[haus]

I didn't write the other programs so I don't know exactly how they work. I do know that any program that uses your data connection and turns your phone into a WiFi hotspot (so to speak) will drain your battery faster than licking the terminals with your tongue, so have a charger handy if you're going to go that route. That said, a lot of people swear by those programs. Any of these solutions are 'use at your own risk'...obviously carriers don't generally want people tethering and using their data plans as a substitute for home broadband service.

I don't use "phone as modem" - that's what you need the PAM plan add-on to do, and Sprint STUPIDLY (just in case any Sprint employees are reading this) doesn't allow PAM add-ons with Everything Data plans. In case any Sprint employees are still reading this, tethering should be a plan add-on, even if it's tiered (1GB, 5GB, whatever).

I connect the devices via bluetooth, and I use the BT PAN profile to initiate the connection from the PC after the phone has already connected. You never dial #777 from the PC the way you used to do with dial-up networking. The way it works now is BT PAN is a network service. The phone offers it's network connection over BT and you use the PC to connect to that network service. The only "dialing" occurs on the phone side when the ICS application connects to the data network.

Edit - got my netbook out, will write down the steps in post 1...bear with me.