Expert guide to internet tethering: How to tether your smartphone

Want to use mobile broadband without a dongle? Well you're in luck, because this week Broadband Genie technical expert and forum guru Matt Powell tackles the subject of terthering a smartphone so you can use its internet capabilities on another machine.

Tethering is the art of hooking up a mobile phone to a computer and connecting to the internet via a mobile network, essentially what a mobile broadband dongle does, but with a phone as the modem instead of a USB stick. 

Why would you want to do this? Perhaps you don't want or need a separate mobile broadband account as well as your mobile phone, maybe you're only going to use a mobile connection on the laptop occasionally. It's also handy in an emergency. Just have to Google something and no Wi-Fi network nearby? Tethering can help.

Those with mobile broadband dongles might be wondering why you bothered to buy a dongle, but there are several reasons they are the better option for regular use. To tether you might need a USB data cable for the phone or have Bluetooth on your PC. It could also be technically complicated to setup your handset. Often a dongle is simply the easiest solution.

Mobile data plans

The main problem, though, is that providers now commonly have restrictions against using a mobile phone in this way. A network might give you “unlimited” mobile browsing in the contract, but they do this knowing that most of us will use it to download emails and check Facebook on the phone, not download gigabytes of data on a computer.

Before connecting your mobile you'll need to check the terms and conditions to see if tethering is allowed. If not, check whether you're able to pay to add tethering to your account.

It's not clear what happens if the network finds out you're tethering without permission. When hacks appeared to enable tethering on the iPhone, O2 said it reserved the right to charge for the data used, or even disconnect users.
By tethering your phone you take the risk that you may be charged or even disconnected, so that's something to be aware of before you start.

How to tether your phone

The iPhone includes a tethering option under Settings > General > Network. Just connect via Bluetooth or USB to get online.

Unfortunately, to use it you'll need to contact your network provider and pay for for a tethering package. Because of the iPhone's closed architecture there's no way for law-abiding iPhone users to get around this restriction without jailbreaking their handset. 

 Nokia makes tethering really simple. All Nokia handsets from the last few years, except perhaps the really low-end models, should work without too much hassle. All you need is the Ovi Suite software, which can be freely downloaded from Nokia's web site (or installed from a disc if it came with your phone).

After installing Ovi, connect your phone via Bluetooth or a USB cable and then run the Ovi software. Click the Internet button then One Touch Access. Press settings, check your phone is listed as a modem, click Next, then choose your network from the list, then click the Connect button. You'll have to do this each time as the software, annoyingly, doesn't remember your network selection.

BlackBerry users have two options for tethering their phone. The simplest is to use the TetherBerry application which makes it all really easy. Go to the site at www.tether.com to download a free trial (you'll need to pay to use it past the initial 7 days). A free but more complex alternative is detailed on the BlackBerryCool website. There are lots of steps involved, but it won't cost anything except your time.

There are several methods for tethering an Android phone such as the HTC Hero and Google Nexus One.

It's possible to turn an Android handset into a MiFi style device by using an application called Android Wi-Fi Tether, letting you access the net by connecting to the phone over Wi-Fi. However – and this is a big however – it requires root access. This means hacking the phone and is not something that beginners should undertake. If you're interested then Google it and start reading, but it's a complex process that invalidates the warranty.

For the rest of us, there are a couple of Android applications which do the job, namely Proxoid and PDAnet, both of which can be downloaded from the Android market via your handset.

PDAnet is quite straightforward, provided you connect over USB. First, enable USB debugging on your phone by going to Settings > Applications > Development. Run and enable PDAnet for USB, then connect your handset with a cable and click 'Connect' on the PDAnet PC application (a free download). If you want to connect via Bluetooth, then you'll need to select the Bluetooth option in PDAnet and setup Bluetooth Dial Up Networking on the PC. You can see a guide to that on the PDAnet web site.

One downside of PDAnet is that unless you pay for the full version you can't connect to secure web sites (https) so email access, shopping and other sites that require secure access won't work. Proxoid, though, is entirely free to use but a bit more complex to configure. Luckily there is a comprehensive guide to installation on the Proxoid homepage.

Lots more handsets can be tethered as well. Check your phone's instruction manual or try the manufacturer's support boards. Often, the software utilities included with phones will have a tethering function and if not, you can always Google the make and model to see if there's an alternative solution. And of course there's always the Broadband Genie forum if you need any further assistance.