App to tether my droid to Surface?

[Jane]

Where can I find an app that will allow me to tether my Verizon droid (3g) to my lovely brand new Surface? I cannot seem to locate a "search" for apps,,, I just see the "top 100 apps" but cannot figure out how to dig deeper.

 

[Sin]

Search is always on the Charms bar. While you have the Store open, just swipe from the right edge of the screen and select Search.

 

[Jane]

Thanks Sin and Congrats on winning the new Surface!

 

[Sin]

Thanks! I love my Surface. Very handy toy. I don't have an Android device, but for tethering, this is dependent on the software on you phone. Do you have a particular software your currently using. Also are you looking to tether USB, Bluetooth, and/or WiFi?

 

[Jane]

No luck with finding an app to tether my Surface to my droid. Any ideas? I used "tether" and"tethering" as a search word and also pdanet which just brought up games. I emailed the company that I use to tether my laptop and they suggested searching for "PDAnet for tablet" which just brought up two games.

 

[Jane]

I would tether with Bluetooth but could theoretically use USB. So if it is dependant on my phone software I should be calling Verizon which is my carrier?

 

[Sin]

If you call Verizon they will add tethering to your plan, but it will add a few bucks to your plan (shocking I know). There is tethering software available for Android which should add the capability back on your device without Verizon adding another fee. USB tethering might depend on the driver for the Surface, which may or may not be available. Bluetooth and WiFi should work with out any issue, but do take a bit more battery.

 

[Jane]

Thanks again Sin. I will research it and report back, successfully I hope, for other users.

 

[ArnoldC]

That phone does not have WiFi tethering? The application you should look for is for the phone, not for the Surface.

 

[Bruce]

I use FoxFi on my Galaxy S3. There isn't any extra charge from Verizon because I'm just using my regular data plan. It works great with my Surface.

 

[J515OP]

Hi Jane, I think you are approaching this the wrong way. You shouldn't be looking for a tethering app on the Surface to allow it to use your phone for wifi. The Surface is far more capable than that and should be able to tether to your phone via bluetooth or wifi just like a regular laptop would. Instead you need to make sure your phone is setup for tethering.

Your phone should be new enough to feature a wifi hotspot. Contact your service provider (Verizon) to enable a tethering data plan, turn on the phone's wifi hotspot and find the wifi network of your phone with the Surface. After that it is just like using any other wifi. Alternatively, with an Android device you can get an app to help you enable activation of the wifi hotspot without going through Verizon. Please make sure you understand your terms of service before doing this as it may violate your contract.

JP

 

[denise3p]

I have the same problem Jane has.
I have a Motorola Razr Droid. When WiFi is unavailable I was able to use a program from PDANet that I downloaded to both my laptop and my phone. This enabled me to tether (using my grandfathered Verizon unlimited data) without purchasing an additional data plan.
I now have a new Surface and wish to do the same but Windows RT will not permit download of PDANet nor does it offer through the store a tethering app. (If I am to bypass Verizon data plans and charges, I have to have the corresponding app on both devices.)
I need to know how I can use my droid's data for internet on my Surface without getting a mobile hotspot and paying even more than I do for data now.
I am not familiar with using bluetooth for this purpose either.
Obviously, if RT will not permit tethering I will be forced to shell out even more hard-earned money to Verizon for a hotspot but I really want to avoid that.