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

WiFi/Tether input please?

R

rstephenson

Newbie
I am still grandfathered in on Verizon's unlimited data plan and wish to use it off my rooted spectrum to go online with my laptop at home as we don't have internet service where we moved without spending an arm and a leg. I'm having issues finding a wifi app that works, any ideas? I just don't want to pay Verizon to do this, thanks in advance for any help!
 
I haven't made the big jump yet, anything short term i can do? Plus i have no internet connection besides my phone now... I tried a few more hotspot and tether apps that appear to work but when i plug the cable into the laptop or try searching for a network there is nothing...
 
rstephenson said:
I haven't made the big jump yet, anything short term i can do? Plus i have no internet connection besides my phone now... I tried a few more hotspot and tether apps that appear to work but when i plug the cable into the laptop or try searching for a network there is nothing...
Click to expand...
Are you on ICS or GB? If you're on GB, your options are unlimited. If you're on stock ICS you'll either need the info in this thread to wifi teather (http://androidforums.com/spectrum-all-things-root/653548-tether-via-wifi-unlimited-data-plans.html) or grab PDAnet for USB tether. Other apps will possibly work, but those are the two I was personally using when on stock ICS.
 
Running ota ics still, tried foxit with no success, thank you for the link, i guess i could do the usb tether, though that wasn't the plan, i just am not 100% sure how to get the wireless up and running as I'm not tech savvy enough to do the command prompt stuff... Is there a final patch that came out of it?
 
rstephenson said:
Running ota ics still, tried foxit with no success, thank you for the link, i guess i could do the usb tether, though that wasn't the plan, i just am not 100% sure how to get the wireless up and running as I'm not tech savvy enough to do the command prompt stuff... Is there a final patch that came out of it?
Click to expand...

USB tether is 2-3x faster than WiFi tether. Our WiFi chip is only 11Mbit while our USB is USB ver 2.0 (will max data speed at our 4G level since USB 2.0 can theoretically go as fast as 480Mbit, faster than any 4G connection) I only got 10Mbit speeds when WiFi tethered, but peaked at 40+Mbit with USB tether.(usually I get between 27-33Mbit speeds during peak hours, 34-42 during the middle of the night)

Try PDAnet until you decide to use a custom ROM.
 
Thanks for the input everyone! I had no idea that wireless was the slowest option, trying the pdanet now, will see how it goes!

UPDATE!

Able to run the pdanet+ successfully thanks to an old forum contribution from neph81, thank you again for your help, as the phone was not being recognized by my laptop for some reason, sooo I had to do every hookup via the reboot while plugged in workaround, but it worked! Yay!!! And somehow, this workaround/usb tether got the phone to charge regular via laptop as compared to the painful slow charge message I have always got, go figure! So as it will keep my phone charged now and will provide me with internet, I consider this a complete success! ps the charging issue was the reason I was interested in making a hotspot, now it's not needed, I can't say thank you enough for all the help! What would I do without this place?? THANK YOU!!!!
 
rstephenson said:
Thanks for the input everyone! I had no idea that wireless was the slowest option, trying the pdanet now, will see how it goes!

UPDATE!

Able to run the pdanet+ successfully thanks to an old forum contribution from neph81, thank you again for your help, as the phone was not being recognized by my laptop for some reason, sooo I had to do every hookup via the reboot while plugged in workaround, but it worked! Yay!!! And somehow, this workaround/usb tether got the phone to charge regular via laptop as compared to the painful slow charge message I have always got, go figure! So as it will keep my phone charged now and will provide me with internet, I consider this a complete success! ps the charging issue was the reason I was interested in making a hotspot, now it's not needed, I can't say thank you enough for all the help! What would I do without this place?? THANK YOU!!!!
Click to expand...

Good to hear! FYI WiFi hotspot sucks battery down. Even while charging, it can sometimes drain battery! With USB tether, it uses drastically less battery even with slow charge.

WiFi hotspot also will heat up your phone if you live in a hotter climate like me. (Battery would reach 130+ while hotspot was on and phone plugged in, USB tether would be 30-40 cooler than that).

Then again due to the law of thermal dynamics, it being 115+ outside, it cannot get cooler than 85 in my place due to the heat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom