Free Wi-Fi

[madatter]

If your mobile phone as internet with your package you can plug it into you laptop with a USB and use your phone as a modem (wi-fi router) to connect to the internet.
I have a HTC and when I connect to my laptop it asks me if i want to use the modem, other phones will be differant but they will be an app or setting somewhere that says use as modem or as on mine 'wi-fi Router'.
Dont try downloading stuff like games ect it will use you allowance up but I used less that 10 meg a day including letting the kids go on facebook.
My allowance is 1000megish (1gig) per month so not a problem
Check your manual or the internet for howto instuctions.

THIS WILL ONLY WORK ON PHONES WITH INTERNET.

 

[Reg]

A bit of a mix-up with terminology here...... mobile phone connection to the internet is generally done via GPRS (etc) although some phones are also wifi enabled. Wifi is a wireless extension of a land line. You wouldn't normally use a mobile phone as a modem for wifi, most laptops have an inbuilt modem these days.
I think you are referring to GPRS not WiFi.

 

[madatter]

So you can connect to the internet using your phone as a modem using the GPRS network (usb connection), you can also connect to the internet using wi-fi to connect to your laptop to your phone which will use GPRS to connect to the internet.
You can also connect to any open wi-fi network using your phone to get onto the internet.
Anyway you can use your phone to get onto the internet without paying for the sites wi-fi

 

[Reg]

Not quite correct but if you want to connect to a WiFi networks as opposed to a GPRS (mobile) network you wouldn't need to connect the phone as a modem.
Using the set-up you describe you are using GPRS for which you are paying for.......... not exactly free!!

 

[Lutz]

Besides, not all mobile phones have WiFi facility.
Also, UMTS provides a quicker internet connection than GPRS.

 

[JP1]

Some clarification on using a 3G mobile phone or smartphone with a laptop for internet access. There are two ways to do this, either by plugging the phone into the laptop’s USB port, or by making a wireless Bluetooth (easiest) or Wi-Fi (a bit fiddly) connection.
Both options are known as laptop tethering and they essentially allow you to use your 3G phone as a 3G dongle.
However, although Android smartphones (like some models from HTC) and Nokia mobile phones make this *very* easy, your mobile phone operator may frown upon it and some expressly forbid the use of a 3G mobile phone for laptop tethering (they're cracking down on this in the US).
Whether or not they can detect you doing it and then decide to do anything about it, on the other hand, is something else entirely and as long as you’re sensible with your data use, you should be OK. Of course if your 3G phone contract has a monthly data cap in place, you’ll need to be sensible anyway, since a large file download can wipe it out in just a few minutes.
One notable exception when it comes to tethering is the iPhone. This does now have the option tucked away in its Settings (added with a recent software update), but your mobile operator must enable it — and you usually have to pay extra for it.
Finally, just a word about the terminology… As Reg correctly states, this isn’t “free Wi-Fi” — this is free mobile internet access over the 3G mobile phone network.
PS. GPRS is the slowest mobile phone data connection (14.4Kbit/s — about as fast as a dial-up modem from 1997), whereas 3G (or ‘UMTS’, when its used for internet access) is considerably faster — it’s not called ‘mobile broadband’ for nothing. Unless you have a 3G phone and a strong 3G signal though, laptop tethering really isn’t worth using — web browsing will be far too slow to be worth it.

 

[TonyLloyd]

iPhone and some models of HTC phones DO act as a "hot spot" or "access point" for connection wirelessly to the Internet using your phones data connection, the speed is good with a strong 3G connection, so especially if you have "all you can eat" (fair use policy permitting) data package, surf away without concern.

 

[TonyLloyd]

While on this subject, you will of course have noticed that the 3G symbol on your phones screen is often replaced by the letter H, this signifies that you have 3.5g connectivity which is faster still, currently you can expect speeds of up to 14.4 Megabits/s for downloads which is set to increase in the near future, this is already faster than some ADSL connected customers can expect.
The "H" that you see on the phones screen stands for: High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), but all you really need to know is that this would be the fastest connection speed available to your handset.

 

[sheila_374397204]

The personal hot spot on my IPhone states that "additional charges" may apply. Don't know whether that means everytime I use it or if I go over the monthly limit - not tried it yet. Don't know how service provider would know if it was being used as a hot spot or just the phone.