Help EasyTether vs PDA Net

[zerovertex]

Man, Charter is ridiculous. I get upwards of 2.4 Mbps in my apartment in Auburn, and that's with four people to an apartment and twelve apartments a building and about sixteen buildings. 2.4 Mbps per person. And that's on torrents while playing MW2.

Auburn, Alabama???

 

[alprazolam]

HAHA yeah man, I was actually surprised when I ran that test just a little while ago, I was under the impression i had 10mbps, But i guess their commercials (talking about upgrading everyones speed for free) where right!
You may be better off at times using your Phone as a tethered modem if you are only getting 2.4 mbps, Because that may be less depending on how the network is setup there.. Check out that site, speedtest.net and see what it's telling you you are getting

You are getting that because Charter allows your speed to do a quick burst that goes far beyond your rated speed. It lets you get an mp3 or smaller file very quickly, but if you download a larger fie, your net connection will settle into the speed range that you are paying for. Speedtest.net is picking up on the huge boost of up front speed and doesn't download long enough to get your regular speed. I still appreciate Charter for having the boost on there.

 

[dustin_thewind]

I tried the free easytether today...I dl'd the app on my phone, installed the program on my computer and tried to run it...It says "no devices to connect". Any ideas??

 

[smacky]

Auburn, Alabama???

Yeah.

 

[erniest]

No matter which one I use, if I'm on too long my phone battery starts decreasing even while plugged in with the USB tether. I'm not sure if it has something to do with streaming video, or even Skyping which I have successfully been able to do.
Is it maybe too much stress on the network and the charge can't compensate? I'm hooked up now and have been watching my battery deplete by a couple of percent every 10 minutes or so. (I'm also streaming video now too). Any ideas why that is? Is it just me?

 

[T-Keith]

Does anyone know of a tethering option for linux. it seems wrong that they none seem to support Linux which android is based on.

 

[thefluxster]

For those out there worried that Linux was being left out on this, worry no more. I've posted a solution for your tethering needs on my blog.

 

[mfgann]

I installed EasyTether to try this weekend while on a trip, but as I was running through the app I saw that there is an Ubuntu driver for it. So it seems the Ubuntu Linux users do have a choice. Probably won't help us who dabble in other distributions though.

 

[Deleted User]

I only have PDA Net, so I can't speak for Easy Tether...

But PDA is ok I guess. It gets me to most webpages eventually. It's not super fast. It never ever loads gmail or hotmail though, and even though I can access both on my phone, it's nice to see messages & attachments in full sometimes. It works well enough for facebook & I even watched a video on someone's page today (once it fully loaded).

Has anyone else had the gmail issues??

 

[Demache]

I only have PDA Net, so I can't speak for Easy Tether...

But PDA is ok I guess. It gets me to most webpages eventually. It's not super fast. It never ever loads gmail or hotmail though, and even though I can access both on my phone, it's nice to see messages & attachments in full sometimes. It works well enough for facebook & I even watched a video on someone's page today (once it fully loaded).

Has anyone else had the gmail issues??

If your trial for PDA net is over, it will block HTTPS access. And you need HTTPS access to login to Gmail and Hotmail. The free version of Easy Tether also does this.

Easy Tether works fine for me, back when I wasn't rooted. Much cheaper too.

 

[mikeseatl]

I installed ET today and had the same problem. The Help/Support function provided this QA which worked for me:

13. I do not have "Connect via Android" option when I right-click the EasyTether tray icon. What's wrong?

There is a known problem on some hardware (especially G1/MyTouch/G2 or Droid) when Windows does not always notice the USB debugging is enabled. Please follow the instructions below to resolve the problem.

Connect your smartphone to laptop, open Device Manager, Enable View -> Devices by connection (this way it will be easier to find the required items), find the "USB Composite Device" node under one of "Standard Enhanced Universal PCI to USB Host Controller" (a name may be slightly different) categories, right-click it and select Uninstall.

Please see this screenshot for reference. (See http://www.mobile-stream.com/beta/dm.png)

You may also want to temporarily unplug as many USB devices as possible to prevent the confusion.

PLEASE NOTE! There likely will be no "USB Composite Device" node at all, but single "USB Mass Storage" under "USB Root Hub". Remove "USB Mass Storage" then.

After you uninstall the device node, physically unplug the device, make sure Settings -> Applications -> Development -> USB debugging is enabled on your smartphone (very important!) and plug the device again and let Windows find the already-preinstalled drivers (if you did not omit the Android drivers during the EasyTether installation). Also, Windows will probably ask you for a reboot.

 

[bberryhill0]

PDANet just works for me. I have never had to think about drivers.

 

[natevines]

This thread prompted me to register here (although I should've quite some time ago!) as I don't see any answers that satisfactorily answer the question.

Due to the nature of my job (nightshift guard work), tethering has been a godsend for me. Initially, I used easytether and was satisfied with it, but then I noticed random drops. Often, the app would indicate that the phone and the computer were connected just fine, and my 3G would work on the phone but no internet. I'd have to try unplugging and plugging back in, restarting my phone, restarting my computer, etc for up to an hour to get it to work sometimes. It was especially frustrating when it was working just wonderfully at high speeds, I would take a brief phone call, try to connect it back up and alas, no connection.
Just a few nights ago - after about 3 months of using it - I got frustrated and tried PDAnet. Let me just say, it BLOWS EasyTether out of the water. First, I noticed the app gave you information on your connection speed which was pretty neat. So far, I've noticed it runs faster than EasyTether and has had NO random connection drops. The other huge bonus is the SMS agent. I like to text a lot even when tethered, and the SMS agent alerts me of and displays incoming texts as well as allows me to type and send texts from the PC. With the obvious exception of phone calls, I don't EVER have to touch my phone while tethered with PDAnet. Truly a beautiful app, and infinitely better than EasyTether.

 

[rswank]

Back to Back Speedtest.net tests on same server location
Sprint 4G in Columbus, Ohio on Evo

PdaNet
3.00, 3.10, 3.14, 3.36, 3.16 Mb/s down
EasyTether
8.00, 4.22, 4.54, 3.94, 4.99 Mb/s down

Average after discarding the highest and lowest:
PdaNet: 3.133 Mb/s
EasyTether: 4.583 Mb/s

Significant difference.
I'm buying Easy Tether.

 

[Toropop]

As I'm typing this post, I'm connected on my Mac Book Pro through EasyTether. I gotta tell you that I'm in love with this thing.

Very, very simple to setup on my Mac. I noticed that a lot of people are asking about the extra Samsung driver. Even through the instructions already say this, YOU DON'T NEED IT FOR THE MAC. Setup was a breeze.

PDANet was giving me gas the whole time I used it. I never had speeds above about .75Mbps/.25Mbps.

Fortunately, Portland, OR is a Sprint 4G city, and I'm getting great speeds with this thing. Just did a test through Speedtest.net and got 4.6Mbps/1.2Mbps. (Sorry, I'm not savvy enough to post the pretty little results pic on here.) The one odd thing was that I had to test through servers based in L.A. :-/ Must be a Sprint thing.

Anyway, I'm using the free version of EasyTether 0.9.10 on my Samsung Epic 4G running Android 2.1-Update 1. No problems getting through all http:// sites, but it has been hit or miss with https:// sites. I think I'm gonna fork over the $10 to get the https:// access.

I hope this helps answer some Mac people's questions. :-D

 

[mrblueyzz]

Hi,

Android newbie here running a Samsung Epic 4G.

I have run the easytether_x86.msi on my Windows XP computer.
What do I do with the com.mstream.easytether_beta.apk file?

I had already installed Easy Tether from the Android Market Place.

What do I need to do to be able to continue to use the posted software from EasyTeather.zip?

Thanks for your help.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Here's a link to the old EasyTether Lite and the computer app needed to be installed. It should not update, and therefore, allow you to access HTTPS.

It is still Easy Tether Lite, and I am not providing a link to the version you have to pay for.

Download EasyTether.zip from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way

 

[Stephen1520]

If you're looking for quick and simple, Easytether is my recommendation. Pretty much a plug and play experience, no tech savvy required.

My experience with PdaNet on the other hand: it's nowhere near as straight forward or intuitive. I tried PdaNet because 1) after, a quick search, it was touted as "preferred;" and 2) it offered Bluetooth connectivity. After much tooth-gnashing, I did get it to connect to my laptop (Macbook Pro, 10.6) using Bluetooth, but I never could figure out how to set up the USB tethering! Ultimately, I removed PdaNet.

Don't think Easytether (free version) has Bluetooth capability, but I don't really care at this point. Works like a charm!

 

[gbonato]

I just rooted my HTC Hero (2.1) with Universal Androot. That was super easy.

A few minutes later I installed Android Wifi Tether and easily started sharing my phones internet with my laptop. A new wifi network was created by the app and reached by the laptop. Couldn't be better. That gives me the option to share my internet conection with any other phone or laptop. You never know when that's going to be needed. The best part is that no driver needed to be installed in the laptop.

android-wifi-tether - Project Hosting on Google Code

I totally recomend those two apps.

 

[welly]

If you want to access https with ez tether or pda(not positive about pda i use ez) then use a proxy website like hidemyass.com. Ive been able to do a lot that way as hidemyass is always http. But my BIGGEST issue is some captchas will not work at all. Can't post on craigslist and cant register for some sites. What a buzz kill.

 

[cbreze]

you guys should try Barnacle. it's a free app in the market that allows wireless tethering on non-rooted Droids. prior to Barnacle, you had to be rooted for wifi tether.

FWIW, I'm not rooted rockin' a casio commando and use easy tether. I did need the correct drivers which I found here on AF. I think verizon purposely makes it hard to use tethering apps. In any case easy tether works great.
One thing and I'm not sure if it's a bug yet or just my machine, but sometimes when I click a link or something it gives me an error. Not a big deal, happens occassionally.

 

[fredal]

Here's a link to the old EasyTether Lite and the computer app needed to be installed. It should not update, and therefore, allow you to access HTTPS.

It is still Easy Tether Lite, and I am not providing a link to the version you have to pay for.

Download EasyTether.zip from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way

tried this beta version, but found that it expired in oct/nov 2010.
No luck.

 

[commandment]

FWIW, I'm not rooted rockin' a casio commando and use easy tether. I did need the correct drivers which I found here on AF. I think verizon purposely makes it hard to use tethering apps. In any case easy tether works great.
One thing and I'm not sure if it's a bug yet or just my machine, but sometimes when I click a link or something it gives me an error. Not a big deal, happens occassionally.

I just got a Casio commando I have a Windows 7 laptop 64 bit , which drivers do I need for easy tether

 

[cbreze]

I just got a Casio commando I have a Windows 7 laptop 64 bit , which drivers do I need for easy tether

Go to the commando forum and click on "all things root" . You'll find them in there.

 

[jimrbob]

I have a Facinate and was using PDA Net. It had been working fine then my laptop stopped recognizing my phone. When I plugged the USB cable in it showed nothing on my laptop even connecting using phone as mass storage. I got a new phone sent to me and PDA worked for awhile then the same thing happened. I installed new Samsung USB drivers on laptop but it didn't help. I read where the new Facinate update caused this problem in some android phones. I got another new phone and it connects using as mass storage device. I don't know if I should try installing PDA Net again or not.

 

[rouilly]

FWIW, I'm not rooted rockin' a casio commando and use easy tether. I did need the correct drivers which I found here on AF. I think verizon purposely makes it hard to use tethering apps. In any case easy tether works great.
One thing and I'm not sure if it's a bug yet or just my machine, but sometimes when I click a link or something it gives me an error. Not a big deal, happens occassionally.

Can you send me a link to where you found the Commando driver? Also, using Easy Tether or PDFNet? I have tethers for a while (other phone on XP) but having trouble with commando on Win7 professional.