Portable Computing Device For Wireless Communications And Method Of Operation

A method, comprising:

• establishing, by a portable computing device, a first connection to a public wireless network using a first network interface;
• subsequent to establishing the first connection, establishing a private wireless network by the portable computing device, the portable computing device providing an access point for the private wireless network;
• upon authenticating a remote device, establishing, by the portable computing device, a second connection to the remote device using a second network interface;
• and
• routing communication packets between the remote device and the public wireless network using the first network interface and the second network interface, wherein the first connection and the second connection are maintained while the communication packets are routed.

An article comprising a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing software instructions that, when executed by a processor of a portable computing device, cause the processor to:

• establish a first connection to a public wireless network using a first network interface of the portable computing device;
• subsequent to establishing the first connection, establish the portable computing device as an access point for a private wireless network;
• in response to an authentication of a remote device to join the private wireless network, establish a second connection to the remote device using a second network interface of the portable computing device;
• and
• route communication packets between the remote device and the public wireless network using the first network interface and the second network interface, wherein the first connection and the second connection are maintained while the communication packets are routed.