Problems with your Wi-Fi connection or no Wi-Fi available nearby? Your smartphone’s mobile data plan will do the job. In this guide you’ll find the steps to share your mobile internet connection with your PC.
What you need to do first
First, make sure you have enough mobile data. Start by checking the internet allowance on your smartphone. To do this, use the dial-in code provided by your network operator. You can also check your allowance in the app supplied by your provider.
Very important: your phone must be properly charged to avoid any interruption to your work. If possible, keep your mobile plugged in to a mains power socket the whole time. It’s true that newer phone batteries no longer suffer from the memory effect, but using tethering too often can still reduce their overall lifespan.
Be aware that the quality of the connection depends on the quality of the network, your operator and your device model. The same applies to how many devices you can share your connection with.
Enabling tethering on your smartphone
Tethering (mobile hotspot) means creating a Wi-Fi access point that a laptop PC or another smartphone can connect to. You can also create access points via Bluetooth or by using USB modem mode.
Tethering with an Android smartphone
For all smartphones running Android, tethering is enabled in almost the same way. However, USB tethering is not available on some phone models.
- Switch on mobile data on your smartphone.
- Tap Settings, then go to Network and Internet.
- Open “Hotspot & tethering”, then “Wi‑Fi hotspot”.
- Next, go to “Set up Wi‑Fi hotspot”, then enter the network name (by default this is usually the phone model name). Set the security level to WPA2 PSK (this is recommended). Tap “Show password” because you’ll need to copy it onto your PC.
- Then turn on the hotspot whenever you need it. You’ll see the phone’s network listed among the available Wi‑Fi networks on your computer.
- Connect by entering the password for the phone’s hotspot.
Tethering with an iPhone
The steps to share your connection with an iPhone are roughly the same as on an Android phone. The names of the menus are just slightly different.
- First open the Settings menu, then tap Mobile Data and Personal Hotspot.
- Enable the slider labelled “Allow Others to Join”. But before that, you should create or change the Wi‑Fi password.
- When the iPhone’s Wi‑Fi hotspot appears on the PC, connect by entering the password.
Some tips for managing tethering effectively
To save your mobile data, switch off tethering whenever you don’t need an active connection on your computer.
Set up tethering so that it turns itself off after a few minutes of inactivity. To do this: in “Wi‑Fi hotspot”, tap “Keep Wi‑Fi hotspot on”, then select “Turn off when inactive for … mins” (choose the time that suits you).
Only use tethering for important tasks: downloading a file, sending an email or working on collaborative platforms. Wait until you’re on Wi‑Fi to watch videos or play online games.
