So there's my brand new Motorola Milestone, with Android 2.1
Yes, it has Bluetooth.
Yes, it has WiFi.
Yes, it has USB.
But can you use Bluetooth for anything useful (DUN or PAN/NAP)? No. (I think I even had to install an "app" first for it to be able to receive OBEX Push...)
Can you use it as a WiFi access point / router? No.
Can you get IP connection via the USB port? No.
Short: there is no way you can use the mobile Internet connection of your Phone e.g. with a laptop. That's something my (really crappy) Sony Ericsson K600i did more than 5 years ago. And almost every other phone since the availability of GPRS, even back when the connection was via IRDA and not Bluetooth.
So the Milestone (and probably almost every other Android phone) is a clumsy, heavy, but mostly useless brick.
I honestly don't care if there are "apps" (of course at additional cost and most of them crap, or requiring that I first hack the phone for root access) that can enable functionality that should definitely be there from the start.
I probably should have insisted on getting a N900 instead.
I think you need to change the title to: my mobile provider sucks big time.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a windowsbox n900 would be OK !!!!
ReplyDeleteActually, this is a non-branded, genuine motorola milestone. So I fail to see what it has to do with my mobile provider. The exact same SIM can do PAN and DUN just fine in a Sony Ericsson C510.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have seen lots of android users asking for "how to do tethering" etc on the internet, so it obviously seems to be a common deficiency.
Do you have a hint on how to enable BT DUN or NAP?
Having to install a app or rooting a device in order to have functionality that we have had on phones since "dawn" of gsm networks here in Europe is starting to annoy me.
ReplyDeleteI promise I will only buy phones that let me do standard functionality out of box.
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Iphone : NO - i do not want to have itunes, just to "activate" my phone, thank you
Android : NO - no tethering or bluetooth PAN/DUN
Now I'm sure there is more phone OS that should go on my list, but these 2 are the ones that I can think of right now.
Notice a pattern? Both are made by American companies....
People - vote with your money! Don't buy "broken" phones
http://www.androidtapp.com/pdanet-for-android/
ReplyDeletehttp://www.softsailor.com/how-to/mobile-how-to/15567-3-simple-ways-to-tether-an-android.html
http://androidcommunity.com/a-new-way-to-tether-without-root-20100212/
oh, that's right, I forgot--you didn't want to spend either money or brainpower to get what you want....by that criteria, you're absolutely right: the android platform 'sucks bigtime'
Among all the Linux-based OS's,, WebOS is the only one that gets it right: easy, functional, _official_ tethering. You klick the app, you tether.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. I don't want to go through complicated steps and spend additional money for standard functionality. I mean - this is like not being able to make a phone call without installing an "app" first. Bluetooth PAN / DUN is just plain basic functionality for a data-capable phone.
ReplyDelete