Nexus One: Impressed @ WiFi Hotspot

[GTaudiophile]

So here I am visiting my GF's mother in California (with my GF of course). I brought my laptop but the condo has no WiFi. What to do?

I found myself browsing through the settings on my GF's Nexus One and was pleasantly surprised to find the WiFi HotSpot feature. I turned it on, changed the SSID and added a password...seconds later I am surfing the web at 3G speeds...and it's snappier than I thought it would be.

Color me impressed. I just didn't know the N1 had this feature.

 

[gsaldivar]

Choice is a helluva drug.

 

[zoiks]

I did the same thing at my hotel in SD since they were charge atrocious internet fees. N1 rocks.

 

[ponyo]

If you're in area with HSPA+, it's even faster than some home wired internet. It's hard for me sometimes to tell the difference between wifi and mobile internet because of the low latency of HSPA.

My daughter watches Netflix on the iPad while in the car while comnected to my Vibrant's MobileAP and it's great. I used it to connect my netbook and the iPad at the same time and it still flies. Days of paying for hotel internet is over.

 

[CurseTheSky]

What's the deal with the $20 fee Verizon wants to charge for the hotspot feature? I keep reading people using their phone as a 3G hotspot for their laptop, with no mention of the added $20 hotspot feature added to their contract. I'd love to use this functionality, but don't want to run into any legal problems or hidden fees.

 

[GTaudiophile]

No extra fee on TMO...you just turn it on in the phone and away you go.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Do all phones with Android 2.2 have this feature?

 

[boomhower]

Do all phones with Android 2.2 have this feature?

Do they have it and does it work with your carrier are two different questions entirely.

 

[vshah]

just make sure to plug it in while tethering

 

[GTaudiophile]

Do they have it and does it work with your carrier are two different questions entirely.

How does one best determine this before buying a smartphone?

 

[Pliablemoose]

Most don't have it as the carriers remove it.

However, most Android phones can be rooted and that allows you to install WiFi Tether http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/downloads/list

If you're considering upgrading, browse XDA developers to see what's been done to a particular model.

Or ask here, we have a pretty active community going

 

[Demo24]

I used PDAnet a few times and it was reasonably quick on verizon as well. Tended to go faster than the hotel internets, although it slowed down when trying to open multiple tabs. That app does not require root.

Only thing I wonder is can the carriers tell if your using a non standard program?

 

[ew915]

I used PDAnet a few times and it was reasonably quick on verizon as well. Tended to go faster than the hotel internets, although it slowed down when trying to open multiple tabs. That app does not require root.

Only thing I wonder is can the carriers tell if your using a non standard program?

technically they can tell whether you are tethering or not by looking at the id of the browser as well as the OS. But in the US carriers don't have the privilege to monitor their traffic at the packet level as it is against the privacy rights, i guess the few rights people have left in this country, so rest assured and tether away.

 

[ponyo]

How does one best determine this before buying a smartphone?

If you're on T-mobile, there's only 4 Android phones worth buying. N1, Vibrant, G2, and MT4G.

N1 and Vibrant can be rooted so you can use the native WiFi Hotspot for free. G2 and MT4G users have to pay extra $15/ a month if they use the included WiFi Hotspot.

Open source Android-WiFi-Tether and Barnacle apps are hit and miss. Android-WiFi-Tether is still in beta and will hard crash on lot of phones. Barnacle requires MTU changes on client devices so it's a pain in the butt and lot of devices don't support MTU changes. Android-WiFi-Tether and Barnacle only creates ad-hoc connection instead of infrastructure AP on most phones so you're limited in type of devices you can connect. So you can't connect things like PSP, DS, other android phones, and corporate laptops. Unlike WiFi Hotspot which uses infrastructure mode so you can connect anything. Most people don't need infrastructure so android-wifi-tether and Barnacle apps will work just fine. That is if the apps can run on your phone without crashing.

 

[GTaudiophile]

My GF did nothing to her N1 to get the functionality.

It came in an update and just works. No rooting. No HotSpot. No $15/month.

BTW, I used the functionality for at least 4 hours over the weekend with zero problems.

 

[Pliablemoose]

My GF did nothing to her N1 to get the functionality.

It came in an update and just works. No rooting. No HotSpot. No $15/month.

BTW, I used the functionality for at least 4 hours over the weekend with zero problems.

The N1 runs stock Android (Froyo) with no modifications, it's the only Android phone sold like that (or was).

 

[zerocool84]

The N1 runs stock Android (Froyo) with no modifications, it's the only Android phone sold like that (or was).

and it's still the fastest Android phone even though it uses the oldest technology of all the 1GHz Android phones

 

[GTaudiophile]

The N1 runs stock Android (Froyo) with no modifications, it's the only Android phone sold like that (or was).

Well, let's hope the N2 is given similar treatment.

 

[ponyo]

and it's still the fastest Android phone even though it uses the oldest technology of all the 1GHz Android phones

No it's not the fastest.

 

[ponyo]

Well, let's hope the N2 is given similar treatment.

I doubt Google will try to sell the phone on its own again. US carriers will lock down and alter any phone they get their hands on.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I doubt Google will try to sell the phone on its own again. US carriers will lock down and alter any phone they get their hands on.

Is there any way to do the equivalent of a format C: and fresh install of the complete, unadulterated version of Android?

I assume so.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Well, let's hope the N2 is given similar treatment.

I can pretty well promise you two things:

1.) There won't ever be another Nexus phone
2.) The only unadulterated Android phones you'll see from here on out will be a developer's phone.

Beware, you're slowly getting sucked into the mindset of the others here (including me) looking for the perfect ROM.

If you value your marriage, never go to XDA developer's forum, you'll be putting custom ROMs on your toaster on weekends

 

[vshah]

I can pretty well promise you two things:

1.) There won't ever be another Nexus phone
2.) The only unadulterated Android phones you'll see from here on out will be a developer's phone.

Beware, you're slowly getting sucked into the mindset of the others here (including me) looking for the perfect ROM.

If you value your marriage, never go to XDA developer's forum, you'll be putting custom ROMs on your toaster on weekends

i've actually got my G1 velcroed to my fridge.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I am totally depressed that it won't be easy to find this feature (for free) on another phone.

 

[Pliablemoose]

You cam make one, you just have to will up your sleves and flash a different ROM