Bump. Same question here, little or no wireless access, and in an organization that has a non-negotiable no-wireless-device on network policy. Seems like you can install a lot of complicated and barely working hacks on iOS and 'Droid that allow you to reverse-tether a USB to LAN connection, but again, emphasis on the word "hack", which won't fly with any IT rules. I assume that ESRI is targeting collector to low-tech deployments, I guess their answer to this would be "If you want that functionality, go buy ArcPad (and the extra staff you'll need to manage ArcPad headaches).
