Sharing Internet while Traveling

I travel a lot for work and one of the issues I have is trying to get an Internet connection to all my devices. Rather than pay for a separate connection for my laptop, phone and iPad, I have managed to share my Internet connection in order to minimize my expenses. Here is how I make one paid connection carry over to three (or more!) devices.

1. A 3G plan on my iPhone
My iPhone has a 3G plan which ensures that under most circumstances I can get Internet on my phone. For an extra $20 I added tethering. Tethering isn't as great as a hotspot, as it requires me to either connect my phone to a laptop via USB or Bluetooth and can only share Internet with that single device. And my Wifi only iPad doesn't have tethering support, so it cannot directly use my iPhone's mobile connection.
Still, the 3G plan serves to get my laptop on the Internet any time my phone can connect.

2. Wifi sharing on my laptop
My Macintosh laptop has the built-in ability to create an ad-hoc Wifi network and share its Internet connection with any connected Wifi devices. When my laptop is connected via Bluetooth or cable to my phone I share that connection. If I happen to have an Ethernet connection to my laptop (as is the case when onsite with a client or at a hotel), sharing over Wifi ensures my iPad (and even iPhone - and friends' computing devices) can access the connection. Wifi sharing seems very reliable once you get it set up.

These two techniques mean that not having a 3G iPad isn't really proving to be a liability.

Rumor has it that AT&T will offer iPhone hotspotting. This means that your iPhone can share its connection over Wifi to up to 5 devices. If that occurs, then my iPad will be able to access the Internet through my phone (no laptop middleman required!). I suspect this will be the case as Verizon has already announced hotspot support on the iPhone, and most competing phones offer the same capability.

So no need to spend money on a 3G iPad and its monthly plan...