Does tethering and hot spots work the same to get internet on my laptop from my cell phone?

What phone are we talking about here? I know I can tether with my phone, an Android, and the program is free, but I have no idea about the iPhone.

I have the samsung epic with sprint. If I tether my computer to it can viruses jammed up in my computer get into my phone? My laptop is really bad, on its last leg and full of crap I am sure.

@JLeslie Well, you could remove the viruses and junk with MalwareBytes. But unless you’re transferring files with viruses over to your phone, you should be ok. I use PdaNet to tether my phone. Download the computer program, and the phone program.

@MyNewtBoobs It makes me nervous. All these apps make me nervous. Giving access to my files? I was going to get skype and the agreement scared me off. My phone came with the app qik for video phone and it is so confusing to me.

@JLeslie Yeah, I can see that. I think that, at the end of the day, there’s a certain leap of faith you have to take that things won’t go badly, same as opening a new checking account or swiping your credit card at the gas station.

Hmmm…I don’t think of it the same as a checking account or credit card. I have to ponder that a little.

Tethering your phone means that you can use the your phone connection to access the internet on another device. The Samsung Epic can work as a wifi hotspot.; meaning that you don’t need any cords to use your phone as an internet hot spot (assuming your other device is wifi enabled).

The Epic runs on Android (which is based on the Linux operating system). I’m assuming you’re laptop is running some form of Windows. So, any viruses on your laptop probably can’t move from the laptop to your phone.

Your biggest security threat is the phone itself. If you lose your phone, then someone could access all of the info saved within the phone. So, don’t do things like banking on the phone. Also, don’t use your credit card in any of your phone apps. It’s safest not to do any shopping on your phone at all. Otherwise, enjoy your phone and learn as much as you can about it… androidcentral.com is a great place to start. Soon, you’ll be rooting that sucker and wondering how you ever lived without it.

@GladysMensch Thanks.