Win7 networking puzzlement, Multiple connection weirdness Options

[Cybes]

I have a wifi router at one end of the house, and a laptop at the other end. I have BitMeter running constantly in one corner of the screen, and seeing how the speed jumps around during the day is bizarre - anyone using the microwave oven in the next room almost kills it, for instance. Normally, the wifi gives me a maximum of about 4mb/s, which is nowhere near what I can get via cable, but that's impractical, so I live with it.

Anyway... Seeing my 'phone plan has a pile of bandwidth every month I don't often use, and tethering is easy, I thought I'd hook it up for backup when the wifi was out (or shit). One micro USB cable and a driver download later... Suddenly, I'm getting close to 8mb/s! Woot!

Wait a moment... My phone's data usage meter is not increasing, despite a 2GB download zipping through. Hmm. No, the wifi connection there is not enabled either, so it's not sucking it from there.

On reading around the 'net just quickly, it doesn't even look like I can use two data sources at once. Even when multiple connections exist (according to one site I read), it's only using one at a time.

Scratching my head, I unplug the USB cable, and the DL drops back to its customary 4mb speed. Now I'm convinced the site was talking bullshit (probably some previous iteration of Windows), and the extra had to be coming from the phone's data allowance. Check the meter again - nope.


WTF is going on? Does Windows throttle things based on the number of connections it has? Is my phone meter not registering things properly? Have I invented magic?

[NukeJockey]

I think you invented magic.