Using Phone's Data Plan To Connect Tablet To Internet?

[PeteCress]

Is anybody with a Sprint account tethering without paying the extra twenty bucks a month?

Somebody I know wants to buy a device for quick "Internet Access" without pulling out his laptop.

Quotes because I am assuming he means mostly web pages. I have him pretty much nailed down to where he is going for a 10" WiFi-only tablet carried in his back pack instead of a pocket-friendly size.

Tangentially: Unless somebody has a better idea, I will lean on him to get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 as per Amazon.com : Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (10.1-Inch, White) : Tablet Computers : Computers & Accessories because:

• It can be had within his price range (up to $300)
  .
• I could TeamViewerQuickSupport in to it when the inevitable problems/questions arise
  .
• It supports an external SD card and he want's to store music/photos that might exceed the device's internal capacity.

He has a Sprint Android phone with data plan.

At this point in time, I am not sure whether his plan is 3G or 4G.

Philadelphia PA, USA area.

PdaNet? FoxFi?

I come away from Googling with the impression that under-the-table tethering is a fluid environment - where providers periodically take measures against it, so last year's experience may differ from today's experience.

So... The Question:

Does anybody have recent real-world experience with tethering to a Sprint phone without paying the extra twenty dollars per month?

 

[Rukbat]

At the moment, I don't think Sprint has started blocking tethering, but it's in the works for the near future. So getting it working, when it's going to stop working soon, is a waste of time. (They drop the packets in the office, so there's nothing you can do on the phone to "get around it".)

There are many ways they detect tethering - and they find more ways all the time. So yes, last years experience may be that you could easily get away with downloading Windows programs using a phone as a modem, while next year's experience may ne that tethering a tab with exactly the same version of Android won't work.

One thing is certain - it won't be getting easier to tether without a tethering account, it will be getting more impossible.