Verizon Wireless - Best way to hotspot / vpn

[ucmRich]

So here's my situation....    I use Verizon Wireless _exclusively_ for my internet access because the access is great where I'm at but there are no "reasonable" land-based isp's to me ( to put it mildly ) also I travel on occasion.

 

Ideally i want to connect my mobile devices to my computer via a usb cable and have internet but sadly unlike a few years ago when i could "Tether", only hotspot works now.  Plus they cap it at 15GB/mo/device....  Speeds are pretty sweet though but security in a public place like a hotel or a coffee shop is ZERO because apparently anyone can listen in and record your packets to/from the internet.

 

Android Authority had a video i saw this morning and here's their article about WiFi-snooping:  https://www.androidauthority.com/capture-data-open-wi-fi-726356/

 

I use my laptop and computer all the time but need for the internet access to be secure.  So I bought PIA when LTT had advertised it and for a while there it worked great -however- now it has issue connecting and keeps re-connecting all the time.  every once in a while i get a good solid connection but then it only lasts a few minutes which is becoming a big problem for me.

 

Troubleshooting steps i tried:

 

* disconnecting PIA and everything works great and really fast but then I try connecting to multiple places like denver, houston, texas, us west... same issues and sometimes one is great for a while then it has problems and the others who were previously bad are good for a minute or two.

 

* I also tried both a tablet and a cell phone but same thing.

 

 

Sorry for long post -- basically; is there a way to connect my devices to my laptop or computer with a usb cable and still get internet through them or is that like permanently disabled now with no work-arounds? 

 

 

** also does anybody know if this problem is being caused by Verizon ( on purpose ) or by PIA ( with technical issues ) ??

 

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by ucmRich
forgot to post link and clean up my question a bit

[Lurick]

What phone do you have?

I've got the option to USB tether on my phone and I'm with Verizon. Currently using a Pixel 3 XL

I know even if you tether directly Verizon can still track it and it counts towards the hotspot limit, or at least I'm pretty sure they can from what I remember.

[ucmRich]

Samsung Galaxy s9plus but when I had my old phone ( Samsung Galaxy J7 -  it stopped working and customer service couldn't figure it out. )

[ucmRich]

FINALLY!!!!   It's working with my Samsung Galaxy J7 over a micro-usb cable again!!

 

I struggled for over two years of it nor working with tethering so i gave up over a year or more ago after VZW tech support couldn't figure it out. They kept saying that it should be working over the cable but nothing we tried did anything and i could _only_ connect to the internet through wifi.

 

IDK, maybe a bug in the phone o/s was causing it or maybe my cables were all bad ( this one is brand new as of a few weeks ago )

 

 

 

FWIW:  Connecting to the PrivateInternetAccess VPN over my usb cable on my 3 year old phone is almost like having a land connection as it seems to be more stable and far faster ( not using WiFi is faster, who knew? <.<