pdaNet for Android – Review by Christian Martell

Written by Christian on April 27, 2010 in Android, Product Review, smartphone - 4 Comments

Recently I have been doing alot more traveling , and being the geek that I am , I cannot be without atleast one of my laptops. I need to have internet access when I want it ( you never know when you may want to some heavy googling , or even cash your money in on Sorority Life ( ChangoBi and Omilasa , lol , by the way do people even play that anymore ? ) In anycase , for me having access to the internet is crucial . For casual email sending , I have my Smartphone , but sometimes that simply isn't enough ( fingers get tired of pecking out long emails. , and of course you can't send any real attachments with it ) . So the solution for the geek on the go ? Pay some outrageous fee at your hotel for using there connection ? Hoping that someone has an unsecured Wi-Fi network you can tap into ? What if you don't have those options ? Then what ? Everyone say it with me "Tethering" .  

Awesome. Uh , what is tethering ?

( This  is the definition given by some genius at Wikipedia )

Tethering is the use of a mobile device such as a mobile phone to supply Internet access for another device which is otherwise unconnected, using the mobile device as a modem.^[1] This can be done through Bluetooth wireless technology or cables (such as USB).

Tethering has been used to gain access to the Internet since mobile devices started using their networks to give users Internet access, but has increased in prevalence due to Internet connectivity in modern cell phones and laptops.^{[citation needed]}

Many moons ago  I tethered my blackberry 7520 ( if you are a crackberry user or have owned a 7520 , then you know how old the model is ,lol) I would use the tethered link to my ( then I think I had an old school sony Vaio running Windows Xp ) . In anycase I would use it for light surfing  ( very light ) surfing while I was on the road , or if I needed to mapquest something ( the phones had crappy reception as it where , so the tethered link really didn't do much more than give me a bigger screen to look at , and give me the appearance of a secret agent with a bunch of oversized gadgets ( Blackberry had some really crappy stock accesories , lol ) . I digress though.

I had an unexpected flight that I needed to take popup andf ofcourse i had work pending ( some  websites that I needed to update and fix for some of my clients ) . I was looking to see if I could ( I knew I could , just never had a need to ) tether my G1 phone to my Dell 600m ( this laptop has taken many-an-ass-kicking , lol) .( in fact , I am typing this from about 30,000 feet in the air right now on my way to Milwaukee , with a connecting flight to Minnesota) . 

I came across a program a while back called PDanet. I downloaded the app to my G1 , and then installed it  to my laptop. I tested it briefly , and it looked promising.If you have an unlimited text and Web plan , then have a ball , and surf on , however I would highly discourage the use of this program if you have a cap on the data usage for your phone.  ( those charges will creep up on you ) . 

The program is a fully functioning trial version ( after the 14 day trial expires however , you can continue using the program , however you will only have a ccess to non loked websites ( websites that require login or user credentials , so at best googling or maybe mapquesting ) . The one time fee is 18.95 , and covers one license ( or use on one phone) . The nice thing about this program is that even though you can only install it one phone , you can install it  on unlimited amount of computers ) . 

The website boasts connections speeds of 2.5 Mb  , however as we of course  all know , that is subject to the type of connection that you are using ( pdaNEt allows users to connect either through usb , or through the bluetooth ( I haven't tested the bluetooth capabilites of the phone , however if someone does test out the bluetooth connection , please let me know how it compares to the usb connection ) 

Installation 

Very straightforward. Go to the Android Market on your handset , and then type in "Pdanet" or "tether" . Download the app , and voila . That's it , lol. I placed a shortcut on my phones screen ( I'll explain why in just a little bit).

Installation (Pc )

This was a little more complicated , ( but not by much ) . I will share my experience with you so that you know what the do's and don'ts are when you install the program .

Go to ( http://www.junefabrics.com/palmnet/) , and then download the file.

I keep my phone in its cradle while I work so that it charges ( not a good idea to do when you are installing this app ) . You run the installer , and you will see a few ptomyd pop up . Again , before you start the install process , make sure that your phone is not connected to your pc. Once setup is done , it will ask you to the following -

Go to Settings- ( enable usb debugging mode) .

Now Connect your phone to your computer.

Alos make sure that when you plug your phone into your pc , you plug it direclty into the computer , and not through a usb hub strip.you will get a time out error telling you that no handset was detected .  ( it will not work ).

You will get a popup screen telling you that the dirvers have been installed , and that you need to restart windows in order to complete the installation of the driver software. Do not click ok . Click cancel , and then reboot your computer. ( make sure you keep your phone conencted to the computer before you reboot). After your computer has  rebooted , run the install again , and let it run its course. ( at the current time , the website does not ake mention of this , but I will address the issue , lol) . 

Once the installation is complete , you will see a prompt notifying you , and also , you will notice the pdanet icon in your systray . 

To test your connection , disable your current interent connection ( disable your wireless network ) , or if you are using an ethernet connection , physically disconnect it from your computer.

Go to your handheld and look for the shortcut that you so convenitely placed on your phone ( isn't that bettert than scrolling through the endless array of apps that you have downloaded , lol ??? ) 

It will give you the option to connect wither through usb , or through bluetooth ( again , if you have tried out the bluettoh connection , please let me know hoe fast te speed is on yhat is , I am sure it is not as fast as a hardline connection to the phone ( bluetooth has always been a little temperamenrtal , but thats aboter blg post all its own ) . 

Once it is enabled , go to your systray , and click the pdanet icon , and wait a few seconds. ta-da ! Instant internet . 

today is April 27th and am continuing writing on this – I have thoroughly used this software and definitiely give it a thumbs up.  I love the sms agent. If you get a text message , you will get a pop up window on your screen telling you who wrote the message and you will also pull your address book up so that you can send text messages from your computer. You can even answer phone calls while being tethered ,and it won't break the internet connection . ( the voice and data streams are different , so it does not affect the other ) 

 I must say that it can handle alot of data transfer . I was streaming music from Aol Radio, chatting with my girl ChangoBi on GChat, and working on a website for client ( Glamour-Squad.com coming soon) .  All in all it is a good program and  highly recommend it.  I have officially registerd this software and must say that I am very happy with it .