If your device, your carrier, and your data plan allows it, you can turn your mobile phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot to get your laptop or tablet online.
- Go to Settings on your Android phone. You can get there by pressing the menu button on your device when you're on the home screen, then tapping "Settings".
- At the Settings screen, tap the "Wireless & networks" option.
- You should see an option for "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot". Click the check mark beside it to turn on the hotspot and your phone will start acting like a wireless access point. (You should see a message in the notification bar when it's activated.)
- To adjust and check the settings for the hotspot, tap the aptly named "Portable Wi-Fi hotspot settings" option. You'll need to do this if you don't know the default password that will be created for your hotspot so you can make a note of it for connecting your other devices.
- You can change the default password, security level, router name (SSID), and also manage users connected wirelessly to your phone in the Wi-Fi hotspot settings.
Find and Connect to the New Wi-Fi Hotspot Created
- From each of the other devices you want to share Internet access with, find the Wi-Fi hotspot; this will probably be done automatically for you. (Your computer, tablet, and/or other smartphones most likely will notify you that there are new wireless networks to connect to. If not, on another Android phone, you'll find the wireless networks under Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi settings.
- Finally, establish the connection by entering in the password you noted above.
Here's how to set up an iPhone Wi-Fi hotspot:
- Open the Settings app, then select Mobile Data. (In iOS 10 or later. In some older versions of iOS you just select Mobile.)
- Tap Personal Hotspot, and set Personal Hotspot to On. (Tap the slide so it turns green.)
- If Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth are off, iOS will ask if you want to turn them back on. We'd recommend doing so - without them, the hotspot will be limited to USB. This is more secure, however.
- Tap 'Wi-Fi Password' and enter a suitable password. (This isn't related to your Apple ID or usual Wi-Fi connection.)
- Now check the name of the hotspot listed under To Connect Using Wi-Fi
- Click the Wi-Fi icon in your laptops Menu bar, or open the Settings app and tap Wi-Fi on an iPad, and choose the Wi-Fi hotspot.
- Enter the password from Step 4.
NOTE: you can set your device to always connect to your hotspot when it is detected.
- Open the network and sharing Center and go to Manage Wireless Networks.
- Find the entry for your hotspot
- check the box to connect automatically when this network is in range.
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