By Scott Nesbitt - August 22, 2010

LINK+IMAGEThere's a lot of free wireless (wifi) out there. It seems like it's almost everywhere. The problem with that wifi is that it's not always available or completely reliable. Worse, it's not always available or reliable when you need it the most.

If you have a smartphone running the Android operating system, you can get around this by tethering your phone to your laptop computer or netbook.

A lot of reasons, many of which are explained in this TechTip. Overall, tethering is a great way to stay connected when you don't have access to wifi, or when that wifi goes down. And Murphy always makes sure that one or the other happens when you really, really need wifi.

First up, a smartphone running Android. Make sure you have version 2.2 (called Froyo) or newer, Otherwise, the instructions in this TechTip won't work.

Next, a USB cable. The correct cable should have come with your phone. If not, contact the store where you bought the phone or the phone's manufacturer.

Finally, a laptop computer or a netbook. I've only tried tethering my Android-powered phone to laptops and netbooks running Linux and Windows. I'm not sure how, if at all, this will work with a MacBook. If you have any experience with this, please leave a comment.

The following instructions are for aNexus One smartphone. The instructions should work with other Android-powered phones. Obviously, the first thing was to do is start you notebook or netbook and your phone. Once you're logged in, connect your phone to your computer using the phone’s USB cable. Your phone will prompt you to turn on USB storage (which lets you transfer files between it and a computer). Don't tap the Turn on USB Storage button. Instead, tap the Home key, Go to the Settings app on the phone. Once there, tap Wireless & networks and then tap Tethering & portable hotspot. From there, I tappedUSB tethering to turn it on.

It will take a few seconds for your computer to react. Windows Vista and 7 will install a new device driver before it will allow you to tether. If you use Windows XP, follow these instructions to install the required driver.

When it does, it will probably notify you that a new wired network connection is available. On reflection, that makes sense -- your computer is registering the USB cable as a network cable.

The type of connection your computer is telling you that you have doesn't matter. You're online. Best of all, you don't need to do any fiddly configuration with your computer.

Feel like sharing? You can by turning your Android phone into a wireless hotspot when the phone is tethered to your computer.

To do that, go to the Settings app on your phone. Tap Portable Wi-Fi hotspot. Then, tap Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings. After that, tapConfigure Wi-Fi hotspot. Yes, it all does get a bit repetitive...

On the Configure Wi-Fi hotspot screen, set up the following:

Tap Save. You and your friends are ready to go. Just remember that hotspot's connection will slow down when more people are using it.

Tethering your Android-powered phone is simple and fairly straightforward. And tethering gives you a lot more flexibility. When wifi isn't available or goes down, you can easily get online.