Is Your Mobile Ready for Wi-Fi Tethering?

Wi-Fi Tethering makes internet available on mobile devices in a way that is extremely simple for users, and can save them a lot of money. How? Tom Ojala, founder and chairman of the Board of Joikusoft, explains in his article for My Techbox Online.

What’s Wi-Fi Tethering? Wi-Fi Tethering means users can share their mobile phone’s 3G internet connection with external devices like laptops over Wi-Fi. In other words, they can transform their mobile phone into a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot. To start using the Wi-Fi for internet sharing, users need to buy add-on software for their mobile phone that enables tethering.

Benefit of the solution: It is extremely simple as compared to alternative ways of establishing internet connection. You can share the Wi-Fi connectivity with the click of a button on your phone.

Once the mobile phone’s internet access point over Wi-Fi comes, say, to your laptop, you can simply click “Connect” to access the internet. You can secure the connection just like you do with any Wi-Fi router, or keep it open as a public hotspot.

It’s observed that Wi-Fi offers better user experience as compared to Bluetooth, cable, or USB Dongle/Modem. Wi-Fi is faster, hassle-free, and as mobile phones have high-quality antennas, the internet connection is actually more reliable, stable, and typically offers higher throughput. It can help overcome network limitations.

Particularly, in areas where operators have high quality 3G available, Wi-Fi Tethering works optimally. Additional benefits of using Wi-Fi include the facts that multiple devices can connect in parallel to share the 3G WI-Fi connection, and the connection is not limited to laptops as any Wi-Fi device such as iPod or WLAN camera can also be connected.

For example, Apple iTouch device – with just Wi-Fi and browser but with no radio/3G connectivity – can connect to internet via a smartphone over Wi-Fi, thus transforming the iTouch device into a 3G iPhone. 

As a user, you can also save money as you do not need to invest in devices such as USB Dongles or additional mobile data subscriptions with your operator. You can simply use your mobile phone and the existing data subscription for internet connectivity.

As many operators offer flat rate data bundles, the cost of use is actually quite low. This is especially true when there is no longer a need to pay for fixed hotspots offered, for instance, by hotels or airports. The convenience factor is that the phone is typically always with the user, and one does not need to carry additional devices along or search for available Wi-Fi hotspots in one’s location for internet access. 

For operators Wi-Fi Tethering means more mobile data income. As mobile internet is made available using Wi-Fi, consumers are expected to consume it more, and many will actually upgrade their mobile data plans to fixed monthly high-speed subscriptions.

Wi-Fi Tethering can also differentiate the smartphone offerings of device manufacturers. It is offered in Nokia S60 Symbian environment and Windows Mobile, whereas it seems that both Android and iPhone do not carry this capability in their platforms.

The new N97 touch-screen device from Nokia, for example, will come with the Wi-Fi Tethering application JoikuSpot embedded in the device.

Tom Ojala is the founder and chairman of the Board of Joikusoft Oy Ltd. Joikusoft is the maker of mobile Wi-Fi hotspots and distributor of JoikuSpot software. Prior to his career as an entrepreneur, Tom worked for Nokia USA in the capacity of marketing director for Forum Nokia, Nokia’s global developer community program.