What does tethering mean? And what are the pros and cons?

Tethering allows other devices to access your phone’s internet connection. The quality of the connection depends however on various factors.

What is tethering?

There are actually two definitions for tethering. The first one means tying animals so tightly that they can’t really move. However, today the meaning of tethering is about tying different digital devices together by allowing a second device to share the mobile internet connection of a mobile phone. The source device acts as a kind of internet modem and router, allowing other devices to access the internet. Tethering can be used with many different devices, bust most often a phone is used as the internet source. Other smartphones, desktop computers and tablets benefit from the connection.

Tethering is mainly used when a device can’t establish an internet connection on its own. The technology then allows this device to request access to the internet from the tethering device. It’s supported by numerous phone manufacturers and operating systems, although they use slightly different names for it. Microsoft calls the function internet sharing, Apple refers to it as a personal hotspot, and Android has the mobile hotspot option.

What are the different types of tethering?

There are different types of tethering available. The difference lies mainly in the internet connection between the two devices. This connection can be established either with or without a cable and the mobile internet can either be shared as 3G, 4G or 5G. Sharing your mobile internet can also be done via a serial port. However, this technology is no longer supported in modern smartphones, so it’s rarely used. The same applies to tethering via IrDA (Infrared Data Association). Instead, connection via Bluetooth, USB or WiFi is more common. When tethering via WiFi, the connection can even be encrypted.

The device who is sharing its internet connection acts as a DHCP server, offering the connecting device IP addresses and a DNS server.

How fast is the data transfer?

The quality and speed of data transfer depend on the device sharing the internet and the connection. The better the internet connection of the tethering device is and the higher its bandwidth, the better tethering can work, in theory. However, the type of connection also plays a role. For example, a Bluetooth connection is generally very efficient at data transfer, so the speed is low. The distance between the devices can also have an impact on the speed.

How to set up tethering?

To enable tethering on your smartphone, follow these steps:

1. Open the settings menu of your smartphone.
2. On an iPhone choose the option ‘Personal Hotspot’, on an Android it’s ‘Tethering and mobile hotspot’ and on a Windows phone look for ‘Internet sharing’. Enable the function.
3. Set a name for your network and select a strong password.

To access the network with another device, use the following steps:

1. Open the list with all available WiFi networks on your phone.
2. Select the appropriate network.
3. Enter the password and confirm it.

What are the limitations of tethering?

Most modern smartphones are all capable of tethering. However, sometimes the smartphone manufacturer has blocked the function or the mobile internet operator doesn’t allow it in some of their plans. Prepaid deals, for example, usually don’t allow sharing the mobile internet connection. Or it’s not included in the contract which can make it really expensive if you use it. Some network operators allow the technology in principle, but data transfer is limited. Check with your phone manufacturer and your mobile network operator to be sure.

Furthermore, you can connect only one additional device to the internet via tethering. The data used by other devices also counts towards your data usage limit. So, remember to pay attention that you’ll stay within your limit to avoid extra costs.

What are the pros and cons of tethering?

Depending on the purpose of using the function, the internet connection and your network operator, tethering has advantages as well as disadvantages. Let’s take a look:

Benefits of tethering

• Flexibility: The biggest benefit of tethering is the ability to connect devices to the internet that otherwise couldn’t do it. Furthermore, using it to connect to the internet is effortless, so it’s an easy option to use the same connection for more than one device.
• Lower costs and effort: Tethering also keeps the internet usage costs low. As long as your smartphone and network operator allow it, it doesn’t cost any extra to let multiple devices use one internet connection. The data the other device uses are still exclusively billed via the smartphone that provides the internet connection. You also don’t have to buy or carry additional hardware.

Disadvantages of tethering

• Connection speed: The quality of the internet connection can vary greatly. In most cases, Bluetooth is the slowest option. Even a fast internet connection won’t be as fast using tethering, meaning a slow connection will be even slower.
• Battery usage: Tethering uses a lot of battery, so you might need to recharge your phone a lot sooner than expected, meaning the flexibility of function can be a bit limited. Most likely you need to start recharging your phone at some point if you are sharing its internet connection for a longer period.

What is the difference between tethering and a mobile hotspot?

Although tethering and a mobile hotspot have many overlapping functions and some operating systems even use the two terms almost interchangeably, they aren’t exactly the same thing.

However, the principle is the same: one device acts as a router and other devices connect to it. The most significant difference between the two is that you can only connect two devices via tethering, but with a mobile hotspot you can connect several devices. A mobile hotspot also consumes even more battery power than tethering.