1. Connecting to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and VPNs
In this chapter, you discover the connectivity capabilities of your Galaxy Note 3, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, VPN, and NFC. Topics include the following:
→ Pairing with Bluetooth devices
→ Connecting to Wi-Fi networks
→ Working with virtual private networks (VPN)
→ Using your Galaxy Note 3 as a Wi-Fi hotspot
→ Using Near Field Communications (NFC) and beaming
Your Galaxy Note 3 can connect to Bluetooth devices, such as headsets, computers, and car in-dash systems, as well as to Wi-Fi networks, and 2G, 3G, and 4G cellular networks. It has all the connectivity you should expect on a great smartphone. Your Galaxy Note 3 can also connect to virtual private networks (VPNs) for access to secure networks, and can even share its cellular data connection with other devices over Wi-Fi.
Connecting to Bluetooth Devices
Bluetooth is a great personal area network (PAN) technology that allows for short-distance wireless access to all sorts of devices, such as headsets, other phones, computers, and even car in-dash systems for hands-free calling. The following tasks walk you through pairing your Galaxy Note 3 to your device and configuring options.
Pair with a New Bluetooth Device
Before you can take advantage of Bluetooth, you need to connect your Galaxy Note 3 with that device, which is called pairing. After you pair your Galaxy Note 3 with a Bluetooth device, the two devices can connect to each other automatically in the future.
Putting the Bluetooth Device into Pairing Mode First
Before you pair a Bluetooth device to your Galaxy Note 3, you must first put it into Pairing mode. If you are pairing with a Bluetooth headset, you normally have to hold the button on the headset for a certain period of time. Please consult your Bluetooth device’s manual to find out how to put that device into Pairing mode.
1. Pull down the Notification bar and touch the Settings icon.
2. Touch the Connections tab.
3. Touch Bluetooth.
4. Touch Scan if you don’t see the device you want to connect to in the list of discovered devices.
5. Touch the Bluetooth device you want to connect to. In this example, we are going to connect to the Pebble Smartwatch (Pebble 1984).
6. If all went well, your Galaxy Note 3 should now be paired with the new Bluetooth device.
Bluetooth Passkey
If you are pairing with a device that requires a passkey, such as a car in-dash system, smartwatch, smartphone, or a computer, the screen shows a passkey. Make sure the passkey is the same on your Galaxy Note 3 and on the device you are pairing with. Touch OK on your Galaxy Note 3 and confirm the passkey on the device you are pairing with.
All Zeros
If you are pairing with an older Bluetooth headset, you might be prompted to enter the passkey. Try using four zeros; it normally works. If the zeros don’t work, refer to the headset’s manual.
>>>Go Further: Reverse Pairing
2. Touch to change how long your Galaxy Note 3 stays visible when pairing.
3. Touch to see any files people have sent you over the Bluetooth network.
Change Bluetooth Device Options
After a Bluetooth device is paired, you can change a few options for some of them. The number of options depends on the Bluetooth device you are connecting to. Some have more features than others.
1. Touch the Settings icon to the right of the Bluetooth device.
2. Touch to rename the Bluetooth device to something more descriptive.
3. Touch to disconnect and unpair the Galaxy Note 3 from the Bluetooth device. If you do this, you won’t be able to use the Bluetooth device again until you redo the pairing as described in the “Pair with a New Bluetooth Device” task.
4. Touch to enable and disable using this device for phone calls. Sometimes Bluetooth devices have more than one profile. You can use this screen to select which ones you want to use.
Each Bluetooth device can have one or more Bluetooth profiles. Each Bluetooth profile describes certain features of the device. This tells your Galaxy Note 3 what it can do when connected to the device. A Bluetooth headset normally only has one profile, such as Phone Audio. This tells your Galaxy Note 3 that it can only use the device for phone call audio. Some devices might have this profile but also provide other features such as a Phone Book Access profile, which would allow it to synchronize your Galaxy Note 3’s address book. The latter is typical for a car in-dash Bluetooth device.
Quick Disconnect
To quickly disconnect from a Bluetooth device, touch the device on the Bluetooth Settings screen and then touch OK.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) networks are wireless networks that run within free radio bands around the world. Your local coffee shop probably has free Wi-Fi, and so do many other places, such as airports, train stations, malls, and other public areas. Your Galaxy Note 3 can connect to any Wi-Fi network and provide you faster Internet access speeds than the cellular network.
Connect to Wi-Fi
The following steps explain how to find and connect to Wi-Fi networks. After you have connected your Galaxy Note 3 to a Wi-Fi network, you automatically are connected to it the next time you are in range of that network.
1. Pull down the Notification bar and touch the Settings icon.
2. Touch the Connections tab.
3. Touch Wi-Fi.
4. Touch to turn Wi-Fi on if the slider is in the off position.
5. Touch the name of the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to. If the network does not use any security, you can skip to step 8.
6. Enter the Wi-Fi network password.
7. Touch to connect to the Wi-Fi network.
If the network you want to connect to is not listed on the screen, it might be purposely hidden. Hidden networks do not broadcast their names (which are known as their service set identifier [SSID]). You need to scroll down to the bottom of the listed Wi-Fi networks and touch Add Wi-Fi Network, type in the SSID, and choose the type of security that the network uses. You need to get this information from the network administrator before you try to connect.
8. If all goes well, you see the Wi-Fi network in the list with the word Connected under it.
Can’t Connect to Wi-Fi?
If all does not go well, you might be typing the password or encryption key incorrectly. Verify this with the person who owns the Wi-Fi network. Sometimes there is a lot of radio interference that causes problems. Ask the person who owns the Wi-Fi network to change the channel it operates on and try again.
Wi-Fi Network Options
1. Touch a Wi-Fi network to reveal a pop-up that shows information about your connection to that network.
2. Touch Forget to tell your Galaxy Note 3 to not connect to this network in the future.
3. Touch and hold on a Wi-Fi network to reveal two actions.
4. Touch to forget the Wi-Fi network and no longer connect to it.
5. Touch to change the Wi-Fi network password or encryption key that your Galaxy Note 3 uses to connect to the network.
Advanced Wi-Fi Options
Your Galaxy Note 3 enables you to configure a few advanced Wi-Fi settings that can actually help preserve your battery life.
1. Touch the Menu button.
2. Touch Advanced.
3. Touch to enable or disable the ability for your Galaxy Note 3 to automatically notify you when it detects a new Wi-Fi network.
4. Touch to let your Note 3 automatically connect to Wi-Fi networks that support Passpoint.
5. Touch to change the the sort order of Wi-Fi networks. By default they are sorted alphabetically.
6. Touch to change the Wi-Fi sleep policy. This enables you to choose if your Galaxy Note 3 should keep its connection to Wi-Fi when it goes to sleep.
7. Touch to choose whether to allow Google and apps running on your Note 3 to scan for Wi-Fi networks, even if you have turned Wi-Fi off.
8. Touch to choose whether to allow your Note 3 to automatically switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data networks.
Should You Keep Wi-Fi on During Sleep?
In step 6 of the “Advanced Wi-Fi Options” task, you can choose how your Galaxy Note 3 handles its connection to Wi-Fi when it goes to sleep. Because Wi-Fi is much faster and more efficient than 3G or 4G and is free, you should keep this set to Always. However, battery usage can be affected by always being connected to Wi-Fi, so you might want to set this to Only When Plugged In, which means that if your Galaxy Note 3 is not charging, and it goes to sleep, it switches to the cellular network for data; when the Galaxy Note 3 is charging and it goes to sleep it stays connected to Wi-Fi. If you choose Never for this setting, when your Galaxy Note 3 goes to sleep, it switches to using the cellular network for all data. This can lead to more data being used out of your cellular data bundle, which might cost extra, so be careful.
9. Touch to install certificates provided by your administrator that are stored on the SD Card (external memory) in your Note 3.
10. Use this Wi-Fi MAC address if you need to provide a network administrator with your MAC address in order to be able to use a Wi-Fi network.
11. This shows the IP address that has been assigned to your Galaxy Note 3 when it connected to the Wi-Fi network.
12. Touch to save your changes and return to the previous screen.
What Is Passpoint?
Passpoint is a technology that is being used increasingly by operators of Wi-Fi hotspots, and its purpose is to let your Note 3 (and other Passpoint-enabled smartphones and tablets) to automatically roam onto the hotspots with no need for you to search for them or log in to them using the typical hotspot login web page. Simply based on the SIM card in your Note 3, you are automatically authenticated onto these hotspots and provided a secure encrypted connection.
Wi-Fi Direct
Wi-Fi Direct is a feature that allows two Android devices running version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or later to connect to each other using Wi-Fi so they can exchange files. Because Wi-Fi is much faster than Bluetooth, if you are sending large files, using Wi-Fi Direct makes sense.
Send a File Using Wi-Fi Direct
Follow these steps to connect two Android devices running version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or later via Wi-Fi Direct and send them files from your Note 3.
1. Ask the other person to enable Wi-Fi Direct on his Android device. The Wi-Fi Direct screen is normally under the Wi-Fi Settings.
2. Touch the Share icon for the item you want to send. This can be a picture in the Gallery app, for example.
3. Touch the Wi-Fi Direct icon.
4. Touch the device name to invite it to connect with your Galaxy Note 3 via Wi-Fi Direct and send the file to that device.
Does Wi-Fi Direct Work for All Android Devices?
Theoretically, all Android devices running version 4.1 should be able to send or receive files via Wi-Fi Direct; however, some devices have reported issues. For example, as of the writing of this book, the HTC One wouldn’t operate properly on Wi-Fi Direct.
5. Ask the other person to touch Accept or Connect on the device you are inviting.
6. If the Wi-Fi Direct connection is made successfully, the file is sent to the other device.
Receive a File Using Wi-Fi Direct
Follow these steps to connect two Android devices running version 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or later via Wi-Fi Direct and receive one or more files.
1. Pull down the Notification Bar and touch Settings.
2. Touch Wi-Fi under the Connections tab.
3. Touch Wi-Fi Direct and wait for the other person to invite you.
4. Touch Connect when the other person invites you to connect using Wi-Fi Direct. One or more files should now start copying to your Note 3.
5. Pull down the Notification Bar and touch the Files Received notification.
6. Touch a received file to open it.
Near Field Communications (NFC)
Your Galaxy Note 3 has the ability to swap data via its NFC radio with other phones that use NFC or read data that is stored on NFC tags. You can also use NFC to pay for items you have purchased. Android Beam and Samsung S Beam also use NFC to send files between Android devices by setting up the sending process automatically via NFC, and continuing it via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct.
Enable NFC, Android Beam, and S Beam
To get the full benefit from NFC, you need to enable the NFC radio. You should also enable Android Beam and S Beam.
1. Pull down the Notification bar and touch the Settings icon.
2. Touch to enable NFC.
3. Touch to enable S Beam.
4. Touch NFC to see more settings.
5. Touch to enable Android Beam. (See the next section for more about Android Beam.)
6. Touch to save your changes and go back to the Connections tab.
Use Android Beam to Send Links to Content
You can use Android Beam to send links to content—such as apps, music, and video in the Google Play Store or website links—to another device. Android Beam only works between devices that are both running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or later.
1. Open a website that you’d like to share the link to. Put the back of your Galaxy Note 3 about 1" from the back of another NFC-enabled phone. You know that the two devices have successfully connected when the web page zooms out.
2. Touch the web page after it zooms out.
3. The browser on the other device opens and immediately loads the link you shared.
Beam Google Play Content and YouTube Videos
If you like a song, movie, book, or app that is in the Google Play Store, you can beam it to someone. Simply open the song, movie, book, or app in Google Play, touch your devices together, and touch to beam. To beam a YouTube video, open the video in the YouTube app, touch the devices together, and touch to beam. The other device opens YouTube and jumps directly to the video.
Use Android Beam to Send Real Files
You can also use Android Beam to send real content such as pictures, music, and video that’s stored on your Galaxy Note 3. This only works between devices that are running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or later. This task describes how to beam a picture.
1. Open the picture you want to beam. (The picture must reside on your Galaxy Note 3 and not in the Google Cloud.) Then put the back of your Galaxy Note 3 about 1" from the back of another NFC-enabled phone. You know that the two devices have successfully connected when the picture zooms out.
2. Touch the picture after it zooms out.
3. Your Galaxy Note 3 sends the picture to the other device. The file is sent using Bluetooth in the background.
Use Samsung S Beam to Send Files
Samsung S Beam is Samsung’s version of Android Beam, and you can use it to send real content—such as pictures, music, and video—that’s stored on your Galaxy Note 3. Samsung S Beam only works between Samsung Android devices that also support S Beam. This task describes how to beam a picture.
1. Open the picture you want to send via S Beam. (Note that the picture must reside on your Galaxy Note 3 and not in the Google Cloud.) Put the back of your Galaxy Note 3 about 1" from the back of another S Beam–enabled Samsung device. You know that the two devices have successfully connected when the picture zooms out.
2. Touch the picture after it zooms out.
3. Separate the two devices as instructed on the screen.
4. Your Galaxy Note 3 sends the picture to the other device. The file is sent using Wi-Fi Direct in the background.
Cellular Networks
Your Galaxy Note 3 can connect to many different cellular networks around the world. The exact networks that it can connect to are determined by the variant of Galaxy Note 3 you have because not all carriers use the same technology. To complicate things even more, many devices use different frequencies from one another.
Change Mobile Settings
Your Galaxy Note 3 has a few options when it comes to connecting to cellular (or mobile) networks.
1. Pull down the Notification bar and touch the Settings icon.
2. Touch More Networks on the Connections tab.
3. Touch Mobile Networks.
What Is Wi-Fi Calling?
Wi-Fi Calling, also known as Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), is provided by some cellular carriers to both augment their coverage and to provide free calls over Wi-Fi. This is not Voice over IP (VoIP) calling but a regular GSM voice call, routed via a Wi-Fi hotspot, over the Internet, to your carrier. Because the call is not using the cellular network infrastructure, the calls are free, and because of the speeds at which Wi-Fi networks operate, the call quality is much higher because much less compression is needed. To read more about UMA, try this online article: http://crackberry.com/saving-call-charges-recession-your-blackberry.
4. Touch to enable or disable cellular data. If this option is unchecked, your Galaxy Note 3 is able to use only Wi-Fi networks for data.
5. Touch to enable or disable cellular data roaming. If this is unchecked, your Galaxy Note 3 does not attempt to use data while you roam away from your home cellular network.
6. Touch to view, edit, and add APNs. It is unlikely that you need to make any APN changes.
7. Touch to change the network mode. This setting enables you to choose to force your Note 3 to connect to a slower 2G network to save battery or always to a faster 3G or 4G network for the best speed, or to leave it set to Auto mode and let your phone choose for you.
8. Touch to view and choose mobile operators to use manually.
9. Touch to save your changes and return to the previous screen.
What Is an APN?
APN stands for Access Point Name. You normally don’t have to make changes to APNs, but sometimes you need to enter them manually to access certain features. For example, if you need to use tethering, which is where you connect your laptop to your Galaxy Note 3 and your Galaxy Note 3 provides Internet connectivity for your laptop, you might be asked by your carrier to use a specific APN. Think of an APN as a gateway to a service.
If you disable mobile data, you can save on battery life; however, you effectively kill the functionality of any app that needs to be connected all the time, such as instant messaging apps (Yahoo! or Google Talk) or apps like Skype. You also stop receiving email in real time. When this feature is disabled, about 5 minutes after your Galaxy Note 3 goes to sleep, it disconnects from the mobile data network; however, it remains connected to the mobile voice network.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)
Your Galaxy Note 3 can connect to virtual private networks (VPNs), which are normally used by companies to provide a secure connection to their inside networks or intranets.
Add a VPN
Before you add a VPN, you must first have all the information needed to set it up on your Galaxy Note 3. Speak to your network administrator to get this information ahead of time (and save yourself some frustration). The information you need includes the type of VPN protocol used, the type of encryption used, and the name of the host to which you are connecting.
1. Pull down the Notification bar and touch the Settings icon.
2. Touch More Networks on the Connections tab.
3. Touch VPN.
4. Touch OK to set up a screen lock PIN, pattern, or password. If you already have a screen lock PIN or password, you won’t be prompted at this point, and you can proceed to step 6.
Why Do You Need to Set a PIN or Password?
If you don’t already have a screen lock PIN, password, or pattern set up before you create your first VPN network connection, you are prompted to create one. This is a security measure that ensures your Galaxy Note 3 must first be unlocked before anyone can access a stored VPN connection. Because VPN connections are usually used to access company data, this is a good idea.
5. Choose either a pattern, PIN, or password to unlock your Galaxy Note 3 and follow the steps to create it.
6. Touch Add VPN Network.
7. Enter a name for your VPN network. You can call it anything like Work VPN or the name of the provider like PublicVPN.
8. Touch to choose the type of encryption the VPN network uses.
9. Enter the remaining parameters that your network administrator has provided.
10. Touch Save.
Connect to a VPN
After you have created one or more VPN connections, you can connect to them when the need arises.
1. Pull down the Notification bar and touch the Settings icon.
2. Touch More Networks on the Connections tab.
3. Touch VPN.
4. Touch a preconfigured VPN connection.
5. Enter the VPN username.
6. Enter the VPN password.
7. Touch Connect. After you’re connected to the VPN, you can use your web browser and other applications normally, but you now have access to resources at the other end of the VPN tunnel, such as company web servers or even your company email.
Editing or Deleting a VPN
You can edit an existing VPN or delete it by touching and holding the name of the VPN. A window pops up with a list of options.
Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot
Your Galaxy Note 3 has the ability to share its cellular data connection with up to eight devices over Wi-Fi. Before you use this feature, you need to normally sign up for a tethering or hotspot plan with your cellular provider, which is normally an extra monthly cost.
Start Your Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot
1. Pull down the Notification bar and touch the Settings icon.
2. Touch Tethering and Mobile HotSpot on the Connections tab.
3. Touch Mobile HotSpot to configure the settings.
What Is USB Tethering?
USB tethering is a feature that enables you to share your Note 3’s Internet connection with a computer via the USB port. To use this, connect your Note 3 to the computer using the supplied USB cable and enable USB tethering. On the computer there will be some extra setup to do, which includes choosing your Note 3 as an Internet access point. (And on older Windows computers you might need to install a device driver. Please consult the computer’s manual for instructions.)
4. Touch to choose whether to allow any device to connect or only devices you allow.
5. Touch Configure.
6. Choose a network name (also known as the SSID) for your mobile hotspot. You can leave it set to the auto-generated name or change it to something more friendly.
7. Touch to enable or disable broadcasting your Wi-Fi HotSpot’s network name (also called its SSID). If you choose not to broadcast it, your network will be hidden, but it requires more steps to connect to it.
8. Touch to choose the type of security to use for your mobile hotspot or choose Open to use no security.
9. Enter a password for your portable hotspot if you chose to use a security method in step 8.
10. Touch to change the maximum number of devices that can connect to your HotSpot.
11. Touch to save your settings.
12. Touch to enable your portable hotspot.
13. Provide the network connection information to anyone you want to have connecting to your hotspot.
Limit Who Can Connect
People can only connect to your hotspot after you give them the connection information; however, you can further limit who can connect to your hotspot by allowing only certain devices.
1. Touch to add an already connected device to the allowed devices list.
2. Touch to add devices to the allowed list manually.
3. Touch to add a new allowed device using its MAC address. You need to ask the person who owns the device to give you his Wi-Fi MAC address ahead of time.
