[INFO] Xyboard Bluetooth Tethering

[Deron Baker]

In the Verizon store I Bluetooth tethered my Razr to a Droid Xyboard tablet (and yes I turned off the Xyboard's 4g connection). And, just like the iPad2, I could only get 3g (on my phone) to work smoothly with the Xyboard. Using 4g connection on my Razr was intermittent for the Xyboard, and streaming videos on YouTube was not working on the Xyboard while using 3g or 4g from the Razr. The Verizon Rep thinks that Bluetooth tethering allows for basic web browsing and email but Verizon may put some sort of data streaming cap with Bluetooth tethering to prevent exploiting the feature too much.

However, if you have a smartphone with unlimited data, this may be something to consider since Bluetooth tethering is allowed in non-rooted phones and Verizon doesn't charge extra fees to do this ... albeit with the aforementioned data streaming cap.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

[richard_rsp]

Im not an expert, but I believe that the speed is being limited by the type of bluetooth. The Xyboard has v2.1+EDR which means that the transfer rate has a maximum of ~ 3.0 Mbit/sec.. Seeing how most 4G connections are faster than that (I see around 8 Mbit/sec usually), I would think that the bluetooth is creating a bottleneck for data. 3G works fine because it typically runs at ~1.5 Mbit/sec (or slower).

This is nothing that Verizon has done intentially, but the choice of bluetooth module used by the manufacturer. Had they used a v3.0 +HS bluetooth module, it would max out at around 24 Mbit/sec speeds - something more appropriate for 4G tethering.

But this is nice to know! Thanks!

 

[kempiniux]

Tethering via usb with laptop used to be a bit faster and stable than bluetooth. Although you would need some more equipment for that with tablet.