Related
for those who may be interested...it is possible to have your hero flashed to work on the Cricket network. it may not be for everyone, but i couldn't resist the lure of $40/mo unlimited everything with no contract. (saves around $1,000+ over the life of the contract)
here's what i did:
-buy cdma hero on ebay
-go to a cricket store and ask them to activate the phone
-usually the rep will "know a guy" who can work with htc (try a few stores or call around)
-they may charge you $30 or so to flash it and its working
wireless data, visual voicemail, and mms dont' work...but they expect to get them working soon (phone is only a few weeks old at this point)... and where i'm at, i almost always have wifi and don't care about vm or mms.
Might see if any of these guys know about xda...perhaps they just need to be pointed here to share the wealth of what they're doing.
HTC Hero Phone Code Numbers ##
if you do transfer to cricket (or perhaps another cdma carrier), a good thing to know is:
##000000#
this will allow you to edit or view EPST (change/view your Mobile Directory Number MDN and MSID)
The MDN is your current phone number, your local cricket store can give you your MSID (which also depends on your phone number).
yourmanstan said:
for those who may be interested...it is possible to have your hero flashed to work on the Cricket network. it may not be for everyone, but i couldn't resist the lure of $40/mo unlimited everything with no contract. (saves around $1,000+ over the life of the contract)
here's what i did:
-buy cdma hero on ebay
-go to a cricket store and ask them to activate the phone
-usually the rep will "know a guy" who can work with htc (try a few stores or call around)
-they may charge you $30 or so to flash it and its working
wireless data, visual voicemail, and mms dont' work...but they expect to get them working soon (phone is only a few weeks old at this point)... and where i'm at, i almost always have wifi and don't care about vm or mms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont believe you. How could you possibly "flash it" with out root access?
Negrito said:
I dont believe you. How could you possibly "flash it" with out root access? /QUOTE]
don't believe me then...i'm sure i just imagined myself doing all those things and making phone calls without a sprint account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yourmanstan said:
don't believe me then...i'm sure i just imagined myself doing all those things and making phone calls without a sprint account. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if im just "being stupid" then you could simply prove me wrong. Put up, or Shut up!
cant wait
Negrito said:
Well if im just "beingstupid" then you could simply prove me wrong. Put up, or Shut up!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think he means the regular flash as in flashing the prl not flashing a cricket rom... i cant wait for a rom that i can use on cricket... i have text n voice workin but net and mms is light years away since the phone just came out... cmon guys speed it up... ive been prayin to the cricket flashing gods to give us a saviour to answer our prayers...
Not so far away
I´m in Mexico, and I have a Hero woking here with data. So far it´s 1x, but I only worked on it for about 3 hours. After this long weekend (we have monday off here) I´ll get to work on it to make Ev work.
Don´t lose heart It´ll get there.
Negrito said:
I dont believe you. How could you possibly "flash it" with out root access?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The radio is separate from the OS and the traditional CDMA tools work on the Hero like any other phone. There are plenty of other forums talking about how to port CDMA phones to other providers; especially Indian forums because there are large CDMA networks there.
Edit: when he says "flash it," he probably just means to put a new PRL (preferred roaming list) and editing the details under ##DATA to match what another provider wants.
kRutOn said:
The radio is separate from the OS and the traditional CDMA tools work on the Hero like any other phone. There are plenty of other forums talking about how to port CDMA phones to other providers; especially Indian forums because there are large CDMA networks there.
Edit: when he says "flash it," he probably just means to put a new PRL (preferred roaming list) and editing the details under ##DATA to match what another provider wants.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, thats exactly what it says two posts above yours from a week ago.
jhgas said:
I´m in Mexico, and I have a Hero woking here with data. So far it´s 1x, but I only worked on it for about 3 hours. After this long weekend (we have monday off here) I´ll get to work on it to make Ev work.
Don´t lose heart It´ll get there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any luck jhgas?
"Broadband Workaround Trick"
Hey guys!
I'm new to the Hero (CDMA Sprint flashed to Cricket) and Android. Totally new. I'm no stranger to Windows Mobile though, I've been a pretty intense user and contributor to development on the Axim x51v. Thought it was time to update though, and here I am.
Now, I've googled my butt off (which is going to make it tough to poop later, for sure), and I just can't find much detail or step by step info on how to get internet access working on this thing other than Wifi.
I have phone/text, and I also bought a Cricket Broadband plan to go along with it.
My phone is not rooted, not unlocked, unless this was part of what they did at the Cricket store to get my Hero flashed to Cricket.
I've read some mentions in google searches about a way to use my Broadband service through my phone... but I need some step by step info on how to do this. Can anyone help? What would be handy, as a somewhat savvy noob, would be prerequisites, instructions, and info I'll need to do this.
Thanks in advance if anyone can help, and I apologize in advance if I didn't google well enough before asking... although I definitely gave it a damn good shot before asking for help!
I've never tried it, so i don't know, but i have flashed a lot of WM phones to cricket with working mms and WAP. I would think you could get the internet to work by entering first changing your msl to 000000 and then just entering in all the correct settings in your EPST like you would a windows mobile phone?
cricket wap on hero
the phone has built in proxy support so u can download anycut from the market and input "wap.mycricket.com" and "8080" in the proxy settings. however most of the internet apps dont work, but the browser does. i believe the broadband hack or possibly the html plan will help in getting the internet apps to work but havent tried yet
htc hero wap no working
.i have a sprint htc hero that had cellular south on it now its flashed to cricket.the only thing working is calling.can you walk me through getting internet.i belive my wap setting are set up,but when i try and connect to mobile network it says "standbye for connecting to mobile network then connecting and keeps repeating"i have read that iv got to root the phone.iv been trying to root with no success.and hepl please .ty
htc hero cricket
please help dont want to try anything till im shure .lol
its actually possible. my friend works for cricket and got a sprint branded touch pro working. he just has voice and mms. but its a start i guess. i needs my data lol.
so why would you want a hero that only half the features work on?
i have an htc hero...i live in laredo tx..if anyone knows how i can flash this cell phone to cricket please let me know..they have told me that they dont have the software to do so..please HELP ME!!! *TeAr* and where did u guyz flash it so i can go overthere if i cant do to here....
yourmanstan said:
for those who may be interested...it is possible to have your hero flashed to work on the Cricket network. it may not be for everyone, but i couldn't resist the lure of $40/mo unlimited everything with no contract. (saves around $1,000+ over the life of the contract)
here's what i did:
-buy cdma hero on ebay
-go to a cricket store and ask them to activate the phone
-usually the rep will "know a guy" who can work with htc (try a few stores or call around)
-they may charge you $30 or so to flash it and its working
wireless data, visual voicemail, and mms dont' work...but they expect to get them working soon (phone is only a few weeks old at this point)... and where i'm at, i almost always have wifi and don't care about vm or mms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey please let me know where you flashed your htc hero....i will go to whereever to do so..LoL...im in laredo i think wer r not dat advanced n all this **** of flashing cell phones...
Hello all! Its 'That Guy' Again
I recently bought a new HTC Vogue because my old one had *crud*crap*Stuff* on the screen. I called into Sprint customer service as always when swapping.
Everything seems to be fine. The phone is working. Texting is a-ok.. Data is a no-go.
This new Vogue ahs not been *modded*Tweaked*Flashed* (yet)
However when I launch an app to activate the provisioning feature, nothing happens. It dials the usual #777 and proceeds with the 'provisioning data services" msg. But after that it just disappears.
I dont not get a reply back or anything. If I try to refresh the browser to loop through it once more it just does the same thing over and over. Provisioning-----Then nothing
After 2 hours with customer service at Sprint we have gone through just about everything we could think of.. Still nothing.. The phone is practically brand new! Is there something im missing here? Maybe a bug in a certain version of the stock rom?
My old vogue provisioned fine previously and after I flashed to Froyo it was pure bliss.. However this phone will not take the data onnection O-o
If there is anything I can do/attempt to do id be forever greatful! And ill gladly donate my old Vogue to anyone who can use the parts.. It looks like super glue or something in a 3cm patch on the touch screen.. It still recognizes touch on ALL parts of the matrix, it just doesnt look pretty. The shell is kinda scuffed but over the phone works perfect =) This was one phone I didnt want to (ORD) to death.. Thanks in advance to anyone who gives insight on the issue!
Are you running on the most recent Vogue stock rom? which is 6.1
Yes =) Im running the Stock 6.1 Pro from from the HTC website
hexalot said:
Yes =) Im running the Stock 6.1 Pro from from the HTC website
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not certain of what the Sprint rep asked you to do, but I have a feeling that your issue lies in the EPST programming. You are likely missing username and/or passwords under the Connections section in EPST. Give it a go and let me know what happens. If you need instructions, let me know as well...
I would be glad to take your old Vogue off your hands if you are serious about giving it away.
Sorry for the lateness! I did discover that she(the rep) had seriously messed up the epst settings in the phone, however after recovery still no data. Its almost as if the phone hates it lol. Eitherway in that case its not as useful as it could be. Ill really only bought the second one because it was new and i wanted the screen to be scratchless I dont mind sending you my old Vogue especially since youre already on the east coast lol ill log in again when i get back to the office and we can swap details.
Thanks again for you help!
hexalot said:
Sorry for the lateness! I did discover that she(the rep) had seriously messed up the epst settings in the phone, however after recovery still no data. Its almost as if the phone hates it lol. Eitherway in that case its not as useful as it could be. Ill really only bought the second one because it was new and i wanted the screen to be scratchless I dont mind sending you my old Vogue especially since youre already on the east coast lol ill log in again when i get back to the office and we can swap details.
Thanks again for you help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There really are 3 or four things on EPST that you need to modify to get the device working properly (in most cases anyways): MIN, MDN, Username, Password, and maybe a couple of others to get better performance out of your connection (cycle, priority, etc). If you flash to stock, why don't you try to do *228 to do automatic provisioning?
Let me know when you want me to give you the shipping details for your Vogue. Thanks.
Only thing that pops in to my mind is that maybe you bought the phone off of eBay? Was it a "Sprint" branded phone, or like an Alltel or something that you activated on Sprint? I would imagine flashing the Sprint ROM from the HTC website would handle everything, but just as a shot in the dark, you could try to install the Carrier CAB (http://winbreak.com/winmo/voguegoodies) for Sprint.
NuAngel
@egzthunder1 Go 'head and pm the info m8! Sorry for the delay again im just hardly at this location anymore.
@NuAngel I actually bought the phone new from some rich guy on craigslist. It was flawless and my vogue had the previously mentioned "crap" on the screen.
It is branded Sprint and they activated the phone just fine as far text and phone. They are saying the data is active however no matter what rom/radio i use it wont access the data network. With WinMo it always says provisioning data but it never happens.. the browser goes idle. if i try to access any data apps it tries to provision but never seems to finish the job.. Android rom same deal just no provision of course. And as you know the Stock Sprint rom has also been flashed with no success of accessing data. Everything else works fine and i have the same service with my current vogue which works perfectly everytime.
If the data issue cant be resolved it will always make an awesome test device.. However, while I cant dig up anyone else having the issue, someone is bound to..
hexalot said:
@egzthunder1 Go 'head and pm the info m8! Sorry for the delay again im just hardly at this location anymore.
@NuAngel I actually bought the phone new from some rich guy on craigslist. It was flawless and my vogue had the previously mentioned "crap" on the screen.
It is branded Sprint and they activated the phone just fine as far text and phone. They are saying the data is active however no matter what rom/radio i use it wont access the data network. With WinMo it always says provisioning data but it never happens.. the browser goes idle. if i try to access any data apps it tries to provision but never seems to finish the job.. Android rom same deal just no provision of course. And as you know the Stock Sprint rom has also been flashed with no success of accessing data. Everything else works fine and i have the same service with my current vogue which works perfectly everytime.
If the data issue cant be resolved it will always make an awesome test device.. However, while I cant dig up anyone else having the issue, someone is bound to..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM sent. Thanks a lot!
Whatever is causing this, after reading your explanation, now I am positive is in the EPST programming parameters. Android builds here have APNs for Sprint in there out of the box (no provisioning required). But to connect, it looks at the PST programming (just like WM does). I would try to speak with someone else at Sprint and see if they tell you something else. There aren't too many things that should be modified in there for the internet to work...
this is a short story of my past week saga.
a month ago i got 2 evos. wife and i.
i was sold on the fact that with these phones while one could pay 30 bucks a month for up to 8 on wifi hotspot,
OR!
they could be used for internet sharing over usb for free to one computer.
that is what 3 different sprint reps told me, and i was shocked b.c i thought there was no way to get that but i was clearly told and i asked repeated questions because it seemed like nirvana.
anyway i get the phones and as i am getting teh numbers set up do the dreaded late june OTA update which apears broke a bunch of your roots. bummer.
anyway.
i live in a 4g land and happily for a month on both phones I
turn the 4g radio on,
wait for connection,
connect supplied usb cable to computer with htc sync software installed
connect phone and use usb settings drop down to set the phone to
internet sharing over usb.
with in 30 seconds htc sync had added a network adapter and life was great.
i don't think i ever did it over 3g, however a sprint rep told me after asking "is this free tethering to one computer only on 4g thing?" replyied "i haven't had anyone say they couldn't over 3g but im not sure" but i tried once and i don't think it got working, i think i got error 67.
i thought it was hilarious b.c i assumed most were rooting for the great wifi teather, ?or usb? and it was working as so out of the box.
so after carefully reading the hundred or so posts by all rooting methods, what to do with adb, then the single click, then the single click removal due to messed up 4g stuff... i just kept waiting b.c although im sure i could follow a multistep nand root process, but as the phones worked so well as is, and i wasn't sure if teh 4g radio was sorted out yet in a simple root i just waited to root later.
so this past thursday or so i did on my phone the official over the air update to 2.2
3.26.651.6
and all day i was highly enjoying it. small changes here and there
UNTIL!!!
i went home and did the standard 4g radio on, usb connect, drop down,
hm... internet sharing has been changed to usb teathering....
and i did it, and nothing happened. error 67
so this time i unplugged radio 4g of on, confirmed in menu settings we were go with ip
and phone internet worked
but after plugging in usb and switching to usb teathering and quickly going back to the 4g menu status page i would watch the 4g radio disconnect, start scanning, maybe attempt to connect to sprint, then scann again forever
then dump a error 67.
so.... thats a frustration...
so i call sprint, and they say you need to go to a store to fix the update, yes they know it createdissues. so i go to a store.
they send me to another store, a tech store... they say oh you get error 67?
call sprint tech support they need to clear it up on their end.
so i call and they try it. i do the whole pound pount 32 somthing enter a code
off on
wait.
and still errors and no connecting...
so i call and they say you need to go back to the tech store adn have them put the update on.
i am slightly ticked at this point but totally staying cool.
i am starting to realize that this is an issue. and sprint has no idea.
next morning i do make it back to the store...
and speak with the tech guy
1st telling him the story.
2nd asking before anyother stuff, can we make this simple and restore my phone with thier tools to 2.1
he says basically, ah nope. i can't do anything. i have no tools.
i have no software. on this phone its basically the ota's htc send us.
so bascially spritn wants me to get all the way here,
and all he's going to do is go behind the door
punch around on my phone to make sure im not an idoit, then set the phoen back to factory settings, and make sure 2.2 looks aok.
so knowing this isn't going to solve anything, i let them go anyway so when i talk to sprint again i have followed their suggestions yet, i still have teh issue.
so that's what i do, and after putting contacts back on and using an app to restore most of installed apps. i head back home...
there is now frustration but still maintain my cool, bc after all i live in america, and i will get to eat today. overall life is good.
idea, lets call htc. so i do.
basically this person is slighly tech and proceeds to say,
from what i hear, due to a glitch 2.1 owners have free hotspot.
most likely that got fixed in 2.2
but i held my ground stating that hotspot and usb data sharing are two distinct thigns, and as much as sprint would like to merge and charge, that difference adn stated fact was the selling reason for me on these...
but she confirmed that there is no going back to 2.1
but also left me with a glimmer or hope.
so i called back sprint then sprint tech, then got on the phone waitng for advanced tech support to call me back on the idea that i just need my account provisioned for usb data tethering. which allows a 1 computer to share the data from my plan, and as i have unlimited, its no problem.
the tech tried to do something like that... but got to a point where we changed and confirmed something deep in my phone like either a 3g or 4g mac address was right, but i still had issues, and so he said he woudl have advanced tech call me back b.c they had better tools to assist me.
well that hour call back still hasnt happened and its around 36 hours know.
maybe i get a call monday..
however... at this point i am bugged b.c obviously there is still a 2% change this will get solved by the correct device provisioning,
however i believe now the sprint reps merely didn't know it was a glitch which allowed single person teathering so now if i call, basically all i get is big crocodile tears that say im sorry you were misinformed...
so the hilarious this is i still have the other phone, no way i will update that one, b/.c its our web lifeline now.
and if the other one gets sorted out great.
if not,
i have been waiting in the back, but this time.
im joining the others waiting for the FANTASTIC DEVS to find the exploit to allow nand rooting for the ota and stock shipped 2.2 evos
and i will be in.
it can't come soon enough.
thanks for reading, enjoy your night.
**newcomers like me to xda, please spent a couple hours reading up before you post or ask questions.
you will be shocked how many answers are here.
if all your wanting to do is tether to 1 pc through USB, than just get EasyTether.
It works great for me, and I still get 7mbs with 4g turned on while doing a speedtest on my PC. And, you do not need to be rooted to use it.
Yeah, thanks for the reminder, i tried that and pdanet first, but stopped bc i was able to with htc's stock software, and i was told its legit from sprint, but at this point it might be the way to get along till more headway is made, only 10 for the https and would work well as i dont need root. At this point 40 quarters is a better use of my time Still though kinda ticked at sprint, i feel like this has been a mega bait switch. They have been helpful, but they cant fix it.
-owen while xda appin'
I didnt see a thread for welcomes..
Hi! i just picked up a sprint lg g2 on a free upgrade but i do not plan on activating it yet since 4g is not currently in my area, so for now i want to use this and just a fun phone for around the house. so i have a few questions after checking out some of the stickys and i dont want to start multiple threads for single questions. if this gets moved to a different area then i understand why as well. also if my typing seems sporadic its because i am coming from a htc tp2 and this is my devirgin process on using androids and rooting. so welcome to my party of self discovery!
1)since i am not activating it can i still pull all the necessary updates for the phone itself off the wifi?
2)in this sticky http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2479892 i saw no mention of a sprint code. i dont know if i should root it yet because i am currently using a htc touchpro2 im sure the stock speed is going to blow my mind but should i still do that ^^^^ mentioned above?
3)when i got the phone the lady really tried to push the S4 on me saying that the g2 will be stuck on jellybean for 2years? does rooting fix that?
4)when i do decide to activate it, is hotspot easily achieved by an app or is their some kind of rooting that needs to be done? (i already have unlimited data plan)
5)the BB csr also mentioned titanium backup app. and i checked it out and i dont understand how it works. thts for the bloatware stuff right?
6)is it possible to get that flappybird game still? i want to play it see what the fuss is about like on youtube.
i would rather not root my phone if it will stay fast but i dont want all that clutter apps either if its like a new desktop computer that comes with free aol 3.0 and etc.
dubmang said:
I didnt see a thread for welcomes..
Hi! i just picked up a sprint lg g2 on a free upgrade but i do not plan on activating it yet since 4g is not currently in my area, so for now i want to use this and just a fun phone for around the house. so i have a few questions after checking out some of the stickys and i dont want to start multiple threads for single questions. if this gets moved to a different area then i understand why as well. also if my typing seems sporadic its because i am coming from a htc tp2 and this is my devirgin process on using androids and rooting. so welcome to my party of self discovery!
1)since i am not activating it can i still pull all the necessary updates for the phone itself off the wifi?
2)in this sticky http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2479892 i saw no mention of a sprint code. i dont know if i should root it yet because i am currently using a htc touchpro2 im sure the stock speed is going to blow my mind but should i still do that ^^^^ mentioned above?
3)when i got the phone the lady really tried to push the S4 on me saying that the g2 will be stuck on jellybean for 2years? does rooting fix that?
4)when i do decide to activate it, is hotspot easily achieved by an app or is their some kind of rooting that needs to be done? (i already have unlimited data plan)
5)the BB csr also mentioned titanium backup app. and i checked it out and i dont understand how it works. thts for the bloatware stuff right?
i would rather not root my phone if it will stay fast but i dont want all that clutter apps either if its like a new desktop computer that comes with free aol 3.0 and etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) yup
2) I personally dont adjust that simply cause the phone then feels to hot for my liking even though its safe. You can do it and if you dont notice a difference or its to hot for you, just change it back. I think the code for sprint and verizon version is 980? so... 3845#*980#
3)You can root and flash aosp (android open source project) to your phone but you may find that you like the stock software. Also kitkat will be out for our phone shortly
4) You can use a program called foxfi that you can use that will turn your phone into a hotspot and sprint wont be the wiser so you dont have to pay for tethering. Also you dont need root for foxfi.
Just play around with the stock setup and see if you like it, you may not even find the need to root. Also if you enable developer options by going to settings<about phone<software information, and click the "build number" like 6 times (the developer options menu will then be in settings<developer options), you can adjust the window animation/transition animation/animator duration to 0.5 or off to speed up the phones interface.
thanks for the fast replies!
i am trying to update prl/profile/firmware/software etc and it gives me an error. my wifi is connected and i turned off airplane mode for the updates. (i should keep airplane mode on correct so that it doesnt try to activate?)
The dialer code for sprint is 5689#*980#
The prl/profile will only update on an active phone. You have to do it manually if the phone isn't active. That said, you don't need to do it if the phone isn't active, because they are settings sent by Sprint to your phone to let it know about active cell towers and things like that.
Check the Sprint part of these forums. Most of the stuff you asked is in there in one place for another.
Side note, so you don't wonder what is going on. In the title of threads, you will see things like [kernel][rom] etc etc.. things between brackets.. The things that say [INT] stand for International. They are ports made to make the Sprint LG G2 work on GSM networks. If you install one of those rom's the phone will NOT work on Sprint. Right now, that would be no big deal for you, since the phone isn't active. But if/when you activate the phone, you can not use one of those roms and still use the phone as a phone.
should i still update my phone via the LG drivrs at least? also that dialer code does nothing with my phone. it doesnt activate the special menu. so far i havent found it but is their a list of must have apps or a list of minimal steps to get rid of the bloat without rooting? when i am in the settings>>apps menu their is a list of different google' labeled items, are all of those necessary? also someone mentioned foxfi, its only a paid app correct?
I have an unlocked AT&T 1337 Samsung S4 and am using it on the T-Mobile Network. I am fine with it as it is an old phone and such but my biggest issue is i Need to somehow Enable WiFi Tethering. My previous Phone was a S3 from T-mobile and that was no trick to get it rooted and all i wanted within a week of owning it. I haven't had time lately to do what i want with my current phone. (no pitty party but my father just died and i cant be bothered with much) and i need to get tethering working if at all possible. I also am moving Very soon (a couple days more than 2 weeks to another state any I'll be flying although i will need to get tethering before that I need it to get data access on my tablet.)
So No pity party from me, I just ask if anyone knows at least some links to set me on my way without having to use google and try to do it right as i need this phone and cannot make any errors.
Lastly my phone is unlocked (that doesn't matter) because when i try to tether it says "wrong sim network" or something i can post exact if it matters in a reply. I believe it must be rooted unless their is an app i don't know about. I have always gotten great responses here but I have never asked the feed me information question. Sadly this pc is comming down very soon and i only have much time for craigs list (selling 80% of what i own)
I TYIA for links to current informational posts about what i need to do. ill be looking myself too (and have been just hoping what i found is the right information. I was going to follow a guide like this if not this one
http://www.androidblog.gs/how-to-root-att-galaxy-s4-sgh-i337-on-android-4-4-4-kitkat-firmware/
Please tell me if the above link will help me succeed or brink my only phone right now.
I've rooted and installed new roms, even used Odin to clean all the stuff off my S3 but that was a different ballgame, it was a t mobile phone on t mobile and it was a simple flash.
Again TIA
I have the same unlocked phone on the same network. This is what I did to get it to work.
1. Root phone
2. Used titanium backup to freeze the "app" called "TetheringAutomation 1.0.1". I assume there are other apps that could do the same.
Prior to that the tethering process would just crash. The same is true for my wife's Galaxy S5 which is not rooted and cannot tether. I haven't used it much, mind you, but I have noticed that sometimes I have to try to turn on the tethering 2-3 times before it will stay on but then it works fine.
Here is the guide I used to root the phone (you don't have to install the xposed framework if you don't want or need it):
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-att/help/guide-att-samsung-galaxy-s4-sgh-i337-t3383078
Sorry about your father.