How to Get Free Internet on a Cell Phone

In this day and age, with the cost of living increasing every day it seems, a lot of people are trying to cut costs wherever they can. But cutting costs also means going without; nobody likes going without. Then there’s the issue of what exactly you choose to cut yourself off of if you are forced to make that awful decision.

Obviously, utilities are a must have. A person cannot survive without water, electricity, and gas (if that’s an option in your area). And you always need a roof over your head. So, the next thing to go would be cable. Movies are way cheaper these days; you can rent one for a simple dollar. And since most individuals carry cell phones, you could do away with a landline. One of the last things to go would most likely be the internet connection. After all, we’re all connected these days by the internet. If it wasn’t for social networking sites, we may not even communicate with each other at all. But what do you do if you still can’t afford to keep the internet?

Most internet costs are highly expensive, especially when purchased separately. Cable companies bundle things together so that they monopolize your time and money and make it more cost effective for you to do so. But once you start cutting out other services, the internet connection you hold so dear could end up costing more than the bundle itself. So, inevitably, internet must stay.

Here’s a question to ask yourself: do you really HAVE to pay for it? There are so many forms of technology available to us these days, why should we be paying the greedy corporations for something that (figuratively) floats through the air? Why not simply reach out, and grab a hold of it.

For those with a smart phone – and oh, how we love our smart phones – there’s a very simple way of connecting your cell to the World Wide Web for the easy cost of: nothing. It’s a simple fact of doing what’s referred to as “rooting” your phone. For such an endeavor, one of the best places to do so is to go to unrevoked.com. Follow the simple instructions and you’ll be rooted in no time; they’ll ask you simple questions like choose your phone from a line-up, which service you’d like, and whether you’re downloading to Windows or Mac, etc.

Once rooted, you go into the android market on your smart phone and download the wireless tether app and tap the screen. Voila! Your phone has just become a wireless hotspot! Surf away.
You also have the choice of tethering your smartphone to your computer. Let’s say you already have the internet at home, but want the same option on your cell without having to pay the extra fees of unlocking the access ports, follow a few simple steps to tether your connection to the internet already at your disposal.

In order to accomplish this, you will need to download PdaNet for Android as well as PdaNet for computers. There are free trials of these available; however, once the trial period is over, and you choose not to pay the $15.95 fee to own the software, you will still have access just without being able to login to secure sites. These sites include email accounts, bank accounts, etc. Having fun and goofing off only? Don’t worry about the fee, and still surf the web at your leisure.

Once the software is downloaded to your computer, you will need to have your android phone linked to your computer via a USB sync cable. This may cost you as well, in case you don’t already have one. But money spent today can save hundreds, if not thousands later. Follow the instructions and before you know it, your cell phone will have access to the same internet connection as your laptop, netbook, or desktop computer. And you won’t be paying the extra fees. It’s definitely a winning situation.

For those without a smart phone, it could get a little hairier. Without going into extensive hacker code language, I’ll refer you to check out some homemade videos posted on youtube.com. They will walk you through every step and give you all the codes needed to unlock the Wi-Fi capabilities on your cell phone.

If you don’t feel like hacking into networks and getting one over on the “system”, one good idea is to go with a prepaid phone. Some of the prepaid phones have options for unlimited minutes, texts, and internet. Some are as inexpensive as $45 per month. How cheap is that?! No contract, so you can cancel it whenever you need to, and even if you can’t come up with the money before the end date, you still maintain your number (on most phones), and can reactivate it at any time. No loss!

So, whether you choose to go around the back way to gain access to the internet on your cell phone, or maintain a little morality by going the route of a prepaid phone, there are always ways to connect to the internet.