Smarterware

How to Tether Your Android Phone

There are three ways to tether your Android handset and get sweet internet love even where there's no Wi-Fi in sight: the risky-but-free method that requires serious technical skills, the still-geeky-but-not-as-bad free route, and the $30 easy way. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of each.

Method 1: Tether Android with Apps that Need Root (Free, heavy configuration)

The Android Wi-Fi Tether application turns your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot--essentially a MiFi--in one tap. The catch? You have to gain root access to your phone, a multi-step process that uses an unofficial Android add-on which can brick your phone if applied incorrectly. Rooting Android is doable for geeks and hackers with experience soft-modding hardware, but it's not something most users could (or should!) do.

If you're up for getting root access in Android, the Android and Me blog runs down how to do it. It's a multi-step process that involves unlocking your phone's bootloader, flashing a recovery image, and flashing an add-on to the default Nexus One firmware. Not for the faint of heart, but definitely doable if you've ever upgraded your router's firmware or hacked your Xbox. Here's a video of the process from Android and Me:

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