I had installed KDE Connect on my phone (for some reason) and have been getting messages from friendly google saying I hadn’t used it and should consider deleting it. I couldn’t remember why I installed it, so looked at the app and it sounded very useful, like that’s what I’d like to do. So I installed it on my computer, ran both on computer and phone, and nothing. On the computer, just a Find Devices and a blank window. Yast > Firewall, Zone Public already had kdeconnect allowed.
On the phone, slightly more information about making sure on the same network. What does that mean? On KDEConnect - KDE UserBase Wiki, it says “make sure that the two devices are connected to the same network”.
Any help topic seems to assume everyone knows what connecting to the same network means. All I have is my phone’s hotspot, (had moved up as the only option from dialup!). Some time ago, I was doing something with samba, and my notes say something about creating an Access Point on my computer. Is that what I need to do, and start samba up? Is there a list of minimal steps I need to do?
So, it’s interesting that you installed it, but aren’t sure why. And you install it again, because “it sounds useful” … the big question I think is: What is the primary reason you want to use it?
(sidenote: I have used Connect in the past, mostly for file sharing, but have reverted to an easier method … I was not interested in remote control or notification sharing, etc).
And although your computer and smartphone are on the same local network (because connected to smartphone’s hotspot - the phone creates a private network (PAN) ), so you need to check permissions on the smartphone side. You might consider also posting to your smartphone’s technical website | forum.
It was installed on my phone, but not the computer. So I installed it on my computer. File sharing from phone to computer was the main point. That was probably the reason why I installed it some time ago. Other things such as touchpad, and shared clipboard sounded interesting. I had tried bluetooth, but it is very slow for transferring things like photos. Is there something better?
As far as network, I think there needs something more than a specific phone info. Just how do you create a network for an Android phone in general? Some people have routers and things I’ve had little experience with, so need some basic concepts regarding connecting a network to a phone, or whatever it is that needs to be done.
Correct … KDE Connect is required to be installed on the smartphone and the computer for proper sharing. It’s great for instantly sharing files.
I can’t provide a proper answer, in general. Everyone has different use cases for sharing files. Need instant access? Ease of access? etc…
For this, it depends on what you have available and subscribe to. For us, we use an Internet provider … so all our computers and phones are connected to our local home network (so all devices can see each other), and also have instant access to the Internet.
I wouldn’t think I want to try to use my phone’s connection to the public Internet for things I do local, if that’s even possible to use the same connection.
On KDEConnect on my computer, it has a label above “Find devices” as “localhost.localdomain”.
Is that my network or only an imaginary one?
Should I use samba and/or NetworkManager to create/use a network?
I tested KDE Connect with my iPhone acting as a mobile hotspot and observed the same behaviour. Neither device could discover the other. Even when attempting a manual connection using the phone’s IP address, pairing was unsuccessful. This suggests that the iPhone isolates connected clients when operating as a hotspot. However, when both devices are connected as clients on the same Wi-Fi network, they are discoverable and can pair normally.
Thank you for testing that. I have read iPhones seem to be more strict than androids, but didn’t work on my android phone either. Any way of connecting to the “same network” when you don’t have a “network”?
KDEconnect should be both open(running) in your phone and computer so it can detect the connection,. It works here for sharing files and pictures both ways. The thing I observe if I want to send something from the computer to the phone the kdeconnect send files does’nt work instead I can send the file to the phone if I right click the file and do send via kdeconnect.
Are you sure your default zone is public? It might be worth checking if it is or it is not.
I had tried bluetooth, but it was very slow. If KDE Connect is just as slow, then there’s no point continuing, really.
Yes, my default zone is public and kdeconnect is in the allowed.
I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means, isolating the client traffic.
The words, “network”, “same WiFi” keep coming up. I’m thinking, that either there is more than one way of connecting KDE Connect, or there is only one way, and that is through “the same network”.
If it must be through the same network, then that’s what I need to know how to do. If I turn on the Wi-Fi button on my phone, it shows no networks. Because there are none. How do I create one?
Just to be clear, there is no “network” anywhere around here, I connect to the Internet to type this, or to do anything on the Internet, only by using the hotspot on my phone.
Bluetooth is going to be slower, as it’s a relatively low-bandwidth (and low-power) signal, typically able to provide around 1-1.5 Mbps, compared to Wi-Fi’s 50-1000 Mbps range, depending on the wireless standard, signal strength, channel congestion, and hardware capabilities.
When KDE Connect says the devices must be on the same network, it means they need to be able to reach each other directly, to send and receive small broadcast messages that help them discover each other.
In networking terms, that means they must be on the same broadcast domain. Most users with mobile phones and laptops would be typically connected to the same wireless LAN, but the same would apply to hosts that are wired ethernet connected.
So how would I go about it? How do I create a broadcast domain, would that be the (localhost.localdomain) I saw? Do I need to use samba and NetworkManager to create a wireless LAN or Access Point?
Purchase a wireless access point to create a small wireless LAN. In this context the phone and PC would connect as wireless clients to that AP, and be visible to each other for the purposes of using KDE Connect.
Except you cannot both connect to the phone for Internet access and to the external AP for KDE Connect at the same time. My understanding is that OP has only mobile network, no other Internet connection.
You’re missing the point. In this context, the OP would be connecting to a common network for the purpose of facilitating KDE Connect connectivity. The AP doesn’t need to be connected to the internet for that. I was answering the the OP’s question literally.