Use your Samsung smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot

Stuck on the go and in desparate need of internet connection? Here we show you how to enable Wi-Fi hotspot functionality on your Samsung Galaxy mobile in a snap. You can turn your Android device into a portable WLAN hotspot or wifi router, to share your Android device’s Internet connection with one or more computers, mobile phones or tablets, like Xiaomi, Sony, Huawei, LG, Nexus, etc.

With Wi-Fi hotspot enabled on your smartphone, there are many things you might accomplish. Other than sharing internet connection between mobile phones, between mobile phone and laptops, you can also easily exchange or share files and documents between mobile phones and computer over Wi-Fi hotspot. When your device is serving as a Wi-Fi hotspot, you can’t use your phone’s applications to access the Internet via regular WiFi network connection (but of course you remain connected to the Internet via your mobile cellular data network). Anyway, to set up and turn on a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot on your Samsung Galaxy mobile, follow the steps below.

Wi-Fi hotspot on Samsung & Android Mobiles

Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot on Samsung smartphone

1. Open Settings on your Samsung smartphone.

2. Tap on Wireless and Networks option.

3. Tap Tethering and Mobile hotspot setting.

Now you will be taken to a menu list, with Portable WLAN/Wi-Fi hotspot, USB tethering and Bluetooth tethering below it. Different Samsung mobile models may differ slightly in appearance. In this Samsung phone model, you can easily find mobile hotspot option from Settings >> Tethering and Mobile hotspot.

4. Make sure you aren’t on Wi-Fi before you go to activate Wi-fi hotspot on your Samsung mobiles. Slide to enable Mobile Hotspot or Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot (You may see different names on various Android or Samsung versions or models). Now the mobile hotspot will be activated on your smartphone.

samsung galaxy wireless and networks settings

5. To maximize the most out of the feature, you can configure the hotspot with the WiFi hotspot settings. Tap on the Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot to access its settings menu. In the settings you can name your mobile with a Network SSID, so other device can recognize it in the network. You can set a password and even make your mobile hotspot private. You can change the security mode of your portable Wi-Fi Hotspot, you can choose from Open, WPA PSK, WPA2 PSK. By default, your Samsung Galaxy smartphone may use the WPA2 PSK.

enable portable wifi hotspot on samsung galaxy grand prime

Note: The mobile hotspot feature on your Samsung smartphone will consume lot of battery energy, when it is not in use, remember to turn off this feature in time to save power.

How to Connect Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot from Android, iPhone, other mobile or computer?

When you the Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot is active on your Samsung Galaxy mobile, you can connect the hotspot from other devices, like another Samsung smartphone, iPhone, Windows phone or computers. You can follow below steps.

  1. Find your device under the Network SSID name in WLAN or Wi-Fi network list.
    Remember? We have given it a name in above steps.
  2. Choose the hotspot name and connect to your WiFi Hotspot on Samsung Galaxy mobile phone with the Hotspot password we have set above.
  3. Access the Internet with Samsung portable Wi-Fi hotspot from other devices.

Share files and documents between Samsung and other phones or computers

When you have set up Wi-fi hotspot on Samsung mobile phones and connect other phones or computers to Samsung phone via Wi-Fi hotspot, you can also exchange data between them through Wi-Fi hotspot. This works similar as data exchange between mobile phones and computers via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

5 thoughts on “Use your Samsung smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot”

  1. I have a glary grand prime and I do not see tether or hot spot options in my wifi settings

  2. My straight talk galaxy 5s doesn’t show tethering and Hotspots in any of my apps. So how do I get the software to install it. Thanks joe

  3. hi there, am using the samsung grand prime. the portable hot spot is able to be connect by other devices (my other phone), but it can’t access to the internet. why was that? and how to solve it?

    *note that, I’ve tried with a different sim card and at different places, & already reprogram the phone. but still the same respond*

    thank you for your cooperation.

    1. Hi,
      We have another guide talks exactly about setup portable hotspot on Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime. You can refer to this linked guide for more details.
      One common error is that many people forget to turn on mobile data on their original Samsung device. So when you have already configured Wi-fi hotspot on the original Samsung phone, you have to enable mobile data on it as well. Try to access the internet on the original device before you connect another device to it via hotspot.
      Please double check.

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