Motorola says original Droid 'doesn't have the hardware' to support a mobile hotspot

[Bxrider117]

We in the forum community and those that are rooted know this not to be true. The Moto Droid has the capabilities to be used as a wifi tether or via usb. However, that may not have been the intention when the phone was created. What is upsetting is that we know that the D1 is capable of these functions and Verizon is denying the phone's ability, just to sell more locked down Dxs and D2s.

The masses may not be aware of the D1's capabilities. If you figure that of 1 million droids sold only 50k maybe rooted. That leaves another 950k of customers that will upgrade to the D2 or DX on the basis of using the phones for a mobile hot spot or to usb tether. All we can try and do is educate those that are not aware of D1's capabilities. Cause lets face it, we are not going to abandon Big Red for this lie.

"My office hours a M-F from 9-5" Big Red from the 5 Heartbeats!!!

 

[RW-1]

They are correct, we don't have the hardware for infrastructure, but that won't stop you from ad hoc tethering.... or when your D1 busts, get the D2, which will ...

 

[darsidedeath]

Honestly I think its a little deceiving, you can get an app that you can you for tethering, the only problem people have is paying for it. The mobile hotspot i could see not working since you would need to be able to broadcast a signal directly from your phone; which might be possible with a modification of the hardware.

 

[Taegost]

Ahh, interesting, I'm glad some of ya'll clarified the difference between tethering and hotspot... I noticed it was different when I used the wifi tethering with my laptop when I was house-sitting a few weeks ago...
It does seem to be a bit deceiving, but it's apparently true, and definitely a great marketing scheme for the non-rooted masses who want that capability
So, it seems that we'll need a dev to make a Wireless Hotspot app just like we have a Wireless Tether app

 

[Agrajag]

PDANet I've been using for months with the FREE version which simply doesn't let you go to HTTPS sites.

I just used it successfully at a work event where the wireless connection was terrible.

The only issue I had was that I had two laptops and would have liked to have both of them using the one cell. I suspect that can be done too but I wasn't sure how.

 

[diverbelow]

By Donald Melanson posted Aug 2nd 2010 12:19PM

​

This is the week that the original Droid will be getting the Android 2.2 update, but it looks like that update won't be bringing two of the most oft-requested features: tethering and a mobile hotspot.

Why's that? While tethering seems to be simply due to a lack of an app that "isn't part of this update," the mobile hotspot issue is a bit more curious -- Motorola spokesperson Brenda Raney says that the Droid "doesn't have [the] hardware to support a mobile hotspot."

No further explanation than that, but we have a sneaking suspicion that Motorola isn't passing over the feature because of a lack of hardware, but because of too much hardware -- namely, the Droid 2 and Droid X.

Motorola says original Droid 'doesn't have the hardware' to support a mobile hotspot -- Engadget
​

I've been looking for the original statement from Moto - any luck? Phonescoop.com, who broke the news, doesn't seem to be loading at the moment. I would like some clarification because everyone in the rooting community can tell you that this is total bs. If they aren't going to release it then say so - but to straight up lie to the community is sickening.

This is whats on phonescoop..

News Item Related News Comments
posted Today, 10:42 AM by Eric M. Zeman
updated Today, 11:17 AM


Updated: added reference to update start date in 1st sentence
Verizon Wireless announced on July 30 that the Motorola Droid would receive the Android 2.2 update starting the week of August 2. Android 2.2 natively supports tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot creation. The Motorola Droid, however, will not offer these features. Verizon Wireless spokesperson Brenda Raney said to Phone Scoop in an email, "The Droid by Motorola doesn't have [the] hardware to support a Mobile Hotspot. With tethering there is no Connection on the PC side that will allow you to tether the device so the answer is that option isn't part of this update." Raney also said the over-the-air update will be pushed to a small set of users first to make sure it works properly. Once that is confirmed to work, Verizon will begin the general roll-out in phases. Android 2.2 offers a wide range of other improvements, including better security, Flash Player Mobile 10.1, voice dialing via Bluetooth, and improved camera performance.

You noticed that the spokeperson for Motorola and Verizon are one in the same "Brenda Raney", or it is a typo on the original story. Not saying what Shadez posted.

 

[Shadez]

I'm guessing that when "Donald Melanson" posted his article and added his own 'spin' to it, that he just had Motorola in his head and put that down.. most likely just a slip if tongue..

 

[wuyanks]

This is a win for us rooters. Since there's no official mobile hotspot for the DROID, we will less likely be harassed by VZ for using WiFi tether.

 

[czerdrill]

This is a win for us rooters. Since there's no official mobile hotspot for the DROID, we will less likely be harassed by VZ for using WiFi tether.

Or they could notice that people are tethering even more haha...but who knows...there's people out there who tether gigs upon gigs monthly and nothings happened to them

 

[urboyissues]

yup sure nuff dont ....yes so when vzw asks about my data usage im pointing to that statement. Even though while in class wifi tethering powered my laptop and netbook. But hey moto built it they know their device.

agree to the MAX.. Keeping my unlimited plan just so I can MAX it out all the time.. and when they ask how I'll point to that statement as well.. I know a ton of friends that are going to feel cheated since they aren't rooted

 

[czerdrill]

yup sure nuff dont ....yes so when vzw asks about my data usage im pointing to that statement. Even though while in class wifi tethering powered my laptop and netbook. But hey moto built it they know their device.

agree to the MAX.. Keeping my unlimited plan just so I can MAX it out all the time.. and when they ask how I'll point to that statement as well.. I know a ton of friends that are going to feel cheated since they aren't rooted

i hope you don't believe that verizon will just say "oh..ok..no problem, continue" haha...if they decide to confront you about your data usage, they'll win. chances are they wont bother though.

 

[Agrajag]

Okay, so what's the deal? If you're rooted you can do wireless hotspot or are we just talking tethering which doesn't require rooting?

 

[ChugIt]

Indeed good news for us rooted Droid users. They just ruined their argument that any Droid user has ever tethered, if they ever pull that card. How did I tether if my phone is not capable of doing it?

 

[czerdrill]

Okay, so what's the deal? If you're rooted you can do wireless hotspot or are we just talking tethering which doesn't require rooting?

same idea. motorola states that droid hardware can't support hotspot (so people will buy the phones that do). people here are arguing that now they can tether at will and verizon won't/can't do anything about it.

 

[ChugIt]

people here are arguing that now they can tether at will and verizon won't/can't do anything about it.

Actually that was already true anyways.