No tethering or Wi-Fi hot spot for Motorola DROID after Froyo upgrade?

posted by Alan F. / Aug 03, 2010, 9:04 AM

No tethering or Wi-Fi hot spot for Motorola DROID after Froyo upgrade?

Sad news for owners of the Motorola DROID. Even after the Android 2.2 upgrade expected to come to the device this week, limitations with its hardware will prevent the phone from tethering capabilities and from functioning as a Wi-Fi mobile hot spot. Both of those features were considered to be part of the Android 2.2 upgrade, but a Verizon Spokesperson, Brenda Raney, sent a e-mail to Phonescoop that said, " "The Droid by Motorola doesn't have [the] hardware to support a Mobile Hotspot. With tethering there is no Connection on the PC side that will allow you to tether the device so the answer is that option isn't part of this update."

Raney also noted that the Android 2.2 upgrade will be first send out to a few DROID users to make sure it works correctly. Once it has been determined that everything is running smoothly, the rest of the OTA upgrade will be sent out in phases and Motorola DROID owners will get a bump up in speed thanks to the J-I-T compiler, Flash 10.1 support and other goodies.

Motorola DROID Specifications | Review

source: Phonescoop

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22 Comments

1. bbatts22

Posts: 17; Member since: Feb 19, 2010

Im confused. If the hardware wont support it, why are there tons of people running around with rooted devices and custom ROMs doing exactly this?!?!?!?

posted on Oct 20, 2010, 1:47 AM 0

3. SellPhones82

Posts: 569; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

No you are correct and VZW is just lying to Droid owners. I'm not sure what the point of it is. Just tell us you removed it becasue that is what you did. As you said Wifi tethering has been working on the Droid since the end of 2009. Makes me wonder what reasons they will give for the X and Droid 2 when Wifi and data cable tethering are removed from those two Froyo ROMs as well.

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 10:45 AM 0

13. jeremyinpdx

Posts: 1; Member since: Aug 03, 2010

I know that there are plenty of people out there with rooted phones running wifi tether and obviously it's capable. BUT is it capable of supporting 5 devices at once? Because that is what the mobile hot spot feature does. Maybe it does, I have never used the rooted wifi tether before. But this may be the distinction. The droid just can not support up to 5 devices at once? And therefore is not capable of "mobile hot spot". Just a thought.

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 4:01 PM 0

2. xmguy1

Posts: 68; Member since: Nov 04, 2009

I think Verizon MIGHT be right. Why wouldn't they pass up an opportunity to have people add tethering and then a $50 data package.

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 10:32 AM 0

9. tyguy829

Posts: 24; Member since: Mar 30, 2010

i know its possible because there is an app called wireless tether for rooted devices....they are lying so you will buy the droid 2, therefore renewing your contract AND add the tethering expensive... buy new device+sign new contract+data package= even more $ for vzw

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 11:40 AM 0

17. CRICKETownz

Posts: 980; Member since: Oct 24, 2009

LOL...what a ridiculous theory. So you think mobile hotspot is the ONLY reason that ppl will go for the Droid 2? Not the fact that it will have a 1Ghz processor, revised qwerty, flash 10.1 etc. What about those who wanted the first gen but weren't ready for the upgrade yet but now they are and here comes the Droid 2? Come on man...

posted on Aug 04, 2010, 12:32 AM 0

4. mortac8

Posts: 3; Member since: Jul 18, 2010

Guess PdaNet doesn't count???

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 10:52 AM 0

8. Sniggly

Posts: 7305; Member since: Dec 05, 2009

Lol, exactly what I'm using right now. ;)

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 11:15 AM 0

11. Misanthropos

Posts: 56; Member since: Aug 03, 2010

In your customer agreement it states that the use of 3rd party tethering applications that circumvent mobile broadband connect is a breach of terms and conditions. But really, i don't know why VZW didn't open this device up. Maybe hardware couldn't handle the software if that was on it?

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 2:29 PM 0

22. kameko unregistered

of course pdanet does NOT count. do you not know the difference between tethering and having a wifi hotspot??? duh.

posted on Aug 11, 2010, 11:49 AM 0

5. ibap

Posts: 870; Member since: Sep 09, 2009

Liike the car dealers telling their owners that they are the stupid ones causing sudden acceleration?

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 11:01 AM 0

6. ibap

Posts: 870; Member since: Sep 09, 2009

I smell a data cap coming on.

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 11:02 AM 0

7. gambino37

Posts: 146; Member since: Oct 16, 2009

I added the wifi mobile hotspot to my Droid X this weekend. There is a 2 GB cap on that. Kinda fishy.

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 11:05 AM 0

18. jskrenes

Posts: 209; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

I wouldn't be opposed to a data cap IF they would get rid of charging extra for tethering. If I'm paying for a limited cap on data, I should be able to use it any way I want. I suppose you could say the same thing about the unlimited plan.

posted on Aug 04, 2010, 9:10 AM 0

10. mg1326

Posts: 14; Member since: Jun 25, 2010

Its really about time should be out already but its cool they are sending to a few so see it run smoothly. Can't wait

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 1:55 PM 0

12. omarc26

Posts: 360; Member since: Dec 05, 2009

well i heard wi-fi thethering works perfect on the evo 4G dnt know cuz i havent tried it even tho i have an evo... that sucks for verizon customers.

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 2:50 PM 0

14. tuminatr

Posts: 1158; Member since: Feb 23, 2009

I just dont get it, all evdo and wcdma phones can tether, are you guys saying that verizon has no right to charge for a service that they are providing? well tmobile, att, and sprint say the same thing, read the info in your users guide PDA.net or smiler is a violation of your service agreement so I guess you have a choice ether root you phone and use wifi tether, use PDA.net software or pay you provider, just dont be dumb enough to go to them for tech support on rooting your droid or help installing pda.net

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 4:21 PM 0

15. ajmoore88

Posts: 25; Member since: Apr 13, 2008

Well, looks like I'm just going to have to stick with my bugless beast rom. I guess I'll just have to cry myself to sleep every night.

posted on Aug 03, 2010, 4:51 PM 0

16. CRICKETownz

Posts: 980; Member since: Oct 24, 2009

Well that's just the thing...there are several apps that "make it work" for the DROID but from a company standpoint its a totally diff. out look. To take a gamble on a feature with a device that technically doesn't have all of the proper hardware specs in place could potentially hurt the integrity of the company. Sure it works fine for the individual but Verizon has to think of the other millions of customers and if deployed will it be effective for everyone, not just a select few. If you think about it, there is no incentive to NOT include tethering on the DROID...it would be an extra $20 which would mean more revenue for the company, but Verizon is smart enough to look at the adverse effects that could come from this which would mean someone would have to write a bigger check to deal with those issues which translates into loss of revenue for trying to add a feature to a phone that didn't have the girth to sustain the feature in the first place. I think its a smart move. Ppl are quick to whine but don't think about the bigger picture beyond their own wants. If you are part of the small minority that wants tethering on your Moto DROID, root it and there you go. Its not like they locked out rooting...not sure what the complaints are about.

posted on Aug 04, 2010, 12:19 AM 0

19. wishbone

Posts: 13; Member since: Oct 30, 2009

Guess the bashing AT&T for not having tethering can stop now huh?

posted on Aug 04, 2010, 12:52 PM 0

20. CRICKETownz

Posts: 980; Member since: Oct 24, 2009

No...we can continue to bash AT&T. There other phones in Verizon's lineup that have tethering available out of the box. So, yes AT&T falls short once again....