Did you not want to pay more for the more expensive 3G model? Did you not want to pay for a data plan for the Vita? Well you can make your Vita, Wi-Fi model, do exactly what the 3G model does.
(PS Vita, Sony, Tech)
Is the vita able to get accurate GPS from your 4G phone?
I mean 3G isn't used for gaming AT ALL. it's far too slow. Unless you count things like downloading lbp levels at the bus-stop which is kinda cool.
It's great that you can tether the 4G Wi-Fi of your phone to the Vita so you can play multiplayer games wherever you are, but can it do EVERYTHING the 3G model can?
Could you hunt for monsters in ecolibrium? Could you accurately use the upcoming GPS game T@G?
I don't tend to play multiplayer on the move so to speak, I prefer quick games I can pick up for a few mins. i leave the gaming proper till I have some decent time set aside...which always coincides with being near an internet connection anyway.
I come back forgot I already agreed and tried again. Tethering internet capable equiptment to your cell phone connection has been new for about 5 years now.
Just tried this out for the evening with the Galaxy nexus and it works ok. Connection speeds will vary around the cities that you travel to. However, I was truly happy with the connection for downloading only. I will report tomorrow on online play. My upload rate was so weak but download was +2mbps. Not too shabby for updates and smaller games like Retro City Rampage. This is a very easy process and you should be happy with the results. 4g phones like the the Galaxy S3 should do a better job for sure and online play should be relatively stable.
Galaxy Nexus is also a 4G phone... Verizon's is LTE, I consistantly see 15+mb down on mine / GSM version is pentaband HSPA+ .. do you live in a 3g only area?
Suck it out? Only as much as you use..... Much faster than the Vita's sucky 3G though! So its up to you when you want to use this. If you're at home, its best you just use your computers wi-fi.
He's not wrong though. In Europe there are a lot of contracts that slow down the connection when a certain amount of MB is reached. Using the VITA over this connection certainly uses those MBs up quit quickly. The larger problem though is the battery life of the cell phone. Maintaining a wifi-hotspot takes some juice out of your device.
Also using this method still doesn't give you the enhaced GPS-features you get from a real VITA.
I actually do this with my 4G phone...so its even better than the 3G model. So despite people saying I bought the "gimped" model...my functionality is superior.
well, you did buy a gimped model, but since you don't use 3g on the vita you saved yourself some(maybe alot) money.
Just want to ask you a question about 4G. How many times faster than 3G is it? Does it kill your battery life quicker than 3G? Do you carry a rechargeable battery around with your phone?
Finally, are you actually able to game with 4G connection?
Hopefully you can answer those questions for me, might actually get 4G once it comes out in the UK.
Well the 3g really isn't a necessary function. Most people can just tether the Vita to their phones connection and 3g doesn't even allow you to play games online, you can only go on youtube, facebook, etc.
1. No, it's not gimped. You're probably the one who I had to argue with before. 3G is BARELY functional. It hardly counts as a feature.
2. 4G is MUCH faster than 3g. I download 20 MBPs on my 4g connection.
3. It definitely does drain the battery faster, ESPECIALLY when you're tethering. But I'm almost NEVER in a situation where I can't plug in my phone.
4. I don't even have a home internet plan. I i have a 4G connection and truly unlimited data. I do all my downloading, gaming, etc through my phone's 4G.
5. I'm definitely able to game over the 4g. As I've said, it's all I use. 20 mbps is faster than most people really have around here.
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I'm using 20-30gb of data per month over my 4g. LIke I said...love my grandfathered unlimited plan for $30 / month.
@rpd123 it issnt a neccesary function but it is an adition, clearly if you dont have it you can always tether but thats not the point.
@chitowndoc wow, didnt know 4g is that fast, think i may actually consider a 4g phone. now if only wouls release a vita with a 4g connection. tethering is a cool thing to do, i always use tethering on my phone, but it kills my phone batt all the time. i wonder if there are any portable 4g tethering devices around. would love to have a device dedicated to providing me a fast connection anywhere without draining my phone batt.
Just a helpful article for people who are not aware and are not sure how to do it. I even mentioned about Wi-Fi tethering in a previous article before the launch of the Vita. Anyway - Who would like to see a custom background tutorial on GC? ;)
This was the reason i only got the wifi model in the first place. Gosh i should have mad a article about this myself! Honestly you have to have no common sense to not know that you could do this this whole time....
Personal Hotspots or tethering has been around for years.
One of the bad things about doing this though is that you can very easily go over your data usage on your phone; I'm on EE (Tmobile Orange) and I get 750mb of data a month.
Another bad point is that you're going to drain your battery rapidly if you're on 4G/LTE and also using your phone as a wireless access point.
Tablets and I'm assuming handheld consoles like the Vita have a bigger data allowance on them (2Gb on Tmobile I believe)
This is 1 year late to the game, I've been doing this since day one, but prices (at least in Canada) are still way to high to make this an option even through tethering.
Why is this article featured? BTW: You do need to pay for that mobile hot spot plan and if your phone company has a data limit, you should probably keep an eye on how much you're downloading.
eBay really is the best place I got a wifi vita with 16gb mm card and 2 games for 210$ but I sold the memory card and the games so it only came out to 140$ ;)
Hardly news for those that re-search but good for those that didnt know. This why i own a Vita and Ipad Wifi versions... just hotspot of a 4g and its just like being at home : )
If you not unlimited then you will reach a cap that will trigger throttling. But itll work usng a phone as a hotspot but i still prefer my 3G version so i can have true accuracy and real gps as opposed to triangulation.
Its like having the PS3 original 60 gb with the ps2 hardware built it vs. the 80gb version which achieved similar results but ITS NOT THE SAMEEEEEE!
My 3G at&t plan has free wifi spots allover nyc for me anyway as a bonus that i am truly covered either way.
I got the free wifi app on my phone before the phone companies got mad at it and had Google remove it :P Sadly the phone companies figured out how to interupt it so its not useful anymore....
However this is why I got the wifi one. If I want to pay for data, i'm not paying crap AT T for it.....
i knew this was possible to do, but for whatever reason never though of doing it with my vita... of course, it's dangerous if you don't have a big data plan on your phone...
I imported a Huawei 5830 from UK for something like 35 Euro, ordered two extra batteries for it that cost me 6 USD incl shipment from Dealextreme.
Works great, including online gaming that the normal 3G PSVita doesn't let you do (it blocks online gaming on 3G PSVita, only PSN trophy/message checking etc). It also works great with XBL or PSN on 360/PS3 when taken with you to places you don't have normal WiFi/internet.
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I mean 3G isn't used for gaming AT ALL. it's far too slow. Unless you count things like downloading lbp levels at the bus-stop which is kinda cool.
It's great that you can tether the 4G Wi-Fi of your phone to the Vita so you can play multiplayer games wherever you are, but can it do EVERYTHING the 3G model can?
Could you hunt for monsters in ecolibrium? Could you accurately use the upcoming GPS game T@G?
I don't tend to play multiplayer on the move so to speak, I prefer quick games I can pick up for a few mins. i leave the gaming proper till I have some decent time set aside...which always coincides with being near an internet connection anyway.
but doesn't this suck the data out ?
Much faster than the Vita's sucky 3G though! So its up to you when you want to use this. If you're at home, its best you just use your computers wi-fi.
Your actually using the modem+wireless router to get wifi, not your computer.
/facepalm ...
You sir are what we call in the i.t world... a USER.
Also using this method still doesn't give you the enhaced GPS-features you get from a real VITA.
Just want to ask you a question about 4G. How many times faster than 3G is it? Does it kill your battery life quicker than 3G? Do you carry a rechargeable battery around with your phone?
Finally, are you actually able to game with 4G connection?
Hopefully you can answer those questions for me, might actually get 4G once it comes out in the UK.
2. 4G is MUCH faster than 3g. I download 20 MBPs on my 4g connection.
3. It definitely does drain the battery faster, ESPECIALLY when you're tethering. But I'm almost NEVER in a situation where I can't plug in my phone.
4. I don't even have a home internet plan. I i have a 4G connection and truly unlimited data. I do all my downloading, gaming, etc through my phone's 4G.
5. I'm definitely able to game over the 4g. As I've said, it's all I use. 20 mbps is faster than most people really have around here.
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I'm using 20-30gb of data per month over my 4g. LIke I said...love my grandfathered unlimited plan for $30 / month.
it issnt a neccesary function but it is an adition, clearly if you dont have it you can always tether but thats not the point.
@chitowndoc
wow, didnt know 4g is that fast, think i may actually consider a 4g phone. now if only wouls release a vita with a 4g connection.
tethering is a cool thing to do, i always use tethering on my phone, but it kills my phone batt all the time.
i wonder if there are any portable 4g tethering devices around. would love to have a device dedicated to providing me a fast connection anywhere without draining my phone batt.
huge difference bro
whats next from ps-analog? a tutorial on how to set a custom background on the ps3?
One of the bad things about doing this though is that you can very easily go over your data usage on your phone; I'm on EE (Tmobile Orange) and I get 750mb of data a month.
Another bad point is that you're going to drain your battery rapidly if you're on 4G/LTE and also using your phone as a wireless access point.
Tablets and I'm assuming handheld consoles like the Vita have a bigger data allowance on them (2Gb on Tmobile I believe)
I'll stick to home wifi for now:)
Yes your phone can become a mobile hot spot, thanks.
BTW: You do need to pay for that mobile hot spot plan and if your phone company has a data limit, you should probably keep an eye on how much you're downloading.
get a car usb charger and unlimited data plan, like from virgin mobile(1MB/s)
EPIC ROAD TRIP!!!!
What if your network is unlimited but it have limit , figure the mystery that the companys use in their advertisment xD
My iphone turn hot fast when i use the hotspot so i dont know if it is safe or not..
Its like having the PS3 original 60 gb with the ps2 hardware built it vs. the 80gb version which achieved similar results but ITS NOT THE SAMEEEEEE!
My 3G at&t plan has free wifi spots allover nyc for me anyway as a bonus that i am truly covered either way.
PS Vita 3G w/ 32Gb card. Portable Charger ROCKS!
PS3 Slim 1.75Tb
However this is why I got the wifi one. If I want to pay for data, i'm not paying crap AT T for it.....
Not sure how u didnt figure that out, but hopefully it helps some out with that.
Only time I lose service is when I'm using it :/
You can wi-fi tether for free if you root your phone, but I don't really want to do that.
I imported a Huawei 5830 from UK for something like 35 Euro, ordered two extra batteries for it that cost me 6 USD incl shipment from Dealextreme.
Works great, including online gaming that the normal 3G PSVita doesn't let you do (it blocks online gaming on 3G PSVita, only PSN trophy/message checking etc). It also works great with XBL or PSN on 360/PS3 when taken with you to places you don't have normal WiFi/internet.