How To Use Your Smartphone As A Hotspot

We’ve all been there: You need to work on your computer for a few minutes and there’s no free Wi-Fi in sight. If you have a smartphone in your pocket, you might be in luck. Most smartphone data 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, there are a few important things to note: Your computer is likely going to use a lot more data than your phone does. You’ll probably want to take it easy on playing videos and streaming stuff, because everything you do on your computer while it’s using your smartphone’s data connection is counting against your mobile plan. Sure, you might have an “unlimited” plan, but that plan probably comes with some caveats, specifically one that allows your mobile carrier to throttle (slow down) your data for the rest of the month when it thinks you’ve used too much. That hour of mindless YouTube streaming on your computer could mean that you’re struggling to load even simple webpages by the end of the month.

Also, not every phone plan allows you to share your phone’s data connection elsewhere. My data plan, for instance, is an AT&T plan from when the original iPhone was released. I have truly unlimited data, in that AT&T can never throttle my account, but that huge data pot also comes with the downside that I can’t use my device as a hotspot.

In some cases, you also might have to change a setting in your account with your mobile carrier to use the feature. Some carriers limit the amount of data you’re able to get through tethering, and some charge extra to allow you to do so. That means you might have to make a phone call to customer support before you’ll be able to use your smartphone’s data connection.

All that said, here’s how to make it happen:

Wi-Fi hotspot

You can make your phone a hotspot similar to your WiFi network at home. With this option others can share your connection if you give them the password. You can also use the connection across several devices of your own.

Android

• Open the Settings app.

• Tap “Network & Internet.”

• Tap “Hotspot & tethering.”

• Tap “Wi-Fi hotspot.”

• Tap “Turn on hotspot.”

• Your phone will tell you what the network’s name is and provide a password that you can use to connect to it on your other device.

iOS

• Open the Settings app.

• Select “Cellular/Mobile”

• Tap “Personal Hotspot or Settings.”

• Tap “Personal Hotspot.”

• Toggle it on.

• Use the Wi-Fi network and password displayed on your device to connect to it similarly to how you connect to your home or work’s WiFi network.

Bluetooth tethering

This is a more complicated process than the other options simply because of getting your computer to accept data via Bluetooth and not something I would personally recommend, but it is definitely doable and is useful in some situations.

Android

• Pair your phone with the other device.

• Set up the other device (ie your laptop) to get its network connection by Bluetooth.

• Open the Settings app.

• Tap “Network & internet.”

• Tap “Hotspot & tethering.”

• 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 a connection with.

• Open the Settings app.

• Select “Cellular/Mobile.”

• Tap “Personal Hotspot or Settings.”

• Tap “Personal Hotspot.”

• Toggle it on.

• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your secondary device for it to get its data connection via Bluetooth.

USB cable

If you have a USB cable for your phone you can share the connection that way.

Android

• Connect your phone to the other device.

• Open the Settings app.

• Tap “Network & internet.”

• Tap “Hotspot & tethering.”

• Turn on USB tethering.

iOS

• Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes on the Mac or PC you’re trying to connect to.

• Open the Settings app.

• Select “Cellular/Mobile.”

• Tap “Personal Hotspot or Settings.”

• Tap “Personal Hotspot.”

• Toggle it on.

• Connect your iPhone or iPad to the secondary device using the cable that came with it.

• If you see an alert that says “Trust this computer?” tap “Trust.”