Tether Laptop to Phone, T-Mobile

webmanoffesto

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May 21, 2011
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I have a locked T-Mobile Galaxy S21 5G (SM-G991U)
How do I tether my Ubuntu laptop to my phone and avoid T-Mobile's crazy throttling? They give me download "speeds" of 0.05 Mbit/s and 0.1 Mbit/s.

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Update: Recommended solutions seem to be:
- NetShare Android app, $9 for full version, or
- FoxFi ($9 for full version) with PDANet.
Is anyone here using these apps to solve the problem?

I put NetShare on my phone.
But I don't have it working yet.
I put NetShare on my phone and I'm trying to connect my laptop to it, via USB or BlueTooth. But It says "Please open NetShare+ and tap on 'WPS' in the phone you want it to connect to." and just hangs there with a spinning icon.

Will this work with an Ubuntu laptop. Netshare's "Help: Connection instructions" list every OS except Linux.

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The data service on the phone is fine, but occasionally I need to use my laptop where the provided WiFi is not an option.

In some forums people say that just using a VPN will avoid the trottling. That is not what my tests revealed.

Tests Run
Galaxy Phone DL 419.00 UL 17.90 No VPN Phone Speedtest App
Phone using PIA VPN DL 304.00 UL 21.10 PIA VPN, NY Phone Speedtest App
Laptop, Bluetooth tethered to phone: DL 0.05 UL 0.54 PIA VPN, NY Laptop, Bluetooth tether to phone using PIA VPN NY, phone has "mobile hotspot" and "Bluetooth tether" turned on.
Laptop, USB tether to phone DL 0.10 UL 0.46 PIA VPN, NY Laptop, USB tether to phone using PIA VPN NY, phone has "USB tethering" turned on.
 
Last edited:

Roadijeff

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Mar 5, 2021
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While I'm at work I regularly tether my S21 Ultra to my Windows 10 laptop because the WiFi at work will not connect directly to the laptop. I haven't noticed any decrease in the laptop transfer speed when I do it that way. It's just a regular USB cable between the two.

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