Database Users

[Q] Tethering without root or tethering plan?

I have the nexus S. Does anyone know how to tether when you don't have the tethering plan? I've been looking everywhere.
thanks guys!

NS4g tethers out of the box. I would assume the reg NS would too.
Settings > Wireless & Networks > Tethering & portable hotspot > Check the box to turn it on.

well the thing is my carrier blocks it as they want you to pay 10 bucks a month for the tethering. But there's gotta be a way to allow tethering so that the carrier doesnt know.

there are programs on the market you can download. Easytether i believe... there's a free version but it doesn't work with any secure sites, so forget fb if you use the free one. i think they want 10 bucks for the unrestricted app.
But yes there are options

still doesnt work. there needs to be some settings changed so that I can tether

campusink said:
still doesnt work. there needs to be some settings changed so that I can tether
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What carrier do you use?
Sent from my Nexus S 4G

I tether and hot spot all the time its pretty much free on the nexus s
Its a unlocked phone so the carriers can't charge ya I'm T-Mobile

campusink said:
well the thing is my carrier blocks it as they want you to pay 10 bucks a month for the tethering. But there's gotta be a way to allow tethering so that the carrier doesnt know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a hundred posts on here about it... but yours is the first I've seen of a carrier blocking it. Which carrier? I find it hard to believe, no offense.

Just as an aside, how do you actually surf the internet after enabling tethering in the phone settings? Just connect the phone to the computer via usb?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

athani said:
Just as an aside, how do you actually surf the internet after enabling tethering in the phone settings? Just connect the phone to the computer via usb?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Connect the phone via the USB card and put the phone in tether mode.. (Settings/Wireless and Networks/Tethering .../ USB Tethering) The option isn't available until the phone is connected.
The phone will be recognized as a network device and may require network device discovery. It depends on your system and what you have had previously installed. I use tethering from time to time and have never needed to pay extra for it.
Hope this helps..

Frustrated! Help with tethering

I know it's not rocket science. I consider my technically sound.
But for the life of me, I can't tether my Nexus 7 to my Galaxy S3 using both Wifi Hotspot AND Bluetooth.
With Wifi Hotspot, my Nexus 7 shows connected and has excellent signal strength, but I cannot connect to any website or access the play store. It's like no data is going through.
The same with my bluetooth connect. It shows it's paired and connected, but no internet data.
I called Fido (my carrier and they say I have tethering enabled on my account - of course it should be enabled cause I've tethered before)
Please help me with this.

I've tethered my N7 to my Evo LTE with wifi tons of times. Are you sure the phone is actually pushing out data? Try tethering your laptop or something to it to see if it's the phone or tab.

Maybe you need to reboot.. both devices... I use mine all day long hotspot with my gs3 with no problems
Sent from my Nexus 7

iGoOsE76 said:
Maybe you need to reboot.. both devices... I use mine all day long hotspot with my gs3 with no problems
Sent from my Nexus 7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've rebooted countless times on both devices.
Are you rooted for both devices? Do you use the built-in tether option on the S3 or do you use a third party app?
I'm non-rooted for both my devices.

Does your data plan allow tethering? I'm able to tether my Nexus to my Lumia 710 but no data passes through. I need to enable the "WiFi Hotspot" feature on T-Mobiles site for an additional monthly cost.

cg.voabc said:
Does your data plan allow tethering? I'm able to tether my Nexus to my Lumia 710 but no data passes through. I need to enable the "WiFi Hotspot" feature on T-Mobiles site for an additional monthly cost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He said in the OP he has tethering on his plan >.>
On another note... I'm on Tmobile and I tether from my G2 to both laptop and tablet, and I dont pay any extra fees
When you tether from bluetooth, pull down the notification drawer and look at the bottom.
Does it say "Bluetooth Tethered" or does it say "No Internet Connection" instead?
For me, I know even after pairing my phone and my tablet, I have to go into Settings > Wireless & Networks > More > Tethering and Portable Hotspot > and check off Bluetooth Tethering.
And after that, sometimes I have to go back to the bluetooth menu of either device and click on the other device so it actually connects.
If its working, you should see the words "Connected" below your phone in the bluetooth menu of your tablet.
And the notification drawer should say "Bluetooth Tethered"
Not sure what may be wrong with your wifi hotspot though.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

ekjl said:
I've rebooted countless times on both devices.
Are you rooted for both devices? Do you use the built-in tether option on the S3 or do you use a third party app?
I'm non-rooted for both my devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope... pure stock on both

cg.voabc said:
Does your data plan allow tethering? I'm able to tether my Nexus to my Lumia 710 but no data passes through. I need to enable the "WiFi Hotspot" feature on T-Mobiles site for an additional monthly cost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I called to check and the rep says I do. But he does sound like a newbie though.
I'll call back and see if another rep (hopefully more knowledgeable) can assist me.

Thanks for all who chimed with your suggestions. I will press thanks for all of you.
I called back Fido and everything seemed normal. Tethering was enabled as it always should on my account.
What he did was push some information to the server which I guess automatically sets up my phones settings to match up with Fidos settings. Told me to power cycle for 30 seconds after we hung up. I did so, and after it started up, I heard a notification on my Nexus 7 which I knew instantly that whatever he did worked.

On my tablet I use PDAnet from the Play Market.
On my phone I use FoxFi from the Play Market.
Both Apps are free & usually do not require ROOT on either device.
1) Once both Apps are installed turn on Bluetooth on your tablet. (Find your Settings App either in your App Drawer or by pulling your Notification Bar & selecting the Settings button next to your rotation lock.)
2) Open PDAnet on the tablet.
3) Hit CONFIGURE in the main screen of PDAnet.
4) Select ANDROID (BLUETOOTH).
5) Now open FoxFi on your phone.
6) Check the box next to ACTIVATE BLUETOOTH DUN. This will turn on your Bluetooth & make your device discoverable.
7) A warning box will appear. Select YES.
8) Go back to your tablet & PDAnet.
9) Hit the option to start scanning.
10) After a few seconds your phone should appear.
11) Select the name of your phone. Mine was ADR6350.
12) On your tablet select CONNECT.
13) A warning will appear. Check the box that says I TRUST THIS APPLICATION. Then select OK.
Open your tablet's Chrome Browser & try opening a website. You should be up & running now.
Sent from my Nexus 7 (rooted, but running stock ROM) using Tapatalk 2. If for any reason you need to reach me about a post you can do so via email or Google Talk at nemrel(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

ekjl said:
I know it's not rocket science. I consider my technically sound.
But for the life of me, I can't tether my Nexus 7 to my Galaxy S3 using both Wifi Hotspot AND Bluetooth.
With Wifi Hotspot, my Nexus 7 shows connected and has excellent signal strength, but I cannot connect to any website or access the play store. It's like no data is going through.
The same with my bluetooth connect. It shows it's paired and connected, but no internet data.
I called Fido (my carrier and they say I have tethering enabled on my account - of course it should be enabled cause I've tethered before)
Please help me with this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do not worry, just set yr phone hotspot security to WEP ,it should work. I faced d same problem with you in d begining. Try it!

Wifi Tethering bug (4.4.2) no root

I own XT1060 and I don't live in US. I bought this for the sake of having a world phone and when I found out that wifi tetheing locked by Verizon and bootloader cannot be unlocked I felt doomed.
Tried many things and found a bug/exploit, I do this in order and able to reproduce the result
1. Use Easy Tether root edition, and tried tethering
2. Use Foxfi, and tried wifi tethering, it will complain error, ignore it
3. Use PDA.net and turn on wifi tethering, it will complain error, ignore it, then turn on bluetooth tethering, then turn it off
4. REBOOT, the phone will complain about unknown sim, just press OK
then go to settings, tethering and VPN settings and turn on the wifi tethering and voila it works and no root needed.

andnej said:
I own XT1060 and I don't live in US. I bought this for the sake of having a world phone and when I found out that wifi tetheing locked by Verizon and bootloader cannot be unlocked I felt doomed.
Tried many things and found a bug/exploit, I do this in order and able to reproduce the result
1. Use Easy Tether root edition, and tried tethering
2. Use Foxfi, and tried wifi tethering, it will complain error, ignore it
3. Use PDA.net and turn on wifi tethering, it will complain error, ignore it, then turn on bluetooth tethering, then turn it off
4. REBOOT, the phone will complain about unknown sim, just press OK
then go to settings, tethering and VPN settings and turn on the wifi tethering and voila it works and no root needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good job. Maybe someone can use this to obtain root? Lol!

Where did you find Easy Tether root edition? I tried this with the Easy Tether from the play store and it did not work. I also live in the US and use Verizon though.

can you explain more clearly?

Ditto...
Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

andnej said:
I own XT1060 and I don't live in US. I bought this for the sake of having a world phone and when I found out that wifi tetheing locked by Verizon and bootloader cannot be unlocked I felt doomed.
Tried many things and found a bug/exploit, I do this in order and able to reproduce the result
1. Use Easy Tether root edition, and tried tethering
2. Use Foxfi, and tried wifi tethering, it will complain error, ignore it
3. Use PDA.net and turn on wifi tethering, it will complain error, ignore it, then turn on bluetooth tethering, then turn it off
4. REBOOT, the phone will complain about unknown sim, just press OK
then go to settings, tethering and VPN settings and turn on the wifi tethering and voila it works and no root needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you need to do this everytime we want to tether? Or do we only need to do it once?

Did it work for you?

Has anyone confirmed that this actually works on the Verizon network?

My XT1060 doesn't do an Entitlement check with other SIM cards. It only checks for a subscription with a Verizon SIM for me. When I use my T-Mobile SIM, I can enable Wifi tethering through the system without a 3rd party app. But once I put my Verizon SIM back in, it checks my account for tethering.

i just use easy tether pro, connected by USB, and it works great for me

Toys Samurai said:
Do you need to do this everytime we want to tether? Or do we only need to do it once?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zenofase said:
Did it work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this 3 times, sometimes when the tethering fail, I did it and i get wifi tether again. I have no idea yet what can make the wifi tether get protected again. It works in SmartFren network in Indonesia

Toys Samurai said:
Do you need to do this everytime we want to tether? Or do we only need to do it once?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
zenofase said:
Did it work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this 3 times, sometimes when the tethering fail, I did it and i get wifi tether again. I have no idea yet what can make the wifi tether get protected again. It works in SmartFren network in Indonesia

I think the title of this thread should be updated to state that this only work for the Verizon model WHEN it's not on Verizon's network.

Mobile HotSpot on AT&T grandfathered Unlimited Plan

"Mobile HotSpot on AT&T grandfathered Unlimited Plan" If you have a regular At&t plan the hotspot is easily employed...... I have the grandfathered plan that sends me the "Call 611 to enable."
Does anyone have a way to employ the mobile hotspot on the Galaxy G935A? Seeing as there is no root, is there any coding or permission tweaks I can try to get the Hotspot to work?
FoxFi works with tethering, but turns up a 10246 permission error for Hotspot. I though I had it when I kept the system from checking my plan with At&t.....But eventually, the system picked up on the blocking I employed.
Two main reasons for me to root are Viper4Android, which there is not get-around. The second is the Mobile Hotspot. When I travel with my kids, they used to use my Rooted G3 to play Youtube, games, and interactive apps to keep them busy on long road trips.
My choices, buy a G935F on Ebay and root it.....but then I would have to sell my G935A.
Someone miraculously figures a way to root.
I find a work-around and change "permissions."
I'm leaning toward the new phone, just hate spending $700 on Ebay with electronics.......
Any help is appreciated, even the slap of reality to "just get the F" and quit screwing around with the A.....
-dmxinc

dmxinc said:
"Mobile HotSpot on AT&T grandfathered Unlimited Plan" If you have a regular At&t plan the hotspot is easily employed...... I have the grandfathered plan that sends me the "Call 611 to enable."
Does anyone have a way to employ the mobile hotspot on the Galaxy G935A? Seeing as there is no root, is there any coding or permission tweaks I can try to get the Hotspot to work?
FoxFi works with tethering, but turns up a 10246 permission error for Hotspot. I though I had it when I kept the system from checking my plan with At&t.....But eventually, the system picked up on the blocking I employed.
Two main reasons for me to root are Viper4Android, which there is not get-around. The second is the Mobile Hotspot. When I travel with my kids, they used to use my Rooted G3 to play Youtube, games, and interactive apps to keep them busy on long road trips.
My choices, buy a G935F on Ebay and root it.....but then I would have to sell my G935A.
Someone miraculously figures a way to root.
I find a work-around and change "permissions."
I'm leaning toward the new phone, just hate spending $700 on Ebay with electronics.......
Any help is appreciated, even the slap of reality to "just get the F" and quit screwing around with the A.....
-dmxinc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can someone help me try this? THERE ARE NO MODIFICATIONS HERE
-I opened the mobile Hotspot app, set it up while I was connected to my home wifi network.
It worked, but used my home network as the hotspot.
-Next, I shut my wifi off and expected the error, but the phone hotspot transferred to the 4g, as long as I didn't turn the hotspot off.
I also tried this at an open cafe wifi hotspot, then turned off the phone wifi again, the hotspot remained working as long as I didn't hit the back button.
* I did get a tetherprovision.apk error, but it didn't shut the phone mobile hotspot off.
I tried this on my wifes S6 Edge, but it didn't work. Can someone try the S7 and S7 edge G935A
***To make sure it was the phone hotspot, I checked ip addresses before and after the WIFI was turned off. Ip adress changed from where I live to a place in Maryland, so fairly sure it wasn't just a fluke, but that is why I need someone to test it........Thanks
-dmxinc

I had the same challenge (unlimited data but no tether provisioning) and wanted to tether without giving up my awesome plan or pissing off my employer (my corporate plan includes international LTE roaming -- amazing!). Being unable to root and having unsuccessfully tried FoxFi (gave me an error message about internal connectivity or somesuch) I discovered Samsung already has an app for this called SideSync. It requires a USB cable but is able to set up its own hotspot.
I'm using a Mac laptop with SM-G930A and after installing SideSync on both the Mac and the phone, and launching both, I can detect the phone connection (apparently this works better when the app is running in the background but not on its home screen). Then I can click the "More" button on the Mac side and launch "Enable Mobile Hotspot". You'll need to give it MTP and several other access permissions the first time, but it should create and configure a WAP of the form "SIDESYNC_HOTSPOT_##:##" and connect the Mac to it. This works even if your phone provisioning wouldn't normally allow it. Easy!

aikidork said:
I had the same challenge (unlimited data but no tether provisioning) and wanted to tether without giving up my awesome plan or pissing off my employer (my corporate plan includes international LTE roaming -- amazing!). Being unable to root and having unsuccessfully tried FoxFi (gave me an error message about internal connectivity or somesuch) I discovered Samsung already has an app for this called SideSync. It requires a USB cable but is able to set up its own hotspot.
I'm using a Mac laptop with SM-G930A and after installing SideSync on both the Mac and the phone, and launching both, I can detect the phone connection (apparently this works better when the app is running in the background but not on its home screen). Then I can click the "More" button on the Mac side and launch "Enable Mobile Hotspot". You'll need to give it MTP and several other access permissions the first time, but it should create and configure a WAP of the form "SIDESYNC_HOTSPOT_##:##" and connect the Mac to it. This works even if your phone provisioning wouldn't normally allow it. Easy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am on Win 10, I will try and find Sidesync, or an equivalent thanks! But, that is exactly what I was looking for!
If I find a Windows equivalent, I will repost.
Thanks again,.
I found it but it says both devices utilize the same wifi connection. Will it Direct Connect them and use 4g as the wifi?

dmxinc said:
I am on Win 10, I will try and find Sidesync, or an equivalent thanks! But, that is exactly what I was looking for!
If I find a Windows equivalent, I will repost.
Thanks again,.
I found it but it says both devices utilize the same wifi connection. Will it Direct Connect them and use 4g as the wifi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what you mean by utilizing the same wifi connection -- It is NOT the WiFi Direct feature if that's what you mean..if the phone is connected in that mode, this will need to be turned off first. Mine handles the setup of the hotspot automatically (at least on Mac). It's a little wonky but usually works on the first try. And yes... once it's working, the phone shows that it's got a device connected via wi-fi sharing icon, and the laptop shows it's using SIDESYNC_HOTSPOT.

aikidork said:
Not sure what you mean by utilizing the same wifi connection -- It is NOT the WiFi Direct feature if that's what you ttle wonky but usually works on the first try. And yes... once it's working, the phone shows that it's got a device connected via wi-fi sharing icon, and the laptop shows it's using SIDESYNC_HOTSPOT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If figured it wasn't the Direct. It installed and loaded right up, but it disconnected on the PC side every few seconds. I think it might be my A.V. software......I'm going to mess around with it this weekend to see if that's the issue. Thanks for tips.

So sidesync is a hotspot app, must be installed on all devices that want to connect to hotspot (in this case galaxy g930a). Is this correct?

Bypass Verizon throttling after reaching 15GB hotspot limit [Root/VPN Required]

Hello everyone, this is for customers on the ULD plan with 15GB of hotspot. I tried a lot of different methods and I would like to share a method that is working for the Pixel 2 xl on Android 8.0.0! I want to give credit to @hydrofarmer for posting the method in a different forum. This method is a little different as I could not get FoxFi Wi-Fi hotspot to work on my phone, possibly due to Oreo.
Requirements:
1. Root Phone
2. Edit build.prop; place net.tethering.noprovisioning=true at the bottom
3. Install VPN Tether from play store.
Bypass Method:
1. Start VPN. (I use IPVanish)
2. Start Wi-Fi hotspot
3. Open VPN Tether (Grant root access and start)
4. Connect device to Phone
You will not get throttled using WiFi hotspot anymore. I hope this is useful to others. It helped me out so much, my Wi-Fi hotspot was useless at the speeds Verizon throttled me to. Again thank you @hydrofarmer!

agtsoul said:
Hello everyone, this is for customers on the ULD plan with 15GB of hotspot. I tried a lot of different methods and I would like to share a method that is working for the Pixel 2 xl on Android 8.0.0! I want to give credit to @hydrofarmer for posting the method in a different forum. This method is a little different as I could not get FoxFi Wi-Fi hotspot to work on my phone, possibly due to Oreo.
Requirements:
1. Root Phone
2. Edit build.prop; place net.tethering.noprovisioning=true at the bottom
3. Install VPN Tether from play store.
Bypass Method:
1. Start VPN. (I use IPVanish)
2. Start Wi-Fi hotspot
3. Open VPN Tether (Grant root access and start)
4. Connect device to Phone
You will not get throttled using WiFi hotspot anymore. I hope this is useful to others. It helped me out so much, my Wi-Fi hotspot was useless at the speeds Verizon throttled me to. Again thank you @hydrofarmer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hell yeah buddy!
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun

Just what I was looking for! Thanks!

Does this method really work? Trying it but seems like usage is still tallied up on hotspot use when reviewing account...or you can still use unthrottled speed somehow even after 15gig using this method?

This method technically works. It bypasses Verizon seeing your phone using data as a hotspot, so you are in term using part of your 22GB then de-prioritization instead

sensui123 said:
Does this method really work? Trying it but seems like usage is still tallied up on hotspot use when reviewing account...or you can still use unthrottled speed somehow even after 15gig using this method?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it works. I used 48GBs last month.

bigblueshock said:
This method technically works. It bypasses Verizon seeing your phone using data as a hotspot, so you are in term using part of your 22GB then de-prioritization instead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't experienced any slow downs at 22GB or beyond. That could be because of the area I live in though.

agtsoul said:
Yes it works. I used 48GBs last month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you check to see from your Verizon account to see if the counter for hotspot use is going up? Because I'm using this exact method (double/triple checked everything in build.prop, confirmed the devices tethering are sharing the VPN tunnel by running a location trace etc) and I see the hotspot usage still go up accordingly....or does this method somehow bypass the actual throttling even if the hotspot use is over 15 gig?

sensui123 said:
Could you check to see from your Verizon account to see if the counter for hotspot use is going up? Because I'm using this exact method (double/triple checked everything in build.prop, confirmed the devices tethering are sharing the VPN tunnel by running a location trace etc) and I see the hotspot usage still go up accordingly....or does this method somehow bypass the actual throttling even if the hotspot use is over 15 gig?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The hotspot data shouldn't be going up. Just your regular data counter.
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun

hydrofarmer said:
The hotspot data shouldn't be going up. Just your regular data counter.
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I thought should happen....but it's not actually working. I'm not exactly sure why.

sensui123 said:
Could you check to see from your Verizon account to see if the counter for hotspot use is going up? Because I'm using this exact method (double/triple checked everything in build.prop, confirmed the devices tethering are sharing the VPN tunnel by running a location trace etc) and I see the hotspot usage still go up accordingly....or does this method somehow bypass the actual throttling even if the hotspot use is over 15 gig?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was already at the 15 GB when I started looking for a method. I haven't used it since rest this month. I am at work right now. I will check the counter when I get home tonight to see if it goes up.

sensui123 said:
That's exactly what I thought should happen....but it's not actually working. I'm not exactly sure why.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't even think you need to edit the prop. I think it should just work with a VPN and th VPN tether app. That's all I use on a note 4.
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun
---------- Post added at 06:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 PM ----------
hydrofarmer said:
I don't even think you need to edit the prop. I think it should just work with a VPN and th VPN tether app. That's all I use on a note 4.
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be clear on this from my first post about all of this*** at first I did some extra steps as listed above. But after factory resetting my phone and starting from scratch it worked with the native hotspot app. Then I just turned on my VPN and then activated VPN tether and it works for me.
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun

sensui123 said:
Could you check to see from your Verizon account to see if the counter for hotspot use is going up? Because I'm using this exact method (double/triple checked everything in build.prop, confirmed the devices tethering are sharing the VPN tunnel by running a location trace etc) and I see the hotspot usage still go up accordingly....or does this method somehow bypass the actual throttling even if the hotspot use is over 15 gig?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry took so long to get back to you. All data is being registered as regular data. Tested it and it shows I have used 0 hotspot data. I downloaded like 4GB and it all registered as regular phone usage.

Which VPN tether app did you use from the Play Store? There are a lot of them.

rester555 said:
Which VPN tether app did you use from the Play Store? There are a lot of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one called VPN tether....works just start/stop icon a bit counter intuitive.
I'm still testing but something weird is happening...seems like this technique works with a computer but hit and miss connecting other Android devices. Will report back after more testing.

I just noticed that the new Verizon Data Usage page does not show the mobile hotspot data usage for the current month.... Anyone else can confirm? https://imgur.com/a/4ujKm

rester555 said:
I just noticed that the new Verizon Data Usage page does not show the mobile hotspot data usage for the current month.... Anyone else can confirm? https://imgur.com/a/4ujKm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it does. Just have to go into the details. It's updated fairly quickly and I have had no troubles whatsoever with other devices such as other phones, tablets, security cameras, Xbox etc.
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun

hydrofarmer said:
Yes it does. Just have to go into the details. It's updated fairly quickly and I have had no troubles whatsoever with other devices such as other phones, tablets, security cameras, Xbox etc.
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*It will not show a number for tether data unless some data has been used used* otherwise it will just be total data per line which means you are doing something right for bypass lol
30 magazine clip on my ghost gun

Has anyone tried this method and been successful on Oreo 8.1? I flashed the factory image of 8.1 and setup my phone the way i had it working before. I tried to wifi tether, but when i try to go to a website other than google i get a DNS error. I don't get that error with VPN tether app off. Any thoughts?

Found a fix for the issue I was running into. In settings/System/Developer options make sure Tethering hardware accelerations is turned off. For VPN settings I use port 443 and OpenVPN (UDP). Data does not count towards hotspot anymore. Everything is now working great!