Speaking of speed, Windows XP reported my average data connection rate was 2.4Mbps. Again, it’s your call, but using a short USB cable is a small price to pay for faster internet access. That said, Bluetooth tethering takes an extra couple of steps and the broadband connection speed is much faster using a USB cable than Bluetooth. If you have your smartphone set up to synchronize with your PC over Bluetooth, you won’t need wires to use PDANet either. The process for connecting up a Palm OS-based Treo is almost as simple. Tap on that window and PDANet will connect you. At the same time, a window will pop up asking if you want to connect to the wireless Internet. When you hook your device up to your laptop, an ActiveSync session will start. Here’s how simple this application is to use with a Windows Mobile smartphone such as the Motorola Q. On the other hand, you can pay $34 and be up and running in less time than it took to read this paragraph. If you’re lucky you might even get your laptop and smartphone to work 50 percent of the time. Sure, you can spend hours trying to hack Windows and your smartphone using complicated tethering instructions found online.
That jaw-dropping level of convenience is why PDANet is a steal for only $34. Simply download the installation file, click on the buttons to install the application on your Windows laptop, connect your phone via a USB cable, click “connect” and you’re using broadband! The installation process for PDANet is so simple and straightforward that you can hardly call it an installation process.
#PDA NET FOR COMPUTER HOW TO#
In fact, just run a Google search for the word “tethering” and you’ll find an overwhelming collection of how-to articles outlining painstakingly detailed step-by-step instructions on how to connect a laptop and a cell phone.
If you’ve ever tried to tether your notebook to a smartphone then you know how painful the process can be.