How to change network name on Android 7?

[Sunny Rio]

I have Android 7. A google search only finds how to do this on newer versions. I want to change the network name when connected to my wireless, like the network name Windows PCs have. It's currently something horrible like android-22eb595fc, and since I have two phones on the network, it's difficult to distinguish them.

 

[ocnbrze]

here you go:
https://superuser.com/questions/408...etwork-name-of-android-computer/863648#863648

gonna have to have adb setup

 

[Sunny Rio]

Wow, too much hassle. Who wrote Android and what on earth did they think they were doing?

 

[Hadron]

Is it difficult? I don't currently have access to an Android 7 device, but I set the name of the device in both Android 8-12 and Android 4-5 just from the phone's settings without having to faff with ADB, so it's hard to believe that Android 7 is somehow harder.

Of course your router will probably let you rename the device on your own network through its settings (mine always have had this option), so if it's just for identifying the device on your own WLAN that is another way of doing it.

 

[puppykickr]

Wow, too much hassle. Who wrote Android and what on earth did they think they were doing?

Wow.
That is what I say to myself, and sometimes outloud, anytime I have ever had to deal with a computer instead of an Android.
Except of course for the substitution of the words 'this convoluted computer junk' for 'Android'.

 

[Sunny Rio]

Is it difficult? I don't currently have access to an Android 7 device, but I set the name of the device in both Android 8-12 and Android 4-5 just from the phone's settings without having to faff with ADB, so it's hard to believe that Android 7 is somehow harder.

Of course your router will probably let you rename the device on your own network through its settings (mine always have had this option), so if it's just for identifying the device on your own WLAN that is another way of doing it.

From my google search I have to go to an option which isn't in the phone's setting on v7.

Wow.
That is what I say to myself, and sometimes outloud, anytime I have ever had to deal with a computer instead of an Android.
Except of course for the substitution of the words 'this convoluted computer junk' for 'Android'.

Really? I find Android very unintuitive compared to Windows. Of course they do have to make it work on a poky little screen, so that must make the design more difficult.

 

[puppykickr]

Really? I find Android very unintuitive compared to Windows. Of course they do have to make it work on a poky little screen, so that must make the design more difficult.

Anything without a touch screen is like a caveman bashing things with a club.

Computer mouse?
Most stupid, useless thing ever.
Four arrow buttons are on the keyboard within easy reach that do nothing, but here- let me repeatedly have to take my hand off of the keyboard to fool with this stupid thing yet AGAIN.

Not to mention viruses- which Android is immune to.

 

[Hadron]

Really? I find Android very unintuitive compared to Windows. Of course they do have to make it work on a poky little screen, so that must make the design more difficult.

In my experience familiarity plays a significant role in what is intuitive. I find parts of iOS very strangely-designed, but iPhone-owning friends tend to not see the problem. I find a lot of Windows positively perverse (the registry in particular reminds me of the way some mainframe operating systems were clearly not designed for end-users), but then I have worked with unix and later linux since the early '90s whereas I only occasionally have to deal with Windows (and I find MacOS simple because under the skin it's basically another *nix derivative).

Anyway, which setting is it you can't find (to be sure we're on the same page)? And what phone, since some manufacturers modify the interface significantly?

 

[puppykickr]

In my experience familiarity plays a significant role in what is intuitive. I find parts of iOS very strangely-designed, but iPhone-owning friends tend to not see the problem. I find a lot of Windows positively perverse (all the faffing with drivers, and the complexity of the registry in particular), but then I have worked with unix and later linux since the early '90s whereas I only occasionally have to deal with Windows (and I find MacOS simple because under the skin it's basically another *nix derivative).

Anyway, which setting is it you can't find (to be sure we're on the same page)? And what phone, since some manufacturers modify the interface significantly?

What you are describing with iphone and Windows users can just as well be attributed to Stockholm Syndrome.

 

[mikedt]

Really? I find Android very unintuitive compared to Windows. Of course they do have to make it work on a poky little screen, so that must make the design more difficult.

Yeh, really!

Myself, I don't know how to change say something like the network name with Windows, as I don't use that, except on classroom PCs to show PPTs and videos to students. But I know how to do it on MacOS and Android. as those I know.

I've only got Android 10 and 11 devices and Macs here, and haven't had Android 7 or a Windows PC for a few years now.

 

[Sunny Rio]

Anything without a touch screen is like a caveman bashing things with a club.

Computer mouse?
Most stupid, useless thing ever.
Four arrow buttons are on the keyboard within easy reach that do nothing, but here- let me repeatedly have to take my hand off of the keyboard to fool with this stupid thing yet AGAIN.

Not to mention viruses- which Android is immune to.

ROTFPMSL! My android gets a virus every 30 minutes, I had to install a firewall to block it all. Billions of "search engines" etc downloading each other to the point of slowing it to a crawl.

A mouse is a very easy and precise thing to use. Rubbing a piece of plastic is not.

In my experience familiarity plays a significant role in what is intuitive. I find parts of iOS very strangely-designed, but iPhone-owning friends tend to not see the problem. I find a lot of Windows positively perverse (the registry in particular reminds me of the way some mainframe operating systems were clearly not designed for end-users), but then I have worked with unix and later linux since the early '90s whereas I only occasionally have to deal with Windows (and I find MacOS simple because under the skin it's basically another *nix derivative).

Anyway, which setting is it you can't find (to be sure we're on the same page)? And what phone, since some manufacturers modify the interface significantly?

I wanted to make it's network name different, similar to this in Windows: http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/windows-10-control-panel-system-activation.jpg
Notice "computer name" and "change settings" clearly visible in the main system control panel.

I agree the registry is odd. I prefer ini files in the folder of that program. The registry should be for the system only.

I hate the Mac and Linux interfaces. The only thing that Windows annoys me with is putting the buttons the wrong way round in a dialog box. Affirmative should always be on the right, like a car accelerator pedal, a volume control, etc. Despite using virtually only Windows, I'm constantly clicking the wrong one, due to getting used to everything else in life being more to the right and less to the left. Mac and Linux got this correct.

What you are describing with iphone and Windows users can just as well be attributed to Stockholm Syndrome.

Rubbish, I get annoyed with Windows all the time (the almost forced updates for a start). Just not quite as annoyed as Macs, because they're rubbish. And I worked for 11 years catering for both. I pride in having converted two companies to entirely Windows.

Yeh, really!

Myself, I don't know how to change say something like the network name with Windows, as I don't use that, except on classroom PCs to show PPTs and videos to students. But I know how to do it on MacOS and Android. as those I know.

I've only got Android 10 and 11 devices and Macs here, and haven't had Android 7 or a Windows PC for a few years now.

My newest phone (a year old) is Android 7. For some reason the later Androids don't work on cheaper phones. It was £30 and does everything the expensive Iphones do.

 

[Hadron]

I wanted to make it's network name different, similar to this in Windows: http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/windows-10-control-panel-system-activation.jpg
Notice "computer name" and "change settings" clearly visible in the main system control panel.

Yes, I meant what Android setting have you not been able to find, not how is it done in Windows. Knowing what you'd tried would make it simpler to search for solutions, or avoid suggesting things you'd already done. And knowing what device you have might help because manufacturers make their own modifications to the Settings, so the option might be in a different place or have a different name on some devices - though if it's a £30 device that's running a 2016 operating system it's also very likely that nobody here will have that model, so your best chance is possibly to just search the Settings for "name" (as in "phone name" or "device name").

That said, it seems that while some Android 7 devices have this setting others do not. I've never had a device that didn't have this setting (and I've been using Android since 2010), but you might have one there. Hence if the problem is identifying your device on your WLAN the simplest solution might be to assign it a recognisable name on your network via your router's settings.

My newest phone (a year old) is Android 7. For some reason the later Androids don't work on cheaper phones. It was £30 and does everything the expensive Iphones do.

The reason is that all mobile operating systems are built for the device they are running on (true of iOS as well as Android, and was true of Windows Phone, Tizen and all of the other dead mobile OSes as well). The manufacturers of such devices are using old hardware and an old Android version, and they never provide any software support so you will never receive an update (because building, testing and distributing updates costs them money, and if you are paying £30 for the device it's just not worth them doing that). If you want software updates I'm afraid that you have to pay for them by buying a more expensive device (even then, do your research first: manufacturers vary a lot in the support they provide).

It is possible to build your own update (a "custom ROM"), but it requires a lot of knowledge and work, and even then there are limits: if one component of the phone doesn't have a driver which supports the Android version you want to use you are stuck, and with old components the manufacturers will stop providing support as well. You might find a ROM that someone else has built, but as they are device-specific the chances of finding one for a no-name ultra-budget device are not good. And anyway even installing an existing custom ROM, should one exist, is far more involved than using ADB to change the device name, so it's not likely to be the solution you are looking for.

 

[Sunny Rio]

I have two phones. The Android 7 £30 phone which is very good apart from this name thing, and a £20 Android 6 or 4.5 phone, now free because I complained it was shit, claims to be 6 in the system control panel, but 4.5 if I use a utility like CPU-Z or ask Google Play.

On both phones, I went to settings, about phone, as is apparently the case on later Android versions. I can see nothing in there for a network name. Searching "name" also finds nothing.

I've actually got around the problem - I was trying to identify it on a collection of Boinc distributed computing machines, and in Windows, Boinc uses the network name. But on Android, you can change it within Boinc.

I guess people consider phones to be a throwaway device, but a 10 year old computer people expect to put Windows 10 on it. Although one of mine is telling me it probably won't be able to run 11 due to the CPU, which I find odd for Windows to need a certain CPU. It's a DDR3 era machine, so not an antique.

 

[Hadron]

Ah, yes, the throwaway culture with phones is dreadful. Actually our home PC typically does last around a decade, though I do most of my computing on laptops or linux clusters which get replaced more often and the PC is only used for domestic purposes and as a print server at home, so the demands are not high (I'm not a gamer). My phones have typically been lasting me about 4.5 years, but I live in hope of making the current one go longer.

Glad you found a solution.

Yeah, the phone OS being a lower version than what is claimed is a problem with the real budget end. It started with "fake" phones, cheap knock-offs made to look like a expensive branded device: they put cheap, low-spec components in them but program the phone so that the user interface tells you it has the screen resolution, camera resolution, Android version etc that people expect from a Galaxy S or whatever it is pretending to be. But more recently I have heard of cases where the phone isn't even trying to pass off as something else but still lies about its specifications. The real problem is that at some point the apps you might want to install stop working on older Android versions (it's even worse on iOS, though they do provide OS updates for longer than any Android manufacturer), so if you start off with Android 4 when you thought you had Android 8 you will hit this problem much sooner than you'd expect.

You can get a real bargain at the budget end: I had a grad student a few years back who bought a very cheap knock-off device and it did everything he needed for many years. But it's very much buyer beware.

 

[puppykickr]

First, it is not 'rubbing a piece of plastic'.
It is tempered glass.

Your mouse is made of plastic.

Second, your Android has NEVER had a virus.

It can easilly have malware, which it different- and a cause of user error.
(Look up the definition of 'virus', and then look on XDA.)

Third, a mouse is not precise, when I must continuously bounce back and forth between it and the keyboard.
It, and the stupid mouse pad, or the batteries in a wireless, are all part of the throwaway culture that exists today.

If you had learned how to type (you know, with both hands and not looking) on a real typewriter then you would know that efficiency is destroyed by moving your hands off of the keyboard.

Funny how I use a full size wireless keyboard on my phone, and STILL do not need a mouse for anything.

 

[mikedt]

I have two phones. The Android 7 £30 phone which is very good apart from this name thing, and a £20 Android 6 or 4.5 phone, now free because I complained it was shit, claims to be 6 in the system control panel, but 4.5 if I use a utility like CPU-Z or ask Google Play.

On both phones, I went to settings, about phone, as is apparently the case on later Android versions. I can see nothing in there for a network name. Searching "name" also finds nothing.

Yeh, cheapo knock-off phones showing fake information. Did it come from Wish or something? I prefer to avoid such devices.

I've actually got around the problem - I was trying to identify it on a collection of Boinc distributed computing machines, and in Windows, Boinc uses the network name. But on Android, you can change it within Boinc.

I guess people consider phones to be a throwaway device, but a 10 year old computer people expect to put Windows 10 on it. Although one of mine is telling me it probably won't be able to run 11 due to the CPU, which I find odd for Windows to need a certain CPU. It's a DDR3 era machine, so not an antique.

Not only that, Microsoft also nagging to install Windows 10 on old Windows 7 machines.

This is something I still see occasionally on school PCs, ancient Lenovos running Win 7 Home Basic, that could not possibly run Windows 10.

I stopped using Windows myself, back when Vista came out.

 

[Hadron]

I stopped using Windows myself, back when Vista came out.

I think a lot of people did that .

(To be fair to Microsoft I did read that some of the problem was Vista being pushed out with machines that couldn't handle it, but the only person I ever knew to use Vista was very insistent that it wasn't through choice, their machine had come with it. All other Windows users I know just hung onto XP and waited for Vista to go away.)

 

[Hadron]

Second, your Android has NEVER had a virus.

It can easilly have malware, which it different- and a cause of user error.
(Look up the definition of 'virus', and then look on XDA.)

Third, a mouse is not precise, when I must continuously bounce back and forth between it and the keyboard.
It, and the stupid mouse pad, or the batteries in a wireless, are all part of the throwaway culture that exists today.

If you had learned how to type (you know, with both hands and not looking) on a real typewriter then you would know that efficiency is destroyed by moving your hands off of the keyboard.

Funny how I use a full size wireless keyboard on my phone, and STILL do not need a mouse for anything.

Quite right about "viruses".

However I must say that a mouse is actually a more accurate pointing device than a touchscreen. And I speak as a 10 finger touch typist when I say I don't find it to be any problem for efficiency: when I use a mouse I'm not typing, when I'm typing I'm not using a mouse, and I can reposition my hands reliably between them. But I'm also using the mouse for things I can't do with a keyboard or are more efficiently done with a mouse, such as switching to a specific other window or selecting a menu item that I've not memorised a keyboard shortcut for (and as I use many different apps, each with many options, and often using different shortcuts for the equivalent option, there are very many cases where it's just not worth the effort of learning keyboard shortcuts).

But then I'm talking about using a computer, not a phone. For me comparison between a phone touchscreen and a mouse is irrelevant because there is very little overlap between what I use them for, and neither could replace the other.

 

[puppykickr]

Quite right about "viruses".

However I must say that a mouse is actually a more accurate pointing device than a touchscreen. And I speak as a 10 finger touch typist when I say I don't find it to be any problem for efficiency: when I use a mouse I'm not typing, when I'm typing I'm not using a mouse, and I can reposition my hands reliably between them. But I'm also using the mouse for things I can't do with a keyboard or are more efficiently done with a mouse, such as switching to a specific other window or selecting a menu item that I've not memorised a keyboard shortcut for (and as I use many different apps, each with many options, and often using different shortcuts for the equivalent option, there are very many cases where it's just not worth the effort of learning keyboard shortcuts).

But then I'm talking about using a computer, not a phone. For me comparison between a phone touchscreen and a mouse is irrelevant because there is very little overlap between what I use them for, and neither could replace the other.

I find that I have no use for a computer.
Android will be (thankfully) the death of computers.

 

[Hadron]

I find that I have no use for a computer.
Android will be (thankfully) the death of computers.

I'm afraid that my requirements are very different. I could actually do without a phone more easily.

 

[Sunny Rio]

First, it is not 'rubbing a piece of plastic'.
It is tempered glass.

Whatever, it still feels the same. It's not natural. You draw on a blackboard with chalk, imagine using your finger.

Your mouse is made of plastic.

But I don't rub the mouse.

Second, your Android has NEVER had a virus.

It can easilly have malware, which it different- and a cause of user error.
(Look up the definition of 'virus', and then look on XDA.)

Your childish pedantry is not helping. I have software on it getting in my way. It opens a browser window with an advert every 5 minutes, how am I to know if it's also taking my password keystrokes?

Third, a mouse is not precise, when I must continuously bounce back and forth between it and the keyboard.
It, and the stupid mouse pad, or the batteries in a wireless, are all part of the throwaway culture that exists today.

If you had learned how to type (you know, with both hands and not looking) on a real typewriter then you would know that efficiency is destroyed by moving your hands off of the keyboard.

You do make me laugh, so you can touch type on a tiny phone screen?

Funny how I use a full size wireless keyboard on my phone, and STILL do not need a mouse for anything.

But you must take your hands off the keyboard to touch the screen, so same problem.

Yeh, cheapo knock-off phones showing fake information. Did it come from Wish or something? I prefer to avoid such devices.

Ebay, China. Only £20, thought I'd try it. Got my money back.

But I did then get one for £40 from a UK seller (probably a Chinaman pretending to be in the UK) which was genuine (A VKWorld Mixplus Android 7), and got £10 off that because it forgets my contacts when powered off. But I solved that problem by using Google cloud to store the contacts. Everything else works perfectly, it's got GPS, sensors to use for spirit level, decent camera and video camera, HD screen, quad core processor, etc.

Not only that, Microsoft also nagging to install Windows 10 on old Windows 7 machines.

This is something I still see occasionally on school PCs, ancient Lenovos running Win 7 Home Basic, that could not possibly run Windows 10.

I stopped using Windows myself, back when Vista came out.

Odd, I have ancient machines, I have one that still uses DDR2 memory. It runs Windows 10 easily. In fact faster than any earlier Windows.

I find that I have no use for a computer.
Android will be (thankfully) the death of computers.

Yeah right, that's like saying bicycles will be the death of cars.

 

[puppykickr]

It most certainly does not feel the same.
Maybe you have difficulty telling quality substance (tempered glass) from junk (plastic).

That could explain this fetish for a useless plastic throway toy called a mouse.

Any app causing ads that interfere with use have been put there by the user, or (rarely) by the producer of the device.
Both are user errors- not the fault of Android.

Already over 80% of web traffic is on mobiles.
Computers are heavy, fat slugs that will soon be considered digital dinosaurs.

Hardly ever do I need to touch the screen when I use the keyboard, because there are keys that do what I need, unlike the clumsey mouse that shouldn't exist.

I actually have multiple keyboards on my devices that allow for productive typing when I can't use a physical keyboard.

Why don't you get the adware off your device?
It will most likely be some app that you have installed.

It could be malware left behind from apps you have uninstalled, or possibly downloaded by other apps that you may or may not have uninstalled.

Bottom line, 99% of malware is due to user error.
The user must download, install, and run it.

 

[Sunny Rio]

It most certainly does not feel the same.
Maybe you have difficulty telling quality substance (tempered glass) from junk (plastic).

The point is rubbing a solid object is just weird. Rubbing a soft cat is nice, stroking a hard material is not.

That could explain this fetish for a useless plastic throwaway toy called a mouse.

A very accurate pointing device used by everyone. You're the first person I've ever known who hates them. The only reason phones are touchscreen is because they're portable. Carrying a mouse and keyboard around with you is problematic. Your insistance that a little portable device and a proper computer are the same thing is ridiculous. It would be like saying we don't need houses, lets all live in tents. Show me an Android device with the same computing power as my Ryzen 9 3900XT.

Any app causing ads that interfere with use have been put there by the user, or (rarely) by the producer of the device.
Both are user errors- not the fault of Android.

They're there when I restore it to factory defaults. That can't happen with Windows. You don't get a computer tampered with at such a low level you can't format the bugs out of there. Android is a mickey mouse OS cut down to work on little battery powered toys.

Already over 80% of web traffic is on mobiles.

53.98% actually, and that's only because people like you just chat and chat and chat for no reason. And it's a stupid measure anyway, people are more likely to need to look up information while on the move. When you're at home, you use a computer. A phone is for when you're out and about. I assume you do go home sometimes?

Computers are heavy, fat slugs that will soon be considered digital dinosaurs.

Get rid of your car then, a bicycle is fine, even if you're trying to carry a tonne of stuff or travel a thousand miles.

Hardly ever do I need to touch the screen when I use the keyboard, because there are keys that do what I need, unlike the clumsey mouse that shouldn't exist.

Now you're not making any sense at all. You're using a keyboard the same as me. The number of times I must use the mouse is identical to the number of times you must use the touch screen. A touch screen is simply a mouse alternative.

I actually have multiple keyboards on my devices that allow for productive typing when I can't use a physical keyboard.

How many hands do you have? Most people type on one keyboard.

Why don't you get the adware off your device? [snip repetition] ....or possibly downloaded by other apps that you may or may not have uninstalled.

Lovely, apps downloading other apps. Wonderful design of OS.

[snip more repetition]

Funny you're not quoting very well, is that too difficult without a mouse?

 

[mikedt]

Ebay, China. Only £20, thought I'd try it. Got my money back.

But I did then get one for £40 from a UK seller (probably a Chinaman pretending to be in the UK) which was genuine (A VKWorld Mixplus Android 7), and got £10 off that because it forgets my contacts when powered off. But I solved that problem by using Google cloud to store the contacts. Everything else works perfectly, it's got GPS, sensors to use for spirit level, decent camera and video camera, HD screen, quad core processor, etc.

I'm actually in China, and so I know very well the sort of trash these cheapo knock-off things can be like. Often made from reject and/or recycled parts, and good luck with the firmware(which can include malware sometimes).

My current phone is a Samsung, although I did use a Huawei previously. With being in China, is why choose not to use Windows for various reasons.

 

[Sunny Rio]

I'm actually in China, and so I know very well the sort of trash these cheapo knock-off things can be like. Often made from reject and/or recycled parts, and good luck with the firmware(which can include malware sometimes).

My current phone is a Samsung, although I did use a Huawei previously. With being in China, is why choose not to use Windows for various reasons.

I don't know why they do it, I bought some Li Ion AA batteries from China which claimed 2500mAh. Panasonic has never achieved more than 1000. So I questioned it and did a test discharging them in a torch. Turned out they were 300mAh, an eight of what was advertised. As soon as I complained, 100% refund, keep it, they know it's crap, presumably some people just throw them away. You'd think the bad feedback on Ebay would get them shut down. I bought a 2TB USB memory stick that was only 250GB. When you wrote the 251st GB, it overwrote the 1st one. And he thought I wouldn't test it first by filling it with films....

But I like my £30 Android 7 VKWorld Mix Plus.

Why do you not want to use Windows? Does it grass you off to the government?