RE: tethering. Years ago my DSL service abruptly stopped working. Verizon had no idea why, and apparently had no technicians on staff who even knew how to spell "DSL", much less understand how it works. 
 
For the next four weeks I patiently waited for Verizon to solve my problem, tethered to my cell phone to get by. I had a 2 GB data cap on my cell plan, but I'd never used more than a tiny fraction of that. Imagine my shock when I got a $700 phone bill!
 

CbB. I still have Splat installed, but found it offered no advantage whereas CbB does.

Leadfoot

Daibhidh

stevesweat

Leadfoot
I'm using Platinum, only because there is no offline authorization option with CbB, and I don't have internet at my house. Otherwise, I would have updated to CbB on day one.

Just an aside, but in these days tethering to your phone via wi-fi is so simple - almost the best of both worlds really - offline when using Sonar and only online when updating via tethering. Been doing this a couple years at my studio with no complaints.

+1

Some people see 'mobile phone', and think, "what is that? Is that like a telegram?"

https://youtu.be/wGs57VQHt7M

I am aware of the option of tethering. Unfortunately my cell service provider prohibits it and will deactivate your phone if it detects it.

My current UK carrier is way too expensive when roaming in the US, so when I'm in the US, I use a "3" PAYG (burner) sim with the "feel at home" option. This gives me 12GB of data per month in the US for 30 GBP (approx 40 USD).  As it's a PAYG, I only pay the 30 GBP for the months I'm actually in the US and let it lapse the rest of the year.
 
If you've any friends/family in the UK, you might want to see if they can get one for you and send it over by post.
 
I'd check the small-print though - AFAIK it does need to be activated in the UK first, and may stop working at some point if it's not used in the UK every now and then.
 
Edit: This is the product I use: http://www.three.co.uk/feel-at-home

KPerry
32 bit DX plug-ins do not get bridged - I'd like to see a DX "bitbridge" provided now there is no 32 bit version of CbB

There's no need to use BitBridge  for DX and DXi plugins  because they are not VSTs they run off Windows Direct X Component.
 
 I still use all my DX audio plugins like the Sonitus bundle in CbB, as well as Cakewalk TTS-1 synth while is a great software based version bundle of Roland GM/GS Sound Canvas synth modules.
 The only limitation with the TTS-1 is it only runs in projects set up to 24/48k/Hz, it isn't useable if you record projects at 24/96 but that's not really an issue with me because it never did since it's release with SONAR 4 PE.
 
I have several old versions of SONAR left installed on my computer that I never use dating back to v 8.5 PE. They take up very little hard drive space, and I leave them there to have access to the plugins that are no longer included with newer releases and the older DAW versions are simply just being used as part of their plugin and Audio Data folder paths.
 
It has ALWAYS been the cardinal rule to NEVER uninstall older versions of SONAR for these exact reasons.
 Back in the days of purchasing boxed version upgrades, the first thing I saw when opening the box was a bright red piece of paper with a warning in bold letters "DO NOT UNSTALL YOUR PREVIOUS VERSION(S)!" and with a detailed explanation as to why.
 
That being said, I've been using CbB since it was released, and it has been the easiest and most flawless rock solid upgrade I've ever experienced.
 I just downloaded the Bandlab Assistant App, pushed the update button and walked away for an hour or maybe 2.
 When I came back to my computer, first move was reregistering the 3rd party plugins that ALWAYS need reregistering I hit the bright orange desktop Icon and the only thing I noticed that changed was the name.
 
I was RIGHT back to working exactly where I left off in SPLAT. And since then the only time I launched SPLAT was by accident.
 
 The ONLY good reasons not to update to Cakewalk to me would be not having a computer capable of running in x64 bit mode.
 And or not having license for a Windows x64 OS.
 Or your using outdated hardware/firmware/drivers and the manufacturer/vendor is very slow to certify/register the "Cakewalk by Bandlab" brand in their drivers.
 
 3rd party vendors have very little incentive to do so, and naturally (just for their desire to stay in business) their incentive dwindles down smaller and smaller, to none at all depending on how old your software or hardware is.
 I feel for and understand the frustrations fans of Native Instruments are having as I've personally felt them before, and I was extremely disappointed when my Edirol PCR-500 stopped working as a USB DAW controller when I upgrade to Windows 10, and Roland flat out refused to update the drivers.
 I guess they figured 10+ years of free support was enough, LoL, and maybe it's time for me to realize there is no such thing as free support for life because nobody can afford to stay in business offering free support to those who haven't supported them back for over a decade.
 However, there is more than one way to go about things, and I can and still do use my PCR-500 as a MIDI Keyboard Controller hooked up thru it's 5 pin MIDI ports, with it's USB port plugged into an old cellphone charger for power, and it still works great.
 Even with Windows 7 when the USB drivers still functioned, it was NEVER as good as my Behringer X Touch is as a DAW controller, not even close, so I lost nothing... Just added a couple more wires..
 
 So all in all being said, if you want to stay in the business of keeping on making music, don't fall too far back in technology, because it can not only be bone chillin EXPENSIVE if too many things break down or stop working at once, the learning curve itself can be quite overwhelming trying to catch up the farther back you go, the greater the learning curve will be.
 
 There are absolutely no advantages continuing to use old computers and or staying with earlier less advanced versions of any software. By insisting on staying the same old same old for too long is actually going backwards. It won't be long before you can't upgrade ANYTHING with Windows 7, any and everything 32 bit, and it won't be long you'll have to scour for cracked software, Craig's List, garage sales, and flee markets for software and parts to keep your machine running. ALL extremely risky, and absolutely zero support.
 
 There are ENORMOUS advantages to having a computer that can support and run Windows 10 x64.
 Just the ability to support and use 4x the amount of physical memory alone gives you so much faster and smoother performance, higher track count, better Plugin performance and ability to use more plugins, it's kind of subtle but almost shocking performance wise, you wouldn't even recognize any version of SONAR as the same DAW.
 

So how do I get BFD (original, DXi) to run in CbB?  How do I get a cwp file with 32 bit DX plug-ins in to open in CbB and retain settings (assuming there is no 64 bit version)?  What about some of the Project 5 plug-ins that weren't updated to 64 bit with SONAR (I don't know why they weren't, but that's a whole different matter)?
 
We need a "BitBridge" type of application to support migration as there is no longer a 32 bit version of the application.

Steev
 I still use all my DX audio plugins like the Sonitus bundle in CbB, as well as Cakewalk TTS-1 synth while is a great software based version bundle of Roland GM/GS Sound Canvas synth modules.
 The only limitation with the TTS-1 is it only runs in projects set up to 24/48k/Hz, it isn't useable if you record projects at 24/96 but that's not really an issue with me because it never did since it's release with SONAR 4 PE.

These plug-ins are available in CbB because they were ported to 64bit. TTS-1 can run at 96kHz sample rate but the "light load mode" setting must be enabled per-instance and is not retained in the project.
 

KPerry
We need a "BitBridge" type of application to support migration as there is no longer a 32 bit version of the application.

It is still not too late to prepare projects containing 32bit DX plug-ins for long term access in a non-32bit environment but there will be no better time than now. I would be very surprised if any company spends time to extend the life of 32bit DX software. BandLab has a full plate just getting their 64bit software running.

There's no money made from people who cling to the past. That's all you really need to understand. 
Unless that past is a nice vintage guitar or amp. But I'm afraid software and a lot of hi tech hardware is a short term investment. 
 
Back to the OP,,, without a doubt I am finding that Cakelab does not crash for me,, ever,,. This is HUGE!  
So there is now no reason that I could see to use any other DAW in my world. 
It was only a half a year ago that we thought we were dead in the water. Now we are cruising smoothly on a nice fully equipped Yacht. 
 

 I have always found "light load settings" to be wimpy, a.k.a. unusable. 
Another good thing I like about running multi-core CPU's 2600 m/Hz FSB and 16 gigs of memory with Windows 10 x64 bit OS and Focusrite audio interface is there is no need to record at 96k anymore.
 When I was using a single core CPU with an 800 m/Hz FSB [buss speed] running a 32 bit OS I needed the higher [frequency] speed to reduce recording latency. 24 bit sound quality results to 24 bit sound quality whether it's being pushed at 16.44 k/Hz or 192 k/Hz. End user/listener results are exactly the same, which varies only by the quality of the playback system.
 There is no humanly detectable "sound quality" difference between recording at 48 k/Hz or 96 k/Hz.
 The "bit rate" determines sound quality, the "frequency" determines latency and DAW performance.
 
 I also feel it's not Bandlab's problem to get all 3rd party software to play nice with Cakewalk, it's the vendor's problem to get their hardware and software to work and play nice with all others.
 The longevity of the life span of DX plugins is firmly embedded into Windows operating system Direct X component architecture.
 VST based plugins can come and go, crap out completely or improve to v3,  I doubt DX plugins are going anywhere soon until Microsoft seriously reinvents the OS and drops the Direct X component.
 In which case no version of Cakewalk software will work anymore..

Leadfoot
... [snip] ...
I am aware of the option of tethering. Unfortunately my cell service provider prohibits it and will deactivate your phone if it detects it.

I hope I don't come across as rude, but your cell provider seems to be stuck in the stone age. I would seriously considering changing provider, unless you are locked into a subscription plan. If so there are plenty fairly cheap mobile-wifi routers which allows for data transfer only. 

Steev
 
 I also feel it's not Bandlab's problem to get all 3rd party software to play nice with Cakewalk, it's the vendor's problem to get their hardware and software to work and play nice with all others.
 

I'd say that it is very much their problem also. Third party plug-in vendors will still have plenty of customers from Cubase, S1 etc, but a supposedly professional standard DAW that doesn't work well with third party VSTs really isn't going to be taken very seriously.