Learn how to turn your phone into a backup internet source with the help of Wi-Fi hotspot, USB-Tethering, and more.
Say you’re in an urgent meeting or a competitive ranked game, and in the blink of an eye, your broadband internet connection gets cut off. As a result, you may encounter several issues, such as failing to meet a vital client’s requirements or being deranked in-game.
So, how do you get around unavoidable circumstances like that? You can, with the power of tethering. What tethering does is share internet from one device to another, essentially acting as a wireless or wired access point. Here is how you can easily do it.
Note: All the steps mentioned here equally apply to Windows / Mac PC owners, and aren’t limited to just laptops. It can be Nucs or portable ones as well.
Special Note for Windows Users Using Wi-Fi and Tethering Together
This section is critical, as there are countless old laptop users out there who wonder why their hotspots aren’t working and assume it’s just a glitch. At its core, this behavior occurs due to alack of Wave 2 support, either at the driver level or in the hardware itself. Most newer devices using Wi-Fi 5 and above (802.11ac and beyond) includeMU-MIMO and dual-band concurrency, which allows forsimultaneous two-way wireless communication.
The primary use case here is that many users on a Windows laptop plan toreceive internet via Wi-Fi from one device and then share it simultaneously through a hotspot. This setup is simplynot possible without Wave 2 support. That said, if your laptop doesn’t support Wave 2, then consider doing the following:
Wi-Fi Hotspot (Wireless Tethering)
Use this method towirelessly share your internet connection from your phone with other devices, such aslaptops, tablets, or other smartphones.
On Android
USB Tethering (Wired Connection)
This isthe most reliablewhen compared to wireless. This is the way to go if you want the lowest possible latency (e.g., for meetings or gaming).
Android to PC/Mac
Note: These commands don’t nuke your system. They just reset your network connection — things like IP, DNS, and DHCP get reconfigured so that everything can communicate properly again.
iPhone to PC/Mac
Conclusion
You can use either method, depending on your hardware capabilities, to share the internet across devices. Just be sure to check if your device is overheating, as well as your data usage and other relevant details.
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