Tethering Nexus 7 and Razr Maxx

[HiddenTalent]

Hi all,

I just ordered a Nexus 7.

I would like to tether it to my phone for internet. Preferably for free.

I see in research people talk about Wifi Tether and FoxFi. There is also a Bluetooth option I have read about.

The complaint is the upgrade from 4.1.2 to 4.2 caused the Bluetooth method to fail with no fix. Claims said it still works with 4.1.2.

The problems seemed to be related to cross versioning of the phone and tablet.

My question is. What will work with my combination?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

You'll have to do some playing around, but I've successfully used pdanet+ (foxfi is now a part of pdanet) on my galaxy nexus running 4.1.1 and my nexus 7 running 4.2.1 using wifi mode.

There are trial versions of foxfi and planet that you can try for free before spending your money to find out if it works with your setup.

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[HiddenTalent]

You'll have to do some playing around, but I've successfully used pdanet+ (foxfi is now a part of pdanet) on my galaxy nexus running 4.1.1 and my nexus 7 running 4.2.1 using wifi mode.

There are trial versions of foxfi and planet that you can try for free before spending your money to find out if it works with your setup.

Sent from my Nexus 7

Thanks Jonny. My Razr is running 4.0.4. I hope I can find something to work!

I will look I to that when it gets here.

That's encouraging.

Does it need to be rooted?

 

[Jonny Kansas]

No root required. I believe the issues with foxfi began with the 4.1 update, so you should be fine. Doesn't matter what version the tablet is running, because as far as it knows, it's connecting to any random wireless access point. As long as the app works on your phone, you're good.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[HiddenTalent]

Thanks again! I already use a hacked pro version of PDAnet for my laptop. I grabbed the paid version of + for the tablet. They had it on sale... whatever that means. ;-)

Thanks!

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Good call. I like to pay for apps that I like in order to support good devs & keep android the best system on the market.

Feel free to post back here if you have issues once you get the tablet!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[HiddenTalent]

Jonny,

I got the tablet today. I'm struggling to connect using PDANet+. All says I'm connected, but the tablet doesn't turn blue. You mentioned I would have to play with it. Any pointers?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Ever though it doesn't turn blue, have you tried using the tablet browser to see if your connection is working?

Make sure you've got a data connection on the phone (browse the Web a bit).

You may also wanna try installing the tablet client for pdanet found below:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pdanet.tablet2

Have you successfully used pdanet+ with any other device (laptop, etc) or is this your first go at it?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Also, not sure if pdanet has the same compatibility as foxfi (though I assume it does), but foxfi says a MAXX running 4.1 doesn't support wifi mode right now, so you might try blue tooth mode if nothing else, just to see if it's a problem on the phone side versus the tablet side.

Source: http://foxfi.com/help/devices.php

Just realized you said you're running 4.0, so it should work in wifi mode.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[HiddenTalent]

Well I managed to screw up PDAnet+...

I read somewhere that the foxfi add on would help... Not the case.

Before the install of the add on the hotspot function worked I just couldn't get it to work with the tablet.

Now it goes through its setup steps, gets to step 4 and turns back off.

I uninstalled the add on and Pdanet+, reinstalled and activated. It still acts the same.

I now have Pdanet tablet but can't try it due to the above issue.

Thoughts?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jonny Kansas]

On your phone, go into your settings and find anything to do with pdanet in the apps submenu & clear data & cache & etc. It may have left corrupted data on your phone even though you uninstalled it. Then, I'd uninstall it again, reboot, & reinstall.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[HiddenTalent]

That seemed to work. I got it connected now. Thank you.

Next question. When I first turned the tablet on and it synced to my Google account it auto downloaded my apps. Unfortunately I stopped that process. Is there a way to start that again?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Glad you're up and running now! Not sure that you can restart that whole process, but all your apps are listed in the Play Store. If you swipe to the side, you can see all that you've purchased and downloaded, but you'll have to download them all one by one.

Logging into your account on a computer and going through them might be faster.

The other option would be to do a factory reset if you haven't set up a lot of other stuff and sign in again...

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[HiddenTalent]

Fantastic idea.

I logged in and installed them from the PC.

Thanks again!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Not a problem! Enjoy!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus