Gone are the days when we had to look for a public wi-fi network to connect our mobile devices to the internet. Today, Android smartphones and tablets have a built-in hotspot function, which allows you to create a secure internet connection for up to five other devices.

You don’t need a USB cable on an app installed on any device in the network. What you will need to do is to share your 3G or 4G data plan with the nearby devices and the internet would be accessible on all of them simultaneously.

However, before activating your mobile hotspot, keep in mind that the volume of internet used by connected devices will be deducted from you’re allotted data. Also, keep the password of your mobile hotspot Wi-Fi enabled, if it is disabled, anyone in the range of network can connect to it without your permission.

Here, we’ll guide you how you can turn on the Wi-Fi Hotspot feature on your Android device.

Note: Your device may have different wordings but the overall procedure is same.

Check with Your Carrier:

Before we start, it is important to mention that some carriers charge an extra fee for enabling access to Wi-Fi Hotspot. So if your data plan doesn’t support hotspots, you won’t get internet access on any shared device after you connect.

Adjust Hotspot Settings:

Go to the home screen of your device, open Settings and tap More in the “Wireless & networks“.

Now select Tethering and portable hotspot” menu and tap Set up Wi-Fi hotspot option to adjust your settings. Here you can change your default password, security level, Network SSID (network name) and hotspot frequency band.

(Note: If you change the password, make sure that it is strong and memorable. You will need it for connecting other devices to the network.)

Activate Hotspot:

Now check the Portable Wi-Fi hotspot box to activate the hotspot. A message in the notification bar of your device will appear when it is enabled.

Connect Another Device to Hotspot:

Now take the device you want to connect to the hotspot and go to Settings > Wireless & networks > Wi-Fi settings. Your new hotspot should be available in the list of networks. Select it and enter the password to establish the connection.

To monitor your data usage, go to Setting menu on your hotspot device> select Wireless & Networks > and tap Data usage.

Caution: Always turn off hotspot when you don’t need shared Internet access to other devices. Otherwise, it will not only burn through your data package quickly but will also drain the battery of your device.