Android 11 Developer Preview 3 allows your mobe to become a router via USB Ethernet – if you can get a decent signal Google's third developer preview (DP3) of the Android 11 operating system is an enticing look at the future of the platform, where new features and UI tweaks abound. But before we get into the meat of things, a bit of a throat-clearing. In the past, features have appeared in Android developer previews that didn't ultimately …
My recollection of various methods of tethering over the years was that although the manufacturers often provided it, some (most?) carriers (e.g. Verizon) would disable it (Serial/USB/Bluetooth DUN, even back to 1xRTT GPRS) or charge for an entire extra data plan for using WiFi.
Is that not a thing in the civilized world?
My recollection of various methods of tethering over the years was that although the manufacturers often provided it, some (most?) carriers (e.g. Verizon) would disable it.
So how is this change going to make them change?
The 5-year old phone I've just replaced allowed me to do this, and it was running Andoid6.
And using this on a Windows system was a PITA, as Windows sees it as an Ethernet connexion and so doesn't allow me to mark it as metered. So feels free to download the next Windows10 update over it.
So what change has actually occurred here? It seems to imply some ability to connect it to a router for network sharing, but where is there an Ethernet port on the 'phone?
Which has worked on Android for years, as has using an Android phone for various kinds of networking. I've even used my ancient Sony Ericsson to connect WiFi to "networking over USB" while installing Linux on something weird that didn't initially have working ethernet or WiFi, though both were able to be installed later.
After that I bought a $8 approx no-name USB to ethernet adaptor, which works on Android (various flavours inc ancient phone) and Linux. You only need to install the driver min-CD on Windows!
The only issue with tethering and using a phone as Mobile WiFi hotspot/USB networking/Ethernet via USB adaptor has been operators detecting and blocking it.
Yes ... and this is nothing new, I've carried a micro-usb Ethernet adapter around with me on my travels for at least the past 3 years for exactly this purpose. A couple of years ago, faced with really poor speeds on convention ethernet (for which we paid thousands), we ended up using a phone as a router for some servers that required light internet access, using the USB dongle.
If you're talking about making your phone or 4g tablet into a hotspot, Windows 10 certainly does allow you to mark the connection as metered. It also allows you to tell it how many gigabytes per month and when the renewal date is.
The other "new" thing here is to be able to connect by USB to a magic box and attach other devices such as HDMI screen and USB keyboard and mouse. That's not new. I've had that capability for years with my Lumia 950 XL.
No. https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/10/three-uk-quietly-removes-tethering-caps-from-4g-mobile-plans.html
That's a phone operator removing a block - nothing at all to do with whether Android was able to do it.
And all they did the was to remove the usage cap - they was never an outright ban.
I'm with 3 and, as mentioned, was able to do this 5 years ago on Android 6.
Perhaps the difference is that "toggle a switch" bit. Which might mean it can become a router on its own, rather than requiring you to set that up on the system directly connected to it. Although how this works with a USB-C hub is something I'll need to get my head around. Perhaps you need one with a Ethernet port, then plug a switch/hub into that and then plug any other system into that.
It's that. An old TV with only ethernet connectivity wouldn't work with a tethered phone over USB (if it even had one previously), whereas now you can plug in a USB-C dock (that often has an ethernet port on it) and wire that to the old TV's ethernet port. That part wasn't possible before.
Don't know what to tell you:
https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/04/23/ethernet-tethering-arrives-in-latest-android-11-developer-preview/
"To be clear, Android devices have supported connecting to wired networks over Ethernet for years, but now an Android device can serve as the host network as well. The option is greyed out until you plug in a USB Ethernet adapter."
It seems when something is added to official Android, that could be done unofficially with a rooted phone previously, The Unofficial method proves to be superior and less Limited. Well the official method seems to limit and bloat and monetize the process so much much, that you have to create a whole new hack to correct or reimplement the proper behavior.
They continue to Overcomplicated the entire stack, when all they need in the first place is provide device owner a way to configure the if tables directly and the ability to grant that permission to front end applications for convienence.
There's no need to reinvent the wheel especially when the new version is less overly complicated and less competent to the task.
“All you have to do is enter your tethering settings and toggle a switch.”
Once enabled on the phone is it a simple case of pointing your kits gateway at the Phone or is there some other settings needed on the host, like tethering settings, for it to connect to the gateway?
On my iPhone, I suspect other phones are similar, I just turn tethering on and connect to the phone via wifi, my carrier sent tethering settings when I connected the sim.
If in android 11 its a case of setting tethering up then toggling it and connecting to the phone as a gateway, that’s great or do we need to use ppoe or something to get this working which would be painful if not everything supported it.
Particularly for people who aren't technically aware enough to set up an old wireless router in bridging mode to hang off the phone's WiFi hotspot. Otherwise, the only thing that's possibly novel to me is the ability to hook up to ethernet from the phone's usb port. On that latter point, I could do that with an old shitty tablet that didn't have the power to do much, but it could connect to a usb ethernet adapter, something not all more modern devices can do.
And if you accidentally close an app, Android's Recents now comes with an undo functionality, allowing you to restore it without losing your data.
That sounds suspiciously like it doesn't close the app when you tell it to and just stuffs it deep into the background. Generally when I close an app I want it to be closed.
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