Verizon Nuked Froyo's Hotspot, Built-In Tethering

[exfileme]

Apparently Verizon has removed Mobile HotSpot and Internet Tethering from Froyo.

Verizon Nuked Froyo's Hotspot, Built-In Tethering : Read more

 

[TunaSoda]

It works on mine, has for months

 

[theuerkorn]

That kind of business attitude drove me from Verizon to Cingular. Little did I know back then that the "freedom" was short lived as they were acquired by AT&T who has the same philosophy as Verizon in that regard. Oh well, so I guess this article is nothing more than business as usual.

 

[borisof007]

What a bunch of bull****. This phone can support tethering and Verizon knows it, this is just a bunch of crap spewed out as an excuse. I'll have my droid update to 2.2 ONLY if I can find a decent app that allows tethering, even if I have to root my phone to do so. I got a droid to allow it to do what I want it to do, not what someone else tells me I can do with it (yes I understand that Motorola and Google didn't restrict me, Verizon is restricting me, and it's their network anyway. I'm just mad and being cranky).

 

[mikem_90]

Its pretty much prevalent in just about ALL US based carriers. They are so stuck being stingy with any innovation the rest of the world must think we're from the stone age with hugely expensive plans, and in many cases, feeble features.

Call it a throwback to the days when the phone monopolies didn't want anything to do with ISDN/DSL, just selling businesses their $3000/mo T1 lines.

Maybe if the FCC is given some back up and tells carriers, "Compete on service, no more locked in contracts, no more locked in phones." we'll see a bit better service.

 

[bonezy]

I'm glad Tom's did an article on this. I get my Android news from Phandroid, and they did an article already, but the more media coverage the better. Media is the only thing keeping companies in check these days. Good work, Kevin.

I mean, Verizon's a business, and we all know they're trying to make a buck... and you can't please all the people, all the time. However, when you pull crap like this, you sure as hell can piss off a lot of customers.

 

[jeverson]

I have been using PDANet for ages. So to say that it doesn't have the hardware to support it is BS. I don't think they realize just how much more business they would get if they didn't keep trying to limit everyone and rip them off.

 

[therealfly]

Why doesn't Verizon just speak the truth. what's it going to hurt? "We disabled tethering and Mobile hotspot because our app on the Droid X doesn't work on the Droid, and we charge for such services."

 

[borisof007]

And what ever happened to the phrase "Under Promise - Over Deliver"? It seems forgotten in todays companies. Everyone's so bent on over promising just to get in their initial customers and then they don't deliver, screwing over the same consumers who are now locked on contract phones, 12 month tv services, etc.

 

[drhenks]

Why don't they say: "We would like to make more money with our MiFi device so we're going to disable these features from Android 2.2. We're a for-profit business so deal with it."? They know they're lying and we know they're lying so why not just drop it and gain a tiny bit of respect for telling the truth? How is it profitable to insult your customers' intelligence like this? Of cource the DROID has the hardware to support these features.

 

[Guest]

There are numerous Apps out there that will let you tether your Droid. I use PDA net and it works great (rooting is not required though my phone does happen to be rooted. As to needing software on the PC, that is only needed for Verizon to collect money for it. When you plug in your Droid with 2.2 with a USB cable and enable USB tethering (which is in the build of 2.2 I have - not the official Verizon release) it does connect to the internet - the only problem being that you cant browse anywhere except to a verizon page where it tells you what the fees are for their data plans.

 

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

What! Verizon perfect and AT&T is horrible!
/sarcasm off in 5, 4, 3...

 

[SlickyFats]

ATT has blocked EasyTether from the APP MARKET. But to get around it you only need to turn off the ATT radio and enable wifi. Then you get the default App Market. Easy Tether is crap though compared to Samsungs "PC INTERNET" button. Just plug in USB and press that and you now have a new network connection.
I can't understand why ATT would block all the tether apps but leave the easiest one to use built into the phone. I don't get charged monthly for tethering either. I just use my $30 unlimited data

 

[TheZander]

Not one bit surprised. Still disappointed though.

 

[Guest]

LOL - "the next generation of doesn't"

What a joke.

 

[Onus]

I've been a Verizon customer for years, but this is the kind of bald-faced lie that will have me considering a different carrier when my "new every two" term is up next month. If I buy a Droid [X], I want it to have the full capabilities Motorola designed into it, not some artificial subset of those features intended to extract maximum revenue.

 

[quantum mask]

LIES LIES LIES! ALL LIES! I've had my Droid since December and have been rooted, rommed, and WIFI tethering since February. This phone is more than capable of doing it. I don't even have an ISP at home I used my Droids tether exclusively. I even share the connection with my PS3 and play online games with it. It shouldn't surprise us though. They should just be careful, as the saying goes, "if you'll lie, you'll steal. I you'll steal, you'll kill.

 

[bison88]

Of course they would. For mobile carriers they are not going to lose there biggest cash cow when it comes to data and raping consumers with overcharging for bandwidth until the FCC or FTC steps in and clamps down on all carriers. Hell the guy who was accredited for the SMS text message on phones did so with the idea of it not having ANY impact over normal carriers systems, yet we still get charged $20 for unlimited half-kilobyte messages and or $.10 per message over your "cheaper" plan. How many billions do those overcharges bring in for each carrier per year?

If the wireless cell network wasn't meant to handle all the data knowing what consumers would be throwing at it then they shouldn't have even built it in the first damn place. Sorry but these damn Data and SMS price gouging and half-assed justifications for it are getting so damn old and down right childish for the big wigs to think we should actually believe them. We may have been dumbed down but we aren't complete idiots.

 

[Simple11]

*sigh* I was looking forward to getting a droid next year. Luckly i can still tether on my iPhone 3g on 3.1.2. Damn phone companies penny pinching everyone.

 

[thenetavenger]

On Verizon in the pre-final 2.2 versions, tethering was there, worked; however, recently it would drop the user to the Verizon page saying that they must pay the additional $25 fee for tethering.

(Which is the same page that has been around for a while for some phones like Blackberrys when they were tethered.)

As for it NOT being able to do it, lie and lie.

Just wait for a rooted version of their release with the functionality turned back on and grab anyone of the free utilities that turn the droid into a WiFi hotspot. (If you are willing to root, you don't need to buy PDANet, etc.)