Tethering an Android?

wsuffa

wsuffa

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Bill S.
Anyone successfully tethered an Android on either Verizon or Sprint? Is there anything special that needs to be done? I understand that VZ is charging extra for tethering, but I can't wade through their plan info to figure it out. What's the cost, and what plan works with this... VZ's site indicates that tethering is not available)? The ideal would be to turn an android phone into a hot spot (which I understand is coming in the next release).

Looking to consolidate my phone & data services a bit....
 
Like the YouTube says, PdaNet in the Marketplace. The application is free as long as you don't need HTTPS (SSL) support. No Verizon charges, presuming you're not being outrageous in its usage. In other words, I wouldn't use it for downloading DVDs or anything! :no:
 
gprellwitz said:
Like the YouTube says, PdaNet in the Marketplace. The application is free as long as you don't need HTTPS (SSL) support. No Verizon charges, presuming you're not being outrageous in its usage. In other words, I wouldn't use it for downloading DVDs or anything! :no:
Click to expand...

The YouTube video indicates it won't support XP. Strike 1. I also need HTTPS (SSL) support. Strike 2. And I need to be sure it can pass IPSEC VPN.

I can do all that now with the aircard - the goal is to replace the aircard....

The Incredible supposedly can handle tethering directly. Wonder if that's true....
 
wsuffa said:
The YouTube video indicates it won't support XP. Strike 1. I also need HTTPS (SSL) support. Strike 2. And I need to be sure it can pass IPSEC VPN.

I can do all that now with the aircard - the goal is to replace the aircard....

The Incredible supposedly can handle tethering directly. Wonder if that's true....
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I'm running XP Pro on the laptop, and it tethers fine. The full edition, which supports SSL, is $18.95.

Their help says "If you have the Cisco VPN which is not supported by Android,just open the property settings of the VPN connection and enable IPSec tunneling over UDP and then it will connect over PdaNet."

There's an alternative to PdaNet called EasyTether for about $10.05. I haven't used it. Nor have I attempted to do a VPN over PdaNet.
 
So it looks like I can get it to work.

Now to try and figure out VZ's rate plans without having all the money sucked out of my pocket.
 
Bill,

You might want to spend some time at http://www.droidforums.net/ (a Verizon forum) some Verizon people post there and the details of tethering have been discussed.

It also discusses the "unlimited" plan. Best I can make of it:

  • Verizon says you can't tether but doesn't do anything to prevent it with 3rd party software.
  • The data plane for the air card is different than the Droid although I haven't investigated the details.
  • If you don't tether the data plan is truly unlimited but they can tell if the device is tethered and if you go over 30GB you can be discovered and charged by usage (I hear it's a lot)
Joe
 
I looked into tethering through VZ. It's adds $39 monthly to your cell plan for the 250 mb(not enough) or adds $60 and is limited to 5 gigs a month. It's also slower than you would think, slower than an aircard. IMHO it's a better deal just to get an aircard and another data account. It's about the same bucks either way.
 
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I am riding in a carpool right now. Just downloaded PDAnet on my Droid and connected it to my laptop via Bluetooth; if you do the BT connection, you need no PDAnet software on your laptop. No cable from my phone to the laptop, and I'm very impressed with the connection speed and response. For web browsing, it's entirely fine. Online speed test shows 537 kbps down. USB is supposed to be significantly faster, will try that later.
 
Tried VPN, too; worked! Connected to the office using the free version of PDAnet downloaded from the Market to my Droid, without installing any additional software or making any networking changes on my laptop.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Tried VPN, too; worked! Connected to the office using the free version of PDAnet downloaded from the Market to my Droid, without installing any additional software or making any networking changes on my laptop.
Click to expand...

What flavor of VPN? IPSec?

All this sounds promising. I hate spending more.... I've already got a device on VZ (cellphone), TMo (Bberry), and Sprint (aircard) that I pay for, and a work BB on ATT (work paid). The ultimate goal would be to consolidate the VZ phone and the Sprint aircard. I'd keep TMo because of int'l travel (no dual-mode CDMA/GSM Androids yet).
 
wsuffa said:
What flavor of VPN? IPSec?
Click to expand...


Juniper Network Connect, with transport mode and security both set to SSL; I sign in using a signed digital certificate.

Whether that uses IPSec under the covers is unknown to me; I'm not a VPN or networking guru.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Juniper Network Connect, with transport mode and security both set to SSL; I sign in using a signed digital certificate.

Whether that uses IPSec under the covers is unknown to me; I'm not a VPN or networking guru.
Click to expand...

SSL <> IPSec. I suppose you can run IPSec over SSL, but that would have a lot of overhead and be pretty slow. We run Cisco IPSec on the corporate network, and I run IPSec back to my own network. SSL is usually used by "secure" web pages and many other applications.

I was kinda looking at Sprint's 4G product, but their contract terms seem even more oppressive than VZ. Sprint won't even sell tethering (VZ will) - and as best I can tell outright requires a 2 year contract. VZ will do one year.

There are reports that Sprint has remotely disabled all tethering capabilities on their phones....

4G would be nice, but those two are deal busters for me - looks like Sprint will likely completly lose my business.
 
Not looking so hot on Sprint's upcoming 4G offering:

http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100519/sprint-4g-phone-hits-new-speeds-but-battery-lags/

Goatberg said:
My verdict: The HTC EVO 4G, when used on Sprint’s 4G network, offers the highest consistent downstream data speeds I have ever seen on a cellular network. It also has a number of other strong features: a front-facing camera for video chatting, and the ability to serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot (for an extra fee of $30 a month) that can simultaneously connect up to eight laptops or other devices to the Internet.

However, the data speeds I got in my tests weren’t spectacular, or anywhere close to the typical maximum Sprint claims, even in Baltimore, where the company’s 4G network is mature. And, when using 4G, the EVO’s battery runs down alarmingly fast. In my tests, it didn’t last through a full day with 4G turned on. The carrier, in fact, is thinking of advising users to turn off the 4G network access when they don’t think they need it, to save battery life. This undercuts the whole idea of faster cellular speeds.
Click to expand...
 
wsuffa said:
TMo because of int'l travel (no dual-mode CDMA/GSM Androids yet).
Click to expand...

I know. Rats. That's why I keep my Motorola world phone charged. I can get on VZ's web site and switch between my Droid and the world phone when I'm going to a GSM country. Droid worked fine in Taiwan a couple weeks ago. Taipei and other areas are CDMA. Didn't make any calls, however. $1.99 a minute says it better be an emergency. Could be worse. Egypt was about $5/minute last year. The world phone stayed turned off and in my pocket.

Now, the data stuff (3G) did not work in Taiwan. But I suppose I could have used the WiFi in the hotel room. But, I had my laptop, so why bother?
 
rpadula said:
Not looking so hot on Sprint's upcoming 4G offering:

http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100519/sprint-4g-phone-hits-new-speeds-but-battery-lags/
Click to expand...

Saw that in the WSJ yesterday. Don't know where he gets the "$30/month" stuff - Sprint's been saying "no tethering, buy an aircard or a MyFi box".... at $60/month extra. I've got a Sprint air card - it's something I want to replace. 4G coming in DC, don't know about LA. On 3G, I was seeing latency of 1.3 seconds on Sprint's 3G at IAD the other day with less than 20 kB/s uplink, and 500 mS at LAX. That's using Sprint's own speed test.

Completely unacceptable. DOn't know if VZ would be better, but I would think it would be.
 
wsuffa said:
Don't know where he gets the "$30/month" stuff - Sprint's been saying "no tethering, buy an aircard or a MyFi box".
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I don't know, maybe Sprint's website for the EVO?
http://now.sprint.com/evo/

Or engadget
Hotspot seriously couldn't be easier to use: you activate it either through a dedicated Launcher icon or the EVO's settings menu (or a home screen widget, if you're into that sort of thing), you set your SSID name, your encryption type, and your password -- and that's it. Boom, you're surrounded in a cloud of life-giving WiFi. We connected the EVO to a couple of laptops we have lying around, and it worked great over both 3G and 4G. In fact, it worked so well that we'd argue it obsoletes dedicated mobile hotspot devices like the Overdrive and MiFi, because we were getting speeds as high as 7.5Mbps down and nearly 3Mbps up on WiMAX (granted, roughly 3.5Mbps down was more of the norm, but we saw some amazing peaks).
Click to expand...

I'm probably dumping my IPhone for an EVO, just for tethering my IPad and laptop.
 
OK, simple question from a simple person -- what is 'tethering?'

I'm not really hip to any technology that has emerged in the last 9.5 yrs since my oldest child was born and I dropped out of the workforce.
 
flyersfan31 said:
OK, simple question from a simple person -- what is 'tethering?'

I'm not really hip to any technology that has emerged in the last 9.5 yrs since my oldest child was born and I dropped out of the workforce.
Click to expand...

Tethering is the ability to attach another device to your phone, and send and receive data through the phone network from that other device.

For example -- if you had a phone that could surf the web, and you tethered it to your laptop, then your laptop could now surf the web using your phone's data connection.

Some types of tethering requires a wire between the phone and the laptop, some types don't (by using a Bluetooth or WiFi connection).

Cell providers in the US are reluctant to provide tethering, or at least to provide it for free. Why? Because when people are given this capability, they tend to send and receive a lot more data, and many cell networks are already strained by the data sent and received by phones.

Chris
 
colohan said:
Cell providers in the US are reluctant to provide tethering, or at least to provide it for free. Why? Because when people are given this capability, they tend to send and receive a lot more data, and many cell networks are already strained by the data sent and received by phones.

Chris
Click to expand...
Ah, they're reluctant to provide it because they can charge, and charge more for it.

Search some of the mobile forums... Sprint personnel are on record as saying that they urge people to use aircards instead of tethering. Unfortunately, my work laptop is locked down & I can't install the aircard software, but I can tether (and I can use dialup, an external modem, or wifi). We run a VPN for work.
 
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