How To: Tethering for Android Devices

[Freshdoug]

So, you pay a monthly amount of dollars for unlimited data on your phone? Tethering has always been a viable option for people on the go who hate small screens, but there are some things that need to be known before you start tethering:

 

1. Some cell service companies HATE this feature, some are ok with it in moderation, and some just don't care. Some companies charge extra for this service, be warned! Do some research on which company would be the best fit (I prefer Metro PCS $60 USD in the US as that covers everything).  

 

2. Companies know people are going to use this, so you're gonna have to do some troubleshooting to get things working optimally. 

 

3. Some phones are better at this than others. Known working models include Samsung S3, S4, and S5 running Android 4.0 and higher, BLU Studio Series phones, and LG. 

 

4. When set up properly, internet will be available anywhere you get Data signals.

 

5. Applet programs (such as Steam, Minecraft, ect), will have difficulty connecting as the DNS does not resolve those server IP addresses (not because the name is not found, but because the DNS won't allow the connection, as most mobile browsers don't directly connect to a game server like Mohjang), or the User Agent is invalid, headers may be incorrectly scripted, ect ect, techno-jargon, and there are work-arounds for this which may be added later.

 

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Now, on to what you will need:

 

Operating Systems:

Windows, Linux, or (maybe Mac OS?) I haven't tested it.

 

For Linux users, everything should work right out of the box, Linux's User Agent is close enough to your Android Device that packets and headers will be allowed. Go ahead and follow the steps from the  icon to set up your tether.

For Windows users, modern browsers are your friend. Internet Explorer may work right out of the box for most people (if it does, #netflix). You can try this by starting from the   icon, and starting up Internet Explorer, (try netflix, as this won't work on a phone browser).

Chrome and Firefox both have an extension/addon called User-Agent Switcher.

 

Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher

Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-Us/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/

 

You'll need to download either of these extensions, depending on which browser you want/need with an actual internet connection. No tethering this.

 

Now, let's get your phone's user agent. If you have Chrome or Firefox on your phone, I recommend matching them with your computer to allow for JavaScript to run correctly. For me, I opened Chrome, go to the dropdown menu in the upper-right hand corner, and make sure 'Request Desktop Site' is checked. Next, in your address bar, or 'Omni Bar' for you google nerds, type in 'whats my user agent'. Your search engine should produce a result for whatsmyuseragent.com. Select this option and now switch over to your computer.

 

Chrome:

Once you have the addon, configure a new User-Agent by going to chrome://extensions/   ; find User-Agent Switcher, and click on the 'Options' link.

Then click on 'New User Agent'. Now think up a name for your new agent, something classy like, 'linus420noscopepewpewpewonatuesday' or whatever, the next text space will be the User Agent. It's basically a string variable that tells a server what your browser is, whether your on a Desktop or Mobile platform ect. You'll need to retype the User Agent String that you pulled up on your phone, in the text box on your desktop.

 

Example User Agent String (may work if you are lazy): Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/42.0.2311.109 Safari/537.36

 

 Now click save. In your chrome browser, you should have a blue icon, shaped like a planet. Click on this. In the dropdown menu, select the user agent you just created.   Now get a USB cable compatible with your phone, plug in your phone to your computer, install drivers. On your phone, locate your Tethering and Portable Hotspot options; (for Android 4.4 go into your system settings > more wireless > tethering & portable hotspot > and select USB Tethering). You'll notice there are other options for WiFi Tether and Bluetooth Tethering. These may work for you, I prefer having the faster (436 Mb/s) transfer rate of USB. And now try going to a webpage, something with Adobe Flash plugins are ideal testing sites because most people can't use flash on their phones. Disable/unplug your other connections to test this.

 

Firefox:

 For Firefox User's, you follow almost the same steps as chrome except you will go to the User Agent Switcher Icon in the upper-right hand corner, click it, then click on 'Edit User Agents', and click 'New' , select 'New User Agent', and you'll only need to enter the 'Description' (aka Name), and User Agent. then click ok. Then click the User-Agent Switch Icon once more, and select your newly created User Agent. 

 

For everyone who read/followed this tutorial, I applaud you and appreciate the traffic. I realize this is a wall of text, and a picture speaks 1000 words, soon I'll try to get a more visual How-To created. That being said, whipping out a laptop, hooking up your phone and watching cat videos on YouTube while traveling will impress your friends, and the ladies love it.

[Pehehetri]

so, this is a way of using tethering without letting cell service companies to know? i don't understand

[Freshdoug]

I see you haven't tethered before. Most US carriers block certain webpages while using hotspot or tether --like Netflix for example--. This is a workaround for it. Especially if you are a T-Mobile user or using a flat rate carrier. 

[Mew]

Do you know if Verizon blocks netflix on their shared data plan when you tether? AFAIK, everything works fine when I tether from my phone.

[Kyuubixchidori]

if on android, almost any rom will have tethering unlocked. but if you dont want to do that, this is a great option

 

-used a bunch of roms, over 100gb of data a month, and never got a scary call from sprint