I have been paying for 3 mobile broadband to get internet access for my laptop. I got a new Nokia phone with a contract which allows ‘unlimited’ data. I got the data added to the tarrif so I could do a bit of surfing on my mobile. I was playing with the Nokia PC suite and found an option to connect to the internet using the phone, which appears to work fine (much better than the 3 mobile broadband!).

Is this allowed? I understood that mobile phones did not allow data to be passed through the phone to a laptop, was that understanding incorrect (is that restriction just for iPhones?). If anybody can give me some pointers it would be mucho appreciated!

You’re using it as designed. Watch that “unlimited” tariff though – you’ll find there’s a “fair use” policy.

I thik you’re in there. Go for it.

Cool, now all I need to do is get rid of the awful 3 mobile broadband!

On most of the cheap unlimited mobile internet tariffs this is forbidden, you have to pay more for a contract that allows tethering. The official take on it is that if they detect you using it with a computer, they charge you per KB for that usage (usually something ridiculous like £1 a megabyte).

But they quite likely won’t notice unless you download loads of stuff. It’s up to you if you want to take the risk of a big bill though.

Joe