Tether or create a Wi-Fi hotspot

: June 7, 2024
: Google

Table of Contents

Tether or create a Wi-Fi hotspot

Tether or create a Wi-Fi hotspot

With your Fi phone, you can turn your phone into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot and share its Internet connection with up to 10 other devices at the same time. For example, if you want to use your laptop at the airport, you can turn your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot to connect your laptop to the Internet.

You can also share your phone’s Internet connection with another device through a USB cable or Bluetooth connection. This is known as tethering. Check our list of compatible phones to see if Wi-Fi hotspot works on your phone.

Important: On the Simply Unlimited plan, you can’t tether or turn your phone into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot.

No extra charge for Wi-Fi hotspots or tethering

Data for a Wi-Fi hotspot or tethering comes out of your Flexible plan data budget. It’s $10/GB, just like data on your phone. Data for Wi-Fi hotspots and tethering is included in the Unlimited Plus plan.

Important : This feature can use a lot of your device’s battery, so turn the connection off as soon as you’ve finished using it. Read more tips for managing battery life.

Connect to other devices

Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot

On your phone, open Settings ****.
Under “Wireless & networks,” tap More Tethering & portable hotspot.
Turn on the switch next to “Portable Wi-Fi hotspot.”
Tap Set up Wi-Fi hotspot.
Choose the following and tap Save.
- Network name: A name for your hotspot.
- Security: You can require a password (select “WPA2 PSK”) for your hotspot network or leave it open (select “none”). We highly recommend requiring a password so other people can’t use your connection.
- Password: If security is on, enter your password.
In the notifications bar at the top of the screen, you’ll see Hotspot .
On the other device that will be using the hotspot (such as your laptop), go to Wi-Fi settings and select your new hotspot network. Enter the password if you required one.

That’s it. You can start using Wi-Fi on your other device.

Next time you use the hotspot:

Just follow steps 1-3 and the hotspot is ready to go.

To turn off your hotspot:

Swipe down from the top of your phone’s screen to see Quick settings. Tap Hotspot .

Use USB or Bluetooth tethering

You can share your phone’s Internet connection with another device without using a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Find your tethering & hotspot data usage

You can keep track of your tethering and hotspot data usage. Here’s how:

Open the Google Fi app or website
Go to the Account tab
At the top of the screen, you’ll see your current data use.
To see a daily breakdown, select View details or View details . Your device and any tethered devices are shown separately.

Keep in mind that it takes about a day for your data usage to show up.