Mango WiFi sharing to have hardware, driver, and carrier restrictions

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” update has started rolling out. With the release, Microsoft has finally confirmed that it will include the ability to share a data connection over WiFi to up to five computers—something we already knew from analysis of the firmware and leaked pictures, but which the company had not officially acknowledged. Now that the company is actually talking about the feature, it has provided details about some of its limitations.

The first restriction is unlikely to surprise anyone. Internet connection sharing requires carrier support, and some carriers may charge extra to enable the feature. This is annoying for users, but nothing new as such; even on “unlimited” data plans, many carriers demand extra fees for tethering, as the data usage of a PC can be considerably higher than that of even the heaviest of smartphone users.

The second restriction is the more unusual. WiFi tethering requires specific networking hardware. To support tethering, devices must use the Broadcom 4329 chipset. The 4329 provides 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as containing an FM tuner. Microsoft says that this chipset is used in most current and future handsets, but not all; some (the company would not specify which) use the 4325 chipset (which provides 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth, and FM) instead. Phones that only include the 4325 won’t be able to support connection sharing.

Even with the right chipset, Internet sharing will require driver updates. These updates are not a part of the Mango update, and will be delivered later, as long as device manufacturers make them available.

Microsoft’s current position is that only new phones will support tethering. A new batch of handsets built to the updated Mango specification should hit the market in October. Company representatives told us that the use of the 4329 chipset is not mandatory, but the implication is that new models all include the right chip.

The situation for first generation devices is less clear. Many of them appear to have the right hardware—the feature has been demonstrated on a first-generation Samsung Focus, for example—but the company does not promise that official support for connection sharing will ever be rolled out to existing users.

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