Working remotely tethering phone to laptop

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Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on the best way to work remotely with a laptop accessing the internet via a 4G signal. 

I have an iphone 7 plus and an excellent 4G signal in the holiday destination . I would like the option to log into my computer at work and access outlook and bloomberg for live data with a laptop or a tablet (although a laptop preferably)

Is tethering the laptop via my phone a good, reliable option for internet or would a dongle be any better? Also, if tethering, is it better to hard wire the phone to the laptop rather than rely on bluetooth?

Is there anything else I should consider? pitfalls? I'm not too worried about data usage as I won't be downloading large files like HD movies, just internet usage and Bloomberg live data (which will be a constant feed I believe)

Thx in advance

 plyometrics 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

If signal strength is good then thethering is great. I do it quite a bit for work  

Data can quickly add up though, you’d be surprised!

In reply to plyometrics:

Thx, do you just use bluetooth to tether?

 Ben_Climber 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

You do not use Bluetooth.

Once your Personal Hotspot is turned on (iPhone Settings) you just select your phone from the Wifi list on your laptop.

I have used this on may occasions and works well.

 

Ben

 plyometrics 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

As Ben says, personal hotspot via WiFi. 

In reply to Ben_Climber:

ok great. And does anyone know if there is any disadvantage (cost) to using data via a tether through your normal mobile data package than buying a dedicated pay as you go dongle? (assuming you stay within your limits)

In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I do it all the time, probably around 3 times a week in the evening down the wall (mainly just to get a break from the house). I actually prefer to use this over public wifi as 90% of the time it's much faster.

If you're looking to use it regularly make sure you have a good plan. I am with O2, which isn't great outside of major cities, but around population seem good and with 20Gb of data I don't need to worry about using it up, although I don't stream much video content. 

It's also a great fallback if your internet at home goes down, which if you are a Sky customer like myself, is all too often!! 

It's 1 click of a button on Android, the personal hotspot button and your good to go. Couldn't be simpler.

Post edited at 14:22
 Max Hangs 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

> ok great. And does anyone know if there is any disadvantage (cost) to using data via a tether through your normal mobile data package than buying a dedicated pay as you go dongle? (assuming you stay within your limits)

In short, no. Whether you are tethering OR dongling, your phone provider is just giving you a SIM with a data allowance, so it's basically the same thing.

You might get a better deal if you ask for one, of course

 

EDIT: My phone offers me the option to share via WiFi OR Bluetooth. Not sure of the advantages of connecting via Bluetooth; it generally gives me more grief so I would recommend setting this to "share via WiFi" if possible.

Post edited at 14:37
 Luke90 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Max Hangs:

There's a good argument that should be the way it works but it doesn't always. If you had an unlimited data plan, for example, it would still have a fair usage limit for tethering. It would be worth OP checking with his provider. Most now allow tethering within your normal data allowance but a few don't allow it, impose different restrictions or require you to pay for a tethering add-on.

OP should also bear in mind that if he's using any kind of remote desktop software to access a work computer, that connection will be using data the whole time he's using it, not just when he's using that computer to access the internet. Not vast amounts of data but it would still add up if you were connected for hours but thought you weren't using data because you weren't accessing the internet through the work PC.

 Max Hangs 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Luke90:

Didn't know that...hope this practice isn't too widespread! Seems pretty mean. What do they care how I use my data allowance (within the law)?

Guess it always pays to check these things with your provider.

 nniff 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Personal hotspot - you do need to check your data allowances though, especially overseas.  Often better than our useless virgin broadband at home and regular user on business.  You can't connect your phone to the wifi and then your laptop to the phone (not sure what the difference is between personal hotspot/bluetooth is in practical terms, frankly, but I'm pretty sure that's right)- in any case you might as well just connect your laptop to the wifi, - so you need to use your data allowance on your phone.

Never tried connecting with the phone wired to the laptop - had it connected for charging but they never seemed keen to share interwotsit data that way.

 krikoman 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

You're on Holiday!!!

Forget about work.

In reply to Luke90:

Thx, this is something that I was wondering. Bloomberg just told me to expect on average 5gb of data usage for a normal work day using their service. 

Think my best bet is to just try it for a day and see what my usage is, then adapt my plan accordingly

In reply to krikoman:

Ha I agree! I am actually trying to get more usage out of a holiday place by being able to work from it when it suits. If I can drive up on a thursday night, work on the friday and turn off at 5pm...I'm there and don't have the 2/3 hour friday night drive to contend with

The place doesn't have a phone line or internet though hence the questions

 

 SouthernSteve 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Just remember to have synced Dropbox or turn it off before you knock off 10GB of your data allowance in a morning (4G really is quite fast on occasions, when you don't want it to be) - speaking from bitter experience. 

I usually tether with the cable rather than WiFI or bluetooth as the phone runs down quite quickly in this mode. From a security point of view it is much better than using some dodgy open 'guest' network.

 mrphilipoldham 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Ben_Climber:

You can use Bluetooth if you want to. 

 Ciro 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Echo the speak to your provider comment - been a while since I've had an issue, but I've known some to limit the data you can use while tethered full stop, and others  to limit the data you can use while tethered abroad in the past.

 Philip 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

You can tell your PC that the connection has data charges and this will minimise background data use. While email and web is not much, windows 10 doing a major update will hit you data limit quickly.

 James Malloch 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

If you're going abroad, tethering often isn't included in your set price contract like it would be if you used it in the UK. 

I do it often in the UK but to do the same when I go abroad, even though the mobile data is free, would incur a significant cost...

 Skip 28 Feb 2018
In reply to Ben_Climber:

This is the way to do it

 Mark Reeves Global Crag Moderator 01 Mar 2018
In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

I have been using my vodaphone contract to work in Spain a lot this winter. I get 20gb and can use all minutes and data abroad in certain countries for free. The connection has been fine, but I am mainly just uploading photos and text, as well as working with dropbox.

I never run out of data, unless I was also watching netflix with my phone.

 

 remus Global Crag Moderator 01 Mar 2018
In reply to Mark Reeves:

> I have been using my vodaphone contract to work in Spain a lot this winter. I get 20gb and can use all minutes and data abroad in certain countries for free.

It's worth checking the fine print around this, many companies limit your data usage abroad to some proportion of your normal limit (despite the recent EU legislation). For example, on three data roaming is limited to 12 or 14GB (i forget which) regardless of how much data you normally get.

 SouthernSteve 01 Mar 2018
In reply to Mark Reeves:

> I ... can use all minutes and data abroad in certain countries for free. Don't have such a big allowance as you though!

I am the same - but am on a business contract, don't know if that makes any difference.

 

 


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