How to Use Your Smartphone As a Hotspot
We’ve all been there: you need to work on the computer for a few minutes, and the free Wi-Fi is not visible. If you have a smartphone in your pocket, you might be in luck. Most smartphone plans allow you to use your phone as a mobile hotspot, which means you can share that data connection with your computer and get your work done.
Before you do that, there are a few important points to note: your computer is likely to use a lot more data than your phone. You probably want to make your video playback and streaming easier, because whatever you do on your computer while it is using your smartphone’s data connection counts towards your mobile plan. You can of course have an “unlimited” plan, but this plan probably has some caveats, in particular the one that allows your mobile operator to restrict (slow down) your data until the end of the month when it thinks you have been using too much … That hour of pointless YouTube streaming on your computer could mean you can barely load even simple web pages by the end of the month.
Plus, not every data plan allows you to use your phone’s data connection elsewhere. For example, my data plan is the AT&T plan since the original iPhone was released. I really have unlimited data as AT&T can never restrict my account, but this huge databank has a downside: I can’t use my device as a hotspot.
In some cases, you may also need to change the settings in your account with your mobile operator in order to use this feature. Some carriers limit the amount of data you can receive through a modem, and some charge additional fees to enable you to do so. This means you might have to call support before you can use your smartphone’s data connection.
With that said, here’s how to do it:
Wi-Fi hotspot
You can make your phone a hotspot similar to your home Wi-Fi network. With this option, others can share your connection if you give them a password. You can also use a connection with multiple own devices.
Android
- Open the Settings app.
- Click on Network & Internet.
- Click Access Point & Modem.
- Click Wi-Fi Hotspot.
- Click Turn on hotspot.
- Your phone will tell you what the network is called and provide you with a password that you can use to connect to it on another device.
iOS
- Open the Settings app.
- Select “Cellular”.
- Click Personal Hotspot or Settings.
- Click Personal Hotspot.
- Include this.
- Use the Wi-Fi network and password displayed on your device to connect to it in the same way as you connect to your home or work Wi-Fi network.
Bluetooth modem
This is a more complicated process than the other options, simply because your computer is receiving data over Bluetooth, and I would not personally recommend it, but it is definitely doable and useful in some situations.
Android
- Connect your phone to another device.
- Set up another device (such as your laptop) to connect to the network via Bluetooth.
- Open the Settings app.
- Click on Network & Internet.
- Click Access Point & Modem.
- Tap Bluetooth tethering.
iOS
- Go to the settings menu on your iOS device.
- Go to Bluetooth and pair your device with the one you want to share the connection with.
- Open the Settings app.
- Select “Cellular”.
- Click Personal Hotspot or Settings.
- Click Personal Hotspot.
- Include this.
- Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your secondary device to get a Bluetooth data connection.
USB cable
If you have a USB cable for your phone, you can share the connection this way.
Android
- Connect your phone to another device.
- Open the Settings app.
- Click on Network & Internet.
- Click Access Point & Modem.
- Turn on your USB tethering.
iOS
- Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes installed on the Mac or PC you are trying to connect to.
- Open the Settings app.
- Select “Cellular”.
- Click Personal Hotspot or Settings.
- Click Personal Hotspot.
- Include this.
- Connect your iPhone or iPad to an additional device using the supplied cable.
- If you see the warning “Trust this computer?” click “Trust”.