Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010
Law Practice Management Tip
Do you ever find yourself with a laptop and no internet connection?
If you find yourself in a location with your laptop but no
connection, you may still be able to access the web. As long as you
have your smart phone and cable, you can "tether" your notebook to
the smart phone and use that as a modem for your internet
connection. According to Wikipedia, tethering is the use of a
mobile device with an internet connection as an internet gateway or
access point for another device. Tethering requires software
on the smart phone and software on your laptop that allows for an
internet connection through your cell phone data plan. For example,
using a droid, you can find several tethering programs that are
either free or very inexpensive on the phone's "Marketplace"
application. One such program, "pdanet" allows free use for all but
so-called secure Web sites (for example, those that you conduct
e-commerce on). For a small fee, pdanet has a more robust version
that allows you to connect to those sites as well. There are many
other applications for most mobile devices, only a Google search
away. The real utility of these tethering programs is that when you
unexpectedly find yourself without internet access, you can
download all the software on your smart phone, install it on the
phone and computer using the phone's data cable, and then connect
to the internet. The only caveat is that some cell phone providers
may not allow tethering or may impose limits on its use. You should
check your provider's policies before choosing to tether.
Tip courtesy of Robert S. White, Esq. of Bourgeois, Dresser,
White & McGourthy LLP.
Published November 18, 2010
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contact Co-Chairs Andrea
Goldman or
Phil
Taylor.