Usually laptops and some desktop computers come with built-in Wi-Fi technology to enable connection to Wi-Fi hotspots. However, many desktop computers do not support Wi-Fi connectivity, and the only way to connect to the internet for these computers is through an Ethernet cable, which can be inconvenient at times, especially when you need to move the computer around or if the cable gets damaged. This poses a challenge for most users, so the best option for you might be to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi. But how can you do that? I will tell you that you can buy a USB Wi-Fi Adapter that will allow you to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots just like in laptops. However, if you do not have one available and urgently need to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot, we are here to show you how to do that using your Android phone.
You may have noticed that we have previously explained how to connect to the internet from a computer or laptop using the phone’s Hotspot feature to use your phone’s data plan. This is useful in situations where there are no Wi-Fi hotspots available to connect to. However, if the opposite is true and there is already a Wi-Fi hotspot but you cannot connect to it from your computer because it does not support it, you can also use your phone to share the Wi-Fi internet connection from the phone to the computer, and this is what we will explain in the following paragraphs.
All you need is an Android phone with any version and a USB cable. As a first step, connect your phone to the Wi-Fi Wi-Fi hotspot you want to share with your computer. Then, connect the USB cable to the phone and the computer. Next, go to the Settings on your phone and look for the Mobile hotspot and tethering option. After finding and selecting it, activate the USB tethering option and you will notice the appearance of the notification “Tethering or hotspot active” in the status bar above, indicating that your phone is now sharing the Wi-Fi hotspot it is connected to with the computer through the USB cable.
You should now see a notification on the computer indicating that the driver for sharing the internet network via your phone has been installed, as shown in the image above. After that, you will be able to connect and browse the internet on the computer through the Wi-Fi network that your phone is currently connected to.
Your computer will now rely on the Wi-Fi hotspot that you shared via your phone to connect to the internet. A window like the one shown above will appear for selecting the Home network option, which is for Windows 7 users. In newer versions of Windows, simply connecting the USB cable between the phone and the computer and activating the USB tethering option will immediately enable the internet connection. In this way, you can connect to any Wi-Fi hotspot from the computer via your phone instead of purchasing a USB WiFi adapter.
