How To Share Internet Between Devices On The Go

Today, you can get access to the Internet very easily through fast and free wifi, but in many places, it is not that convenient. The number of devices able to connect per one user may be limited or wifi might not be free. You can see that when you’re at a hotel or a café, only your laptop or mobile phone can connect to the wifi because it is not really free to access to networks that you don’t own and you don’t even have time to solve it. So, the best thing you can do in this situation is how to share internet between your devices.

Windows has an excellent solution for this problem; however, you can also connect your computer to the internet using your phone on Android and macOS.

However, it is impossible to share a non-cellular internet connection from iPads or iPhones even when you use Bluetooth or USB.

The limitation is that most devices cannot receive and transmit wifi signals simultaneously (that is the reason why your phone automatically stops using wifi and uses cellular connection when you turn on the hotspot mode).

A travel router is considerable if you have to travel often so that you can have your own wifi to provide for your devices and even others’. Another way, take a good data plan for your mobile or tablet so that you can use the cellular connection without relying on wifi when you have to go out (this can also ensure the security better).

How to share internet from Windows devices

You can turn on the Mobile hotspot feature to share cellular or internet connection, just open the Setting pane (choose the cog icon on the Start menu), choose Network & Internet then turn on the feature, make sure to select Ethernet or WiFi under Share my Internet connection from.

Remember to select WiFi for the Share My Internet connection over option (unless you prefer to use Bluetooth) and you can then switch on Share my Internet connection with other devices.

You will see a network name and password automatically created for you and you will need them to connect other devices to your network. Don’t worry if you cannot remember the given password, click Edit then you can change it as you want.

Done, your mobile is ready for other devices to connect to and you can disable the wifi hotspot anytime you want. However, sharing internet connections is not this straightforward on other platforms or older Windows versions.

How to share internet from macOS

macOS users can create a wifi network only if their Mac is connected through Ethernet, which means they have to connect to the internet directly in their hotel room or any other current location. Also, it's impossible to connect to and share wifi simultaneously.

If your Mac is connected to wired internet and you want to share the connection with others, head to the Apple menu > System Preferences > Sharing > Share your connection from, then choose Ethernet, select Wi-Fi. Next, click on Wi-Fi Options to configure your wifi hotspot.

Now, put a tick next to Internet Sharing, then click on Start to get your wifi hotspot to run. Other devices can now connect to your new network with the wifi name and password you created.

If you can't connect to Ethernet, you can share the wifi connection on your Mac through Bluetooth by choosing Wi-Fi, not Ethernet, as the shared connection. Also, choose Bluetooth PAN instead of Wi-Fi as the sharing option.

How to share internet from Android

You can share wifi on Samsung Galaxy phones (from S7) with Wifi Sharing. Open Connections, click Hotspot and Tethering, tap on Settings > Mobile Hotspot, switch on Wi-Fi Sharing and then your phone will share the current wifi network to other devices.

For other Android devices, you can share the wifi connection through Bluetooth or USB. Go to Settings, choose Network and Internet, tap on Hotspot and tethering, then switch on Bluetooth tethering then nearby laptops and connect to your network using Bluetooth connection.

You can also use a USB cable to plug your tablet or phone into your laptop, then you can activate USB tethering, but this is only applicable for Windows laptops. Keep in mind that different Android models may have different tethering process and support.

Although several third-party Android apps are advertised to help users use a wifi network to create their own wifi network, there aren’t any options that are simple and stable enough to rely on. There is one you may want to try, it is Netshare, but this app doesn’t allow you to connect straight to the wifi network, it requires you reconfigure the internet settings on your devices.

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