Can I shut of the tether on CO-OP?

The way I understand it, in co-op, your PC acts like a small server. But it doesnt render the game outside of your immediate area. Hence the tethering.

If you want true single player experience where your family can play without tethering, you need to rent a server from a company like g-portal. Or you can get another PC and setup a Conan server on it. Here is a good link on how to do it.