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using smart phone wifi for my laptop

nine_inch_rear

nine_inch_rear

Active member
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Location
Dublin
Moto(s)
08 Duc Hyper S,
Name
Stephen
I need to have internet access while on the road, using my laptop. I want to upgrade to a smart phone and use it as my wifi hub for my puter. I have Sprint, but is there a type of smart phone that I should be looking at for my purpose?
 
In my experience any area that has good mobile broadband will also have plenty of Starbucks and MacDonald's with free wi-fi. Most hotels have it too, but check in advance. I tried to like cellular on my Reconnection Ride last year (see sig) but was not successful.
 
rodr said:
In my experience any area that has good mobile broadband will also have plenty of Starbucks and MacDonald's with free wi-fi. Most hotels have it too, but check in advance. I tried to like cellular on my Reconnection Ride last year (see sig) but was not successful.
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Thank you.
I work out of my truck most of the day, so i-net access would have to be anywhere I could get cell phone coverage
 
Tethering is 29 bucks a month on Sprint. Pretty much any Android phone will be able to do it, or you can get a dedicated hotspot.

If you go the dedicated hotspot route and don't mind paying an extra contract, I'd go with Verizon instead -- way faster and better coverage than Sprint.
 
Android phones can be tethered LEGALLY with PDAnet app using a USB cord. It's the most dependable and fast when you're not interested in creating a hot spot for other devices. There's no need for a package from the carrier. I was online on the laptop while riding down I5 to SoCal.

For a paid app that allows wireless tethering WITHOUT rooting your phone, Foxfi will do the trick for many phones. I have the Razr and it worked right out of the box.
 
I've used PDANET before, it worked okay, i liked that because I was forced to plug it in my battery never died.

now i have my cell rooted/custom rom and wifi AP is built into the OS
 
Also be aware that *lots* of tethering can wear out the phone, depending on how it's designed.

It did it for me. For a year or so my inet connection at home was only through my cell phone and my phone didn't actually run off of the AC power, it ran off of the battery and would be in a state of continual charging. My battery failed.

So if you're going to do it nearly every day, I would weigh the options. Once in a while though, hey, not a big deal.
 
electronics generally dont WEAR OUT,

things have limited life spans but in general, Use has a abyssal affect on the lifespan.

the enviromentals are more important, keeping it clean and cool will prolong electronics, same way changing your oil helps your engine last.

batteries are consumables, they wear out and you pay out of pocket to replace them.

that has more to do with their chemistry but thats a whole topic on its own
 
sprints 4g is pretty abysmal
take a look at this link:
http://www.androidauthority.com/hspa-vs-lte-which-one-is-better-78120/

verizon and AT&T lte is blazing fast, but you are limited to devices and you are limited in terms of coverage. I've been content with the speed of my aT&T galaxy s2 using HSDPA+

most any android based phone can be rooted so that you can use the WIFI hotspot feature for ether - fairly easily

iphone's are definitely more difficult but can be done depending fw/baseband/model
 
OneRedLT4 said:
Android phones can be tethered LEGALLY with PDAnet app using a USB cord. It's the most dependable and fast when you're not interested in creating a hot spot for other devices. There's no need for a package from the carrier. I was online on the laptop while riding down I5 to SoCal.
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+1, costs nothing. No not let your carrier know, they don,t need to. Also I have sprint, and traveled a lot like you and tethered. It sucked, coverage no where. Version is your best bet in this regard.
 
Thanks for all the advice.. much appreciated. I was online with Sprint, and they dont have a tether plan, but will look into doing it on my own. They do have mobile hot spot for 19$ for 2G, and 6G for 50$. I left ATT and dont plan on ever going back. As far a cell phone coverage itself, sprint works best for me.
 
If you have a subscriber locked phone pre-loaded with carrier bloatware/blockware they often lock the tethering feature forcing you to pay extra for this feature.

If your phone has built-in WiFi hotspot functionality and you can unlock/root your phone then you should be able to utilize this feature without notifying your carrier or paying any extra feature ransom fees.

As an example I'm using an unlocked Samsung Galaxy Nexus (GSM-HSPA+) with Tmobile. WiFi hotspot feature works great. Can connect up to 5 WiFi devices. Download speeds range anywhere from 1Mbps up to 9Mbps depending on local network saturation. No special Tmobile plan needed.
 
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I use Klink which needs no rooting and no tethering option and works with WIndows, Mac and Linux. Connects via USB which is handy to keep the phone charged. I don't need it often, but when I do it works great.
 
rodr said:
I use Klink which needs no rooting and no tethering option and works with WIndows, Mac and Linux. Connects via USB which is handy to keep the phone charged. I don't need it often, but when I do it works great.
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Good to know, thanks!
 
Another useful app worth looking at is AirDroid.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid

Air Droid allows you to login and manage all your major phone functions (text msgs, contacts, photos, music, files, etc) via a regular browser window on your desktop machine or laptop. I suppose the ability to do my regular texting via a full size keyboard is the primary nice to have feature.

airdroid-update-540x374.jpg
 
mosquito said:
Also be aware that *lots* of tethering can wear out the phone, depending on how it's designed.

It did it for me. For a year or so my inet connection at home was only through my cell phone and my phone didn't actually run off of the AC power, it ran off of the battery and would be in a state of continual charging. My battery failed.
Click to expand...

Tethering didn't kill your phone, leaving your phone continuously on the charger did.
 
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