Wanna Hitch? Tether Your Android or Blackberry Phone

Image Source: http://cache.gizmodo.com/assets/images/4/2009/03/tether-3g.jpg

Note: The following is a guest blog post from Miguel Guhlin, who blogs regularly at Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org.

Tethering…a term unknown to me. I know what it means to “tether” something but what did it mean in terms of my mobile device? Apparently, it can be defined in this way:

Using an application that allows your PC to take advantage of your Smartphone’s data plan, allowing you to access the Internet on your laptop/netbook anywhere there is cellular coverage.
Source: Adapted from the Tether Blackberry site

Wow, what a neat idea! So, obviously, you can use the Tether Blackberry program to accomplish that on a Blackberry, but I have an Android and many others have iPhones. How do you tether on other machines?

Image Source: http://androidguys.com/wp-content/uploads/tether_g1.png

On Android, I found one app called “EasyTether.” It’s also available for Mac. A better alternative is PDAnet.

EasyTether turns your BlackBerry smartphone into an Internet access point for an Apple computer. With this app you can tether your BlackBerry to a Mac. EasyTether implements Bluetooth PAN profile.

• Standard Bluetooth PAN support
• Requires only a basic data plan
• Simple setup without any custom desktop software
• Free lifetime upgrades
• 3G grade speeds with Bluetooth 2.0+EDRdevices
• USB support and Bluetooth DUN are under development

EasyTether is also available for Android phones and Windows (Vista,7,XP) users. Another alternative for Android phones is PDAnet., which I’ve purchased and highly recommend. It’s saved me at various presentations when the Internet provided by an organization just failed without warning. While my participants were stranded, I was able to continue presenting.

In a pinch, Android phone users can connect their computer to their phone using a USB cable and by running a program called PDAnet. In a pinch, PDAnet can have you back up and running, even when the Internet stinks where you are at…like tonight, when I’m at home, working on a project and the Internet from Time-Warner Cable has intermittently failed. Sigh.

That said, I hooked up PDAnet and voila, I’m back online. Here are the speed test results from Internet Frog:

SteveE shares in a comment:

I love my Droid and PDANet. I paid for a premium edition (includes https) and haven’t looked back. I’m writing this from the Interstate in Oklahoma, on a road trip from New Mexico to Michigan and back. With my Prius, inverter, laptop, Verizon and Droid, I have been connected almost the whole way. Plus it’s faster than the average hotel connection. It’s the closest I’ve been to a ubiquitous connection.

Can’t beat that!

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