User's Manual

92
Sharing your phone’s mobile data connection
You can share your phone’s mobile data connection with a single computer via a USB cable: USB tethering.
You can also share your phone’s data connection with up to eight devices at once, by turning your phone
into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot. (Not all carriers and phones support these features.) When your phone is
sharing its data connection, an icon appears in the Status bar and as an ongoing notification in the
Notifications panel (see “Managing notifications”).
For the latest information about tethering and portable hotspots, including supported operating systems
and other details, visit www.android.com/tether .
Share your phone’s data connection via USB
If your computer is running Windows 7 or a recent distribution of some flavors of Linux (such as Ubuntu),
you typically don’t need to prepare your computer for tethering. But if you’re running an earlier version of
Windows or another operating system, you may need to prepare your computer to establish a network
connection via USB. For the most current information about which operating systems support USB
tethering and how to configure them, visit www.android.com/tether .
You can’t share your phone’s data connection and USB storage or SD card (depending on your phone) via
USB at the same time. If you are using your USB connection to copy files to or from your computer, you
must disconnect first. See “Connecting to a computer via USB”.
Use the USB cable that came with your phone to connect your phone to your computer.
Press Settings to open the Settings application.
Touch Wireless & networks > Tethering & Softap.
Check USB tethering.
The phone starts sharing its mobile network data connection with your computer, via USB connection. An
ongoing notification is added to the Status bar and Notifications panel.
Uncheck USB tethering to stop sharing your data connection. Or just disconnect the USB cable.
Share your phone’s data connection as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot
Press Settings to open the Settings application.
Touch Wireless & networks > Tethering & Softap.
Check WLAN softap.
After a moment, the phone starts broadcasting its Wi-Fi network name (SSID), so you can connect to it with
up to 8 computers or other devices. An ongoing notification is added to the Status bar and Notifications
panel.
When WLAN softap is checked, you can change its network name or secure it. See “Rename or secure your
portable hotspot”.
Uncheck WLAN softap to stop sharing your data connection via Wi-Fi.