Alternative to Wired Tethering - (PDANEt w/ FOXFI KEY wireless)

[Hannah.Taylor]

I've long used PDAnet to physically tether my phone to my laptop or desktop since I dismissed Comcast home internet without a second thought back in February, and it is financially feasible for me to do so since I am on unlimited data with Verizon

But PDAnet w/ FoxFi Key allows you to setup your phone as a mobile hotspot and connect your laptop, tablet or ipad or iphone. Everything installs on the phone side, nothing required on the laptop or desktop, just go to your wireless connection and find the network you installed, enter the password and connect.

Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foxfi.key&hl=en

Iphone (requires Jailbreak and install pdanet + FoxFi Key via Cydia)
http://www.junefabrics.com/iphone/index.php

It was very easy to setup and I was even offered the ability to setup WPA2 encryption and set a password. Tried it out for the first time last week when I went chasing with Adam Adkins up in NE Colorado. The nice part about it is, you don't have to mess with wires or cables and worry about getting disconnected at a crucial time because you kicked the usb plug out with your hand or bumped it on something. It worked flawlessly in areas I had a signal, but with 4G there's not always a signal, so that was the only drawback. I did notice it continued to work quite well in 3G areas too. I've been using it here at the apartment, and it works quite well, especially considering when I was physically tethered to my desktop or laptop and downloading stuff, my computer couldn't keep my phone charged fast enough and I'd run out of battery power, but since I've been wirelessly tethering, I've not had any more issues.

My phone is 4G (Droid Razr), so it doesn't have a port for an antenna, but I would be interested to hear about signal/performance reports from those who still have 3G phones with antenna ports if you were able to plug your phone into a signal boost amp. Were you able to get your signal boosted? Were you able to draw a signal after plugging in, when you previously had no signal? (i.e. areas like Western OK, west of Woodward and going up towards Dodge City via that route).

 

[Joshua Nall]

I had an old Razr flip phone up until the first of the year and I use to tether with it. It did have a port and I bought an amp from maximum signal. It worked well. When I turned the amp on it would go from one bar on the screen and no data flow to a full set and function properly.

 

[Aaron Kafton]

Should also note that installing just about any custom ROM onto your android phone will remove your cell providers modifications to the original wifi hotspot built into the android platform. I've done that with my 4G galaxy nexus

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

I had an old Razr flip phone up until the first of the year and I use to tether with it. It did have a port and I bought an amp from maximum signal. It worked well. When I turned the amp on it would go from one bar on the screen and no data flow to a full set and function properly.

but was it a wired tether? or was it a wireless tether?

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

It doesn't matter which method you use in regards to the terms of service, tethering is tethering. Verizon and AT&T ( I can't speak for Sprint ) both offer tethering but make you change your data plan from unlimited to a capped plan to utilize it. Newer wireless tethers go to greater lengths to disguise the data as mobile data but large fluctuations in bandwidth usage is often the number one indicator of tethering.

EDIT: Verizon appears to have settled with the FCC and relented on tethering charges and third party applications on its newer plans (capped data). This however does not hold true for the unlimited data plans and the $20 fee still applies.

Source

AT&T has made no changes to their policy however.

I was asking him for a different reason. The old RAZR's didn't have wireless ability, so he had to have been wire tethered.

I've tethered for 2 years with Verizon and consistently downloaded/uploaded 100GB a month, (currently at 150GB this month) and never once had a notice, a warning, a call or anything. But it might have something to do with the fact that my phone is rooted, so perhaps they can't tell or see it. Don't know and don't care. I pay $130 a month for unlimited everything, I have the right to use my phone and service as I damn well please.


and I'd rather my discussion not turn into a discussion about being able to tether or not being able to tether, and what the companies allow or disallow. I appreciate you brought it up to let people know so they can make a decision for themselves, as it was something I didn't know about. But if you want to start a discussion on tethering being ethical or allowed or not, go start a new discussion somewhere else. Don't clutter my thread and make this an argument.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Just a housekeeping note here. If you've got a problem with a post, or see a post or thread that needs to be shuffled around or managed, please PM one of the staff or use the Report button and we'll take care of it behind the scenes. There's no need to criticize each other over it, especially since the moderators may not even catch the issue that needs attention. From the rules: "2. Be excellent to each other." No reason not to be friendly and professional when discussing technical issues in the Equipment forum.

 

[Brandon Jenkins]

I was asking him for a different reason. The old RAZR's didn't have wireless ability, so he had to have been wire tethered.

I've tethered for 2 years with Verizon and consistently downloaded/uploaded 100GB a month, (currently at 150GB this month) and never once had a notice, a warning, a call or anything. But it might have something to do with the fact that my phone is rooted, so perhaps they can't tell or see it. Don't know and don't care. I pay $130 a month for unlimited everything, I have the right to use my phone and service as I damn well please.


and I'd rather my discussion not turn into a discussion about being able to tether or not being able to tether, and what the companies allow or disallow. I appreciate you brought it up to let people know so they can make a decision for themselves, as it was something I didn't know about. But if you want to start a discussion on tethering being ethical or allowed or not, go start a new discussion somewhere else. Don't clutter my thread and make this an argument.

I misread your quote and prior post and didn't see the tagged name, my mistake. However, I do feel it is a necessary piece of information for people to know the caveats of tethering because I've seen the results first hand. I had no intention of making this an argument, nor did I feel like it was an argument. Sorry if you felt that way.

*Removed my prior posts due to misunderstanding

 

[Matt Tottle]

Frankly I agree. When you recommend a program/app re:tethering, it is a very important to make it clear that it may be a violation of your carrier's TOS, and that unless the user is careful they risk overage charges and/or termination of their service. You seem to be on a grandfathered plan, because Verizon does not offer unlimited data to new customers - and has not for several years. However even the grandfathered 'unlimited' plan expressly prohibits tethering in the TOS.

Rooting does make the data show on their network as 'on-phone' use. However the sheer amount of data that you are using is 100% impossible to consume without tethering. They would have a hard time proving you tethered if you use 10-20, hell even 40GB, given you can stream music and movies.. But what you are using screams tethering.

While I find it extremely odd that Verizon's network guys have not flagged your account for your highly irregular data consumption, if you want to keep it up, who are we to stop you? However at the rate you are using data, do not be surprised if sometime down the road when you do get flagged you receive a termination notice and a huge bill for what they would absolutely classify as abuse of the network (which they ARE legally allowed to do per the contract you signed). I have seen it happen. They may not have gotten you last week, they may not get you tomorrow, but they will get you eventually.

And for the record I am not claiming innocence or holier-than-thou either. I have a rooted phone and I tether despite it being prohibited. If I get caught, I will face the music. But I will not tell others how to tether without informing them of the possible consequences.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

I misread your quote and prior post and didn't see the tagged name, my mistake. However, I do feel it is a necessary piece of information for people to know the caveats of tethering because I've seen the results first hand. I had no intention of making this an argument, nor did I feel like it was an argument. Sorry if you felt that way.

*Removed my prior posts due to misunderstanding

No problem Brandon. I wasn't saying that to be rude and I appreciate you bringing that up because I didn't know about the tethering policies and I do agree it is a necessary piece of information.

Frankly I agree. When you recommend a program/app re:tethering, it is a very important to make it clear that it may be a violation of your carrier's TOS, and that unless the user is careful they risk overage charges and/or termination of their service. You seem to be on a grandfathered plan, because Verizon does not offer unlimited data to new customers - and has not for several years. However even the grandfathered 'unlimited' plan expressly prohibits tethering in the TOS.

Rooting does make the data show on their network as 'on-phone' use. However the sheer amount of data that you are using is 100% impossible to consume without tethering. They would have a hard time proving you tethered if you use 10-20, hell even 40GB, given you can stream music and movies.. But what you are using screams tethering.

While I find it extremely odd that Verizon's network guys have not flagged your account for your highly irregular data consumption, if you want to keep it up, who are we to stop you? However at the rate you are using data, do not be surprised if sometime down the road when you do get flagged you receive a termination notice and a bill for what they would absolutely classify as abuse of the network. I have seen it happen. They may not have gotten you last week, they may not get you tomorrow, but they will get you eventually.

And for the record I am not claiming innocence or holier-than-thou either. I have a rooted phone and I tether despite it being prohibited. If I get caught, I will face the music. But I will not tell others how to tether without informing them of the possible consequences.

'

Understood, and I didn't realize that carriers had anti-tethering policies when I made the thread.

I was asking him for a different reason. The old RAZR's didn't have wireless ability, so he had to have been wire tethered.

I've tethered for 2 years with Verizon and consistently downloaded/uploaded 100GB a month, (currently at 150GB this month) and never once had a notice, a warning, a call or anything. But it might have something to do with the fact that my phone is rooted, so perhaps they can't tell or see it. Don't know and don't care. I pay $130 a month for unlimited everything, I have the right to use my phone and service as I damn well please.


and I'd rather my discussion not turn into a discussion about being able to tether or not being able to tether, and what the companies allow or disallow. I appreciate you brought it up to let people know so they can make a decision for themselves, as it was something I didn't know about. But if you want to start a discussion on tethering being ethical or allowed or not, go start a new discussion somewhere else. Don't clutter my thread and make this an argument.

 

[wpattie]

I have a Samsung S3 and I just set it to WIFI hotspot and then I can connect any device that requires wifi through it. The only thing that sucks is that Bell Mobility only give me a 1GB for tathered use. But I donno how much they enforce this because I am more then certain that I have used more then that will tathered every now and again.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Since Sprint just lost their home-roaming agreement with Nextech to cover Western KS, I am in the process of switching to Nextech.. They give you unlimited on-phone plus 2GB of tethering each month, and according to the guy at the store, they don't cut you off after you hit 2GB, they simply throttle you back to 1xRTT speed (150kbps). So they don't charge you an overage either, they just slow you down.. I suspect yours works the same way.. And when you consider how it's used, even 1xRTT is fine for chasing, because most of our outbound video streams max out at 100-150k, and radar data packets aren't that big anyway so there wouldn't be a huge jump in the time it takes to update.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

http://www.cnet.com/news/verizon-to-pay-1-25m-fcc-fine-forced-to-allow-tethering-apps/

Seems Verizon can not block tethering access as it violates an Open Access agreement in regards to their 4g/LTE spectrum. And has not been able to since a year before the thread was even made...which means a lot of information posted above is absolutely inaccurate.

Furthermore, the net neutrality laws by the FCC will ensure that the mobile providers cant block tethering or charge for it.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/05/technology/fcc-net-neutrality-cases/

I still have my Verizon unlimited text/talk/data plan. (Since January 2011). Still downloading 100-150GB per month. Still tethering with FoxFi and going strong.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

oddly enough, if I attempt to use my phones built in hotspot, it directs me to go to Verizons website and add it to my plan.

however I noticed in the first article it does say if you download a third party app you can avoid the fee. (foxfi is my 3rd party app).

which explains why Verizon has never sent me a nasty gram threatening to suspend my service or shutting it off all together.

I bet the bean counters at Verizon hate me and my account. LOL!

some articles I have read show that 22% of Verizons customers are still on grandfathered unlimited everything accounts and thar Verizon is trying everything they can to get users off of them either by offering them tempting upgrades for nicer phones or putting them on cheaper lower priced plans. They have certainly been trying with me. Ive got numerous upgrade texts, emails and Verizon reps calling to ask if I am interested in a new phone and plan. I just tell em nope, I am happy running up the gigabytes of my downloads on them.

They recently closed a loophole where unlimited users add a line, get the phone and then transfer the device upgrade to the main unlimited account and put the old phone on the new line then cancel the 2nd line.

now the only way to stay on unlimited everything is to purchase a new or used non-contracted phone (I typically buy used and non-contracted on craigslist) or paying full price for a new phone.

 

[Ben Holcomb]

If you're downloading 100-150GB a month, why not just purchase home internet service over a wire? Tethering seems like a pain with high latency.

 

[Hannah.Taylor]

If you're downloading 100-150GB a month, why not just purchase home internet service over a wire? Tethering seems like a pain with high latency.

because I pay $140 a month for unlimited text/talk/data. I don't want ANOTHER internet bill. And I'm not home all the time. Usually I'm either working or up hiking in the mountains or something outdoors, so it's not a justifiable expense for me.