Connecting to the Internet via a Mobile Phone?

[Guest RockVacirca]

I was recently in hospital and took my mobile phone, an android HTC Desire, and my Advent Vega, to help pass away the time.

I was shocked to learn at the hospital that they had no wi-fi, so my Vega was useless. I did however have internet via my Desire, because as part of the sim package I took I had Mobile Internet included.

This got me thinking, was there any way to connect my Vega to the Internet via my Desire? Bluetooth perhaps? Any other solution?

Thanks

Rock

[Guest piran]

I was recently in hospital and took my mobile phone, an android HTC Desire, and my Advent Vega, to help pass away the time.

I was shocked to learn at the hospital that they had no wi-fi, so my Vega was useless. I did however have internet via my Desire, because as part of the sim package I took I had Mobile Internet included.

This got me thinking, was there any way to connect my Vega to the Internet via my Desire? Bluetooth perhaps? Any other solution?

Thanks

Rock

What you want is to enable wi-fi tethering on your mobile (not sure what your htc is running but you may need something (IIRC) like barracuda) this would let you set you mobile as a wi-fi hotspot and then you connect your vega to it as you would to any other wi-fi.

[Guest Lengths]

The HTC desire has wifi-tethering out of the box (or at least mine did)

quick google gives this guide to getting it working

http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/use-htc-desire-portable-wifi-hotspot

Be aware though that if your provider thinks you are using it tethered they may change you for the internet, as far as I am aware the only UK mob network that allows you to use your data on another devices is 3 (and then only on the one plan Or with the internet Max addon)

(never worked out how they would tell that an android tablet is teathering from a android phone however...)

[Guest simonta]

The HTC desire has wifi-tethering out of the box (or at least mine did)

quick google gives this guide to getting it working

http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/use-htc-desire-portable-wifi-hotspot

Be aware though that if your provider thinks you are using it tethered they may change you for the internet, as far as I am aware the only UK mob network that allows you to use your data on another devices is 3 (and then only on the one plan Or with the internet Max addon)

(never worked out how they would tell that an android tablet is teathering from a android phone however...)

For info, the provider can tell, but is unlikely too unless you do something that makes you of interest. If you just do the same kind of stuff on your Vega when tethered as you do on your phone and you keep the data volumes well within limits or "fair usage", then you are unlikely to get spotted although caveat emptor - it's still against the Ts&Cs of most contracts.

There are several methods that can be used but the main two are:

1. Packet inspection. When you tether your Vega, whether by USB or wireless, your phone acts as a DHCP server (Google if you don't know what this is) and your Vega is given an IP address. When data packets are sent to your phone which are ultimately bound for the Vega, the outer address wrapper of the packets is the phone's address but internally, the address is your Vega. The phone strips off the outer address then sends the packets to the Vega. So, by inspecting the packet, you know that there is a second device tethered to the phone.

2. Data patterns. Automated software can monitor the type of data being sent to and from the phone. There are differences in these patterns between mobile devices and PCs that can generate an alert to the provider that data appears to be being generated by something other than a phone. That's why doing "normal" stuff on your Vega is likely to keep you under the radar.

In summary, against Ts&Cs (although a civil, not a criminal matter) and the providers have no motive other than people cheating the system and slurping large quantities of data, creating usage spikes etc so tethering for a cheeky browse, the odd Youtube video and downloading your email is unlikely to get you noticed. I've been doing exactly that for years with my laptop and various other gizmos for years, although not my Vega as that's house bound ;)

Cheers

[Guest RockVacirca]

Many thanks guys.

Yes, I found it on my HTC Desire, so simple to setup, just two clicks to turn it into a WiFi Hotspot

I then turned on my Vega, did a network search, and there it was, select, enter password and voila!

Amazing.

God I wished I'd known about that before I went into hospital.

Thanks

Rock