What is the best phone for this?

April 8, 2011 7:45 PM

What's a newer Android phone on t-mob where you can use a wifi-sharing program (a common one that I've seen free online) to create a wi-fi hotspot? Not trying to get anything related to this from t-mob directly. I just want a newer Android phone that is capable of this, if such a thing exists. I'm assuming that said phone would have an option for an unlimited data plan.
posted by cashman to Computers & Internet (16 answers total)

The Nexus S can do this, and there are some options in the Android app store for other phones.
posted by mhoye at 8:07 PM on April 8, 2011

Any rooted phone has this capability. Easiest would be the Nexus S, however.
posted by ofthestrait at 8:08 PM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ah crap. I just realized that it needs to be a 4G phone (assuming the at&t buyout of tmob goes through). Any 4g phone recommendations?

Also, just to clarify, it would be great if I could buy the phone from tmob - I just don't want to buy any sort of tethering stuff from them.
posted by cashman at 8:22 PM on April 8, 2011

I have a HTC MyTouch 4g. I am pretty happy with it.
posted by Duffington at 8:29 PM on April 8, 2011

Best answer: The G2 gets HSPA+ up to 14.4 Mbps. If you want to get the latest and greatest, the G2X (manufactured by LG) is coming out in the next couple of weeks. It'll be much, much faster than the G2.
posted by ofthestrait at 9:47 PM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Also, you should be aware that any phone you purchase right now from T-Mobile will not work on AT&T's 4G bands. The G2X will work on both T-Mobile and AT&T 4G bands.
Also, I'm not sure that the buyout should be assumed.
posted by ofthestrait at 9:50 PM on April 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: The G2X sounds good, thanks for the information. But how can it be known if it will be able to share its wifi (create a wifi hotspot) if it isn't out yet?
posted by cashman at 5:31 AM on April 9, 2011

The feature overview on the link ofthestrait provided for the G2X says it has wi-fi sharing built in.
posted by Telpethoron at 5:37 AM on April 9, 2011

Response by poster: Looks like we got ourselves a reader.
posted by cashman at 6:16 AM on April 9, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'm a current T-Mob customer with a G2. It is definitely a "4G" phone (T-Mobile's 4G is just really fast 3G, but it's really fast - I've pulled down 8 megs wirelessly a few times.) Tethering is supported natively in the OS, and I can testify it works great.

Besides the forthcoming G2x, there's also Galaxy S 4G which is already out. That site says it supports tethering now too. Note that any Android phone can do wifi tethering with the app you mentioned if the phone is rooted.

Either way, if you tether over 100MB per month you'll get blocked unless you buy a tethering plan ($10 or $15/month I think). Also, T-Mob's "unlimited" data plan may throttle your data if you exceed 5GB in a month, in case you'll be running big torrents or streaming Netflix.

Finally, if the AT&T thing goes through, supposedly in 2-3 years any 3G or greater T-Mob phone won't be a 3G phone anymore due to AT&T repurposing those radio bands.
posted by gazole at 7:55 AM on April 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks gazole. I will not be rooting the phone. I want to wirelessly tether (create a wifi hotspot multiple devices can use). I don't use torrents or download movies or anything massive. I definitely want to avoid buying a tethering plan.
posted by cashman at 9:57 AM on April 9, 2011

• If you don't want to root, you will have to pay for tethering.
• If you don't want to pay for tethering, you will have to root.

posted by kindall at 10:42 AM on April 9, 2011

Applies to Wi-Fi hotspot feature. You can tether one device via USB without paying anything extra or rooting.
posted by kindall at 10:43 AM on April 9, 2011

• If you don't want to root, you will have to pay for tethering.
• If you don't want to pay for tethering, you will have to root.

At present, this is simply not true. I can currently tether to Android phone simply by going into the settings section, finding the Wi-Fi tethering option, and turning it on. This makes a Wi-Fi acccess point that I can connect to just like I would normally.

There have been rumours that T-Mo will begin charging for this at any moment, but *fingers crossed* it hasn't happened yet.

I am using a T-Mobile G2 (HTC Desire Z), but my friends on the Nexus One report that it's similar for them. I'm not sure about other phones.
posted by The Eponymous Pseudonymous Rex at 1:25 PM on April 9, 2011 [2 favorites]

T-Mobile's mobile hotspot feature is advertised at $15 a month and it's against their terms of service to do so without paying for the feature. I certainly wouldn't sign up for a 2-year contract with the expectation that they will continue to let you continue to access i for free, especially given their impending merger with AT&T.
posted by kindall at 11:31 AM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have a MyTouch 3G Slide / HTC Espresso running stock, unrooted Froyo from T-Mobile. Not only can I wirelessly tether just as TEPR outlined above, but it's apparently not limited to ad hoc, because I can connect my Motorola Xoom through it, and ad hoc is unsupported by the Xoom. Previously, on Eclair, I was unable to connect due to that limitation, even with third -party apps. And I have unlimited data and no grief or limitations from T-Mobile for doing this.
posted by notashroom at 7:58 PM on April 10, 2011 [1 favorite]