WiFi Hot Spot App

[docsouce]

My older Samsung S5 does not have an icon for hot spot or tethering. I have been looking at apps for this on line and there are a few listed. Would any of these work ok with my phone? I probably should buy a new phone that is set up for this but this one is still working fine. I did a search here and couldn't find anything. Oh this is a Straight Talk phone, and I have Straight Talk service.

[MrWizard]

straight talk and several others from the same international company
have custom 'ROM'/ Operating system
its NOT google issue Android
straight talk and its sister companies do not allow tethering on phones and plans that do not have that feature
i doubt a factory reset will work
you can download an APK file of some hotspot App
and install from an SD card
but then straight talk will very possibly cancel your account
it is in the 'terms of service' of the use of straight talk phone

check one of the low cost data options like visibl or ting
ting.com has a hotspot for $25 a month 30GB 4G LTE, on the Sprint network

[Naio]

If doing a factory reset will restore it, I would just do that. Just back up your photos and anything else you have on the phone first.

Maybe make a list of your apps, because that phone might be old enough that it doesn't automatically restore your apps after a reset. You may have to go to Google Play and reinstall them individually by hand, the way you did when you first got them. I don't recall, from when I had the S5, whether it was automatic or not.

[docsouce]

Thanks for the replies. This phone does not have the tethering/hot spot icon. A year after I bought it, 4 years ago, I went looking for it and couldn't find it. Went back to Wal-Mart and was told that it was omitted by Straight Talk and the only way it might be restored is by doing a "factory restart". I just let it go. Now I'm planning an extended trip this Summer/Fall and the availability of a hot spot would be real handy. I might just have to buy a new phone and switch to one of the extended data plans Straight Talk, or another carrier offers. Get these holidays behind me and really zero in on this.

[MrWizard]

yes it has wifi hotspot

little mis-understanding here

its the vzw plan i have that forces me to use foxfi or to change my plan

i have an 'OLD' grandfathered Unlimited data plan, NO slow down, No GB limit, No prioritizing

but tethering & hot spotting were NEVER allowed on that plan, that plan is so old, wifi hotspot option did not exist then, only the ability to 'tether' with a USB cable, got that plan when i had a 'feature phone' (now they call them dumb phones, but they are not dumb} with basic mobile internet browser
{i'v been using mobile cellular internet since it was a dialup option that used 'minutes' not mega/giga bytes}
{i had 300 daytime minutes and unlimited nighttime and weekend minutes}

without foxfi, vzw would charge me for every megabyte of data used by my PC or tablet, using data connection from the phone

i would change my plan, but no one has convinced me i can equal use for less dollars per month

[Naio]

I had an S5 on T-Mobile for years, loved that phone. It had hotspot capability. Have you done a search in settings?.

[MrWizard]

Samsung S-5 with Verizon, and Foxfi works for me
I used it last night, when att was not so good
I still have an old unlimited data plan where he data is for the phone and not Wi-Fi, Hot spotting is an extra charge, so I need foxfi for this plan

[wa8yxm]

I had very poor luck with Fox-Fi..
But my T-mobile pones Samsung s-3 5 and 7 all had hot spot apps.

[TurnThePage]

Foxfi and PDAnet won't work on my phone either, but I think if you're using an older phone that doesn't have the latest, greatest Android, you'd be good. It/they were awesome back in the day.

[austinjenna]

I didnt think Foxfi worked anymore - at least not for me. If I open the app it says 'This app was built for an older version of android - check for updates' and when I do there are no updates. I either use my hotpsot on the phone or Easy Tether Pro if hooking it to the laptop

[Bedlam]

The old Galaxy SIII we just retired had native hotspot capability, so it may be a carrier restriction that requires you to use third party applications. If you are trying to keep your phone lean and clean, you may want to look if you can unlock it from the original carrier and get that native feature enabled.

[BarneyS]

Another vote here for FoxFi or PDAnet. I used it successfully for quite a long time on my Samsung S4. Now use the built in on my S8+ when travelling or up in the northern Michigan woods.
Barney

[wanderingaimles]

Straight talk can be either Verizon or ATT tower based, they have contracts with both companies.
As to tethering or hotspot use, they have never condoned it, but could not tell you were doing it until about a year ago. Now they will shut down your data feed if they are notified by the tower service that you are a hot spot user.
If you want the data strictly for when travelling, you may want to buy a connected car device and use that for months you are travelling.
Connected car
Or switch to an unlimited data Verizon phone plan.

[RogerD1]

I used PDAnet when I had Straight Talk.

Just remember that you have to install it on your phone and whichever device you will be connecting to your phone with.

I installed on my phone and couldn't figure out why I couldn't connect my laptop to it. Once I installed on my laptop as well it worked great.

[DFord]

AllegroD wrote:
Foxfi worked well for me in the past.

Another vote for FoxFi. http://junefabrics.com/ PDAnet / FoxFi all the same. I used it for years before getting a dedicated hotspot, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.foxfi&hl=en_US You can tether your phone using PDAnet and your provider will never know. FoxFi is the wireless version. They've both been around a long time and do a great job.

FoxFi (WiFi Tether w/o Root) wrote:
A new WiFi Direct solution (free update) is now added to PdaNet for connecting computers or tablets in addition to USB tether. The legacy WiFi Hotspot solution remains in FoxFi. If the legacy FoxFi feature still works for your phone, it is still the best solution for sharing phone Internet since there is no limit on what kind of devices you can connect.