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you can use your android phone as a wifi card! (lemmy.ca)
submitted 2 weeks ago by kionite231@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.world
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yes you heard right, I recently find out that one can use an Android feature called "USB tethering" to get internet through an Android device. which is really cool since now you don't have to worry about your wifi card not working in linux since you can just use your old Android device as wifi access point and have internet. not only it's supported in Linux but it's also supported in BSD world too. this can enable people in trying out distros like Guix, Parabola etc which doesn't provide non-free firmware.

just wanted to share this amazing feature I didn't know :)

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[-] nadram@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Hasn't this been available for at least a decade? It's always been there.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Bit of a strange post, but hey, OP learned a cool thing today. I use my Android when my home internet shits the bed. Super slow, but it works well enough.

[-] lambalicious@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 1 week ago

"Always" is a long time on the internet, until it isn't.

What matters is to celebrate the now. Today's ten thousand. (@jbk@discuss.tchncs.de already linked it for me).

[-] NutinButNet@hilariouschaos.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

Longer than that. I used to root phones and this was a major feature people wanted once rooted. It was a free option with no limits when rooted but carriers wanted to charge extra and set data limits.

I was doing this around 2010 on the HTC Evo 4G (WiMax).

[-] alekwithak@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yep, the feature was introduced in Froyo*, but there were third party apps that enabled the functionality even before that. It's how I got through college.

[-] Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

While very useful, it's not exactly the same as connecting straight to your WiFi. Iirc your android device will act as an additional nat and firewall, which can make it more difficult connecting to the device behind it from devices connected to the regular network, and vice versa.

[-] ViscloReader@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Yup, I've been using this for more than 10 years for gaming. It's weirdly reliable.

[-] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

There was a nifty feature in one of my older android phones where you could share the wifi as another wifi Hotspot, extremely useful while at a hotel or something so you can connect the chromecast or other devices that can't "sign in"

[-] socsa@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago

You can still do that. Idk if it's device specific but I do it all the time on my S24

[-] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 week ago

Last time I tried to find it on my fold I couldn't find it

[-] toynbee@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

It has existed on every Pixel I've ever owned under the label "Hotspot." This includes the one I'm using to write this comment.

[-] miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 2 weeks ago

Not seeing how this isn't simply the forever-available stock 'hotspot' ?

[-] towerful@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago

Computer/laptops WiFi card is dead. Can't connect to an android hotspot if your WiFi isn't working.
Thus, usb tethering. It's a wire, doesn't need a WiFi card. And the android device can then share ITS WiFi/Data connection through the USB cable

[-] miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

Same settings category as hotspot, available since Android Froyo, 2.2, which was released in 2010.

[-] towerful@programming.dev 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yeh, but (to me) a hotspot is WiFi with internet access from a mobile device. Whereas tethering is sharing internet access from a mobile device via a cable (USB).
Kinda like how WiFi doesn't mean internet access, despite so many people conflating the meanings.

[-] Drathro@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 weeks ago

And furthermore, you can share your internet from your computer, if running Linux, to other devices via Ethernet or WiFi! There may even be a super hacky way to do it through Bluetooth as well, but I'm gonna assume that wouldn't be worthwhile to pursue...

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Windows has (had?) the ability to share internet through Ethernet a couple of decades ago. I think it required a crossover cable? Anyone remember what I'm talking about?

EDIT: ChatGPT found it by inputting the above text. Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)! Gods it's been a long time since I did that.

this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
10 points (100.0% liked)

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