers month in, month out, you're liable to have your account examined for misuse.

In the meantime until that all comes true - there are always options like PDANet and EasyTether (paid apps in the Market). You might check those out - I've not used them, but I see on the forums here that people do like them a lot.
 
Exactly what The Mon Man said. don't bite the hand that feeds you...

As for the Sprint denying a rooted phone, i have seen it twice. And one of them i was there in person with my cousin when sprint denied him help by a technician and told him his warranty was now void and they were going to report the issue into the corporate mainframe. Thats why i give out the possibility that it could happen, not saying it will but there is always a chance that it could...

Hope that you decide what is best with you, and what suits you better.

Like i said any questions just ask.
 
Ok, good to know, I'll stop saying it can't happen. Last report we had was of a guy with a custom rom and the tech said, "Hey, look, I run that same rom!"

Your mileage may vary.

I sent a letter (real name) to the Sprint CEO and let him know that I'd rooted - and why. I'm just that way.
 
a good rule of thumb on tethering (not from hotspot but from a rooted tether option) dont do anything tethered that you cant do via your phone browser... if they see a heavy amount of torrenting traffic or hulu views that is a HUGE red flag about misuse... but web browsing and checking email and iming and stuff like that... looks like regular traffic no matter the amount

just something to think about
 
Hello Everyone and thank you for viewing my post.

I have an Optimus S, which I love. One of the things I love is that I can use it as a mobile hotspot and I am able to do this without the package. I was told I could do this because I have 2.2 on my Optimus.

My question is, can this be done on the Evo Shift since also has 2.2? (I just got it for my husband)

It did not look quite the same as mine, and it when I tried it said something about I don't have that package and I should contact my provider. However, when I connected it it did show up as an available network on mt laptop.

So, does anyone have any experience with this? I would have to use it and get some huge bill from Sprint.

If you have questions about how to do this you can look at the Optimus forum and it it is explained very well.
 
the mobile hotspot package works witht his phone (for the $30 hotspot charge) another way is to use Z4 temprot and install a tether app. has to be redone after every reboot, but will work how ou want it to wihtout incurring additional charges
 
Yeah if you are doing it for free on the Optimus it will pretty much be done the same way for the Shift. The Shift is just in more early stages of the rooting process so the permanent root hasn't been developed yet. You can temp root to get wireless tether onto your phone and be able to use it but that is kind of annoying and it seems some people are having trouble while others aren't. It will be much better once a permanent root has been developed and can easily be done.
 
I really appreciate the responses here, not just in regards to my specific question, but in their very nature. Forums such as this one can and should be places for education and encouragement, friends of like interest. I am a retired teacher who loves technology. I intentionally have purchased products of different natures, Apple, Android, Microsoft, just to learn more about them all so I can offer more educated answers myself to friends who expect me to have answers. The reception here has been really good!
 
Thanks for the replies. I think if husband really wants to have a hotspot, I will direct him here. That way he can figure it out. I am very happy that I can, and does not seem to be bothered. so why should I worry?!?!?
 
EmoTonyB said:
a good rule of thumb on tethering (not from hotspot but from a rooted tether option) dont do anything tethered that you cant do via your phone browser... if they see a heavy amount of torrenting traffic or hulu views that is a HUGE red flag about misuse... but web browsing and checking email and iming and stuff like that... looks like regular traffic no matter the amount

just something to think about
Click to expand...


i use to dl tons of data when on my iphone4 . One month i had over 30gb of data.
 
As a retired teacher who broke his Best Buy CC when he got the Shift, it would really be a big deal for me to be able to get around the hot spot fee. Could anyone give me a link about rooting and then setting up my phone to hot spot for my iPad? I'd offer my first born child, but she's probably older than most of the posters here!
 
smudgeyjoe said:
As a retired teacher who broke his Best Buy CC when he got the Shift, it would really be a big deal for me to be able to get around the hot spot fee. Could anyone give me a link about rooting and then setting up my phone to hot spot for my iPad? I'd offer my first born child, but she's probably older than most of the posters here!
Click to expand...


Download the app Z4root [APP] z4root - xda-developers and install. then run the TEMP ROOT optino (the permanent root dosent work, and currently there are no other permroot solutions) it will tell you you are rooted about 20 seconds later.

THEN download the (free) WiFi Tether app right from the market.

then run the wifi app. BOOM free tether.

you WILL have to run the Z4 temp root after EVERY reboot (dont worry your tether app will tell you if you ahve forgot)

you can tether your iPad for sure, just look under wifi and there shoudl be an 'Android Tether' option. i use this for my MacBook Pro as well as my iTouch, so i know it works with apple products.
 
noobs said:
Yeah if you are doing it for free on the Optimus it will pretty much be done the same way for the Shift. The Shift is just in more early stages of the rooting process so the permanent root hasn't been developed yet. You can temp root to get wireless tether onto your phone and be able to use it but that is kind of annoying and it seems some people are having trouble while others aren't. It will be much better once a permanent root has been developed and can easily be done.
Click to expand...


but you don't have to root the optimus for it. it works right out of the box with hotspot widget from the market. i think thats what he/she was referring too.
 
Matty Mo said:
Exactly what The Mon Man said. don't bite the hand that feeds you...

As for the Sprint denying a rooted phone, i have seen it twice. And one of them i was there in person with my cousin when sprint denied him help by a technician and told him his warranty was now void and they were going to report the issue into the corporate mainframe. Thats why i give out the possibility that it could happen, not saying it will but there is always a chance that it could...

Hope that you decide what is best with you, and what suits you better.

Like i said any questions just ask.
Click to expand...

It does happen. It happened to me last week withe Hero (in Tampa). That's why I have got the Shift. The phone would not recognize the SD Card, nor would the computer. Once the tech saw I was rooted, he handed it back to me and said because I had rooted it, there was no way of knowing whether software or hardware was the issue. He told me I should've put the RUU back on before bringing it in. DUH, like if the could recognize any card, i obviously would have done that lol.
 
Day 1 with the shift and I'm pretty impressed so far. I actually bought this with the intention of using the 4g hotspot to replace Time Worthless Cable Roadrunner service. So far average download speeds have been around 4.3 mbps...a little slower than the 6mbps that cable was providing but good enough to run Netflix and surf the net. I went ahead and ponied up the cost for the hotspot since it's going to be my primary 'net connection.
 
For the many newbies like me, I would like some sage advice. I have been to the developer site, IDA I think, and read about the current rooting for the Shift. Given the potential complications from error, It would probably be better to wait for a one touch solution from some place like unrEVOke. In the root section of this forum, there was talk of a Root for Dummies thread. From the release of a new phone like the Shift, how long do you think it will be before something exists to help the more technically challenged? This is a real big deal for me. When I went with the Shift, I had to go to a bigger data plan, and as a retired teacher on a fixed and limited income, 30$ in a month is a big deal. I am buying out my Overdrive from Sprint tomorrow so my next bill won't lead me to thoughts of suicide. If I can figure this out , freely using my Shift as a hot spot, it would mean much more to me than a technological notch on my intellectual six shooter. Thanks in advance for any responses.
 
The time for the unrEVOked team to complete their side of the work can't be predicted.

Their release is imminent - whether talking two days or a full month - no one can say. What we think we know is that once a permanent root is found, the time for unrEVOked to finish accelerates dramatically.

BTW - it's xda-developers.com.

The first rooting for dummies I followed had 78 steps - with an early unrEVOked. I'd expect that perhaps it will be from 1 to 5 weeks before you'll see a fully simplified one-click or near one-click rooting for dummies approach.
 
The Shift is my first smart phone. I started from a blank slate.

When I rooted I thought the instructions given(in the XDA developers EVO Shift forum) were enough as long as you were familiar with using adb/Android SDK, which I was not. It was learning to use adb that made the rooting process challenging for me as every question that is asked about rooting gets an answer that assumes you know something about adb or that you have rooted before.

For example, one of the instructions in the rooting process is "make sure you have adb properly setup on your computer before continuing". In other words not helpful at all to someone like me. I had to look at various rooting threads by doing google searches to figure out how to set up adb. Another example is "open up command prompt and cd to your sdk platform-tools directory". yeah, ok. Maybe if I used DOS back in 1990 I would know what that meant. So, again I had to do a google search to find out what cd even meant. Once I got past all of the stuff that the author basically assumes you should know then the instructions are quite clear.

Mostly it is adb. If you read a good tutorial about getting adb installed you should be good to go.

Temp rooting is not risky. Go ahead and try it, it will not brick your phone or anything. It doesn't change your system files and is temporary. A simple reboot completely undoes the temporary root. I used visionary which can be found in a simple google search "visionary download android" and installed with an app like Astro File Manager which can be found in the market. Once you are temp rooted you can set up your hotspot and it will work fine, just don't reboot or you have to do the process over again. Use this time to familiarize yourself with adb using simple google searches like" how to install adb" or simple keep your phone temp rooted forever which I am sure many people do since you don't have to reboot your phone hardly ever.

People get all freaked out because when you first try to temp root and the process reboots your phone it really gets choppy and runs like crap so most people reboot and give up because they are scared to ruin their phone when instead after you reboot you should try to temp root AGAIN. That second time it will work and run smoothly.
 
In fact here is what I wrote on the XDA forum once I figured out how to temp root because I thought maybe it would help someone completely new to all of this.

For people like me who were brand f-in new to this here and totally ignorant of anything as far as rooting here is exactly what I did to get temp root. This is my first smartphone so it was all alien to me too.

Downloaded and install Astro File Manager from the Market.

On my computer I went to http://android.modaco.com/content/so...ne-click-root/ and downloaded visionary.

On my phone went Menu>Settings>Applications and turned on unknown sources

On my phone went to Menu>Settings>Applications>Development and turned on USB Debugging

Connected my phone to my computer and went to disk drive mode and put the visionary download on my sd card. NOT in any folder or anything.

removed my phone from the computer and went into the Astro File Manager app and clicked on the visionary .apk I placed on the sd card and installed it.

went into the visionary app and touched "Temp Root Now" and NOTHING else. I DID NOT turn on Temproot on boot because it causes frustration later if you do.

The phone automatically restarted and hung on the 4G screen for a couple minutes(seriously, minutes. It seems like hours your first time believe me I popped my cherry on this just this morning). Once the phone booted it was running really choppy and it appeared the visionary app had disappeared from my app drawer and I wasn't rooted. I DID NOT try to reinstall visionary or anything.

After about 5 minutes of letting the phone sit there and chill on the home screen I rebooted it like normal.

Now visionary showed back up in my app drawer, wow damn cool. My phone was no longer choppy either it was as if I had done nothing.

I started the visionary app and touched "Temp Root Now".

When visionary finished it's thing again my phone was rooted and running perfectly and superuser had now been installed to my app drawer. Wow damn I didn't download that, VISIONARY must have done it for me.

I installed wireless tether to make sure it was rooted because I didn't realize if I saw Superuser in my app drawer it meant I was rooted.

That's exactly what I did and it worked for me. Maybe for you too!

I used the various posts from this EVO Shift forum and blind confidence that I wouldn't brick my phone to try it, thanks to the people who figured everything out. I take ZERO credit for any of this and am just posting my experience.

For permanent root I just followed the guide posted after learning how to use abd/android SDK by using google searches. That allowed me to enter the command line codes needed for the perm root but I am such a noob at this that I don't feel comfortable posting the "New to Android" steps involved in using the adb/Android SDK because I learned everything about this last night around 2am.
 
I have temp rooted and tried to use my Sprint Hotspot and can't get it to work is there anything else that needs to be done......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom