With a few taps, you can turn your smartphone into a source for internet that laptops, tablets, and other phones can use. Here's how to turn your phone into a hotspot.
Your ability to create a Wi-Fi hotspot depends on your service plan and data allowance.
One thing to keep in mind: using your phone as a hotspot eats up battery life in addition to data.
Turn on Wi-Fi Hotspot With iOS Devices
Step 1: Set Up Phone To set up a personal hotspot on your iPhone, go to Settings > Personal Hotspot and toggle it on (if you don't see Personal Hotspot in Settings, tap Cellular > Personal Hotspot). Make note of the Wi-Fi password.
Step 2: Connect to Laptop Open the Wi-Fi menu on the device you need to connect to the internet. Look for your iOS device, tap it, and enter the password that appears on your iPhone's Personal Hotspot screen.
Step 3: On the Web Your secondary device should now be able to surf the web (and consume mobile data). To disconnect, toggle Personal Hotspot to off on your iOS device.
NOTE: We only recommend one device at a time be connected this way, to minimize performance problems.
Turn on Wi-Fi Hotspot With Android Devices
How you access Wi-Fi hotspots on Android phones will depend on which device you have and which version of Android you're running.
Samsung
Step 1: Set Up Phone Below you can see what it looks like on a Samsung Galaxy S8 running Android 9.0 Pie. You can either pull down and tap the Mobile Hotspot option in the menu to activate. Or navigate to Connections > Mobile Hotspot and Tethering > Mobile Hotspot and toggle it on. A pop-up window will appear, where you can find the Wi-Fi password for devices that want to connect.
Step 2: Connect to Laptop Open the Wi-Fi menu on the device you need to connect to the internet. Look for your device, tap it, and enter the password that appears on your Samsung's Mobile Hotspot screen.
Step 3: On the Web Your secondary device should now be able to surf the web (and consume mobile data). To disconnect, toggle Mobile Hotspot to off on your device.
NOTE: We only recommend one device at a time be connected this way, to minimize performance problems.
Turn on Wi-Fi Hotspot With Android Devices
How you access Wi-Fi hotspots on Android phones will depend on which device you have and which version of Android you're running. If you navigate to Settings and search for "tether," it should appear, but here's an idea of what it looks like on some of the top Android phone brands. To deactivate hotspot mode, navigate back to these settings and toggle them off.
Motorola Moto
Step 1: Set Up Phone To turn on tethering on a Moto Z4 running Android Pie, navigate to Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering. Here, you can select to share a connection via Wi-Fi, USB, or Bluetooth.
For a Wi-Fi connection, tap Wi-Fi hotspot and toggle it on. The hotspot name will be displayed on this screen. Tap Advanced > Hotspot password for the password.
Step 2: Connect to Laptop Open the Wi-Fi menu on the device you need to connect to the internet. Look for your Moto device, tap it, and enter the password that appears on your Moto's Wi-Fi hotspot screen.
Step 3: On the Web Your secondary device should now be able to surf the web (and consume mobile data). To disconnect, toggle Wifi Hotspot to off on your device.
NOTE: We only recommend one device at a time be connected this way, to minimize performance problems.
Turn on Wi-Fi Hotspot With Android Devices
How you access Wi-Fi hotspots on Android phones will depend on which device you have and which version of Android you're running. If you navigate to Settings and search for "tether," it should appear, but here's an idea of what it looks like on some of the top Android phone brands. To deactivate hotspot mode, navigate back to these settings and toggle them off.
LG
Step 1: Set Up Phone Pull down from the top of the screen and select Settings > Tethering. Then toggle the Wi-Fi hotspot switch to on.
Step 2: Connect to Laptop Open the Wi-Fi menu on the device you need to connect to the internet. Look for your LG device, tap it, and enter the password that appears on your Wifi Hotspot screen.
Step 3: On the Web Your secondary device should now be able to surf the web (and consume mobile data). To disconnect, toggle Wifi Hotspot to off on your device.
NOTE: We only recommend one device at a time be connected this way, to minimize performance problems.
Turn on Wi-Fi Hotspot With Android Devices
How you access Wi-Fi hotspots on Android phones will depend on which device you have and which version of Android you're running. If you navigate to Settings and search for "tether," it should appear, but here's an idea of what it looks like on some of the top Android phone brands. To deactivate hotspot mode, navigate back to these settings and toggle them off.
Google Pixel
Step 1: Set Up Phone Pull down from the top of the screen and navigate to Settings > Network & Internet > Hotspot & Tethering > Wi-Fi Hotspot, and toggle the switch to on. The hotspot name and password will then be visible.
Step 2: Connect to Laptop Open the Wi-Fi menu on the device you need to connect to the internet. Look for your Pixel, tap it, and enter the password that appears on your Wifi Hotspot screen.
Step 3: On the Web Your secondary device should now be able to surf the web (and consume mobile data). To disconnect, toggle Wifi Hotspot to off on your device.
NOTE: We only recommend one device at a time be connected this way, to minimize performance problems.
