Help Bluetooth/WiFi/Cable Tethering w/ Unlocked Phones?

SampsonNation · Apr 10, 2016

900F

2.5G (EDGE, GSM/GPRS ) MHz:850, 900, 1800, 1900
3.5G (HSPA+, UMTS/WCDMA ) MHz:850, 900, 1900, 2100
4G (LTE ) Bands:1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20

Please note that the SM-G900F does not support popular LTE bands used in the United States. To ensure this phone will work with your carrier please check to make sure the frequency your carrier uses is supported by this phone. The full list of compatible carrier frequencies can be found here, the frequencies this phone supports can be found in the product specs.

(Bands Listed Above)

So, I'm missing band #4.

Jfalls63 · Apr 10, 2016

AT&T may or may not have a license to use the band that is compatible with the 900F in your area. Best to check and be sure before you buy.

Jfalls63 · Apr 10, 2016

Should be good to go

SampsonNation · Apr 10, 2016

Okay great. I should be find then. Thank you for the help.

The phone I'm getting has already been loaded with a custom ROM. I'm not familiar with any of that, but the seller did say it included another option for tethering.

I'll give it a shot.

Jfalls63 · Apr 10, 2016

Good thing about the F version is that stock firmware and custom Roms are available. Good to know if you want to change Roms or something borks.
Good luck.

boxerluvr · Apr 11, 2016

FOXFI, FOXFI, FOXFI!!! It still works. I have a galaxy note 4 on verizon running lollipop. I'm grandfathered in with u limited data and I have no problems. I don't use it often with exception of long trips or vacation. But it's nice to have when others that have data plans and I just turn it on and WHAM!! Hotspot.

As a side bar. I paid for the premium. It's worth it. It doesn't time out. And you don't need nova launcher to make folders to organize your apps.

SampsonNation · Apr 11, 2016

Which FoxFi did you use?

1. FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet)

2. FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root)

The phone I purchased comes with CyanogenMod Version 12.

I don't know what's going to be on the phone. The seller indicated that CM has it's own way to tether within the firmware.

auburn2eugene · Apr 12, 2016

Too bad you aren't on T-Mobile. I have unlimited LTE which includes a whopping 14gb of tether per line. And we have 4 lines. Needless to say we tether a LOT

Jfalls63 · Apr 12, 2016

CM12 has native wifi tethering built into the ROM so you shouldn't need Foxfi to activate hotspot.

boxerluvr · Apr 13, 2016

SampsonNation said:
Which FoxFi did you use?

1. FoxFi Key (supports PdaNet)

2. FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root)

The phone I purchased comes with CyanogenMod Version 12.

I don't know what's going to be on the phone. The seller indicated that CM has it's own way to tether within the firmware.

FOXFI key is the premium version. It doesn't time out. That's the one I use

OutrideGaming · Apr 14, 2016

Theres two recommendations I'd like to make OP.

Check out Blu Phones. There's a good list of useful and inexpensive phones. Look for 4G ones if you have 4G. I used the Blu Studio Energy for a year before it took an.. Unfortunate. Swim this past week during spring break. Long story short, I just got my Blu Studio Enetgy 2 and its amazing. The battery is it's big selling point, ever known what it's like to go 3 days of not worrying about charging your phone?!

As for hotspot. Check out User-Agent switcher. When you're doing the hotspot, if you're connected to a laptop, get the Firefox/chrome extension. Search for one you like, make sure to read reviews to sniff out fakes!

Now if you tether to a phone/tablet/iPod/etc you can look up VPN software that's free and unlimited

As with any web-surfing. Be careful of using your credit cards/social sec/private info on unprotected networks.

And a question for OP. If you're tethering, is it to a computer? I see you're looking at smartphone which are essentially a mobile computer. And you'd get 3g/3.5g/4g which will be way faster. And unlimited internet already. So question is, what do you need to tether for? Most things you can now days do on smartphones

AZgl1500 · Apr 14, 2016

Just looked at the Blu phones, seem to offer a decent phone at an affordable price.
dont' look like any of them are compatible with Verizon though.

SampsonNation · Apr 19, 2016

I already bought the Samsung S5 to use it with AT&T.

I got my SM-G900F from eBay today. It seems pretty nice overall. I'm still trying to get used to it.

I'm thinking about switching back to the stock firmware, but I have no idea which region FW came with this phone.

I can't turn off the vibrate with keyboard text though.

Jfalls63 · Apr 19, 2016

Go to settings, scroll down to language and input and select it. Scroll down to find your keyboard and select it. Find preferences and select it. Should find option to turn off vibration on key press.
One of the first things I disable.

AZgl1500 · Apr 19, 2016

I am not home now, on vacation.

I have two S5 phones and you can turn off the keyboard vibration.
It should be available in two places, under the options when the keyboard is showing, and Languages and Input/select the keyboard name you are using ( swype for me )
then select Settings
then turn off Vibrate On Keypress

.EDIT: I thought I posted this before I went to bed last night, and yet it is still hanging here on this thread??? unposted, so I am going to click SUBMIT now for the 3rd time..... and see what happens.... even though this has already been answered.

SampsonNation · Apr 19, 2016

Jfalls63 said:
Go to settings, scroll down to language and input and select it. Scroll down to find your keyboard and select it. Find preferences and select it. Should find option to turn off vibration on key press.
One of the first things I disable.

That's the thing. My phone doesn't have that option. I spent all night looking for solutions. The only thing that did the trick was I turned down the "Vibration Intensity" level to 0. However, all the options such as "Vibrate with Touch" & "Vibrate with calls." were turned off already. I'm not sure if the menu's are different because of the mod, but it's a little confusing.

Another thing I instantly noticed was that notifications appear on the top left corner as little icons. I expected that, but I'm not sure if the phone is not supposed to show alert boxes of incoming messages, texts, etc. The only way to see the alert boxes and function such as "reply, delete" is when you swipe down the top of the screen to view missed alerts. I thought that was a useless extra step.

Jfalls63 · Apr 19, 2016

I'll have to double check the phone I have CM12 on when I get home but options under Language and input should be same. Under Current Keyboard I have Google Keyboard selected. Directly beneath is Google Keyboard and when I select it,then preferences, I get other options

SampsonNation · Apr 19, 2016

Great! I found that option. So, thank for that help!

It's been a rather annoying, but somewhat fun transition from IOS to Android.

I think I'm just going to have to play around with this phone more to understand it a little better. I think once I finish figuring out how to setup a good 2-way sync with my Calendar, Reminders, I'll be a lot happier. I need to get a good theme too. I'm not liking all the different colors for each text threaded conversation. Kind of too much for me.

I take it that you all don't recommend going back to the stock Firmware? I really don't care for all the extra apps or features. I'm perfectly fine using what's on the GooglePlay store.

One thing I did notice, the phone charges VERY slowly via the micro usb cable that was provided with it. It's not OEM, but it does work. I had the phone plugged into my computer while using it and literally saw the battery % drop over an hour.

Jfalls63 · Apr 19, 2016

If you want to try a different messaging app, look at Textra. Been using it for about a year now. Very happy.

I would look at Amazon for a stock OEM Samsung wall charger. It's not super quick but will charge faster than you drain while using.

Anything else pops up,ask. Lots of folks here with lots of knowledge willing to help.

SampsonNation · Apr 20, 2016

Okay, I've been playing around with the phone mostly all day. I'll try to point out what's been difficult for me to learn.

1. I attempted to place apps together to create a "Folder". However, they just get mashed together in a really ugly group on the Home Screen. I tried to download a Folder App, but I have no idea how to actually activate and implement it. (Update: Folders changed when I installed Theme App)

(I fixed this by downloading a Theme App called Pinko and APUS)

2. I've seen on other S5's that you're able to swipe from top to bottom and a huge toolbar will drop down. Mine has that, but it's nothing compared to the options other users have. (Update: This also changed when I installed the theme app)

Maybe this Cm12 doesn't have quick toggles like Lolipop.

3. Control camera with voice prompts. I don't seem to have anything like that on my S5.

I ordered the OEM USB cable for the S5. I'll give that a try. I am using my aftermarket cable that I've used for many years with my Nokia. I've never had a problem with the cable. This phone charges slowly. It drops 15% in about an hour or so too.

Update: After an hour and a half my phone dropped about 10-15%. I hope that's normal. It did take ALL night to reach 100% capacity though. Very disappointed in that. The estimate full charge would say "Full charge estimated in 6 hours."

Steve hintz · Apr 21, 2016

SampsonNation said:
Changing my plan is not an option unfortunately. It's part of a bundle with DirectTV. This is what the majority of my family wants. I'm just the oddball who wants to tether.

I use AT&T.

I've been doing some research on the S5 SM-G900F. I'm really liking the phone to be honest.

I'm still partially interested in the Windows Mobile phone, but I'm slightly leaning towards Samsung because of the features, etc.

Do you have a carrier branded phone, AZgl1500?

Windows phones are lame I had Nokia 1320 . They do not have many Apps and the ones they have are outdated. And they are not compatible with alot of things like printers and so forth. Avoid the Windows phones my friends.

SampsonNation · Apr 22, 2016

***Started a new thread for question***

SampsonNation · Apr 23, 2016

***Started a new thread for question***

SampsonNation · Apr 24, 2016

Well, I was able to tether through the computer. Now for some reason, my laptop stopped seeing the S5 completely. The phone still charges though. The problem does not lie in the USB cable. I restored my computer completely to see if maybe that would help. Nothing changed. I even enabled USB mode in the developer menu.

(UPDATE)

I can still see my phone on my PC at home when I plug it in via USB. I'm not sure why my phone doesn't come up on my laptop.

Does anyone know where I can go to re-install the Drivers on my laptop? I believe that could be the issue.

Help Bluetooth/WiFi/Cable Tethering w/ Unlocked Phones?

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