Anyone else use a tethered smart phone on their computer?

Post » Sun May 13, 2012 12:24 pm

I'm just curios to know who has done or does this? How does it work for you? Do you see more, less or about the same bandwidth as with an actual internet connection?

I'm asking because for the past several months I've just been using my Android tethered to my computer. The connection is slow. Real slow. For real small downloads it's ok. Few minutes and done. But if it's anything large forget it. For example, I downloaded the new nVidia drivers today, took about three hours tethered. I've been downloading the HD Texture pack for Skyrim for the past three weeks; it was at 52% when I came home today.

So, needless to say, using a cell phone tethered to a computer is good for quick things if you have good service; I do not have good service, my phone drops to 1x constantly.

I just turned my highspeed back on. I got tired of the slow connection and I want to play Skyrim and all the cool new mods I've downloaded over the past several months.
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Makenna Nomad
 
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Post » Mon May 14, 2012 2:45 am

I do this with my Droid. I carry my laptop and droid wherever I go. Its nice. But at best 3mbps.
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Sweet Blighty
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 12:15 pm

I've done it, but I have a LTE phone that gets crazy-fast speeds.
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Genocidal Cry
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 11:32 pm

I tried it with my girlfriends and it wasn't terrible. I can't do it with mine because my carrier doesn't allow it.
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Jessie Butterfield
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 6:40 pm

Wireless tethering or wired tethering? What's your normal speed on your phone when home (not connected to wifi)? Hows signal reception? Official tethering or third-party tethering?

Most likely, I'd say the issue is your data reception isn't good in your home and/or you are doing wireless tethering and something is interfering.
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Manny(BAKE)
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 9:32 pm

Wired tethering. And the service completely terrible, like I said, it goes from 3g to 1x constantly.

If I connect to the high speed with my phone I see 65 mb/s. But if I'm tethering I'm seeing at most 20.
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krystal sowten
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 4:17 pm

I use the mobile hotspot feature on my phone everyday because, sadly, it's better than the internet my [censored] university provides. That said, it's actually quite fast on 4G (which I thankfully get here), but if it goes down to 3G it's not even worth it -- so slow.
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Tyrone Haywood
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 11:56 pm

I don't use the mobile hotspot on my phone because Verizon charges you $20 additional a month to use it. You have to agree to it's terms before it even connects you. My bill is already close to $200 a month for two smart phones and a texting phone so....

I tether it using a third party program that I paid $15 for a lifetime membership and unlimited computers. Unfortunately I don't remember my product id so that's a moot point.
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benjamin corsini
 
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Post » Mon May 14, 2012 1:53 am

Tethered cellphones are almost always slower than any other connection (apart from dial-up, obviously). Can you buy a USB modem to use with your SIM card, where you live?
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Irmacuba
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 9:11 pm

I do this with my Droid. I carry my laptop and droid wherever I go. Its nice. But at best 3mbps.

Count yourself lucky you can get those speeds at all :/
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Cheryl Rice
 
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Post » Mon May 14, 2012 4:04 am

Tethered cellphones are almost always slower than any other connection (apart from dial-up, obviously). Can you buy a USB modem to use with your SIM card, where you live?

I have a USB modem for my work laptop (I'm using it right now at work) but the problem is, the cell phone service is spotty at best at my house as noted with my smartphone.
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Antony Holdsworth
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 12:12 pm

I have a USB modem for my work laptop (I'm using it right now at work) but the problem is, the cell phone service is spotty at best at my house as noted with my smartphone.

It should still offer you faster speeds than your cellphone does... Can you convince your work to upgrade the USB modem to one that has more range?
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Camden Unglesbee
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 11:55 pm



It should still offer you faster speeds than your cellphone does... Can you convince your work to upgrade the USB modem to one that has more range?

No, I'm not even supposed to use it to surf the internet. It's for "work use" only. Of course I learned within the day they gave it to me to bypass VPN so I could use it to surf my favorite forum.
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ILy- Forver
 
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Post » Mon May 14, 2012 12:47 am

I did use it when our connection went down to to poor service by our ISP when another service changed. I was used to the speed I was getting and tethering with 3G gave me similar speed so it was not too bad for me. I didn't use it for anything big though.
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Rob Smith
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 10:52 pm

No, I'm not even supposed to use it to surf the internet. It's for "work use" only. Of course I learned within the day they gave it to me to bypass VPN so I could use it to surf my favorite forum.

http://beta.fool.com/media/images/user_115/part-7-lie-6-lolcat-middle-management_large.jpeg
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Chloe Botham
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 3:03 pm



http://beta.fool.com/media/images/user_115/part-7-lie-6-lolcat-middle-management_large.jpeg

That's funny. LOL
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Wayne Cole
 
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Post » Mon May 14, 2012 1:14 am

I don't use the mobile hotspot on my phone because Verizon charges you $20 additional a month to use it. You have to agree to it's terms before it even connects you. My bill is already close to $200 a month for two smart phones and a texting phone so....

I tether it using a third party program that I paid $15 for a lifetime membership and unlimited computers. Unfortunately I don't remember my product id so that's a moot point.
I'd say whatever software you're using is to blame for your slow performance ASSUMING that in the same area you get very fast phone download speeds.
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Mackenzie
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 9:27 pm


I'd say whatever software you're using is to blame for your slow performance ASSUMING that in the same area you get very fast phone download speeds.

I've been using PDANET, do you know of anything better?
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jennie xhx
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 2:15 pm

I've been using PDANET, do you know of anything better?
For non-rooted phones there's only two alternatives I know of: http://code.google.com/p/proxoid/ and https://market.android.com/details?id=com.koushikdutta.tether, for rooted phones there are various options depending on whether or not your phone supports iptables (most do).
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xx_Jess_xx
 
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Post » Sun May 13, 2012 1:42 pm

My phone. Is rooted. If that helps.
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Marine x
 
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