Tether your phone to your PC and then try to stream a 4k youtube video at full resolution (you have to manually change the resolution to 4k using the video settings tool in youtube). Guess what, you can't. It will constantly rebuffer. Most mobile providers (we've personally tested T-mobile and Verizon) will deliver only around 480-720p
Tethering is the act of sharing your phone's mobile data connection with another device—such as your laptop or tablet—connecting it to the Internet through your phone's data connection. There are several ways to tether on Android. Tethering is the process of sharing your phone's mobile data to access the internet on another device, such as a laptop. You can tether using Bluetooth or NFC, but USB tethering is the fastest and most effective way to share your phone's mobile data. That said, USB tethering can't compete with the speeds of a solid Wi-Fi connection. Tethering is a solid way to provide Internet access to another gizmo, such as a laptop or a desktop computer. Follow these steps to set up Internet tethering: Connect the phone to a computer or laptop by using the USB cable. The best success with this operation is when the computer is a PC running Windows. Open the Settings app. After the phone is set to function as a modem, connect the phone to the computer via the USB cable. You will receive notification from your computer that new "hardware was found." You will be asked if you would like your computer to find drivers for you phone automatically and you will also be given the option to specify the location of the driver. Most traditional tethering cases involve using a cell phone as a modem to get a laptop or tablet online, but there might be times where you need to do the reverse. You can use your laptop's data connection for internet access on your phone or tablet by "reverse tethering" from your Mac or Windows PC. A notification icon should appear to confirm that tethering is active. In testing, we found the following results: Speed: 97Mbps download, 2.02Mbps upload, with an average ping of 66ms. Battery Impact: The effect on your phone's battery depends on whether your laptop is plugged in or not. If it is, battery decrease should be slow to non-existent, as the phone will slowly charge through the
Tethering is the term used for broadcasting your phone's mobile signal as a Wi-Fi network, then hooking a laptop or any other Wi-Fi-enabled device up to it to connect to the internet. It's sometimes referred to as a mobile hotspot, personal hotspot, portable hotspot or Wi-Fi hotspot.
There is free software like Connectify Hotspot which you can use to turn your computer into a fully featured virtual router. This way, you can share any type of connection via Wi-Fi, be it another Wi-Fi network, a wired Ethernet connection or your tethered phone. Also, it is easy to set up a smartphone to work as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Using your phone to connect a laptop, tablet or even another phone to the internet is called tethering. It's a bit like using 4GEE WiFi - but you can use either Bluetooth, USB cable or portable WiFi hotspot to connect your phone to another device. USB tethering: This option will appear grayed-out unless you have a USB-C cable connecting your phone to your laptop. Once plugged in and flipped on, it should be automatic, with your computer
USB Tethering lets you share your phone's Internet connection between your computer (or other devices). In order for this feature to work, you will need Hotspot service and the feature will need to be turned on. Click one of the drop down menus below to learn how to enable USB Tethering on your Galaxy phone.
For Google Pixel phones or stock Android smartphones, enable the WiFi hotspot feature by going to Settings > Network & Internet and then tap Hotspot & Tethering > WiFi Hotspot. Toggle the switch to turn on the WiFi hotspot, and connect your computer as you would any other WiFi router, to go online.