Set Up Your Own Mobile Hot Spot Using a 3G phone.
The growth of mobile
broadband has come home. First it was only Safaricom who could offer us the 3G
services. At first if you memory is as clear as mine, the cost of access was so
high that you could not be tempted to venture in the direction of You Tube. Not
forgetting you had to purchase a very expensive dongle in order for you to
access the internet on your PC or Laptop. Oh did I mention that the dongles or
we call them Modems are locked by the service provider? Now let us assume you
have been waiting for another service provider to offer the mobile broadband at
a lower price or let’s just say to offer “true broadband” if you are savvy and
improvising as a majority of Kenyans are then am sure you had the dongle
flashed/jail broken but you aren’t that of a street smart then you must have
found yourself with the second and third modem and you might not stop coz
Airtel just launched there 3.75G mobile broadband.
Well, have you ever thought
of using your 3G phone as a modem? I have been doing this on Sony Ericsson
phones since way back and I know that many other phones are capable of this
either by USB, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. This is called tethering and it’s a so easy
in that you do not have to be a networking genius to do this and it actually
saves the hustle of having all those gadgets with you. This can also save you a
lot if you are a frequent traveller to destinations since the cost of Wi-Fi
access at airports and hotels can spiral upwards over a period of time. The
option you will choose will be highly dependent on your phone and the security
features in place on either your 3G tablet or phone i.e. Bluetooth on android
turns off after a minute of no connection and the same happens with Wi-Fi on
IOS devices. The other consideration is the amount of charge in your phones
battery hence the third option which is tethering via USB which is the most
reliable as it also powers your phone.
There are a couple of
challenges that you might encounter while using your phone as a modem but the advantages
might out weight the disadvantages. For starters, don’t get excited about the
capability of being able to access the internet on your laptop and you may just
zap out your data bundles assuming it is not unlimited bandwidth. The other concern
is that you might not experience supper fast speeds because of the throttling
subject to usage policies enforced by service providers if you are on the
unlimited access or the architecture of your phones access features including
the software…
FAQ: Tethering with a hotspot phone
What is tethering?
Tethering is the
ability to share a smartphone's Internet connection with computers or other
devices. It can be accomplished by connecting the devices with a USB cable, a
Bluetooth wireless link or a Wi-Fi connection. This story concentrates on Wi-Fi
hotspot tethering because it's convenient and can service more than one client
at a time -- and because just about all laptops and tablets have
Wi-Fi built in these days.
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.
Which phones and networks support Wi-Fi tethering?
They come from the major
phone makers; use a variety of mobile operating systems, including Android,
BlackBerry, iOS, webOS and Windows Phone; and come in a variety of sizes and
shapes. At the moment, Android offers the most options, with around four dozen
hotspot-capable models available.
Does
Wi-Fi tethering make the phone any bigger or heavier?
No. 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. In fact,
there are hotspot phones that weigh as little as 3.2 oz.
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. 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 phone in question, 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. (You only have to do this
once.) Most hotspot phones are up to date with WPA2 protection so that
outsiders can't tap into your mobile network or read any data. 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 the phone's hotspot?
It's 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 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.
What
clients can connect to the hotspot and how many clients will it support?
A hotspot phone can link
to any device that has Wi-Fi networking. I've used hotspot phones with various
laptops, an iPad and several Android tablets.
The phone can supply an
Internet connection to as many as 5 to 8 clients, depending on the model. Be
warned, though -- the connection speed is often not enough to spread across
several users, and you might be disappointed.
What
speed and range can be expected?
The connection speed
depends on many variables, including the cell network you're connecting to, how
far you are from the network's closest transmission tower and how congested the
Internet is at that moment in time. I've had connections on both Safaricom’s
and Airtel’s 3G and even though Safaricom does not offer true 3G I am able to
surf the net while avoiding YouTube and heavy flash sites.
When it comes to 3G data
network, geography is destiny. Even as the competition intensifies, there are
still many places in the Kenya, particularly in high density neighborhoods, in
the country side and the northern parts of the country that are sparsely
covered.
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?
That depends on the
phone and network it lives on. Phones on older CDMA-based 3G networks can't;
and phones that run on HSPA-based 3G networks are a mixed bag.
How much does tethering cost?
I have been able to tether my
phone to my PC for the past 5 years at no extra cost from the service providers
apart from my data bundles but this might vary on whether you on postpaid or
prepaid plan.
Can I
use a third-party tethering app instead?
If your phone has Wi-Fi
built in and you are unable for find the settings for tethering, you can download
and use apps such as MyWi for the iPhone, Android WiFi Tether for
Android or JoikuSpot Light WiFi Hotspot for Symbian to turn your phone into a
hotspot. Each basically does what the phone's built-in tethering app does. If
you want to do this on a postpaid plan, my advice is to read the very fine
print in the service agreement to see what your rights are and where you stand
so as to avoid punitive bills or throttling due to violation of the fair usage
policy.
Hello Steven,Thanks for this.I got an Ipad Mini as gift and unfortunately didnt come with 3G, i got it from the states.I just wanted to find out about the tethering,i have read your blog but would like to find out more in less Techie language...i am not the most techie person.just wanted to find out about the 1.Reliability of the tethering using the smartphone as a hotspot 2.The cost implications 3.exactly which network i should go for Safaricom or Airtel!Diana
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