Gone are the days when one had to subscribe to separate data plans to surf the internet on multiple devices. I – for one – don’t miss those days one bit. We treated this same topic for PC users @ https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-share-an-internet-connection-data-plan-megabytes-between-android-and-pc/ , today, its Android users turn. In this tutorial, we’ll be looking at how to share the data (megabytes) on your Android phone with other devices; one data plan to rule them all!
What problems might I encounter during tethering?
Some issues you might come across during tethering and their fixes include:
- Laptop wont connect to the internet: Read https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-fix-a-windows-pc-that-wont-connect-to-the-internet/
- PC’s Bluetooth wont connect to other device: Read https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-fix-a-pc-whose-bluetooth-wont-detect-connect-to-other-devices/
- Android overheats: Read https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-fix-an-overheating-android-phone/
- Android phone’s Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wont come on: Read https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-fix-an-android-phone-whose-wi-fi-or-bluetooth-wont-turn-on/
- Heavy data usage on the Android phone: Read https://www.hovatek.com/blog/how-to-solve-the-problem-of-heavy-data-consumption-in-iphone-ipad-and-android-smartphones-tablets/
- Heavy data usage on the Laptop: Read https://www.hovatek.com/blog/laptop-consuming-a-lot-of-data-mb-solved/
- Cannot enable hotspot: Ensure Wi-Fi (Wireless) is off
- Cannot enable USB tethering: Ensure phone storage or SD card is not mounted on the PC
Jump to:
A. How to tether (share internet connection) using Wi-Fi (Wireless) 1. Go to Settings then select More 2. Select Tethering & portable hotspot 3. Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot by toggling or ticking (whichever applies) 4. Tap Wi-Fi hotspot to open advanced settings 5. Select Set up Wi-Fi hotspot 6. Give the hotspot a name (SSID) of your choice 7. Under Security, select WPA2 PSK. (If you set it to None then anybody will be able to connect to your hotspot without your permission….bad idea) 8. Enter a password of your choice (minimum of 8 characters) 9. Select Save and your hotspot should be live and ready to be connected to 10. On the other device(s), turn on Wi-Fi > Select the newly created hotspot from the list of available networks > Enter the password > You should now be connected B. How to tether (share internet connection) using Bluetooth 1. Go to Settings then select More 2. Select Tethering & portable hotspot 3. Tick Bluetooth tethering 4. Go to Settings on the receiving device(s) and turn on the Bluetooth 5. Set to visible to all nearby Bluetooth devices by tapping 6. Click Search for devices 7. Click on the target device once detected 8. Click Pair on both devices to initiate pairing 9. The device should now be listed as a paired device 10. The receiving device(s) should now have internet access C. How to tether (share internet connection) using USB 1. Connect the phone to the PC (Laptop) via USB cord 2. Go to Settings on the phone then select More 3. Select Tethering & portable hotspot 4. Tick USB tethering 5. The PC should now have an internet connection Hovatek….just a button away!