Connect a Windows 7 Computer to the Internet Via an Android Phone

Using your phone's data connection with your PC is called "tethering". Why would you want to tether your phone to your computer? Well, the obvious reason is so that you can use your cellular provider's data and internet plan on your computer when you are away from a wired or WiFi connection.

Sounds like it should be an easy thing to do right? Is there an app for that? Well, yes and no... Is it legal? Again, yes and no. Pretty confusing already isn't it? The truth is "it depends"... While this article isn't meant to fully educate you on every single service provider's ever changing tethering policies, or walk you through the sometimes complicated steps of rooting your phone, it will hopefully enlighten a few of you on how to do the actual connection once the background has been taken care of.

Steps

  1. Determine if your phone is capable of creating a WiFi "hot spot". If you don't know the answer to this question, do a search for "Android phones with hot spot" and add your phone's model number and you should be able to quickly find out whether or not your phone can be a hot spot.
  2. Download, find and run your Hot Spot app. Follow the on screen directions to set up your hotspot (there is almost always an extra monthly charge that you must agree to).
  3. Select "start tethering" on your app. Your phone has just become a WiFi hot spot!
  4. Make sure your WiFi card is turned on on your laptop or desktop. Sometimes it's a button, on some it's a software switch (usually it's in your toolbar tray in Windows). You can also check this in Control Panel - Networking.
  5. Refresh your wireless networks. You should see a name like "Android Phone" or "Android Tether" in your list of wireless networks.
  6. Connect to the Android tether network just like your would any other WiFi connection.
  7. Open your favorite browser and enjoy surfing anywhere you have cell phone service!

The Free Rooting Method

  1. Read up on and research methods of rooting your Android phone. Don't blindly choose the first one you find. Make sure you know your options and what will happen to your phone. Most of the time rooting your phone will void your warranty.
  2. Root your Android phone. Again, the scope of this article is not big enough to go into the specifics of the ever changing legal and semi-legal apps and methods of rooting your phone. Please do some research on which is the current app / method to use for rooting.
    • It's not really that hard these days but the apps are not available on the Android Market so you will have to do some searching.
  3. Install the Wireless Tether app. Again, probably not on the Android Market any more. Do some searches for it and install manually or through an alternate Market like AppBrain.
  4. Run the Wireless Tether app and press the big WiFi icon in the middle to start tethering. Your phone has just become a WiFi hot spot.
  5. Make sure your WiFi card is turned on on your laptop or desktop. Sometimes it's a button, on some it's a software switch (usually it's in your toolbar tray in Windows). You can also check this in Control Panel - Networking.
  6. Refresh your wireless networks. You should see a name like "Android Phone" or "Android Tether" in your list of wireless networks.
  7. Connect to the Android tether network just like your would any other WiFi connection.
  8. Open your favorite browser and enjoy surfing wherever you have cell phone service (for free)!



Tips

  • Although it sounds fairly technical, rooting an Android phone is pretty easy these days. With a few non-market apps rooting can be accomplished in as few as 3 - 5 steps. Just do your research...
  • 3g tethering can be slow and tedious sometimes, since it is a lower speed connection than you have at your home or work, so, downloading full movies and streaming video can be tasking to the connection and can overheat your phone if used non-stop for hours on end. Tethering is best used for quick email or information checks.

Warnings

  • Rooting your phone usually voids your warranty. Root at your own risk.
  • Although not technically illegal, some cellular providers do not approve of rooting your phones or tethering and many have recently done away with unlimited data plans or have switched over to offering a pay per bandwidth or an "unlimited style" plan (that throttles down your bandwidth after a certain amount is used).

Related Articles

  • Share an Android Phone's Internet Data with Windows 7 PC
Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Connect_a_Windows_7_Computer_to_the_Internet_Via_an_Android_Phone&oldid=352353"