Tether Fonepad to my laptop on AT&T

[kinged33]

My daughter is currently in Taiwan for a few weeks. I have asked her to buy the Fonepad 32 GB for me there. She bought it there and will return to US on Aug 4. I can't wait.

I have AT&T. Does the 3G work out of the box? Any configuration needed? Is the device locked? Can I tether with my laptop for internet?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Steve Gouldstone]

The 3G works out of the box except you will need a micro SIM for the data/phone functionality.

The device is not locked, you can use the phone without any configuration but to use data you will have to enter an APN for your ISP, which takes a couple of minutes.

You can use the Fonepad to create a wireless hotspot and connect the laptop to this hotspot like it would connect to any wireless network.

You can also tether the phone to the laptop, through a USB port, to enable the Fonepad to use the laptop's internet connection. How simple this is depends on the operating system you are using and may require the use of an app. Of course, if the laptop connects wirelessly then it makes more sense for the Fonepad to simply connect to the same wireless network.

Hope this helps.

 

[kinged33]

This is awesome. I don't have to pay extra to AT&T.
How can I find 3G APN for AT&T?
Do I have to download any program to create wireless hotspot, or do you just check off the hotspot setting?

Thanks

 

[Steve Gouldstone]

I would just look on the AT&T support web site, somewhere about 'setting up your phone' where it should list the APN settings you will need to use to connect to their data service. Don't forget you will need a SIM for the Fonepad, but perhaps you already have one from another phone? The Fonepad needs a microSIM, if you only have a normal size SIM you need to get it cut down to size - I bought a SIM cutter from ebay for about 2 pounds to do this for my SIM.

The wireless hotspot is built into Android, so you don't need any app or software to create a mobile hotspot from your Fonepad. Just go into Settings .. Data settings .. Personal Hotspot

 

[406man]

You can also tether the phone to the laptop, through a USB port, to enable the Fonepad to use the laptop's internet connection.

Any suggestions on how to make this work ? I want to tether my Fonepad to a separate phone, either by Bluetooth or USB and I can't find any way to do it which works without rooting the Fonepad. The Fonepad is crippled out-of-the-box. It's not like a Nexus 7 which works fine via Bluetooth - there seems no way to tether the Fonepad to something else (which I want), only to tether some other device to it (which I don't want).

 

[Steve Gouldstone]

I must admit I've just tried to make it work but couldn't get it to function at all.

I suggest you ask Asus technical support and see what they say?

 

[LordChilde]

Any suggestions on how to make this work ? I want to tether my Fonepad to a separate phone, either by Bluetooth or USB and I can't find any way to do it which works without rooting the Fonepad. The Fonepad is crippled out-of-the-box. It's not like a Nexus 7 which works fine via Bluetooth - there seems no way to tether the Fonepad to something else (which I want), only to tether some other device to it (which I don't want).

You can tether Fonepad to another phone/Tablet or tether another phone/Tablet to Fonepad. Switch on Fonepad's portable wifi hotspot and wifi on your phone - this will allow data to flow from Fonepad to phone, or simply reverse it to get data from phone to Fonepad. I do this with my unrooted Fonepad 7 and Streak 5.