Share the internet data connection from Android with the Hotspot (Tethering) Wifi, Bluetooth or USB cable functions

Tethering

When we are away from home and we have no connection available for the laptop, we can connect using the data offer of our Android smartphone, so we can reply to the corporate email or finish the work done on the Office cloud without having to wait to find a connection to Internet fast and safe enough.
This type of connection, called Tethering, we can get it in three different ways: wireless (activating a real one hotspot), Bluetooth, and via USB cable, so you can choose the best type of connection for our needs each time.
In this guide, we will show you then how to activate Tethering on Android to share Internet from our phone to our notebook or MacBook in all possible ways, also explaining a few little tricks to avoid crazy expenses.

How to activate Tethering on Android

Before going into the guide, we recommend you carefully check the remaining traffic available on the SIM of the Android smartphone: if we have an offer that includes more than 10GB, we can be fairly quiet (even if we have to pay attention to some things, as we will show you later), while if we have less than 10 GB we will mend that computers exchange a quantity of data higher than a smartphone (just think of system updates, which on Windows often exceed 3 GB), so we will have to really minimize the amount of data and downloads to be made with tethering, worth pay additional (very high) costs for exceeding the traffic threshold granted by the operator.

Before proceeding then we recommend reading our guides on Internet offers for rechargeable SIM cards on tablets, keys, and modems and how to Check traffic thresholds and remaining credit (Android).

How to activate Wifi Hotspot on Android

The simplest and most accessible method to exploit tethering on Android involves the use of a dedicated wireless network, created by the phone itself, to which we can connect any notebook (as if we were in a Wi-Fi Hotspot).
To create this network dedicated to tethering on Android, open the app Settings, and open the menu Personal hotspot (called on some phones Hotspot, Hotspots and tethering or simply Wi-Fi tethering).
Wi-Fi tethering

After opening the indicated menu, we select the menu Hotspot configuration (or similar, a lot depends on the phone manufacturer chosen) and we choose a name to assign to the hotspot network (SSID) and a secure password (WPA2-PSK). Once configured, we return to the previous screen and activate the hotspot by clicking on the item Personal Wi-Fi hotspot (or Enable Hotspot).
A Wi-Fi network will be generated with the name chosen, accessible from any wireless device nearby; now we will only have to turn on the notebook in our possession, click on the network icon and select the name of the hotspot just created, type in the password chosen during configuration.
Now we can surf the laptop using the wireless tethering of our Android smartphone! To maintain good speed, we recommend leaving the smartphone near the handset (no more than 3 meters) and finding the point of the table (or the support surface) where the phone’s LTE signal is strongest (at least 4 notches out of 5).

If our smartphone allows it, we can also configure a limit to the exchange of wireless tethering data, so as to prevent the laptop from downloading data beyond the allowed threshold. To significantly reduce the amount of data exchanged by a laptop with Windows 10 installed, we can also activate the consumption mode, by right-clicking on the network icon in the lower right corner, opening the entry Open Network and Internet Settings, selecting the item Change connection properties and activating the button in the section Set as a connection to consumption.

How to activate Bluetooth Hotspot on Android

If we want to prevent someone from seeing our hotspot network while we’re in a public place, we can configure tethering on Android via Bluetooth, so as to create a unique connection between the phone and the notebook.
First, let’s make sure that our laptop has a Bluetooth connection: in case it is absent, we can always buy a low-cost Bluetooth USB adapter like the one here -> TP-Link UB400 (10 €).

Once we turn on the Bluetooth connection on our laptop, we open the app Settings on the Android phone and let us go to the menu Bluetooth. We activate the Bluetooth connection item and wait for the computer name to appear on the list.
We tap on the computer name and accept the codes provided (they should coincide with those shown by the window on the PC), so as to make the connection. After making this step, we return to the home screen Settings, we press on the menu Other or up Hotspots and tethering and we activate the voice Bluetooth tethering.
Bluetooth tethering

After activating the entry on the computer, a new modem will be installed, ie the telephone connected in Bluetooth mode. We can now navigate smoothly using our mobile Internet offer!

To keep the connection stable and fast, we recommend keeping the phone very close to the computer (less than 1 meter), and placing yourself at a point where the smartphone’s LTE signal is very good (at least 4 notches out of 5).

How to activate tethering on Android via USB cable

If we want to avoid using wireless connections and benefit from maximum transfer speed (as well as save battery), we can enable tethering on Android via USB cable. To implement this type of connection, we need to install the USB driver of our Android device on the computer, then use any USB cable to connect the smartphone to a free USB port on the notebook. Once connected, the right driver will be loaded and a modem will be added to the operating system, which can be used for the purpose. Now that everything is ready, let’s take the app Settings on the phone, let’s tap Other or up Hotspots and tethering and we activate the voice USB tethering.
USB tethering

In a few seconds, the LTE connection will be shared on the notebook, with which we can immediately navigate. Since the connection is via cable, we can also place the phone where it is best, perhaps using a longer cable like the one available here -> Rampow USB Micro USB cable (7 €).

Conclusions

Now that we have learned all the ways we can perform tethering on Android, we can take the notebook with us at all times, knowing that we can continue working even when we are away from home.
In another article, we saw how How to Activate the Hotspot on iPhone (Wi-Fi or Bluetooth), in case we owned an iPhone.
If instead, we wanted to create a hotspot from a PC, in another guide we have already shown you how to create a WiFi hotspot on a Windows PC, to share the computer’s Internet connection and connect a smartphone, tablet or any other wireless device.

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