Help Me Find an Android Phone to Use for Wi-Fi Tethering

moksha on 18/06/2017 - 15:29
Last edited 18/06/2017 - 16:00 by 1 other user

So, the situation is this - I need an android phone to use for internet tethering only (won't be used for making calls or texts). Is has to be a phone, not a modem, as it is being used with the Optus 3G unlimited Sim, which technically can't be used for tethering. Iphones won't work for some reason.

It will be used by multiple connections at once, and we have found that cheaper phones don't cope well with this. For example, the Huawei Y550 doesn't handle it very well, but a Nexus 4 seems to go OK.

The Nexus 4 just broke, and so I am trying to find a cheap replacement.

I don't know how to tell if a phone is good at tethering multiple connections.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

• 

  SharedSugar on 18/06/2017 - 16:25

  -1

  I am not sure what is causing the phones to break, but it might be overheating. If that is the problem it might be very difficult to find a phone that can handle the heat load. I don't know much about overheating phones, but a bigger phone might help. An alternative would be to buy old cheap phones and recycle them when they die.

  If you like to play with technology I guess you could get a waterproof phone and use a tub of water as a heat sink. It is probably more of an interesting project than a reliable solution, but you never know.

  • 

    moksha on 18/06/2017 - 16:29

    I think the Nexus died at the charging port, I replaced the battery and it was working, it just wont take a charge.

    I have been running 2 of these systems with a bunch of different phones, and overheating doesn't seem to be a problem.

    The only difficulty is finding a cheap phone that will handle multiple connections - I am not sure how to tell from a phone's specs if it will be good at this - should I be looking at RAM, or connection speeds or something else?

    Thanks for your response.

  • 

    Diji1 on 18/06/2017 - 16:50

    It isn't overheating.

• 

  datafellows on 18/06/2017 - 16:51

  I used to have Samsung Galaxy S3, it worked like a charm for our home and small office and up to 8 connections. You can get one for $99-130 on eBay.

  One warm summers day it melted and I got S4, which was a nightmare and cut connections and was generally slow.

  Now I have Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 which is awesome and it can tether a whole day without being connected to a charger because its enormous battery.

  • 

    moksha on 18/06/2017 - 17:47

    +1

    Thanks for your help, I will have a look at the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3.

    The battery size doesn't really matter, as it will be plugged in all day anyway.

    Strange that the s3 was better than the s4!