Without even we noticing it, most of the latest smartphones have this capability of Wi-Fi that very few people take advantage of. A feature called tethering lets a smartphone go beyond talk, email and Web surfing to act as a mobile hotspot that can supply Web access to nearby computers, tablets and other devices. This is what Wi-Fi driven tethering is all about.
What’s more interesting is that, thethering lets smartphone users always have the Web with them without taking any extra equipment along. Like dedicated mobile hotspot devices, these phones connect to a mobile data network and then act as a Wi-Fi router, distributing the bandwidth to nearby clients.
Once a user is tethering, you don’t have to worry about finding a public Wi-Fi hotspot or having another device to buy, lug around, keep charged and accidentally leave behind. That is why it is becoming popular today and a lot of smartphones are being used as hotspots.
Tethering with a hotspot phone
Tethering is the ability to share a smartphone’s Internet connection with computers or other converged devices such as other smartphones or tablets. It can be accomplished by connecting the devices with a USB cable, a Bluetooth wireless link or a Wi-Fi connection.
Connectivity is becoming very important these days and that is why Wi-Fi hotspot tethering is also quite important because it’s convenient and can service more than one device at a time — and because just about all laptops and tablets have Wi-Fi built in these days.
So how does a hotspot phone work?
After connecting to the mobile phone data network, the smartphone can distribute its Internet connection to several clients via a Wi-Fi connection. Any Wi-Fi-enabled computer or tablet can connect to it, and the real bonus is that the Wi-Fi router is inside your phone so there’s no extra stuff to carry with you and no other device to recharge.
Wi-Fi tethering requires that the phone have a Wi-Fi chip built in, but smartphones already have this for connecting at Internet cafés or at the office. The hotspot ability is enabled by software and doesn’t add to the bulk of a phone at all.
Is the setup hard to do?
Anyone who’s set up a Wi-Fi router or used a mobile hotspot can enable Wi-Fi tethering quite easily today. To get the phone to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot, you need to start the tethering app by tapping on its icon; it usually has some variation of “mobile hotspot” in its name so it’s hard to miss.
The details vary based on the smartphone that you are using, but after clicking a box to turn the hotspot on, you’ll typically need to configure it by typing in a network name, choosing its encryption type and designating a security password. Setup takes a couple of minutes; when you’re done, the phone is ready to be used as a hotspot.
How difficult is it to connect devices to a smartphone’s hotspot?
Actually it is no more difficult to connect a notebook or tablet to a hotspot smartphone than it is to connect one to a home or office Wi-Fi router.
The network name and configuration shows up on the Wi-Fi connection screen, and you are required to type in the network’s password the first time you connect. After that, you can set it up to connect automatically.
The phone can supply an Internet connection to as many as 5 to 8 clients quite easily, depending on the model. Be warned, though — the connection speed is often not enough to spread across several users, and you might be disappointed if you are using a single smartphone to connect five or six devices.
Typically, the phone’s Wi-Fi signal has a range of about 100 feet, so it works well in a temporary office, at the beach or even in the largest hotel suite. One thing to keep in mind is that, as with Wi-Fi routers, the signal’s strength and bandwidth decline as you get farther from the hotspot.
Can you tether and talk on the phone at the same time?
It is important to note that this depends on the phone and network it lives on. Most 4G phones today can do this without a problem; phones on older CDMA-based 3G networks cannot do this on the other hand. If this is an important factor, it’s best to consult our chart and the carriers themselves to determine if a particular phone can support voice and data at the same time.