What is tethering?

Translated, tethering means something like "tie up", but nobody can really figure it out. We clarify it.

What does tethering mean?

• With tethering, you can also use your smartphone's Internet connection on a PC or tablet. This allows you to surf where your computer has no LAN or WLAN available, but your cell phone has a network.
• The smartphone acts as a modem and receives the mobile data as usual. However, these are not requested by the cell phone itself as usual, but by the computer.
• The connection between mobile phone and PC can be established via USB cable as well as via Bluetooth. You can also set up your iPhone as a WiFi hotspot and transfer the data in this way.
• Most current smartphones are suitable for tethering. However, prepaid tariffs generally do not allow tethering; it is best to have a mobile phone contract with a data flat rate.

In this practical tip, we explain exactly what the term LAN is.