Curious Question from a noob!

**Nablan** · 11-27-2012, 04:17 PM

Ok, here it is. I have only owned iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. I also own a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 wireless only and have gotten to use it root it and play with the functions and really like the way it is built. I only jailbroke the iPhone 4 for one reason and that was to have a mobile hotspot with MyFi. I have the unlimited data plan and wish to keep it as I am grandfathered in to this plan. It is upgrade time, and I am leaning towards the new Samsung Galaxy S3 instead of the iPhone 5 but I am still on the fence.....Main concern on the upgrade is...Does the S3 come with an app that will allow me to do what I am doing with the iPhone 4 presently, or am I going to have to wait until the iOS 6 is untethered and upgrade to an iPhone 5?

Any kind of help would be much appreciated!!! I don't mind rooting or jailbreaking, but I just need a solution to the problem.

Jim

**Progrmmr** · 11-27-2012, 04:34 PM

I always love it when someone is debating over what phone to buy-it means you care about what your tech future holds!
As to your question, I believe it can be done natively in the Android OS without installing any apps. This website has a good description:
Just go to the network settings, more settings, and tethering should be there. Beware, though, because often phone carriers will charge extra for tethering, even though you have an unlimited data plan.

**Shanicenicolle** · 11-27-2012, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by Nablan

Ok, here it is. I have only owned iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. I also own a Samsung Galaxy Tablet 10.1 wireless only and have gotten to use it root it and play with the functions and really like the way it is built. I only jailbroke the iPhone 4 for one reason and that was to have a mobile hotspot with MyFi. I have the unlimited data plan and wish to keep it as I am grandfathered in to this plan. It is upgrade time, and I am leaning towards the new Samsung Galaxy S3 instead of the iPhone 5 but I am still on the fence.....Main concern on the upgrade is...Does the S3 come with an app that will allow me to do what I am doing with the iPhone 4 presently, or am I going to have to wait until the iOS 6 is untethered and upgrade to an iPhone 5?

Any kind of help would be much appreciated!!! I don't mind rooting or jailbreaking, but I just need a solution to the problem.

Jim

You know you'll lose the unlimited data with your upgrade right? Unless you buy the phone outright :-(

Sent from my Red GS3

**texasotts** · 11-27-2012, 11:17 PM

I have done 6 upgrades on my account between all my kids and husband and never lost my unlimited that I'm grandfathered into? I just upgraded again last week to the galaxy 3s and still have it

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

**Nablan** · 11-28-2012, 04:34 AM

Originally Posted by texasotts

I have done 6 upgrades on my account between all my kids and husband and never lost my unlimited that I'm grandfathered into? I just upgraded again last week to the galaxy 3s and still have it

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

My concern is mainly the ability to tether after the upgrade, I was assured by an AT&T technician that I wouldn't lose my unlimited plan. Hope he was right.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

**blaze5** · 11-28-2012, 04:46 AM

Originally Posted by Shanicenicolle

You know you'll lose the unlimited data with your upgrade right? Unless you buy the phone outright :-(

Sent from my Red GS3

Isn't that only with verizon

Sent from my PC36100

**Shanicenicolle** · 11-28-2012, 05:16 AM

Originally Posted by blaze5

Isn't that only with verizon

Sent from my PC36100

I thought this was Verizon some reason lmao

Sent from my Red GS3

**dhughes** · 11-28-2012, 06:32 AM

I think the big thing depends on what rep you get and if they know what they are doing. My wife upgraded and the rep said you will not lose unlimited but she did and once its gone there is no way to get it back.

I upgraded the other day and was told the same thing but I still have my unlimited plan.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

**Targon** · 11-28-2012, 07:21 AM

I did my upgrade through the AT&T web page, no rep. Old Unlimited data plan replaced with unlimited data with LTE. I didn't have an iPhone, but it worked fine, and I just made sure that I checked all plan settings before confirming my order.

**piizzadude** · 11-28-2012, 07:26 AM

The bottom line for the OP is yes there are several ways to use tether with Android. Most of them depend on the Android version of 'jailbreaking' (rooting) but there is an option to do it without rooting

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis

**Nablan** · 11-28-2012, 04:25 PM

thank you all for the answers. I chose the Samsung Galaxy S3 phone, however when I try and use the "hotspot" I get an error "To enable mobile hotspot on this device, go to att.com/mywireless or dial 611. Now we all know what will happen, I'll lose my unlimited plan. Any work arounds now that I have the best phone on the planet?

Thanks in advance.

Jim

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S3 4G LTE

**piizzadude** · 11-28-2012, 04:58 PM

you have two routes to go here

try foxfi from the market. i am not very experienced with that one so i can be of no real help.
the other is root and install wifi tether. This is the root i would go but it is up to you

**Kelly Kearns** · 11-29-2012, 12:33 AM

PDA Net in the market says it works on any Droid and says it can hide it from your carrier. I haven't used it in a while, last time I got a new phone, at the time it wasn't working on that version.

**sropedia** · 11-29-2012, 01:13 AM

I believe you have to google foxfi and sideload the apk. When I tried searching on the market or said it had been removed. But once I sideloaded it it worked like a charm

Sent from my HTC One X

**wms3** · 11-29-2012, 09:58 AM

My wife and I are on AT&T and have the unlimited data plan. In August we upgraded from Blackberry Torches to Samsung Galaxy S3s. We did NOT lose our data plan. We have installed an app for wifi hotspot capability on our phones and this works great with our wifi only Samsung tablets. We do, however, use it sparingly so ATT won’t become suspicious.

**Aerynsage** · 11-29-2012, 03:54 PM

I had an iPhone 3GS and was thinking about ugrading to the 4 or even the 5. But after seeing the 5, it's not much bigger than the 3 or 4. Plus neither have expandable memory. I love that the S3 has that option, plus 16gigs on the phone for less money than the apple phones. I am loving my Galaxy. Though I wish it had a Siri kind of program. Also have an Android tablet and it's nice that I can go to my computer and add my apps to either device easily. I don't have to rely on iTunes for everything on my phone.

**piizzadude** · 11-29-2012, 04:07 PM

Google now voice search is sorta like siri, but I have been using utter and it is nice. You can find it in the play store

Sent from my X-Band Modem... TY Genesis