you can have wired tether for free using HTC sync.
this sounds intriguing, but I can't see how to set it up. I plug my android in, tell it "USB tethering", and the phone shows up as a network connection on my computer. status=connected, speed=425.9 Mbps.
As soon as I try to access anything, the phone reports "Data Call Failure. error code 67. Registration failure. Your PCS Vision username and/or password may be incorrect"
I was told by Sprint that the hotspot service costs $30/month to connect up to 3 devices, but that USB tethering to one device was included in the data plan. Sounds like either Sprint or I was confused?
edit: did some more research, to no great resolution. Looks like "Phone as Modem" once worked out-of-the-box (5G cap), but Sprint decided to turn that feature off, maybe around the time android 2.2 came out. It seems they veiw the unlimited $30/mo mobile hotspot as a REPLACEMENT, not an alternative. The official literature is still VERY vague. I see a couple places where it is implied that usb tethering just works, or that HTC sync allows it. However, sync 2.0.40 does not have the tethering features when I install it, in contrast to what the manual shows.
Here's the best info (ie, most detailed rumors!) I found: a
thread on Sprint's community site.