PdaNet for Android

by Android Tapp Jun 30, 2009 5:00 AM – 51 Comments

Install

PdaNet has been one of the most popular software for Windows Mobile phones, Palm OS phones and the iPhone. It is now ported to the Android system! PdaNet provides you with FULL Internet access so all your email, instant message programs will work without any setting changes. Just like the old PdaNet, it is as simple as clicking on the PdaNet tray icon and your computer will go online instantly.

PdaNet does NOT require root access or hacking your phone’s firmware in order to work. It is just a regular Android application that works on Android phones as-is. Currently PdaNet supports USB tethering on all Android OS’s and devices. Tethering is fast, secure and will also charge your phone at the same time. Your phone can either connect to 3G data or WiFi, even through VPN and PdaNet will share the connection with your computer.

Price: Free
Everyone

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Requires software download here: http://www.junefabrics.com/android/index.php
Not available in the Android Market.

PdaNet Android Tethering app is Awesome! Just what business users, tech junkie,s students or anymore who wants to tether their laptop on the go. Take advantage of 3G or Wifi Internet connection speeds to power your PC. This app is most useful because it does not require “Root” access to the phone, plugs in USB port with dual benefit of charging the phone… best of all it’s Free!

When we first evaluated the app, there were issues of connection being dropped sporadically. With the release 1.15+ these issues seem to be resolved.

How to Setup & Use PdaNet for Android

Download the software to your computer, link above
Enable phone to install non-Market apps: tapp “Menu”, tapp “Applications”, check “Unknown Sources”
Plug your Android phone into USB (first time use will install the app onto your phone via computer)
Toggle On/Off button on phone for Internet tethering
Right PdaNet icon in bottom right task bar on computer, click “Connect”

Caution: be sure your data plan can handle the traffic you may use and check your cellular terms and conditions regarding tethering as to not end up like this guy.

Watch a video how to turn your Google Android into a Wifi Tether/Router.

: PDAnet Turned On

: PDAnet Turned Off

AndroidTapp.com Rating

AndroidTapp.com Rating! (4.5 out of 5)

Should you Download PdaNet for Android? A Must Have for any Android with a Laptop!

Developer: June Fabrics Technology Inc.

Tags: Android Apps, Android Tethering, AndroidTapp.com App Review, PdaNet for Android, Tethering

Categorised in: Communication, Utilities

51 Comments

By Fernando on June 30, 2009 at 7:10 am:

Hi, I just bought a HTC Magic from the french SFR. I was wondering if the “reversal” of this application would be available. I mean, to use the internet connection available in the computer to serve my Android over USB? Since @work I’m in a 3G shadow area and no Wifi available. Thank you

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- By Android Tapp on June 30, 2009 at 8:52 am:
  
  This application is currently not designed for that, but a good idea. Hopefully a developer comes along and create it.
  
  Reply
By Hooty on July 1, 2009 at 8:23 pm:

How does PdaNet play with Ubuntu?

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By Bo on July 12, 2009 at 10:02 pm:

Fernando,
If you are using a laptop with WiFi, it’s actually very easy for you to turn your computer into a type of wireless modem/router for your phone using the computer’s WiFi as long as it is connected to the internet through an ethernet connection. You want to set up what is called an ad-hoc network, it will turn your computer into a router with no extra equipment. Unfortunately, if the computer you are working with isn’t wifi capable, then you are out of luck.

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By jjd on July 19, 2009 at 7:56 am:

It would seem useful to note that PDAnet only works on Windows and not with MacOS, Linux or any other operating system.

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- By gideon on July 27, 2010 at 12:19 pm:
  
  not true, i use pdanet from my droid on my macbook pro all the time. works great. very fast!
  
  Reply
By AKCobra on July 24, 2009 at 8:53 am:

Ok here’s an odd question.. could you set up an ad-hoc network using your PDANet connection to your android phone as your internet connection, and the laptop as your wireless router? Basicly I’m trying to get other devices (a couple of pod touches and another laptop) to connect to the laptop ad-hoc and use the PDAnet connection as my internet connection. Possible?

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By AKCobra on August 3, 2009 at 7:32 am:

Well here’s an update to my question above. I tried it with the new G2 MyTouch and it works (at least on Vista, I haven’t tried it on XP). ITs actually very easy, just connect to PDA net, share the PDANet connection to the internet and bind it to the wireless connnection, then put the wireless in ad hoc mode and presto, you have 3G ad hoc network that all your devices can connect to. I tried using it with my ipod touch and it works great.

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- By Android Tapp on August 3, 2009 at 8:06 am:
  
  @AKCobra That’s awesome, thanks for coming back and sharing. Let me know how your other tests go!
  
  Reply
By Taipanic on November 22, 2009 at 2:58 pm:

While doing this tethering, does the connection show up to the carrier as a tethered connection or just a regular phone data connection. So would the carrier charge for the data because of the tethering or would they not know the difference?
Thanks,

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- By tomhigham on July 12, 2011 at 2:24 am:
  
  I have used pdanet with another computer very successfully, but Windows 7 “has stopped this device because it has reported problems. Code 43″
  What gives?? Has Verizon done something to my Eris in reprogramming it when I resubscribed and tried to use it with the new computer?
  I have installed pdanet 3.0 on the phone, turned debugging on, etc. It successfully recognized the device once, but when I later retried reconnecting the phone, I got the USB device not recognized. I have been working on this for 2 weeks, and have tried everything I can think of.
  Sure liked it before, would like it to work now. No response from Junefabrics, which points to their not having a solution at present, which seems to indicate Verizon is able to determine that pdanet was installed on the phone, and has modified the phone in it’s reprogramming to make it unusable?? I need this seriously for business; maybe a change of carriers & phone is in order?
  HELP
  
  Reply
  - By IT Girl on July 5, 2012 at 2:51 pm:
    
    I had to download an ini file to my computer to allow the phone to be recognized with my computer. Once recognized, the only way it allowed me to connect via pdanet was to use the original tether that came with the phone.
    
    Reply
By Adrian on December 2, 2009 at 7:18 am:

Ok I’m confused.com! I’ve got it working via usb with my laptop, but first, what the different between that & using the phones software to connect?

Also I don’t have a landline & want to know if WiFi Tethering to share the phone internet connection wirelessly (like 3′s MiFi Dongle).

I basically want to connect my ps3 to the net using my phones internet connection…is it possible?

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- By Kyle on December 3, 2009 at 8:33 pm:
  
  If you have wi fi on your laptop and want to use the laptop for the ps3, just bridge the connections LAN and wireless and you will have a network bridge.You also need a crossover cable to plug into the ps3 from the notebook. create a different IP address for the network bridge. I suggest manually setting the IP settings. Dont know if this helps but my ps3 had a weak signal from my router so this is why i setup my laptop to be my wireless adaptor, now i get perfect signal and i dont disconnect.
  I would like to know how to use my phone t-mobile G1 to VPN from windows 7 ultimate with pdanet to windows 7 ultimate. I already created the vpn for incoming connections on the windows 7 side im trying to connect to. The problem im facing is where to put the name of the computer. it just says username and password. The server address is correct. I dont know what type of VPN is allowed and if anyone can give me step by step I would appreciate it. I use PDANET for testing Security from outside connections out of our domains for some clients. I would love to VPN to my home network, and if that works i’ll VPN into a exhange server to see how it works.
  
  Reply
By Aaron on February 9, 2010 at 11:53 pm:

I find this app surprisingly complicated to set-up. The configuration on my PC is complicated and frankly the performance of the connection (on full 3G mind you) is not fast enough to load a “Hello world” basic HTML site.

I’ll admit that I may be setting up the system incorrectly, but n=1=me and me=unhappy. The beauty of web 2.0, my voice is as loud as anyone else.

2 stars.

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By liamf on February 23, 2010 at 8:40 am:

i use t-mobile G1 android phone…using the PDAnet…it works fine, untill i come to use windows live messenger and its basically go stuff yourself…steam works, yahoo messenger work, skype works…just not live messenger…it will log in for a short period…like 10seconds then log off again and wont reconnect

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By greg on March 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm:

Ok, I have Pda installed on my pc and laptop. It works great. Now im trying to hook up wirless router so I can use the laptop and other computers in the house. The router intstalled fine and all. But im now trying to my Xbox 360 to hook in but its not getting a signal. Im running a ethernet cable from the wirleless router to the box. But its not getting ip address.. Is this possible to use the phone, and its internet to run xbox live. And how would I hook it all up.

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- By mztormy on September 9, 2010 at 4:27 pm:
  
  you can just install pda net directly to your xbox and then hook a eithernet cable from your laptop to your xbox and runs just fine my son plays modern war fair 2 all the time like that online.
  
  Reply
  - By Jason Norment on September 9, 2010 at 6:54 pm:
    
    How exactly do you install PdaNet on an Xbox? From what I know, you have to connect it to a computer first and then share the connection with the Xbox. I’ve tested it that way and it works but not directly connecting to the Xbox unless you use wifi tethering (not USB tethering).
    
    Reply
By Etan on March 26, 2010 at 3:09 pm:

anyone else failing to connect and getting an “HTC Sync Error =1″ message? Can’t find anything (ironically) via google about it.

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By reddragon72 on March 30, 2010 at 7:25 am:

So why can’t this just use your phone as a router? I had a program on my Windows Mobile phone that could use my 3G connection and broadcast it out through the WIFI on the phone, no need to “tether” to the phone VIA USB and it allowed multiple WIFI connections.. Is there something like that for Android, cause the whole tether then setup laptop to rebroadcast seems a bit… well.. stupid and redundant.

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By Brandon on April 1, 2010 at 6:42 pm:

Downloaded this for my motorola droid. Absolutly amazing, only problem is that I can not use any other ports. I can not hook up my 360 and I can not download torrents. Or at least I could not figure out how.

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By justin on April 10, 2010 at 9:21 pm:

i have the behold 2 and windows 7 ultimate 64 bit and i cant get it to downloan on my laptop?

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By Eric on April 14, 2010 at 8:44 am:

The best android app ever!

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By Ellen on July 20, 2010 at 4:10 pm:

I have installed PDANet on my phone and my computer, and the icon is there on my desktop, but when I click on it, it says ‘iphone detached.’ I have a MacBook Pro and a Droid. Is it not possible to use this app with my devices?

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- By Android Tapp on July 20, 2010 at 5:38 pm:
  
  Have you downloaded the Mac version of the desktop software?
  
  Reply
  - By Ellen on July 20, 2010 at 10:19 pm:
    
    Yes, I did. Any ideas?
    
    Reply
    - By Antonio Wells on July 21, 2010 at 6:35 am:
      
      Have you followed the steps for Mac users here: http://www.junefabrics.com/android/mac.php
      
      Please advise…
      
      Reply
By malinda on July 26, 2010 at 8:12 pm:

i just got a evo phone a pdanet let me free thethering it work find on my gateway computer free wifi at my house i am sending my wifi card back ,,,,

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By rich on August 11, 2010 at 11:07 pm:

was wondering, I had PDA net with my old palm phone, Now I have HTC Android. Can i still use the phone or will it disconnect the internet like it did on the palm? Will it allow me to use it as WiFi, or must it be connected by USB or Bluetooth?

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- By Antonio Wells on August 12, 2010 at 8:30 am:
  
  It think it depends on what version of Android you have. When I used it with my G1, which at the time was running Android 1.6, when I made a call or someone called me it always disconnected the Internet connection by itself. Then I had to restart it again. Using it with my Nexus One, running 2.2, it stays connected mostly… sometimes drops the Internet.
  
  Right now it only works on USB or Bluetooth.
  
  Reply
By Liam on August 15, 2010 at 2:46 pm:

Ive got the motorola backflip and I cant find the app in the market on my phone. what should I do?

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- By Jason Norment on August 16, 2010 at 12:23 am:
  
  Liam,
  
  What version of the OS are you running on your Backflip? If I remember correctly, the Backflip ships with 1.5 but is upgradeable to 2.1. This may differ whether you can use or download the app.
  
  Reply
By Scamp on August 21, 2010 at 9:54 pm:

Has anyone gotten the PDA access via blue tooth? I cant seem to have my Droid Incredible phone recognized via bluetooth. Thanks!

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- By Jason Norment on September 9, 2010 at 6:51 pm:
  
  @Scamp: I tried the Bluetooth access via Mac and it wouldn’t work. I haven’t tried on a PC yet since my desktop doesn’t have Bluetooth.
  
  Reply
By natae on September 9, 2010 at 1:15 pm:

i have the motorola cliq and everything is working fine, expect i am not getting my text messages thru to my laptop. it says to to menu on my phone >notifications> usb connected. but i can not find it! please help

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By Jerome on December 13, 2010 at 6:38 pm:

Foillowing directions for 64 bit windows 7 and it will not downloan onto computer. Keep getting an eror message of “can not verfiy software” or similar message. Any ideas?

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By russ on December 26, 2010 at 8:48 am:

I am using my droid 2 to teether my desk top with internet.I live in the sticks and no high speed or broadband. my question is my kids want to use there ipods and nintendo WII to get on line. Is there a router out there that will read my pdanet usb teether?

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- By Jason Norment on December 26, 2010 at 12:29 pm:
  
  The best advice I can give you is to create a wireless connection using your PC or Mac to share the connection with others. Using Vista and Windows 7 I achieved this by “bridging” the connection. Granted you have to remember if you take a 3G connection and share it with multiple devices expect that your connection may not be quite as fast as it is on your Droid 2.
  
  Reply
By erica on December 28, 2010 at 12:27 am:

i have a HP desktop that i run the internet from my HTC hero Phone … i use PDAnet as my modem to get interne through my computer…. i have a ps3 that i want to play online and im staying at my gparents for a lil bit and we dont get cable internet back here… so i was wondering if i ran a ethernet cable from my desktop to my ps3 which my phone is running as the modem on my desktop…. i plugged everything in and i got a unidentified network under my currently connected to: but its saying no network access???
any one wanna help me step by step?

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- By Jason Norment on December 29, 2010 at 10:33 am:
  
  This differs dependent on the version of Windows running your desktop. You can share or bridge the internet connection. There are many tutorials on the internet about how to share and bridge.
  
  Just google “Share Internet Connection”
  
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  - By Cuda on January 12, 2011 at 10:53 pm:
    
    You may want to check out “connectify” (http://www.connectify.me). Easy to set up.
    
    “…Connectify utilizes your computers’ built in Wi-Fi card to wirelessly share any available Internet connection: a cable modem, a cellular card, or even another Wi-Fi network….”
    
    Reply
By Severin on January 21, 2011 at 7:26 am:

Great application. Really a must have. do not hesitate to use it.

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By Leah on February 23, 2011 at 8:20 am:

I down loaded the free version of Pdanet for android. It did not tell me that I would have to use if for 14 days and then pay 15-24 dollars. NOW I can not get on line for several things and did not know why UNTIL it told me I had to upgrade…Well, its very deceiving..NOW my question is has any one downloaded the FULL version and started having problems and them asking for more money to upgrade or they start to have connection problems?

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- By Jason Norment on February 23, 2011 at 3:26 pm:
  
  The free version after 14 days will only allow you to visit sites that don’t require a secure login such as Facebook. The paid version allows you to view those sites after 14 days.
  
  Reply
  - By Lindsy on February 25, 2011 at 12:18 am:
    
    So even though everything you see says the program is “free”, it is only “free” the first 14 days. At that point you have to pay the one time fee for it?? This is the only way to use it after the first 14 days??
    
    Reply
    - By Jason Norment on February 25, 2011 at 1:04 am:
      
      Kinda. It’s just secure sites it blocks you from after 14 days.
      
      Reply
  - By Leah on February 26, 2011 at 5:33 am:
    
    thank you jason!:)
    
    Reply
By Leah on February 26, 2011 at 5:30 am:

Well, I have a metro huanwai m860 android phone and windows vista on my computer. It is so strange that I could go to any site-facebook,mocochat,comcast,etc the 1st 14 days pretty quickly and then the blocks. Get this…I BOUGHT the full version and not only did it NOT work but it slowed down my computer..I still get that windows could not connect and to contact my internet provider(?)…I asked for a refund…no number to call was directed to a couple of websites….they finally emailed me and let me know that I would get my refund within 3-7 days…Did I do something wrong? Why is it that I have to go to another webpage like this one then (sometimes) get back on facebook,mocochat,comcast,etc?

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By sam on March 1, 2013 at 7:59 am:

I have a windows based phone, Nokia Lumia 822. Does it work with Pdanet?

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