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Can i tether my phone to my laptop to get the internet on my phone?

I know this is usually done the other way round. My uni halls doesn't have wifi, instead it has an ethernet cable for every room. The problem with this is I'm using up my 3g internet on my phone a lot more and i'd like to do things like update my apps and check twitter more but i'm scared i'll run out. By plugging my phone into my laptop, is there a way to borrow the internet from my laptop for my phone?
 
Assuming your laptop has wifi you should be able to use the OS's built-in connection sharing to use the wifi as a hotspot. Just playing around on Windows 7 if I go into the Network and Sharing Center, then click on "Local Area Connection" and then Properties there is a tab called 'Sharing' with an option to "allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection" and a "Using ICS" link that takes you to a help page. Also in Windows 7 if I go to the Networks Connections control panel and right-click on my wifi adapter, there is a "Bridge Connections" option. You probably want to use bridge option and then enable sharing on the wifi.
 
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