Problems using bluetooth tether on a cheap chinese tablet

Question

I'll save you all from the backstory, because I am short on time. I have 4 iDeaUSA CT8 cheap chinese tablets running android 4.2.2 that I bought from fry's electronics for $99. It was a great deal, and the tablets are surprisingly good considering the price and power. Basically, I need to bluetooth tether tablets to smartphones (or any other cellular device) for use in a venue where wifi is banned. However, the tablets will not work. I have followed instructions for bluetooth tethering, and the tablets act like they are connected and everything but when I try to load google.com it just loads for a couple minutes before timing out. It happens on any device I try to connect to, including a GalaxyTab 3, Droid Turbo, and another off-brand. I know the problem is with the tablets because I can follow the same steps on my phone and other tablets, and it works just fine. I have seen some evidence of similar stuff, but have found no working solution. What do I do?!? I have 3 days to get this working, and I don't want to resort to reverse usb tethering to a laptop. Is there some sort of glitch with the software that is patchable? I doubt it is hardware, because everything looks exactly like a working setup.

Answer 1

It's not a hardware issue.I had the same problem . Finally I figured it out. It's a bug. The JB device fails to register the connection parameters (DNS) for Bluetooth network after connecting to tethered device and uses DNS of default wifi connection to connect. So the request fails with a timeout.

Rooted users can fix the issue using a set of commands in terminal, either using adb or terminal emulator.

Terminal Emulator or adb

1. Connect the bluetooth tether and install terminal emulator. If you are using adb, connect device to pc through USB (in debugging mode) and run the command

   adb shell

   to enter into the shell.

2. type "su" and enter. Grand super user permission to terminal emulator when prompted .

3. use the command "netcfg " to list the available interfaces. you can find the bluetooth interface in the list. It may be "btn0" or "btn", etc.

4. Set the network status of "btn0"(bluetooth interface) to up.

   root@android:/#netcfg btn0 up

5. Run DHCP to get an Ip address.

   root@android:/#netcfg btn0 dhcp

6. set the DNS of your choice.

   root@android:/#setprop net.dns1 8.8.8.8;
   root@android:/#setprop net.dns2 8.8.4.4;