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Tethering and Wifi Access Point using which Android OS and Phone?

I am currently on AT&T using the TILT (WM 6.1).
There are very few things I like about my TILT. However the biggest thing is tethering and using it as a wifi access point - which I enjoy freely.....
It is my preference to stay on AT&T because I would like to keep my TILT as a back up - insert my SIM from whatever new (Android) phone into it to use its tethering and wifi access point ability.
I was interested in the iPhone (4) but because it uses a micro sim, that rules out any degree of cross compatibility I need with my SIM card.
My next move is to change phones to an Android. My case for Android is simple : I need a phone I can set up for both tethering and as a wifi access point. The iPhone allows tethering but at an added price. The iPhone does not allow for wifi access point usage. I am interested in the Samsung Galaxy S. I have some questions:
1. Has anyone been successful in setting up an Android, particularly AT&T Samsung Captivate for tethering and as a wifi access point?
2. I understand AT&T does not allow non-market apps onto the phone. So if you are a Captivate user how can this be accomplished?
3. If you have accomplished this and you are not an AT&T Samsung Captivate user, please tell me what carrier you are with and how you accomplished it.
I am aware of a process called rooting. I am no techie and don't wish to risk bricking my phone. I am also aware that Android 2.2 will provide tethering (or is it wifi access point capability?). Which carrier will allow or support this? Or how can a user enable these features?
Is anyone aware as to which carriers will either allow this or present the least barriers for a users work around?
I am open to switching carriers, but as I said, I do like using my SIM and sticking it back into my TILT to use the tethering or wifi access point if I am not able to use these features in a replacement phone without paying exhorbitant prices. Mind you, I am grandfathered into AT&T's unlimited data plan. The unlimited data plan and wifi access point will be handy when I purchase the iPad or use the phone to allow other devices to connect via wifi.

I used internet connection sharing on my Blackjack a few times. It was a pretty nice option to have. I just bought a Captivate on the 29th and was hopping to find something similar. My assumption is that you will have to root your phone to get by AT&T's road blocks. You will, at the very least, have to get a program to help you side load cause AT&T has blocked that and they have also blocked certain apps from showing up in the market.

I went from the Tilt to the Backflip (which I wouldn't recommend because of so many better Android phones). I also enjoyed the freedom to tether. With an unrooted Android phone using PDAnet (have to have installed on pc & phone) I've been able to tether no problem.
Don't remember off-hand if it shows up in the Market. If not, you'll have to use something like Droid Explorer to install it. Not a hard process, even for a non-techie. HTH
Sent from my MB300 using XDA App

Yeah, after posting that I did some searching. There is PDAnet and Easytether. AT&T blocks both from the market but you just have to take out your SIM card and then connect to Wi-Fi and they'll show up.

@lillejord. Do I understand you correctly? Even though AT&T may block applications from appearing at the AT&T Android Market, you remove the SIM and then navigate to the AT&T Android Market and - bingo! The otherwise errant applications are available to both download and install?

Can't comment about the US-specific versions of the SGS... I have an SGS I9000 bought in Hong Kong (it's unlocked, unbranded etc)
It is on Android 2.1 (Eclair) and it already has the WiFi AP functionality built in (I've used it... worked fine)... Settings -> Wireless and Network -> Mobile AP settings
As for using it "tethered" (ie. via a USB cable), when you plug it in (assuming you've set the "Ask on connection" option), it gives you 4 options:
- Samsung Kies
- Media Player
- Mass Storage
- PC Internet
The last one lets you use the phone's data connection...
There is also a 3rd option, within the Samsung Kies application, there is a "Tethering" applet, that also lets you use the phone's data connection, but it allows you to configure a whole bunch of stuff and you can create multiple data connection profiles etc...

Not sure exactly how ATT does their data plans between different phones. But isn't the android "specific" plan different than the standard smart phone plan as far as how the phones work and switching sim cards/cost.
I know that when I had my T-mo MDA (HTC Wizard) I could tether (either via usb or bluetooth) and use as a wireless access point), so the Tilt (in theory) should be able to work the same) unless the ATT/their software, crippled it. Once again, not sure how ATT has their network set.
-- Not to go OT from the thread, if so, I apologize.. but I was wondering, if you have a WM powered phone, running Android, does the internet plan change or stay the same/work properly.

To answer your question, using the internet on an Android ROM running on a WinMo phone works properly without the need to manually change any settings. At least it worked for me. I ran Android on my T-Mo US Touch Pro2 and used the web browser with no issues. I can't comment on how/if it would work with another phone/carrier so YMMV.
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide using XDA App

I have the HTC G2 Android running on version 2.2 through T-mobil
I used to have cable through COX but discontinued it as I am able to use the phone as a hot spot with tethering. I can connect multiple machines via this hotspot. It is a 4G phone, and runs at 14.4 (mbps I think).
I didn't do anything special to the phone, and the hotpot is a simple selection of the settings.
Hope this helps (Arizona)

search Wifi Tether apk
It need kernel supported. Most of 2.1 kernel not ready.

SIM removal is not needed.
1.Turn off WiFi
2.Turn on Airplane Mode (Turns off SIM id Google allows all apps now at step 3)
3.Turn on WiFi
4.Download At&t banned apps from the Market

[Q] Unregister Devices After WiFi Tether Hack?

I have distant plans to make a non-commercial app for our company phones but I signed up for a dev account primarily to run other people's code. Specifically I wanted to interop-unlock and setup wifi tethering on a few Focuses since I'm sick of waiting for AT&T. We pay for tethering on our lines and a few guys have been using the corded trick from shortly after launch but its clunky.
Anyway, I've unlocked two phones and setup proper tethering and its great. My question is can I unregister those phones and still have tethering working since its been enabled in the OS instead of being an app? Further, I would like to roll out tethering to all of our phones by unlocking, enabling it, and unregistering the phone immediately after. Would there any problems with this plan? Thanks in advance.

Your plan should work. The registration (dev-unlock) is required in order to install the apps that do the provisioning for Internet sharing. Once provisionined, though, it doesn't matter anymore. If you can safely delete the app and the feature keeps working, then you can almost certainly safely de-register the phones and it will keep working.

Just an FYI, this appears to work just fine. I unregistered one of the phones and it can still be used for wifi tethering. I'll update this thread if I learn otherwise as I roll out wifi tethering to all of the Focuses on our account.

So I ran into a bit of a snag... After unlocking and re-locking my 3rd phone I went back to my personal phone to unlock it again because I found some other homebrew things I wanted to try (specifically Advanced Config 1.4)... Unfortunately I'm getting the dreaded 0x64 error when I try to do so. I thought about trying to unlock a virgin phone first but it sounds like the only way I can unlock mine again at this point is to do a full reset on it - but I don't want to do that without making sure that the 3 phone limit isn't the problem (current my app hub shows NO registered devices).
Shouldn't I be able to unlock the same phone again? I didn't click any of the "prevent re-lock" options in the tools I used for the Interop unlock or the tethering setup...

[Q] Non Rooted Verizon Galaxy Nexus wifi tether question

Was just wondering if anyone knew what if any repercussions there would be using the Wifi Hotspot and USB tether app from SVTP (from the Android Market) on a non-rooted Verizon GN. The app works great and was quick to setup but I am interested to know if I will be automatically popped into a Mobile Hotspot plan (which I do not have now) if I use it.
That being said would it make more sense to root my phone to circumvent these potential charges?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Verizon has recently adopted new changes in how it monitors for tethering and when unauthorized tethering is detected it redirects you to a verizon web page on how to order a tethering package. I have heard PDA net still works, you might want to check out Koush's tether app, reported to be undetectable.
I say either way root your phone, then load a custom rom many of them have work arounds for wifi tethering

wifi tether

Hi guys,
I am loving the Nexus 5. I've ordered it, and should be here in 2 days. Only issue is, I need the program android-wifi-tether https://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/ to be working on this phone.
You see, I have a data plan from my carrier which DOES NOT ALLOW you to tether = (. However, the program wifi tether works great to get around this. Previously I used to use an App called Fox-Fi which did something similar.
Currently I'm running a TW based Samsung S3, because WiFi Tether will only work on TW-based roms, not AOSP-based roms.
Do you think there is any chance to get WiFi Tether, (or similar) App that will work on the Google Nexus 5?
Thoughts?

It looks like the biggest requirement is Netfilter, which is essentially IP tables. Try installing IP tables, and see if the program will run. Otherwise, you can always use another tethering app like easytether, or another program (I know that there are loads out there). If you are rooted, it should not be much of a hassle to install.

Es Filexplorer will do it for you once rooted and a great file management app also

Thanks guys. I'll give it a shot once device is in my hands. Thanks.

Another method for this I use that sometimes works is to tether using the default app and just use a User Agent switch in google chrome for HTML traffic. My video games as well as spotify ETC work like normal I only need the UA switcher for traffic within the browser.

Wait, am I missing something here? OP, tethering is a standard feature in Nexus phones, esp now that Verizon is out of the equation.
Why can't you just use the built-in tethering? If it's an issue of your provider being able to track that, then I don't think any of the 3rd party tools are going to help. Typically, just a user-agent switcher can take care of the problem on the device that you're tethered to.

I'm dealing with this issue right now. I had a note 2 running macks rom on my sprint note 2 that let you hotspot free. The N5 tether/hotspot does not work. We need a work around..

Engineer4life said:
I'm dealing with this issue right now. I had a note 2 running macks rom on my sprint note 2 that let you hotspot free. The N5 tether/hotspot does not work. We need a work around..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My carrier has 2 data plans. 6gb for $30 gives you LTE and tether/hotspot. Or Unlimited LTE for $45 -but tether/hotspot is disabled/not allowed.
I'm on the $45 plan and built-in tether does not work. But the app "wifi-tether" gets around this and works Great!
The issue isn't user-agent. With built-in tether I can't even get a data signal. It will create the a dud Wi-Fi hotspot.
Let's hope IPTables works! I'm sure Bluetooth tether and USB tether may still work, but is much more annoying.

prettyha8 said:
My carrier has 2 data plans. 6gb for $30 gives you LTE and tether/hotspot. Or Unlimited LTE for $45 -but tether/hotspot is disabled/not allowed.
I'm on the $45 plan and built-in tether does not work. But the app "wifi-tether" gets around this and works Great!
The issue isn't user-agent. With built-in tether I can't even get a data signal. It will create the a dud Wi-Fi hotspot.
Let's hope IPTables works! I'm sure Bluetooth tether and USB tether may still work, but is much more annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which version of the wifi tether app did you use that works? It seems some versions are picky about some phones I just want to get everything I need for when my Nexus 5 arrives

orthonovum said:
which version of the wifi tether app did you use that works? It seems some versions are picky about some phones I just want to get everything I need for when my Nexus 5 arrives
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For my TW-based Samsung Galaxy S3, I used the file "wifi_tether_v3_4-experimental1.apk", then I changed the SSID and changed the WPA2-PSK phasephrase.
*** I think the trick was, if you did NOT change the default SSID or added a WPA2 password the App did not work. After you set a WPA2 password, you can then turn off encryption or change the SSID back to default.
But I don't think know if this will work for the Nexus 5. **Fingers-crossed!

bump

There is another thread with more discussion on this matter here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2512674

prettyha8 said:
The issue isn't user-agent. With built-in tether I can't even get a data signal. It will create the a dud Wi-Fi hotspot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that the case on a Nexus device or something else? In theory my plan doesn't allow tethering, but I've never had an issue with the built-in hotspot. I'm just trying to figure out how your carrier would even know you were using a hotspot versus having data requests come from the phone itself. The traffic should look the same, for the most part.

bobalias said:
Is that the case on a Nexus device or something else? In theory my plan doesn't allow tethering, but I've never had an issue with the built-in hotspot. I'm just trying to figure out how your carrier would even know you were using a hotspot versus having data requests come from the phone itself. The traffic should look the same, for the most part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe when you tether, your phone creates a secondary data connection pipe for tethering data. Apps like WiFi-Tether spoof this, and can even create an internal proxy server, such that all tethered data will look like on-device mobile browsing data.
My carrier let's me only create one data connection, thus tether is not allowed. However if I insert my SIM into a "MiFi device", then I can "share" the data connection, as only 1 data connection is being established.
I MIGHT BE WRONG, but this is what it looks like is happening in my findings. Hence the use of IPTABLES to re-route.
I'm not sure why AOSP-based custom Roms could never get WiFi tether working, but TouchWiz (TW) based roms could. I assume something in the kernel. However, I need this working badly.

Interesting, I'd never really given the process a detailed consideration but that sounds like a plausible explanation for both how they detect it, how they block it, and how software modifications let you get around it.

I am currently using wifi tether on evo lte on sprint, fine. Thinking of getting nexus 5. Will this app work on it? that link to the other thread was about tmobile and data plans and stock hotspot app. I am interested in wifi tether app with root. What are the settings to make this work on N5?
Thanks

Dungeon47 said:
There is another thread with more discussion on this matter here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2512674
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dig through this thread. Somewhere there's a post explaining what to do to stop your carrier from checking if you are tethering. It requires editing a database and changing the proxy to ipv4 instead of ipv6.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Q] How to Bypass T-Mobile tethering restrictions

I know there is at least 1 method for bypassing T-Mobile tethering restrictions for the Nexus5
For example: This thread ( http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2512674&page=8 )
However, are there any other simpler methods that don't require rooting your phone?
T-Mobile's unlimited data plan includes unlimited data for the Nexus5, but not for tethering. T-Mobile gives you 2.5GB tethering hotspot for free, so you can use your Nexus5 to tether. But it appears that not even apps like FoxFi help when you've reached your 2.5GB tethering limit.
I used my Nexus7 tethered to my Nexus5 yesterday, and when i went to a chrome webpage on the tablet, it prompted me to upgrade my tethering plan....
I was stunned.........
First) because I didn't know T-Mobile could track tethering on a Nexus5......... and I still dont exactly understand how they track it...
Second) because even if they could somehow track tethering, I assumed that since I was using another android device, they wouldn't even be able to detect the traffic difference between Nexus5 and Nexus7
Third) because FoxFi didn't work !
Are there any methods (similar to FoxFi) that work? or are T-Mobile tethering restrictions unavoidable unless rooted?

Based on my understanding, Google built something into the Nexus 5 that reports tethering back to the carrier. It's unfortunately but certainly understandable as I'm sure the carriers have been asking for it for a while. The reason this breaks FoxFi as well is that FoxFi seems to use the built-in tethering with a hack to mask traffic. Since the built-in tethering is reporting it as tethering to the carrier anyway, masking the traffic doesn't help.
The modification to settings.db appears to disable that reporting with a single value, a setting that is obviously not normally available to the user. Since apps like FoxFi have been able to use the built-in tethering to work around carrier restrictions in the past, I think you will need to see development on a new app (like the old Wireless Tether for Root Users that predates the built-in tethering) to get around the restrictions without modifying system files.
What bothers me more is that my plan includes tethering and I am still hitting the paywall on my Nexus 5.

Any updates to this?
I have the $20 unlimited and unthrottled 4G data add on, it comes with only 2.5GB of tethering, then I get the upsell message.

try this link
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2581035

Pretty sure that they check more ways than one. They did ask Google to put in a checker (found in the changelogs for official update) but also they check via the header of the packet of info that passes through their towers. Some have had success with just changing the user agent of their browser, but if you are completely stock then I think you have to edit the framework, the sqlite option, and the browser agent. Might be easier to use a custom rom that doesn't have the framework stuff in it. I don't use Tmo anymore, so can't test this stuff out. When I had my S4 on Tmo, I had to use a VPN, custom wifi tether app, and only then could I tether without being sent to the upsell page (my plan at the time did not even include tethering either).