Confused on tethering options - Sprint Hero

[syberspirit]

Hello. I am confused as to what I need to do to tether my Sprint Hero for internet connection to my laptop. I do not care if I tether wirelessly using WiFi or bluetooth or if I use USB cable. I just want to do this the easiest way. I have done some research on this online, including this forum, but it seems the more I read the more confused I become. From what I understand, I have to root my phone to be able to tether wirelessly but to tether via USB do I just download something like PDAnet? My Hero (which I just bought but have not yet activated as I?m still running out my current plan billing cycle) came with firmware version ?2.1 update 1? and build/software number 2.27.651.5. I need to know easiest way to thether.

Do I have to root phone? If I do, can I do so with the firmware version I have to which I believe Sprint has added some extra ?blocks??

If I do root phone will Sprint know?

Once I am able to tether do I have to be careful not to use too much data if I am mainly just surfing (sometimes 3 or 4 hours per day) and not downloading?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[t0ast3d]

You can USB tether without rooting.

Just download PdaNet from the market.

If you want to tether over WiFi you will have to root. (most if not all rooted roms come with Wireless Tether for Root Users)

Sprint will not know if your phone is rooted unless you take it in and have them look at it.

 

[wkj]

There is an app in the market called "Easy Tether" (I think), that lets you do so with a USB cable and no rooting (read the description for sure).

wkj

 

[canterrain]

If you do happen to have phone as modem as part of your cell phone plan (most people don't) no additional downloads or rooting is needed. You can just enable internet sharing and go.

Most people don't have it as it usually costs more than people would want to pay, but doesn't hurt to cover that base anyways.

 

[Uncle Louie]

If you use PDAnet, do you need to have tethering on your plan? I have the EVO...

 

[beezy]

If you use PDAnet, do you need to have tethering on your plan? I have the EVO...

Don't need plan for pdanet and easy tether are free.If your rooted then you can use wireless tether.