(http://i.imgur.com/TcvYD.png)
If you're like me and you take your Nexus 7 virtually everywhere you go you've probably come across times when you wish you had 3G or LTE built-in to access the net while away from a Wi-Fi signal. The most obvious 'fix' to this has been to use one of a multitude of techniques to 'tether' your Nexus 7 to your mobile phone and while this works for some, others have had difficulty getting this to work either because their particular provider or phone has some kind of limitation or incompatibility. Now for sure if you're willing to 'root' there are a plethora of options to solve most of these problems but a new app that recently has gained favor aims to solve it via a different way; by letting you set up a 'peer to peer mesh network via bluetooth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl7Cg9tNq4w (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl7Cg9tNq4w)
Now I tried this myself and it was surprisingly easy to set up. You have to install 'Open Garden' on both devices and once recognized they instantly connect whenever both your Nexus 7 and phone are within bluetooth range of each other. Now to be sure ,speeds are not as fast as Wi-Fi and I'd estimate them as 'about 3G'. This is plenty fast for most web browsing but it's a bit slow to watch your Netflix streaming on. It worked fine for a 'Skype' session I had with my sister in New York so you might want to give it a try and see what kinds of speeds you can achieve.
Now 'Open Garden' also supports 'Wi-Fi Direct' but as of right now it isn't quite working as of yet on the Nexus 7(correction: Wifi Direct does work but requires two Jelly Bean devices at this time)...but the developers promise it will be soon. When it is, it could solve our problems with fast internet access on the go for good. Or we could just pick up a 3G Nexus 7 when they start appearing (just a rumor, cough, cough). We'd be interested in hearing the luck people have using 'Open Garden' with their Nexus 7s and different models of phones so let us know if you try it. Link below and oh yeah...did I mention it's free???
'Open Garden' in the Google Play Store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.opengarden.android.MeshClient&feature=featured-apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwMywiY29tLm9wZW5nYXJkZW4uYW5kcm9pZC5NZXNoQ2xpZW50Il0.)
(http://i.imgur.com/RNqOi.png)