How to tether a Chromebook to a mobile data connection
Chromebooks are designed to be online pretty much all the time. Sure, you can do a good few things with one when you don’t have a connection, but for the best results you’ll need access to the web.
If there are no Wi-Fi networks available, then the answer to your problems could be sitting in your pocket, as Chromebooks can use your phone’s mobile data connection to get online. Almost every modern smartphone has a setting that enables it to broadcast a Wi-Fi hotspot to which your Chromebook can connect – just like any Wi-Fi network.
Here we’ll explain how to set it all up and get it working.
Chromebook Instant tethering with Android phones
Although you could simply enable a Wi-Fi hotspot on any Android phone which supports this, there’s a better way.
Instant tethering provides a deeperlevel of integration withChroneOS, allowing you to send and receive text messages, for example. It also makes the process amazingly simple, as you’ll see below.0
Google providesa list of the Chromebookswhich don’t support Instant tethering, so you can check if your model does or does not support it.
Of course, you can also try following the guide below and if you don’t see the option for Instant tethering appear after you’ve connected your Android phone to your Chromebook, then it means one of the devices doesn’t support it.
And if you can’t use it, search your phone’s settings for Wi-Fi hotspot, and enable that instead. Take a note of the name and password, then use this to connect your Chromebook to that network.
How to let your Chromebook use your Android phone’s mobile data
Gaining access to the mobile data on your Android phone is quite easy on ChromeOS. To do so, follow these steps (although you’ll want to check with your mobile data provider whether tethering is allowed on your plan first):
How to let your Chromebook use your iPhone’s mobile data
You can’t directly connect an iPhone to a Chromebook as you can with an Android phone, but you can still use the Personal Hotspot feature in iOS to access an iPhone’s mobile network.
To do that, follow these steps:
You should now be able to get your Chromebook online via your smartphone. Should you find that your device doesn’t have the ability to use Instant tethering, then check out our roundup of thebest Chromebooksto find ones that will. Alternatively, you can read our tips onhow to use a Chromebook offline.
Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews.
