Reverse tethering??

meyerweb#CB

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Is there a way to 'reverse tether' an Android phone? I've got my laptop plugged into a wired connection, but am getting really poor 3G reception. Not a huge deal, since I've got my PC, but I'm wondering if there's a way, through WiFi, BT or USB, to have the phone use the PC's data connection?
 

meyerweb#CB

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Thanks. My company laptop isn't Win 7 (neither is my personal laptop--yet), so I'll try the Internet Connection Sharing thing next time I'm in the same location.
 

Patnet

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I need something similar. I can't believe there's not a way to do it using native Android. I want to tether my CDMA (Sprint) EVO to a GSM Windows Mobile phone so I can use the EVO's Internet functions outside of the US. My Windows mobile device has PAN, DUN, Bluetooth but no Wi-Fi. I know that I could buy a personal wi-fi hot spot and use the EVO's Wi-Fi to connect to the hot spot via Wi-fi and then connect the personal hot spot to the Windows phone via PAN. But I don't want to spend the money, or carry yet another box. I plan to carry a battery extender too--too many devices! Any ideas?
 

wmtoandroid

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Reverse tethering is one thing I miss about my Windows Mobile phone. I would just plug it into my laptop and have the internet on my phone.
 

Patnet

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Reverse tethering is one thing I miss about my Windows Mobile phone. I would just plug it into my laptop and have the internet on my phone.

You can use a free program called Connectify - Turn your Windows 7 laptop into a Wi-Fi Hotspot that allows you to turn your laptop into a WiFi hotspot.

Bigslam123 talks about this Windows 7 solution for you wmtoandroid. Would that not help you? I miss my Nokia 770 Internet Tablet that would make a connection through any Bluetooth phone to the Internet. It had a 4.3-inch screen like the EVO and I used it for years, but the screen eventually died. It never had the power or apps that the EVO has. Nokia was on the ball with it well before the iPhone. It had quite a cult folowing.
 

wmtoandroid

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Bigslam123 talks about this Windows 7 solution for you wmtoandroid. Would that not help you?

I've actually tried a few of these "virtual hotspot" programs and for whatever reason, they don't work well with my phone (i.e. unreliable connection, difficulties connecting, etc.).

Plugging in the phone and having it share connections is the best way IMO and it saves on battery life.
 

Patnet

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You might as well bite the bullet and get a router and give yourself WiFi. You can go to Walmart and get one for 30 bucks or so.

Thanks, but the idea is to be mobile. Do they have 3G wi-fi routers for $30? I doubt it? The cheapest I've seen is about $120 for a 3G wi-fi router with battery by Cradlepoint. You hook it up to a GSM 3G dongle or phone with DUN or PAN and create a moving wi-fi network. The EVO connects to the w-fi, the router connects to the 3G. It's a bit overkill though, if you could go straight from the EVO to the GSM phone via Bluetooth it would be simpler and cheaper. Plus less boxes. Please let me know if you found a 3G wi-fi that cheap.
 

sonar_chris

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Thanks, but the idea is to be mobile. Do they have 3G wi-fi routers for $30? I doubt it? The cheapest I've seen is about $120 for a 3G wi-fi router with battery by Cradlepoint. You hook it up to a GSM 3G dongle or phone with DUN or PAN and create a moving wi-fi network. The EVO connects to the w-fi, the router connects to the 3G. It's a bit overkill though, if you could go straight from the EVO to the GSM phone via Bluetooth it would be simpler and cheaper. Plus less boxes. Please let me know if you found a 3G wi-fi that cheap.

Maybe I'm missing something here but you were asking to reverse tether your phone to your lap top so you can have data conductivity to your phone right? Tethering through your lap top wouldn't give you voice conductivity at all unless you have Tmoible and UMA. If you have wifi at your house, your phone would have the same data conductivity as reverse tethering it to your lap top and you would use your lap top and phone in any room you wanted without being wired to your modem. It almost seems that you want better voice service in your house which neither wifi or a reverse teather will help you.
 

Patnet

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you were asking to reverse tether your phone to your lap top so you can have data conductivity to your phone right?

Sorry if I'm not being clear. Laptop is a red herring. I want to use my Sprint EVO in a country where there is no CDMA 3G only GSM 3G or W-Fi. I don't want to have to use hot spots like Starbucks. I'd like to use 3G for mobility reasons. In the past I have connected a Nokia Internet Tablet (kind of a mini- iPad) to a Bluetooth phone and dialed into GSM 3G via the phone. I then used the browser on the Internet tablet to surf the web through the phone's connection. I'd like to do that again with the EVO. Voice can be via VOIP.
 

meyerweb#CB

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I must be missing something in what you want.

It sounds like what you did in the past was connect a tablet to a GSM phone and use the GSM connection. Obviously that won't work with the Evo, since it has no GSM radio.

Do you have another device with GSM that you want to connect the Evo to?
 

Patnet

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I must be missing something in what you want.

It sounds like what you did in the past was connect a tablet to a GSM phone and use the GSM connection. Obviously that won't work with the Evo, since it has no GSM radio.

The EVO or tablet doesn't need a GSM radio, just Bluetooth. I connected the tablet to the phone using Bluetooth and then connected the phone to the GSM 3G network. I would like to do the same with the EVO. I know I can do the job with Wi-Fi--connect the EVO to a personal hot spot like a Cradlepoint and then persoanal hot spot to the 3G phone via PAN or DUN. Does that make sense? All I want is Android to have Bluetooth data connectivity and to be able to switch the CDMA radio off. The phone does the connecting to the GSM 3G.
 

tw03d

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I have wicked fast internet at work but nil for 3G signal. My desktop doesn't have wifi so that's a nogo. Some sort of reverse tethering would be great. Maybe if I get better at developing we can make this happen. Not looking to make calls but download apps faster, transfer data, etc.
 
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Patnet

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I have wicked fast internet at work but nil for 3G signal. My desktop doesn't have wifi so that's a nogo. Some sort of reverse tethering would be great. Maybe if I get better at developing we can make this happen. Not looking to make calls but download apps faster, transfer data, etc.

Thanks, your help is appreciated. We have the hardware: EVO 4.3-inch screen with Bluetooth and USB. It must be simply a matter of telling the EVO to look for a data connection through Bluetooth, or USB, rather than the CDMA radio, or the W-Fi radio. I agree, Sprint voice is immaterial. App Sipdroid handles that well via VOIP.
 

meyerweb#CB

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The EVO or tablet doesn't need a GSM radio, just Bluetooth. I connected the tablet to the phone using Bluetooth and then connected the phone to the GSM 3G network. I would like to do the same with the EVO. I know I can do the job with Wi-Fi--connect the EVO to a personal hot spot like a Cradlepoint and then persoanal hot spot to the 3G phone via PAN or DUN. Does that make sense? All I want is Android to have Bluetooth data connectivity and to be able to switch the CDMA radio off. The phone does the connecting to the GSM 3G.

OK, maybe I've got it: Are you trying to connect the Evo to a 2nd cellular phone via BT? Not sure I know how to do that.