Widgetsoid toggle quirk [benefit] - reverse ad-hoc

[dhworph]

So I use VZW tethering and a widgetsoid wifi hotspot toggle on my homescreen --- really convenient and works amazingly well.

However, in airplane mode, I don't get the option to turn tethering on in the stock OS settings menu, but widgetsoid can still turn it on. This is convenient because it lets be use wifi filesharing (Samba Filesharing is what I use, maybe it allows other apps to work as well) even when a network is not available - kinda like a half-ad-hoc mode.

I remember a while back there was a tether app that uses the native tethering but bypasses verizon's authentication, or something along those lines. I'm wondering if this is what widgetsoid's tethering does. I don't necessarily have a problem with that, because I love being able to connect to my phone via wifi when no wifi or data networks are available... it's really awesome.

I would slightly worry that I am violating VZW's TOS --- I mean I'm paying for the service, but still if I am "accidentally" bypassing their authentication system, maybe they can eventually see it and cause a commotion...

I'm considering contacting the dev and putting in a request to make sure this continues to work, as I'm not sure if it is by accident or on purpose.

 

[alostpacket]

Not sure if this is related but the Gnex does have a feature similar to ad-hoc networking called WiFi-Direct

Wi-Fi Direct - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[dhworph]

I think WiFi direct is something completely different, like it will be used in the future to connect devices (like your phone to a photo printer), but isn't widely used yet. Maybe this happens because of that particular ability (somehow the wifi hotspot toggle could trip up wifi direct, which is still available during airplane mode), but I doubt it. Only way to figure it out is for the widgetsoid dev to explain what is different about his toggle vs vzw toggle in stock settings.