The Who What and Where to Smartphone Tethering

Tethering turns your smartphone into a mobile Internet connection for other devices, such as your laptop or tablet. Some wireless service providers include the cost of tethering within a cell phone plan, while others, such as T-Mobile, offer it as an add-on service with different tiers depending on your needs.

With it’s ever-growing popularity, tethering is becoming as integral to our smartphones as texting. Tethering trends however, may be shifting after a recent FCC settlement against Verizon. Verizon is paying $1.25 million in the settlement, and as a result, will no longer be charging customers for smartphone tethering. In addition, Verizon is no longer able to block tethering apps that got around Verizon’s tethering restrictions. This ruling may encourage other carriers to take a look at the way they handle their tethering services, whether they roll the cost of tethering within the monthly plan or offer it as add-ons.

Tethering in the Business World

An increasingly connected world with significant 3G and 4G data coverage allows workers to go to job sites, research centers, and field locations without losing touch with the main office. However, smartphones aren’t always the best or most secure devices to use for work purposes. Tethering access allows a worker to fire up their Lenovo laptop or Android tablet and access vital work resources, participate in video conferencing, and upload work to the server back at home base. When wireless service providers actively block tethering apps, such as Verizon did, or charge additional prices for tethering, it adds additional pressure on businesses with a high number of mobile workers.

Third party apps such as FoxFi, which provides Wi-Fi tethering and also works with another tethering app called PDANet, has seen over 1 million installations according to the Google Play store. There’s an apparent demand for tethering whether the wireless service provider offers it, or the customer needs to get it through a third-party app. It’s unlikely that another wireless carrier will prevent tethering app installation after the Verizon case, but it’s likely that multiple tethering data tiers will become commonplace. This gives the customer a la carte data options so it’s adjusted as needed.

Tethering in Personal Life

Tethering offers a number of benefits for your personal life as well, especially if you do a lot of travel or live in a location with bad Internet options, a great deal of wireless interference, or other problems with a standard Internet connection. When you use Wi-Fi tethering on your smartphone, your laptops see it as a typical network to connect to. You don’t have to worry about whether the hotel Wi-Fi is good or secure, and you can always bring your phone right by your laptop if the connection seems weak at first. 4G LTE speeds are comparable to basic home broadband speeds, so unless you’re on a turbo charged connection or have the pleasure of Google Fiber connections, it’s servicable for streaming, Internet browsing, social network checking, and other standard Internet uses.