We often forget how tremendously versatile our mobile phones are. It is the advantage of having a computer in your pocket that is increasingly more complete with systems like iOS 17 or Android 14 that not only add features, but also expand some of those introduced in previous versions.
Now we are not going to talk about an unknown function, but about the possibility of using our mobile phone as if it were a router to share a connection with a laptop, a Nintendo Switch when we are away from home or even with a Chromecast or a Fire TV. And, specifically, we are going to tell you cHow to improve the mobile Internet sharing function with very simple actions.
First things first and also very important: if you are sharing your connection from your mobile, ensure that both the mobile and the device to which you are providing Internet are as close as possible. This is obvious, but it makes sense because the less interference, the lower latency and perhaps more speed.
Latency is an enemy when it comes to connection sharing, but we are going to solve this later in the most optimal way possible. But if you are giving Internet to a laptop, for example, they should be as close together as possible.
Now, there is something that is not so obvious and that also helps a lot to improve speed. This is about removing the ‘expand compatibility’ option on iOS and Android…well, it can have multiple names due to the customization of each layer. Before seeing how it is done, we will tell you what it means.
If we have the button disabled, the connection between the devices will be made using the 5 GHz band. If it is activated, compatibility with older devices is improved by moving to the 2.4 GHz band. This makes it more compatible, yes, and also the range of action is greater, but speed may decrease and latency will increase.
On iOS, as we say, it is very simple. To remove compatibility mode, all you have to do is the following:
- Go to ‘Settings’ – ‘Personal hotspot’ and, there, ensure that the ‘Maximize compatibility’ button is disabled.
The function itself has a description, but it doesn’t really offer the concrete detail of what it does. On Android it is also possible to select the bandalthough it may have another name.
Using a Realme GT Neo 3T for this example, you need to go to ‘Settings’ and look for the ‘Connection and sharing’ option. Click and access ‘Personal access point’. There you have the option of ‘Access point settings’ in which you define the name and password, but you can also select if you want it to use the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band, as well as if you want to use the protocols of WiFi 6 to make this connection.
Be careful, because if you activate this the latency will be lower, but the laptop you want to give Internet to may not ‘see’ your mobile.
Use the cable (you always have to use the cable)
But let’s go to the option that I like the most. provided, obviously, it can be done. And, although the speed of current WiFi is very fast, it can always be improved, as can latency, if we connect the device – a laptop in our example – and the mobile phone by cable.
With the cable that comes in the box or with one that allows a high-speed connection, we can connect the two devices and share the internet directly while also charging the mobile phone.
If you connect a cable, in many Androids it will give us the option to choose what we want to do. One of them is to share the Internet.
Sharing the Internet is something that uses a lot of battery, but in this way the damage is minimized (although it is going to get hot, we warned you). The good thing is that the latency is reduced to a minimum because the signal does not have to reach the mobile phone and then pass it to the laptop, but rather it takes advantage of the minimal latency of the cable to make things go faster.
On Android, the option to configure the wired connection instead of the wireless connection is found in the same section described above for configuring Internet sharing settings.
That said, we hope it has been useful, since it is something that many users have to resort to at one time or another and, the more speed, the better.
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