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WiFi Hotspot Without Root!
The lure of turning your phone into a wifi hotspot has called to many of us. The idea of being able to share our phones internet connection with any wifi enabled device seems too good to be true. Sure, we can do it by ordering that from our wireless carrier, but who want’s to shell out $30 or $40 a month?! Till now the only way around that was to root your phone which, depending on what version of Android you’re running, could be a slightly tricky proposition.
A new app that has shown up on the market promises to make the whole process easier and without having to root your phone. It’s called One Click USB Wifi Tether (I know…it’s a catchy title). You can find it at the link below…
The app is primarily a widget for your home screen. Once installed, simply long press on any of your home screens where you have some empty space. Select Widgets and then scroll down the list until you find the app. Once selected, a box with two buttons will appear on your desktop. The button on the right will activate the USB tethering if you have your device connected to a laptop or computer via USB. The button on the right will activate your wifi hotspot which is useful for sharing your internet with non-usb devices (like an iPad, for example). There have been reports that this app has been having problems working on Verizon phones since they are blocking the use of unauthorized wifi hotspot apps, even on rooted phones.
It’s a simple and elegant app that now lets more users harness one of the best features built into Android. And all this can be yours for only $1.99!
Head over to the market and pick it up and drop a comment below and let us know how it works out on your device and carrier.
Turn your iPhone into a Wifi Hotspot
No one wants to pay the telephone companies a monthly fee to allow you to use a feature that your device already has built in. That’s basically like buying a car and then paying the automaker a monthly fee to use the trunk. You shouldn’t have to! You bought it…you should get to do what you want with it!!
The Home Screen
OK…rant over. The guys over at Intelliborn seem to agree and have had one of the most popular WiFi hotspot apps available for iOS for some time now. The app is called MiWi and is only available on the Cydia app store since it’s way too cool, useful and necessary for Apple to include it in their App store. (OK, to be fair, it’s typically pressure from the carriers that pushes apps like this out of the more “legitimate” channels.) To install the app, your iOS device must first be Jailbroken (click here to find out how to jailbreak). If you haven’t jail broken yet, do it! It gives you the capability to add a ton of features your iPhone should have had from day one, but remember, it does void your warranty.
You can download the app by launching Cydia on your iPhone. From Cydia, press the Search icon and type in MyWi. Tap on the app from the list of search results and download and you’re good to go. They thoughtfully give you a 3 day free trial and if it works and you like it, it will cost you a one time fee of $19.99 to buy. That’s a wwaaayyyy better deal than paying your phone company a ridiculous monthly fee for the same service. Also, when you log into Cydia to make the purchase, it remembers your transaction so if you should install Cydia on another iPhone later, you can download the app again and won’t be charged. Very cool.
The app itself is very clean and elegantly designed. The home screen shows you your options and even asks you what you want to connect to. By default, the program has the ability to create a wifi hotspot or to plug into your computer via usb and tether that way. Another option is to tether to a device through it’s Bluetooth connection, but that option does require you to pay a few more bucks.
WiFi Hotspot Tab
On the home screen you will see three icons in a row. The first shows the wifi logo, the second is the USB icon and the third is for creating the bluetooth connection (if you purchased that option). Click on the Wifi logo and you’re off and running. It is recommended that you click on the Wifi logo at the top of the app, then click on WEP Security to make sure your hotspot is secured with a 10 digit password of your choosing. If you don’t someone near by can jump onto your hotspot and slow you down considerably.
Adjust WiFi Hotspot Security Settings
With each updated version the app becomes even more stable and easier to use. Don’t be surprised if you occassionally have to reboot the app or try to reconnect your device. Don’t worry, though…that’s a small price to pay for HotSpot-y goodness!
I’m Rooted…Now What?
OK, so hopefully you may be rooted by now. If not, no worries…we’ll have more ways to root coming soon.
The first question people ask are what apps are good to get once you have your phone rooted. That’s hard to answer because it just depends on what you want to do with your phone. I’m going to mention a few apps here that are popular and good to start off with. You can also go to the Android Market and just do a search for Root and you’ll find listings of apps that require root access. Let’s start with one of the most popular apps…
Wi-Fi Tether (Click to Download): One of the first things people want to do with their rooted is phone is to add the capability to turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot without having to pay your wireless carrier a monthly fee. The best way is with the free Wi-Fi Tether app. There are other apps on the market that will do the same thing, but for a free app I haven’t found many that do it better. Notice: Tethering uses a lot of data so make sure you have an Unlimited Data plan or you could get hit with some major overage charges from your wireless carrier!
The Home Screen for Wi-fi Tether
Once you’ve downloaded the app from that link I just provided, go through the regular install. You will get prompted for Superuser permissions the first time you run it. Just press Allow and you’re good to go. What you’ll see right off the bat is a giant Wi-Fi icon that says press to tether. Press it and you’re tethering…it’s that easy.
However, I do recommend you adjust a couple settings first. From the main screen in the Wi-Fi Tether app, press the menu button, and then press settings. At the top of the list is the Enable Wifi Encryption checkbox. Make sure this is checked otherwise anyone can jump onto your wifi and slow you down. Then go down and press Change Passphrase. Pick a new passphrase (password) that will be required everytime someone wants to log onto this particular wifi hotspot. The other option you may or may not want to change is the Change SSID option. This just allows you to change the name that appears as the hotspot. By default it’s AndroidTether but you can change it if you want something custom.
I would generally leave the rest of the settings alone unless you know what you’re doing. Occasionally this program can be a little “buggy” and require you to try to connect a few times before it works. That’s normal, just be patient.
If this worked for you, please leave a comment below and tell me what phone you tried it on. If it didn’t work, let me know in the comments and we’ll see if we can’t get you all figured out. Happy Tethering!
HackMondo 