How to Share your phone’s Internet connection to your laptop

Modern mobile phone technology allows users to connect wirelessly to the Internet anytime there is a data connection. You can share your phone’s Internet connection to your laptop (laptop) via WiFi, Bluetooth or USB. Most newer phones and laptops can choose from any number of connection methods, each with its own advantages.

Table of Contents

iPhone tethering for laptop

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Check your carrier’s plan. Some carriers charge an additional fee for data tethering, or require you to purchase a tethering plan. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Select method. There are three methods to share the phone’s Internet connection to the laptop. Here are the requirements for each method:

Wi-Fi tethering can be done on iPhone 4 running iOS 4.3 or later. It can connect to any laptop as long as it has WiFi and runs Mac OS 10.4.11 or Windows XP SP2 or later. ^{[2] X Research Sources}^{[3] X Research Sources}
USB tethering can be done on iPhone 3G and later. You will need a USB cable to connect your iPhone to your laptop. Your computer needs iTunes 8.2 or later and running Mac OS 10.5.7 or Windows XP SP2 or later. ^{[4] X Research Sources}
Bluetooth tethering requires an iPhone 3G or later. It can connect to a laptop with Bluetooth 2.0, running Mac OS 10.4.11 or Windows XP SP2 or later. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Turn on Personal Hotspot. Go to Settings on your iPhone. Set the Personal Hotspot slider to “On”. Tap the method you want to use (WiFi, Bluetooth, or USB).

You can find Personal Hotspot settings in Settings → Cellular; Settings → General → Network; or in the main Settings menu depending on your device. ^{[6] X Source of Research}^{[7] X Source of Research}^{[8] X Source of Research}
While on WiFi, tap the WiFi password button and type in the password. You should only use ASCII characters. ^{[9] X Research Source}

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Connect to shared WiFi. WiFi tethering is the fastest wireless connection method, but the most battery-intensive. ^{[10] X Research Source} To connect from a laptop, simply turn on WiFi, select a network for your phone, and then enter your chosen password. The default network is usually named “iPhone”.

Your phone’s WiFi tethering will be turned off if you don’t connect the device for 90 seconds. ^{[11] X Research Source}
If you are on a 2G mobile network, the WiFi will be disconnected when you make a call. ^{[12] X Research Source}

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Connect via USB. Although uncommon because of the need for cables, USB is the fastest connection method and easiest to set up. Once Personal Hotspot is turned on, plug the USB cable into both devices. Tethering will happen automatically. If that doesn’t work, try going into your laptop’s network settings and clicking the USB option.

You need iTunes on your laptop. You can download iTunes for free.

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Connect to shared Bluetooth. Bluetooth is slower than WiFi and can only share the connection with another device. However, it will use less battery. ^{[13] X Research Source} Here’s how to set up a Bluetooth connection for a laptop:

For Mac:
- Go to System Preferences → Bluetooth on the laptop.
- Click “Turn Bluetooth On”, or click “Set Up a New Device” and follow the on-screen instructions. Select iPhone in the device list.
- Enter the Pairing Code on your iPhone.
- On some iPhones, you’ll need to tap “Use Device as a Network Port” after entering. ^{[14] X Research Source}
For Windows 10: ^{[15] X Research Sources}
- Select the action center icon (with a chat bubble) on the taskbar and click Bluetooth.
- Click Connect, then select your iPhone.
- Type Pairing Code on iPhone.
For Windows 7:
- Go to Contrp Panel → Bluetooth → Bluetooth Settings → Options. ^{[16] X Research Source} Turn on Bluetooth discovery and connection.
- Go to Start → Devices and Printers → Add a device. Select your iPhone. ^{[17] X Research Source}
- Enter Pairing Code on iPhone.
For Windows Vista:
- Go to Contrp Panel → Hardware and Sound → Bluetooth Devices → Options. ^{[18] X Research Source} Turn on Bluetooth discovery and connection.
- In the same Bluetooth Devices menu, click Add, then select your iPhone. ^{[19] X Research Source}
- Type Pairing Code on iPhone.

Tethering of Android phone to laptop

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Review your data plan. Most phone carriers charge an additional fee for tethering, or the fee is already included in your data limit. Some packages do not even allow tethering. ^{[20] X Research Source}

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Find out if your device is compatible. Android introduced WiFi and USB tethering in version 2.2. Bluetooth tethering requires Android 3.0 or higher. ^{[21] X Research Source}

Your phone model and laptop operating system should also have tethering. This rarely becomes an issue, unless many years have passed since the device went on sale.
Some devices running older versions of Android can install an app to enable tethering. ^{[22] X Research Source}

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Share the connection using WiFi. WiFi provides a fast connection and can support up to ten devices. However, it causes the device to drain the battery very quickly. Here’s how to set it up: ^{[23] X Research Source}

Open Settings on your Android phone. Tap More → Tethering & portable hotspot located under Wireless.
Turn on “Portable WiFi hotspot”.
A station message will appear. Tap this notification and select “Set up Wi-Fi hotspot”. Type a password containing only ASCII characters (can include the network name).
On the laptop, turn on WiFi and select the phone’s network. Enter the selected password.

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Share your Internet connection via USB. The USB cable offers the fastest connection speeds. However, USB tethering is usually only done (in the mainstream) on Windows operating systems. Simply connect the two devices with a USB cable, then enable tethering on your phone in Settings → More → Tethering & portable hotspot ) → USB tethering (USB Tethering). ^{[24] X Research Source}

Windows XP users must download the customization file first, follow the instructions on the Google support page.
Mac users can install third-party drivers on laptops to enable USB tethering. This is not censored by Google or Apple. You should only install from trusted sources.

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Connect via Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a slower wireless connection method, but it drains less battery life. ^{[25] X Research Source} You can use it to create an Internet connection for a device as shown below: ^{[26] X Research Source}^{[27] X Research Source}

Turn on Bluetooth located under Settings on your phone.
Turn on Bluetooth on the laptop. You can do this in your Mac’s System Preferences; from the “action center” → “Connect” option on the Windows 10 taskbar; or by searching for “Bluetooth” in the search bar of earlier versions of Windows.
On your phone, select a laptop under Available devices. If you don’t see it, try tapping “Search for devices” or tap the menu icon and tap “Refresh”.
Follow the instructions to connect the device. You may need to enter a password on one of the devices (Try 0000 or 1234 if the other device doesn’t show the password).
On your phone, go to Settings → More → Tethering & portable hotspot → Bluetooth tethering.

Limit battery drain as much as possible

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Turn off all unnecessary tasks on the phone. Turn off GPS, auto sync, notifications, updates and Wifi. The only thing you need is your phone’s network signal.

If you are using an Android device, go to Settings → Apps → Running and disable all apps. Go to All Apps (See all apps) and disable any apps you don’t need, such as Hangouts or Play.
If you’re using Windows Phone 8.1, turn on Battery Saver.

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Reduce brightness. Please reduce the brightness of your phone to a minimum.

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Remove the SD memory card. If possible, remove the phone’s SD card. This can be the main cause of battery drain on some phones.

Advice

You only need to connect Bluetooth devices once. Then they will automatically recognize each other.
If the Bluetooth connection is not possible, see the user manual of the mobile phone.

Warning

Some phone carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile may cut off the network if you do this when your plan doesn’t allow tethering. Ask your carrier about tethering limits.

Things you need

Phone can access the web
Mobile carrier data plan that allows tethering
Or:
- Laptop with Wi-Fi
- USB cable compatible with phones and laptops
- Laptop with Bluetooth
- Voltage converter (adapter) between laptop & Bluetooth

Steps