It probably wouldn’t make much difference, unfortunately. The issue is likely to be the phone data, either the speed and/or latency (basically, how long it takes for data to go from the phone to the cell tower and back.) Plugging the phone into the laptop might give a small improvement, if anything at all, but is unlikely to solve the problem.

You don’t say which country you’re in, which is likely relevant in terms of what’s available and at what price. I’d suggest starting with this piece (unlocked devices to which you add your own SIM) and this piece (devices with prepaid service plans), but you’ll also need to check data service coverage and speeds for wherever you’re renting a cabin on the website of whichever cell provider(s) you’ll be using.

You may also be able to rent a hotspot with a data plan from a cell company — again, before signing up, you’ll need to check that there’s high-speed service available from that company in the area where you’re renting the cabin. It’s a more expensive option longer term, but may make sense for a short stay.

It gets very bad reviews from tech sites and customers — what appeals about it for you?

Hah, I used to have a LinkedIn button on the site, back in the day… it never got used, so I took it off!

Thanks Dave!

Yep, some of the older Alfa cards (like the one I’m using, in fact) don’t support recent versions of MacOS. I mentioned a Panda wireless card in the post that gets excellent reviews and works with Yosemite (and later). It’s inexpensive, too.