How to connect mobile network to computer via Tethering

Need an Internet connection for your PC or laptop but don't have access to public Wi-Fi? The solution is simple: Connect your mobile network to your PC. This process is called Tethering.

Although the network connection of a handheld device to a laptop or tablet is faster than the public Internet in a coffee shop, this practice still has its own problems. Here's what you need to know about how to use tether with Android/iPhone and how to connect mobile network to PC.

How to connect mobile network to computer via Tethering

• What is Tethering?
• Tethering options on Android phones
  • 1. How to connect mobile network to PC via USB Tethering
• 2. Use Bluetooth Tethering with Cellular Network
  • 3. How to Connect Wi-Fi Hotspot to PC
• Connect iPhone to PC using mobile hotspot

What is Tethering?

Tethering is a term that refers to connecting a mobile device to a computer so that the PC can be online thanks to the mobile network connection from the phone. It works via USB, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

In the pre-iPhone era, this meant using an old-fashioned phone to call a number that provided Internet access anywhere. Some phones already have Internet tethering that allows you to go online over the device network APN.

As of the 2017 iPhone release, many phone networks started charging extra for tethering plans. Fortunately, this phase is now over. Currently, tethering is always free when you use available data.

Tethering options on Android phones

Android smartphones offer 3 tethering options to share your Internet connection with laptops, tablets, and even desktop PCs.

Connect via Bluetooth.

Use your phone as a wireless gateway.

Connect your phone to computer via USB.

Before continuing, make sure you have activated the mobile network on your phone. It is important to note that the strength of the mobile network signal will affect the connection speed. Using tethering can also drain your phone's battery quickly, in other words, wireless tethering really consumes energy.

1. How to connect mobile network to PC via USB Tethering

Smartphones have long had a modem feature, allowing you to connect the device to a computer via USB. Thanks to it, you can share your mobile network connection with your laptop or other device over a wired connection.

This is easy. Connect the USB cable that links the phone to the computer, then plug it into the smartphone's USB port. Next, configure the Android device to share the Internet from mobile.

Open Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering .

Tap the USB tethering slider to enable it. If it's grayed out, make sure the USB cable is properly connected on both sides.

A Hotspot & tethering warning will appear, informing you that if you continue, any current data transfers between your phone and PC will be interrupted.

Tap OK to continue.

A notification icon will appear to confirm tethering is active. The results of the test are as follows:

• Speed : download 97Mbp, upload 2.02Mbp with average ping 66ms.
• Effect on battery : Depends on laptop connection. If a laptop is connected, the battery reduction will be slow to almost zero because over the USB connection, the phone will charge slowly.

Note: If the computer runs on its battery, the phone will drain the computer's battery.

2. Use Bluetooth Tethering with Cellular Network

Another way to share a mobile network with a PC or tablet is to use Bluetooth. Short-range wireless technology with enough bandwidth to route data to & from paired phones and devices.

Start by pairing your phone with the computer:

Open Android's Bluetooth settings. You can do this by long holding the Bluetooth icon in Quick Settings or browsing to Settings > Connected devices .

Select Pair new device . Your device is now discoverable.

On Windows 10 systems, press Win+I to open the Settings app .

Here, select Devices > Bluetooth & other devices .

Turn Bluetooth to On if it's not already on. Click Add Bluetooth or other device before Bluetooth.

Select the phone when it appears and go through the pairing steps. If you have problems, see the Windows 10 Bluetooth Setup Guide.

After pairing the device, on the phone, open Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering and enable Bluetooth tethering .

On your phone paired with your computer, you can share your mobile network connection:

Open the Windows System Tray to find the Bluetooth icon , right-click it, and then select Join a Personal Area Network .

In the resulting menu, find the phone icon and right-click it.

Select Connect using > Access point .

The phone will then show a notification that Bluetooth tethering is enabled. The results of the test in this article are as follows:

• Speed : download 35Mbp, upload 0.78Mbp, average ping time 289ms.
• Effect on battery : Using a lot of Bluetooth really puts pressure on the battery power. 10 minutes will consume about 5% of the battery on the phone.

3. How to Connect Wi-Fi Hotspot to PC

Combining the wireless benefits of Bluetooth with the speed of USB, using your phone as a Wi-Fi Hotspot is possibly the most popular tethering option.

Using mobile Internet and a Wi-Fi connection, your phone creates a private network to connect your device with a secure password. This is definitely the most convenient option. To set up Wi-Fi tethering:

Open Settings > Network & internet > Hotspot & tethering .

Tap Portable hotspot or Wi-Fi hotspot on some phones.

On the next screen, select the slider to On .

You can then adjust the options for the network on this page. For example, change the Hotspot name, security type ( Security ) or open the advanced options ( Advanced ) to turn off the hotspot automatically when no other devices are using it.

On some devices, you need to open the Configure hotspot menu to change these options.

Tap Hotspot password (sometimes called Show password ) to view the password if needed.

Then on Windows PC:

Press Win+I to open Settings .

Go to Network & Internet > Wi-Fi .

Click Show available networks and find the phone network you just created. You can also do this by clicking the wireless network icon on the System Tray .

Select the network and click Connect .

Enter the password displayed on your phone (make any other changes if necessary) to establish a connection.

Here are the results from this post:

• Speed : 10Mbp download, 4.45Mbp upload, with an average ping of 55ms.
• Effect on battery : When tethering via Bluetooth, battery power drops by about 5% for 10 minutes. If using standard usage, Tethering over Wi-Fi seems to be better, you can use the device for about 5-6 hours.

Once you've successfully set up wireless tethering for the first time, it's easy to enable it the next time. Open the Quick Settings panel on your phone by swiping down from the top of the screen twice. Tap the Hotspot button , then wait for the computer to connect. As long as you don't change the network name or password, it will automatically reconnect next time.

Connect iPhone to PC using mobile hotspot

Not using Android? Need to borrow a phone to connect your PC to the Internet but only have an iPhone available?

In fact, the iPhone has a hotspot mode that you can enable at Settings > Personal Hotspot . This is a Wi-Fi hotspot, allowing any wireless device to connect to it. On the other hand, iOS also supports Bluetooth and USB tethering just like Android.

Wireless, Bluetooth and USB tethering are all effective networking options for laptops and tablets. But what is the best solution? The results in this article show that USB tethering drains the phone battery the slowest, Bluetooth gives the worst speed. Thanks to improvements in Bluetooth technology, its impact on the battery is within an acceptable range.

Hope the article is useful to you!