Calling all TECHIES....Tethering Questions

[kristenrice]

What can anyone tell me about tethering their cell phone to their laptop?

We are taking a road trip (22 hours of drive time) with the parents and kids (ages 4 and 6). We have three laptops between the 6 of us and the kiddos love their Playhouse Disney Online. (Not to mention me and my relationship with the DisBoards)

Here's the deal...DH and I have two phones, sharing an unlimited data plan. They are brand new Sprint phones. Since we just switched over from Nextel, we still have our Nextel phones too. I talked to a Sprint Customer Service rep today and he said that we can switch one of our lines over to one of the Nextel phones and tether it to our laptop (actually, to our wireless router, to give all of us on-the-go access) at no charge. He was shocked that there is no charge to tether the Nextel phone because it is $15/month to tether a Sprint phone. (FWIW, our Sprint phones are not "tetherable" for some reason) Anyways, he said that this is our best option because we are not tied into the 2-yr contract that is required with a mobile broadband card. When we get back, we can just switch the service back to the Sprint phone.

So, has anyone done this? How easy is it? The rep wanted to make sure that there would be NO charges to do this. He checked my plan and said that I have unlimited data so we could use it non-stop without a fee. I asked him how much it was to do the tether. He looked it up and said that there is NO additional charge to tether the NEXTEL phone. The only thing I would need to do is buy the cable to tether the computer to the phone. It costs about $25 so that is completely doable.

Is there anything else I should know? Please share your experiences.

 

[bosuch]

I can't speak towards tethering a Nextel phone, but if you have a phone running Windows Mobile you can tether it to the Sprint network for free. Technically you're not supposed to do this, since you're bypassing their ability to charge you outrageous fees, but the ability is built in to Windows Mobile, so...

I do know that the Sprint EVDO network will give you faster data speeds than Nextel...

Bill

 

[kristenrice]

I can't speak towards tethering a Nextel phone, but if you have a phone running Windows Mobile you can tether it to the Sprint network for free. Technically you're not supposed to do this, since you're bypassing their ability to charge you outrageous fees, but the ability is built in to Windows Mobile, so...

I do know that the Sprint EVDO network will give you faster data speeds than Nextel...

Bill

I have the Samsung Exclaim. I have no idea if it is running Windows Mobile. I have internet on the phone, but it is difficult to navigate sites like hotwire and priceline. I haven't figured out how to open threads and post on the DisBoards yet. Any suggestions?

 

[wmharley]

go to www.howardforums.com

They will be able to answer your question as they are all phone fanatics... There is a sprint forum, but after reading agin, seems you are asking for Nextel tethering.

This is the Nextel forum

http://howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=80

register and search or post.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I tether my windows mobile smartphone to my Dell Mini laptop for internet when I am traveling and out of range of the company wi-fi. I have an unlimited data plan AND a plan for tethering specifically ($15 or so, but mine is Verizon) and there's software that needs to be loaded onto the laptop in order to make it function like a high speed modem. My older Windows mobile phone could tether wirelessly via bluetooth. Hope fully the new Droid phone will, too.

 

[fsmith2845]

I have Verizon with a blackberry storm and tethering is extra if done as a Verizon service, however i have a program that allows me to tether with my current plan (and btw, i do not have the unlimited data plan; i have the email and web for blackberry service). Now i have done an extreme amount of tethering that would take my normal data usage astronomical, but it works pretty well. and bonus, i don't have to pay a monthly fee tether which i do very sporadically..

 

[prncess674]

Not sure if you were planning on using it while driving, but data speeds are not that great on roads outside of major cities and such especially when trying to go to graphic intensive sites such as Disney. Tethering is great for the hotel and while at rest stops, etc.

 

[mountdew1]

There are several things to consider. First, does your plan actually allow it? Typically there is an additional fee required to tether, but that varies from provider to provider. Also, there is typically a data limit to the tethering. Even though you may have unlimited data on your phone, usually tethering has a data cap. Second, as a PP said, usually speeds outside of major cities will be crawling. It may be nice for your kids to be able to view their favorite sites while traveling, but unless it is high speed, I.E. 3G, it will be just like dialup. Most older data networks are very slow, and seeing how most kid sites are heavy graphics/flash, they will not work very well over a slow connection. Third, unless you pay additional costs for something along the lines of a Verizon MiFi, you won't be able to share it between multiple laptops unless you set up something like an adhoc network between the laptops to share the connection. (Not easy to do)

So I don't think it will work real well for your current situation.

You may do better buy signing up for a data card from any cell provider, just before you leave for the trip and then cancel it as soon as you get home. Most give you a 30 day trial period.