Tethering

[badcatz]

Straight talk gives me 5 for 45. Or 10 for 55. I need at least that. But, like I said, Verizon doesn't pick up so well here.

I use the 5 sometimes without tethering. Lol

Yeah you've got to go with who has the better coverage. Around here that's Verizon for better or worse.

 

[kate]

I believe Swappa is legit, and is often recommend on here, which means phones are clean, like not stolen, blacklisted, counterfeits, etc., unlike Fleabay.

Yep, Swappa has a reputation for having phones in good condition that are not stolen.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I see the att go phone option as a perfect solution, except I'm afraid I would blow through the 6 gigs if I tethered much.

That's why figuring out how to make it work with straight talk and 10 gigs is so alluring. Why does st have to have so many strings attached? The way I see it, you pay for x amount of data. The way you choose to use it is your business.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

Im tempted to pick up an lg g4 from swappa, and have it rooted, or root it, and tether it. Though I have read a few horror stories of service being suspended. They all seemed pretty old though.

I dunno. I'm likely over thinking all of it. I can use up 5 gigs now sometimes, but I don't always. Perhaps the rolling over would be my saving grace.

I'm afraid of poking around in a phone where I'm not sure of what I'm doing, and screwing it up.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

This sounds good.

If I were rooted. Time to try some stuff!

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I tried towelroot on the g2, but it isn't supported.

 

[riggerman1]

Try a factory unlocked phone. This my Moto G3 on Straight Talk's AT&T network. Native hotspot (from settings) working perfectly, tested with my tablet.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

Hmm. Might have to give that a go. Might just try unlocking this one and see what that does. I assumed it was not that simple.

 

[riggerman1]

It may not be. If it's a Straight Talk branded phone, they may have blocked tethering through the software. I know Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cricket all have it blocked unless you pay for tethering.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

It may not be. If it's a Straight Talk branded phone, they may have blocked tethering through the software. I know Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Cricket all have it blocked unless you pay for tethering.

I'm pretty sure that they have, and it requires rooting.


But it looks like you did it?

 

[riggerman1]

Yes I am rooted, but the tethering is turned on by default. This phone is bought from Motorola, not through Straight Talk. As I said, most carrier branded have modified the software to require network provisioning to enable tethering.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

Yes I am rooted, but the tethering is turned on by default. This phone is bought from Motorola, not through Straight Talk. As I said, most carrier branded have modified the software to require network provisioning to enable tethering.

Right, but I'm not *necessarily* going to buy a straight talk branded phone. I'm certainly open to buying an att or unlocked phone. However, my g2 has mobile hotspot enabled, but it still tells me I need to contact my provider when I try to use it. But the phone will do it if the carrier provides it.

Rooting must be the difference.


Edit. Ahh, you mean not tied to any carrier, because att basically does the same thing. I wonder now if unlocking will do the trick. Doesn't cost a great deal. It's worth a try.

 

[riggerman1]

Unlocking by itself won't do it. It is a software switch. Using an AT&T phone will most likely not help. Take a look at some of the newer unlocked phones, OnePlus 3, HTC 10(bought unlocked from HTC website), ZTE Axon 7, the new Moto phones, etc. All of those should have tethering turned on by default.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I just purchased a moto 4g+ unlocked to any carriers. Think it may work without rooting?

 

[riggerman1]

It should, as i said my G3 does.

 

[Garrybear]

First, never buy a phone from eBay.
Use www.swappa.com

You should be able to use FoxFi of the service does not have Hotspot on it.

What's the problem if I buy a phone from eBay?

 

[mikedt]

What's the problem if I buy a phone from eBay?

Counterfeits, blacklisted, duffs, etc. ...I've read quite a lot of posts over the years, things like "I bought this phone on Ebay, worked for a few weeks, and now it's showing EMERGENCY CALLS ONLY.", "I bought this Samsung S6 cheap, camera takes awful pictures, Kies doesn't recognize it, it shipped from China....."

One thing, Swappa does ESN/IMEI checks on every device, make sure they're clean, Ebay does not.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

First one I bought worked fine for 2 months. Then it began only working on a charger. It wasn't a battery problem. I tried multiple batteries.

I forget what happened to number two. Number three began not responding to touch in some areas.

On number one I carried around a portable battery booster for a vehicle for a month or so in a backpack to plug my phone to until I got another phone. Lol

Each time I chose a seller with very good, positive feedback. I'm not saying that it it is not possible to buy a great phone off eBay, but I am saying it is always a crapshoot. And it just isn't worth taking a chance with that much money.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

As to throttling, or service suspension, aren't there apps to disguise tether activity? I don't plan to use it much. I just need to upload a data log file to email and send now and then from my truck for my engine tuner, and download a calibration file from email sometimes. But I'll usually be downloading the file at night at home. It will be more for uploading the data logs.

These actions need to be done with Windows programs from my laptop.


I would love to tether my tablet for use with navigation and the larger screen, but now I'm thinking downloading offline maps may be the way to go.


Riggerman, have you ever been reprimanded for tethering?

 

[riggerman1]

Nope, not yet. Fingers crossed. But I use it rarely, never for large downloads.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I need to look up the size for the data log files that I upload

 

[mwemaxxowner]

It looks like the files I upload to Google drive and send in email are 10-100mb. Average mostly 20-50.

I don't know a great deal about whether this is a lot or a little. Might send a couple a week.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

Would this use a lot of data while tethering? To upload a file like that to drive and send via Gmail.

 

[kate]

The data used should be the files size plus a few extra megabytes.

So if you upload two 30MB files it will probably use around 64MB. That is .064GB.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

Ahh. Looks like that would burn through 5 gigs quickly. Or even the att 6 gigs.