Straight Talk is one of the first carriers that come to mind, although many others exist. I advise using a high data capacity plan from an MVNO, in combination with an unlocked Mi-Fi device. Fortunately, some companies sell these devices unlocked (or untethered, if you like puns) from any GSM carrier. These devices offer good value at the point-of-sale, although the monthly fees might exceed prepaid plans. Many carriers offer locked-down, contract-only Mi-Fi devices. Think of it as a mobile router for a cellular data feed. For those owning a phone that blocks tethering, an app might solve your problems.Ī Mi-Fi device creates a portable Wi-Fi hotspot. Thus, to the carrier at least, you seem to use data only from your phone. The operating system then disguises the network traffic to appear as originating from the cell phone, rather than from other devices. Without a Nexus smartphone, tethering can be very complicated.įortunately, with a Nexus phone, you can natively create a hotspot Wi-Fi hub. Many phones purchased from carriers, including Android and iOS devices, will require rooting or jailbreaking combined with an application that enables tethering.
Using both wireless radios results in significant battery drain and necessitates plugging your smartphone into a wall socket. When tethered, your phone will use both Wi-Fi and 3G simultaneously, which are the two most battery intensive components of your phone. Requires a smartphone or data-enabled tablet with tether capabilities.Even so, many still try to prevent you from tethering using your contract smart device. Some will even try to block you from using their service "illegally." In recent years, however, carriers began easing up on tethering restrictions. Carriers hate you when you use a single-device tether.If you are shopping for a provider, consider using T-Mobile’s $30 a month prepaid plan (at the bottom of the page), which comes with 100 minutes of talk and unlimited data (technically limited to around 5GB before throttling). Offers the lowest total price, since it uses your current data plan. Rather than carrying multiple devices, you only need your phone (and another device with Wi-Fi). The biggest advantage of a single-device tether is simplicity. While the government ruled that forcing customers to buy separate tethering plans was illegal, carriers still manage to find all sorts of nasty ways to discourage consumers from using their mobile devices to tether. In the past, telecom operators frowned on this practice, often billing users for using their phone without purchasing the carrier’s bloated and outrageous tethering devices.
The most common, but least user-friendly, method of setting up a portable internet access point is by configuring what’s known as wireless "tethering." A tether allows you to transform a mobile phone into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, although with large caveats (unless you own a Nexus phone).
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