Definition of "Tethering"?

[hwy44tom]

What, exactly, is it? Before I pop big bucks for it, do/will I use it?

 

[christim]

Tethering a device to your phone allows it to access the internet through your phone's cell service (3G, 4G, etc).

I've had occasion where there is no power at the house on a weekend and need to do something at work. Normally I'd VPN into the network at work and not have to drive in but with the power out the household internet was down. By tethering, I took my phone which was on battery power, and my laptop also on battery power, and connected to the internet by through my phone. Got 20 minutes worth of work done and saved me a round trip commute of an hour.

 

[hwy44tom]

Thanks.

I don't, and probably won't. Whew! :biggrin:

 

[christim]

I don't, and probably won't. Whew! :biggrin:

I suppose you also could play WOW via laptop tethered to the phone while being a passenger in a car being driven cross country too. Any situation where you are remote and need more than a phone to access the internet would be a reason for tethering.

Glad to have you from unnecessarily popping big bucks!

 

[takeshi]

What, exactly, is it? Before I pop big bucks for it, do/will I use it?

Don't overlook tools readily available to you. Check out the first hit. The only keyword I used was "tethering"
tethering - Google Search