[aklug] Re: off-topic: android ACS tech-savvy tech support?

On Tue, Jul 05, 2011 at 10:41:27AM -0800, Thomison, Lee wrote:
> Offtopic, so apologies.
> I accepted an over-the-air update on my ACS android last week, and now
> usb tethering is non-functional. I went into their 36th street store
> to see if they could help but they were basically a bunch of sales
> types. Can anyone suggest who to call or where to go for some
> tech-savvy ACS android help ?

USB tethering was probably explicitly disabled. Perhaps not with
communication with front-line sales, but most telecoms try very hard to
explicitly disable tethering. The theory is that if the user can't
tether, they can't rack up huge usage. I've never gotten an adequate
explanation as to why the user isn't simply kept informed of their
usage, regardless of how they're accomplishing it, but perhaps I put too
much credit to users (or too much credit on the telecom being able to
track and provide an interface for it).

Anyways (little rant aside), it could be just a switch in the phone to
disable tethering, or a specific username and password for 'hotspot'
and/or 'tether' mode. Both of them typically require access to the
phone's configuration, which is usually a specialized (Windows) program
along with a provider-specific password.

You could try google searches for your handset model, there may be
advice for that one specifically. You may also try rooting your phone.
Your chances are fair that this was accidental if the sales types don't
know how to sell you a package that includes tethering. Accidental
or not, what I'm really saying is you're probably SOL for fixing it on
your own.

It's also possible the sales types do know how to sell you the appropriate
package, but you didn't use the proper keywords. You're looking for an
expensive (probably the most expensive) data plan; the description of it
should include 'hotspot' or 'tether'.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. This is coming from someone who has
dealt with Androids and tethering outside of ACS, so I don't have pointers on
who to talk to about it within ACS.

--
Michael Fowler
www.shoebox.net
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