Tethering your mobile phone is one smart way to access the Internet. In this article, we would learn how to tether your android phone.
Accessing the Internet while you are on the go may not be possible at all places. There are situations where you may require to go online, but without any Wi-Fi hotspot around, you are helpless. So in such cases, tethering your cell phone may seem to be a smart way out. In the following section, I have put down some easy tips on getting your Android phone tethered when you are left with no other means to access the Internet.
What Is The Best Way to Tether Android?
Although people have come up with multiple methods of tethering Android phone, what I found to be the best and safest approach was using the Android application called PdaNet. Most users found its use to be the easiest and less time-consuming.
Step # 1: First of all, visit the Android store and install the application called PdaNet on your phone. This application is known to be the fastest tethering-software for Android phones.
Step # 2: You would also have to download the PdaNet PC program on the computer you wish to use for tethering your phone. You would be provided with options for Windows and Mac; choose accordingly. Once the download is over, run the program as prompted, and follow the instructions.
Step # 3: The next step would be to make some changes in the settings on your cell phone. Follow the steps below:
- Go to Settings —> Applications —> Development.
- Once you are in the Development tab, you would see USB Debugging as one of the options. Check the box against it and click ‘OK’ to confirm.
Step # 4: Now you are all set to tether your phone. Connect the phone to your PC, and simply run the PdaNet application on your phone. Thereafter, select Enable USB Tether.
Step # 5: Go back to your PC, find the PdaNet icon (usually stays in your system tray), right-click on it and select Connect. Voila! You are good to go now!
Things to Remember
- While the application, PdaNet can be downloaded for free, the free version limits the user to access secure websites. The paid version costs $30.
- Experts recommend to turn off the USB Debugging function under the Development tab, after the user is done with tethering.
Apart from the tethering method cited above, there are two more ways of doing so. While these methods incur no cost at all, their usage involves heavy configuration, and is apparently not for novices.
# One method is about turning the phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot. This requires the help of the application called Android Wi-Fi Tether. This method also involves what is known as rooting. Rooting means gaining access to services that manufacturers or sometimes carriers impose on the device. For the Wi-Fi Tether to work, your phone must be rooted. The possible risk in performing this operation is you making a mess out of your phone if the rooting goes wrong. This method is not recommended for all users, and is only meant for those who are savvy enough to perform some heavy configuration on their Android phones.
# Another method is making use of Proxoid which when used, turns your phone into a proxy server thus, making it usable for tethering. This technique does not involve rooting your Android phone, but it does demand the knowledge of working around command lines and proxy server. Also, installing Proxoid alone is not enough as, to make it operational, you would also have to install Android SDK. Not to forget, you would have to make certain changes in your PC too.
So far, the use of the PdaNet Android application has proven to be the best Android tethering method. And this is evident from its download of over 4 million times. Furthermore, it is known to handle a download speed of well above 35Mbps.