Well, I have a unique situation I think. Possibly, it's down to the carrier. The way it works for you may just be because of Verizon. I'm on Sprint, as is the OP.
In any case, I already had a hotspot with Sprint when I installed TetherMe so that may be affecting things. All I know is that for me, I have to be off a WiFi network in order for the phone to create it's own WiFi network. Otherwise it just connects to the last network I was on and things go sideways. When my WiFi is on and I am connected to a WiFi network, the hotspot is greyed out. I suppose that may be because of Sprint.
As to not being caught, this is why I did my reasearch and chose TetherMe. It seemed the best candidate.
OP, you want to move to an area that has no WiFi networks or forget the one you are currently on. Full bars are simply an indication of the strength of your VOICE connection and NOT your data connection. You can have full bars and slow data.
3G will be as fast for your laptop as it is for your phone. If you have slow data on your phone where you are on 3G then the data will be slow for the laptop. Theoretically, 3G maxes out somewhere between 2-2.5GBmbps. You are extremely fortunate if you are getting anywhere near that speed on Sprint.
Basically, if you cannot stream music on your phone, do not expect your laptop to be any faster. Tethering does not make anything faster, it just connects you to your phone. You are limited by the speed of your phone's cellular connection.