Part of the Networking and communications glossary:

Definition - What is tethering?

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Tethering is the practice of using a mobile device (such as a cell phone) as a modem to connect another device (such as a laptop) to the Internet.  A tether is a long leash. In phone tethering, the leash is either a USB cable or a wireless Bluetooth connection. 

Learn more:

Tutorial: Using 3G phones for laptop Internet access

Tethering is a popular feature for cell phone data plans. 

This was last updated in March 2010
Posted by: Margaret Rouse

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