Tethering a Mobile Phone

[Deleted User]

Having recently discovered tethering buried within an ISP’s Terms of Service, I was wondering whether anyone has experience of doing this and would like to comment on it?

Jim Dolton last year made a YouTube  video sharing his knowledge of tethering and Kevin Thomas 4g.co.uk discusses it on his website.

Tethering was not lost on Router and Laptop OEM who began incorporating modems into their products around 2010 to make mobile products.

oldernonethewiser

I've done it in the past and continue to do it as required. 

No issues. 

FlorayG

I have a mobile and a laptop provided by my work and when I can't access any broadband I tether to my 'phone. It works fine. Of course, I'm not paying the bills so I don't know what it costs, but I'm allowed and sometimes expected to use the facility

PRAISETHESUN

I had issues years back in the early days of smart phones where my mobile provider at the time said that tethering was not allowed, but they never enforced it. Still do it to this day when I need to and I've never had any issues with it. In fact I'm going on holiday in a few weeks and plan to get a single travel eSIM on my phone for the whole gang to tether off of while we are away!

km1500

I tell my laptop all the time to my phone - I am with Three

Exodi

PRAISETHESUN said:

I had issues years back in the early days of smart phones where my mobile provider at the time said that tethering was not allowed, but they never enforced it. Still do it to this day when I need to and I've never had any issues with it. In fact I'm going on holiday in a few weeks and plan to get a single travel eSIM on my phone for the whole gang to tether off of while we are away!

I'd like to add that while this has been my experience also (I must have tethered double digit number of times), I do have a distinct memory of a family camping trip maybe 10-20 years ago where my mother was the only one with good signal so offered the other other family members to tether off her phone (maybe 4 devices).

Surprisingly, she received a message from the provider about tethering and shortly out was informed that her service had been cancelled. I believe she was giffgaff.

As you say, I've never had an issue with it, nor has anyone I know except that.

Newcad

All during the covid lockdown I had no landline broadband so I tethered my phones mobile broadband connection to my laptop via a USB cable.

You can also turn on a 'mobile hotspot' on most smartphones which broadcasts wifi to connect to rather than using a USB cable. (Connecting via USB keeps the phone charged so my preferred method).

It's  an option to bear in mind when you find yourself without broadband - say when you move into a new property and landline isn't connected yet.

Watch the Data cost on the phone unless you have an unlimited contract. (I'm PAYG with EE and during lockdown  it only cost me about £20 a month to tether to my EE with a Data Pack).

[Deleted User]

Does anyone know of or have experience of using a Galaxy 20 to tether through its USB port?

Newcad

Cross posted, see my post above - that was a Galaxy tethered by USB.

Grumpy_chap

This is the third thread the OP has created on this subject in the past week or so and the conversation will twist to an unlimited phone package having a fair use cap plus a limit on the number of tethered devices:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6557246/personal-fair-usage-ee-4g-lte-essentials-unlimited-contract-issues/p1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6558674/how-many-devices-are-connected-to-the-internet-in-your-home/p1

Murmansk

The original question sounded rather dodgy in some way to me I wouldn't like to have to explain but the comment above seems perhaps to confirm this