Our home office road trip up the Eastern Seaboard was made possible by a few things — an RV, my laptop, my wireless phone, and my broadband access service.

But was the last element even necessary?

Many teleworkers and road warriors already know this: If you’ve got a smartphone, you have Web access. With a USB cable and a piece of software, you can tether your laptop and surf with freedom.

Read Peter Wayner’s NYTimes review. Then, read your service agreement. With a simple download, and possibly a monthly fee, you might no longer need Wi-fi, a wireless broadband card, or much more than you already have in hand to access the Internet. And frankly, it’ll be safer than surfing in a public Wi-fi location, where snoops and other malcontents are perpetually seeking new laptops to ferret their way into.

Check it out. Then log on…