Bluetooth Tethering for Acer Iconia A500

Hi everyone,

I just got the Acer Iconia A500 and love it. I am trying to do bluetooth tethering using PDANET so I can use my cell phones 3G/4G connection for Internet access when wi-fi is not available. I have the Samsung Epic from Sprint and when I try to pair it to the tablet the status on the tablet states "paired but not connected". The bluetooth status on my cell phone states "paired". Does anyone have any suggestions? I know there are apps that you can use for a rooted phone but since I'm still new to the android platform I really want to see what other options are out there for non-rooted phones. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Bluetooth profiles included with this release include only A2DP (wireless headsets).
Additional profiles will happen come in June. Till then, nothing except headphones will work.
Not even my Jawbone.

Its often better to fix the Cellphone than the tablet. PDANET only does Ad-Hoc access points.
Its not a true router. It might be better to look for a package that converts the Sammy to a true
wireless access point, like the Nexus One.

I have no problem pairing my A500 with my Nexus S, Windows 7 PC, and Sony MW600 headset. Have you tried disconnecting then reconnecting from each device?

But can you DO anything via your Nexus S or Win 7 PC?

If you re-read the first post, you will see that the message is "Paired but not connected". So Pairing is not the problem.

The problem is the the Bluetooth profile does not offer any thing except A2DP, (stereo music out). No file transfer, no modem, no network adaptor, no anything but stereo out.

Yes I can exchange files with both the PC and Nexus S. I can also play audio from the A500 through my PC. I forgot to mention that I also have the bluetooth keyboard for the moto xoom and it works just fine, hot keys included. Acer also sells aa bluetooth keyboard for the A500 so clearly bluetooth aupport isnt just limited to A2DP.

A few weeks ago, I had the same problem when trying to tether via bluetooth to my Droid. Wireless tethering worked fine after applying the updated wpa_supplicant file.

Ok, you're correct, this now works since I got my upgrade. I couldn't do this before.

There is still the problem that the Acer does not always advertise its capabilities over the Bluetooth protocol, so you just
have to send in the blind when sending files to it.

Its still pretty flaky for sending files, because even when you are paired, you often have to make the acer discover-able for the sender to start sending. (No clue why this is). But I was able to send a couple songs to both Linux and Windows machines.

...although I am not using the Acer tablet, I am using the ASUS Eee Transformer. (OS Android 3.1) In its specs it states that it too is only compatible with the stereo out function. I tested this, and found that my Blue Tooth on the ASUS was able to find and communicate with my (Droid) phone. I have sent, Mp3s, Mp4s, Jpegs, and PDF files both large and small with NO problems. This was/is a pleasant surprise, after reading so much to the contrary. I do get "Paired but not connected" message, but yet it works fine. And most recently used my phone as an access point via Blue Tooth, to let the Tablet do the surfing. It would seem that if both OS are Google/Android based, there seems to be no problem with interoperability.

what droid phone are you using? Can you explain how you got it to work I have an original droid and was able to pair them but also get the "paired but not connected " message but could not get it to tether with my droid is there a setting on the phone that has to be disabled or enabled?

I used the all called "Pdanet Tablet" and installed it on both my Evo and my gtablet. The Evo run as server and gtablet as client. Be sure to set the port forwards on your tablet, and then clear them when you are done. This approach is free. Only browsing the net and curving email work.

Sent from my PC36100 using Android Tablet Forum

One of the things I've noticed with the bluetooth connections is that it won't always connect automatically. If you press and hold on the item in Bluetooth settings sometimes a popup appears asking you if you want to connect.

i got OS 3.1 yesterday as OTA for my A500 and can now connect a Mac bluetooth keyboard. Could not get it to work with 3.0.1

How do I use the data connection on my Samsung Galaxy to check for mails and surf the web using the A500? Or, is this not possible at all

In my case I also see the "paired by not connected" message.

Thanks in advance.

'Paired but not Connected' is right. When you initiate a transfer it will automatically make the connetion and close it when done, saves battery I think. I was puzzeled by this initaly with my HTC Desire HD and I see it again with this Transformer.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Android Tablet Forum

Thanks. But what I want to do is not really to transfer files, but to access the data connection on my phone.

I have been using MobileAP with a WPA2 security feature. But I have noticed that it does affect the battery of the phone, which was not all that hot to begin.

I was having the same problem with my INQ Cloud Touch phone and my Acer Tablet but got figured out after watching "Acer ICONIA TAB A500 Tethering Techcast" on YouTube. Make sure you have your data plan enabled on your phone. Good Luck!

I will try to give some answers for this thread...

I have an Iphone 3GS NOt jailbreaked with the latest version for IOS : 5.0.1 and it's working good with my Asus transformer, also in bluetooth and wifi connect... i tested the two different connects...The tablet was discovered and coupled with my Iphone 3GS. I just activated internet in my bluetooth's profil on (Droid)tablet for working done.

My friend has just bought an Iconia A500 ... and he haves the same problem as you... I tryed to couple my phone but was unable to connect internet tablet's profil. We have the same droid's version on tablets and...the Iconia A500 doesn't give the bluetooth version in the parameters. It's strange i must say Oo
Only AD2P, bluetooth keyboard, restricted driver, chip as been, for selling more Iconia 3G ?? To be or not to be, i try to think the goog thing.
This post -->

I think it's the right post, except for an update from Acer's BT chipset firmware, if is it possible ?
But for me, i think IOs APPLE becomes bullsh*t (bleutooh connect tethering ?? only 1Mbps !) and i'm sure my next phone will be an Android (universal connect and 3G/4G connect in mini-lan) ... I tryed as you to explain this problem.
With a Droidphone, Iconia A500 seemed to work.

See you