Measure Your Tethered Internet Speed With This Simple Guide

Even in an era of smartphones and mobile devices, occasionally you’ll need to find a way to get internet on your laptop and other non-cellular devices sans WiFi. In these situations, it is vital to measure your tethered internet speed to ensure that you have enough bandwidth to browse on multiple devices and that you will not hit your data plan caps.

What Is Tethering?

Whether it’s because you don’t want to add more devices to your cellular plan due to cost, or if you are at a slow WiFi hotspot, tethering is a great way to share your smartphone’s data plan with other devices. For those unfamiliar with the term, tethering simply means turning your smartphone into a hotspot in order to share your data plan with other devices. As discussed in articles by Lifehacker, tethering on your iPhone and Android can be done simply by downloading an app to enable the capability.

The Impact of Tethering on Your Cellular Plan

Overall, one of the biggest caveats to tethering is that you will be using significantly more data than if you were using your phone alone. If done excessively, you can find yourself way above your data plan limits and paying significant sums of money in overage fees. This is because mobile websites and apps are optimized for smaller devices and are designed to use less data. On the other hand, if you are browsing on a laptop, you can easy go through half a gigabyte of data or more just with routine browsing.

How to Measure Your Tethered Internet Speed

When you’re on the go it is vital to measure your internet speed because tethering often is bandwidth intensive. By using a responsive internet test tool, you can measure your internet speed on any smartphone, tablet, and laptop without worrying about compatibility issues. Although apps are available for this purpose, using a responsive tool is vital because it allows you to use the same tool on all devices, therefore ensuring uniformity across tests. By measuring your internet speed, you can better determine whether you should use cellular data or WiFi, plus you can also ensure that your cellular carrier is not throttling your data.

Photo credit: Flickr/Yutaka Tsutano