Modem/Tether Questions

[mripper]

Hoping BIlla will chime in on this one. It looks like carriers are actively locking out 4G modems more frequently with newer prepaid sim cards/plans. I'm starting to think direct tethering will be one of the few options moving forward.

Personally I've been using Easytether with an android phone connected directly to my PC. The speeds are very fast (I get 75mbs down from ATT) and I'm not having to use my Hotspot data (which is limited then throttled on ATT prepaid)

I did just setup Easytether on a GL Mango to work with my phone, more of a test run since it was really cheap. The speeds are not as fast with the Mango, even when my PC is connected directly via ethernet cable.

Now to my questions:

When I'm tethered to GL Mango, does the Mango handle the brunt of the network traffic load, or is it my android phone doing the work? Is this why I'm getting slower speeds than being connected directly to phone?
Is it possible to just connect a wifi router direclty to my PC, using my PC internet for the WAN connection (source of internet)?
Any suggestions for a powerful wifi router that can be Easytethered to my phone and optimize the fastest 4G speeds?

Thanks.