Connection sharing is when you share your phone’s mobile data connection with another device, such as your laptop or tablet, by connecting it to the Internet through your phone’s data connection. There are several ways to connect Android.
Hotspot is useful when you’re out there and you don’t have Wi-Fi, have access to cellular data, and want to do something on your computer instead of your phone. But you can pay extra for the convenience.
Will it cost money?
Depending on your carrier, this may or may not cost you money. In the United States, most major carriers charge additional fees for tethering. Check your carrier’s website for more information on tethering charges. An additional fee of $ 20 for tying is not unusual in the United States.
RELATED: How To Use Android’s Built-in Connection Sharing When Your Carrier Blocks It
It is possible to bypass these restrictions by installing and using a third-party tethering app, or if you are rooted, by unblocking Android’s built-in login feature. However, your carrier may notice that you are using tethering anyway – they can tell because web traffic on your laptop is different from web traffic on your mobile phone – and they can usefully add a tethering plan. to your account, charging you the standard connection fees. If you are lucky they might not notice it, so don’t be surprised if they charge you the connection fee.
Of course, standard data limits and charges apply. For example, if your operator provides 2 GB of data per month and you use 3 GB between connection sharing and normal use of your smartphone, you will be subject to the normal penalties of your plan (additional charges or speed limit ) even if the operator does not notice you. attached.
Finally, tethering drains the battery – quickly. When you are not actively using tethering, you should turn it off to save power on your Android phone and conserve battery life for longer.
Types of connection sharing
We will see how to use each connection sharing method. Here’s how they stack up:
- Wi-Fi tethering : Wi-Fi hotspot turns your phone into a small Wi-Fi hotspot. It creates a Wi-Fi network that you connect to with your computer. It has decent speeds and you can connect more than one device, but the battery will drain faster than if you used any of the options below.
- Bluetooth tethering: Bluetooth tethering is significantly slower than Wi-Fi, but uses less battery. You can also only connect one device at a time via Bluetooth. It’s probably not worth using unless you’re really trying to stretch your battery.
- USB tethering: USB tethering offers the fastest speeds, but you need to connect your phone to your laptop with a USB cable. Your phone’s battery will not drain as it will be powered by your computer’s USB port.In addition to the standard Android tethering options, there are other ways to connect it:
- Third-party tethering apps: If tethering is disabled on a phone you purchased from an operator, you can install third-party apps and use them for tethering. Your operator can charge you anyway if they notice it.
- Reverse tethering: In rare cases, you may want to share your computer’s internet connection with your Android phone. This is useful if you only have wired Ethernet connections in the area and you don’t have access to Wi-Fi.Let’s talk about how to do all of these things, one by one.
Wi-Fi connection sharing
Android has a built-in Wi-Fi tethering feature, although it may be disabled by some carriers if you don’t pay for a tethering plan. (Again, if you’re rooted, you can unlock Android’s built-in tethering feature with these instructions.)
To access this feature, open your phone’s Settings screen, tap the More option under Wireless & networks, and then tap Tethering & portable hotspot.
Tap the Configure Wi-Fi hotspot option and you can configure your phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot, changing its SSID (name) and password. Leave the security set to WPA2 PSK, unless you need to use an older device that does not support this encryption standard. WPA2 PSK is the most secure option, and you don’t want other people logging into your hotspot and running your data bill.
After configuring the settings of your access point, check the Portable Wi-Fi access point option. You can now connect to your phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot from your laptop, tablet or any other device.
Bluetooth tethering
You can also choose to tether through a bluetooth connection. If your laptop has built-in Bluetooth (which most do), you can turn on Bluetooth on your phone and turn on Bluetooth tethering.
First of all, you will need to pair your PC with your phone. In Windows 10, you’ll first open the Bluetooth menu and make sure the device is discoverable.
On your phone, go to Bluetooth settings and search for new devices to pair. Wait for your PC to appear. Once it appears, tap on it to start the pairing process.
As the two devices start to communicate, you will receive a prompt each time to confirm that the unique code is the same. If it does (and should be), click Pair on both the phone and the computer. They should be connected via bluetooth after that.
Now that the two are paired, you are almost ready to use the Bluetooth connection feature. First, go back to the Tethering and portable hotspot screen on your phone, and then turn on Bluetooth tethering.
Back on the computer, right click on the Bluetooth icon in the system tray, then choose « Join a personal network ».
When this menu opens, your phone must be present. Click on it, then click on the “Connect using” drop-down menu. Choose « Access point ».
Once the connection is established, you will get a quick confirmation pop-up window. Done and done: You can now use the Bluetooth connection to access the web.
USB tethering
Connect your phone to your laptop via USB cable and you will see the USB tethering option become available. Activate it.
Your computer should automatically detect this new type of Internet connection and make it available..
Third-party connection sharing apps
There are many third-party connection sharing apps that you can download from Google Play. However, many are paid apps or require root access.
PdaNet + offers Bluetooth and USB tethering on all Android phones, while Wi-Fi tethering will only work on some phones. The free version will turn off automatically and require you to turn it back on every once in a while – you can make it stop bothering you by paying for the full version. Unlike many other such applications, PdaNet does not require root access. The Wi-Fi tethering feature provided is new in PdaNet + and is the same as the FoxFi app.
You can also search for other tethering apps in Google Play, if you want a free app that uses root and doesn’t require you to re-enable it regularly, or if PdaNet + can’t provide Wi-Fi access on your phone. In this case, we recommend using the Magisk / Xposed module which bypasses your carrier’s restrictions.
Partage de connexion inversé
RELATED: How To Connect Your Android To Your PC’s Internet Connection Via USB
Finally, if you are rooted, you can reverse the connection: connect your phone to your computer and share your computer’s internet connection with your phone. This is a fairly rare situation, but one day you might find yourself in an office without Wi-Fi. If you can connect your Android phone to a computer with a wired internet connection using a USB cable, you can share their wired Internet connection. Refer to this guide for more detailed instructions on how to reverse the tie.
