phone as home router

Two personal computers, recognized separately as a phone and a laptop, are devices that, between them, serve both complementary and redundant uses.

In practice, a large number of these uses are mediated by access to a broader internet. Just beyond the personal computers is the router/modem, which provides the interface to an internet service provider (ISP).

For a cell phone, rent is paid for use of the infrastructure of a cellular provider—for most this is a required expense which allows phone calls and text messaging. But, in fact, this infrastructure and the infrastructure of the internet are now one and the same: a cellular provider is in effect an ISP, and as a result, a phone can be recognized and used as a router, providing access to the broader internet. This relationship is clear, and particularly convenient, when using a phone's wireless hotspot (a common feature of newer phones).

This lab will explore the limtations of this approach, their consequences, and relationships to the use of personal computer software.