I was able to get hold of a new Verizon iPhone 4 which comes with a built-in app (Personal Hotspot) you can use to share your internet connection. Basically, Personal Hotspot will turn your iPhone into a router that will share your iPhone’s internet connection with your other devices within range. With this app, it is almost painless to tether as you don’t have to install new apps nor jailbreak your iPhone. Here’s how you do it:

Step 1: Launch “Settings” app from your Springboard or Home Screen.

Step 2: Now look for “Personal Hotspot” which is visible enough for you to miss. Tap on that to open its settings pane.

This is the feature you can never find in iPhone 4 that runs on iOS 4.2 and lower.

Step 3: You simply have to toggle on Personal Hotspot switch to ON. If it is previously disabled, a window pops up asking you if you want to “Turn on Bluetooth” or “Wi-Fi and USB Only“.

Step 4: You will then be able to see the default password. If you want to change it for security purposes, tap on it and you will be brought to a new pane where you can easily change it. Just don’t forget to tap on “Done” button after.

Step 5: That’s it. Your iPhone will start transmitting signal that your other devices can easily connect to. One more thing, you will be able to know how many devices are connected to your iPhone by looking at the blue bar at the top of your screen; it indicates the number of devices connected.

How to Connect your Computers

With Personal Hotspot, you can easily create a smaller Wi-Fi hotspot in your home. Connecting PC/laptop is as easy as connecting to a wireless hotspot available in cafes, malls and almost other public places.

Step 1: You will be able to find a list of network services in your computer, choose iPhone.

Step 2: Enter the default password if you haven’t changed it yet. If you did, then use the one set in your iPhone.

How to Connect Using Bluetooth

Step 1: You must pair your iPhone and your computer first before you can use Bluetooth to connect to your Wi-Fi.

Step 2: When you select iPhone from Bluetooth menu, a passcode will be sent to your iPhone. It is the same passcode that you can see in your computer.

Step 3: After a few seconds, you will be connected to a hotspot.

Connecting other devices to your personal hotspot is made easy. However, you should know that Verizon charges you $20 to have 2GB bandwidth per month. It is not cheap, but it is not expensive either if you use it all the time.

Image credit: jyri

Related Posts:

• How to Tether Your iPhone And Share Internet Connection With Other Devices
• Use your Android Phone as a Wireless Hotspot (Rooted Phones Only)
• How to Share a 3G Wireless Connection in Windows 7
• A Comprehensive Guide to iTunes U [iOS]

Fortunately, iPhone comes with an Internet tethering feature. It converts your device into a modem and shares your Internet connection with your other devices. The bad news is, not all carriers offer tethering option which is a good reason why you should jailbreak your iPhone to be able to share your connection.

I have used two apps which can turn your iPhone into a WiFi hotspot. To cut the story short, here they are:

TetherMe Installation

Sbingner and Cirdan developed this app which supports jailbroken iPhones only. It has been tested to work efficiently with iPhones running iOS 3.0 to 4.0.1. I was wondering if this app will also work with iOS 4.1, so I tried to search for reviews of TetherMe but I never found a clue. The good thing is, TetherMe is worth $1.99 only so everybody can afford it.

To install TetherMe to your iPhone, you just have to:

1. Launch Cydia and query “TetherMe.”

2. Purchase the App for $1.99 and install.

3. You have to reboot your iPhone after the installation to set TetherMe into effect.

4. Navigate through Settings -> General -> Network and set Internet Tethering to “On” to enjoy its function.

TetherMe works perfectly on iPhone 4 running iOS 4.1 jailbroken using Limera1n.

MyWi Installation

If TetherMe turns your iPhone into a modem, MyWi will turn it into a router allowing other devices to connect to the Internet simultaneously. Since it is also a Cydia app, only jailbroken iPhones would be able to enjoy its features. Moreover, it is stable and has been tested to work perfectly on iPhones running iOS 3.0 and up. Well, the bad news is, it is worth $9.99. It may sound so expensive but the price is just right if you want to turn your place into a WiFi hotspot using your iPhone. You can try out its trial version and see for yourself if it is worth your money. Without further adieu, here are the steps on how to install MyWi.

1. Launch Cydia app and query “Rock App“, then tap on “Install” button.

2. You will be able to find a Rock icon on your Springboard, tap on it to launch.

Note: If you have already installed the Rock App in your iPhone, proceed to the following steps without performing the first to steps. Otherwise, you have to create a new Rock account if it is your first time launching the application. Rock account is free so you don’t have to worry.

3. Once the app is open, you can see MyWi among the options, tap on it to start installation. Click on “Start Trial” if you want to test it out first. However, should you decide to purchase the app directly, click on “Purchase” button. In this case, we will try out the trial version.

4. Installation will take a while to complete. After which you will be prompted to soft-restart your iPhone, just proceed as instructed.

5. Look for MyWi icon and tap on it to launch. You will, then, be prompted with an agreement which you are entitled to accept to be able to use the app.

6. That’s pretty it. You will now be able to enjoy its features. To increase security of your connection, or to avoid others to use it without your knowledge, you can enable WEP security and choose your own WEP key.

7. Switch “WiFi Tethering” On and MyWi will automatically convert your iPhone into a WiFi hotspot.

So far, these are the best apps you can use to share your Internet connection from your iPhone to your other devices. It will not take so much of your time to complete the installation. But you have to remember that these apps work only on jailbroken iPhones; if you haven’t done so, try these tutorials here.

Image credit: Yutaka Tsutano

Related Posts:

• How to Use Your iPhone As A Wireless Hotspot
• How to Connect Your iDevice to Your Mac’s Internet Connection Without a Wifi Router
• Use your Android Phone as a Wireless Hotspot (Rooted Phones Only)
• How to Share a 3G Wireless Connection in Windows 7

Another useful method of sharing your internet connection is by setting up your phone as a portable wireless hotspot. The phone essentially creates its own network which your computer(s) can then join. The advantage of this is that you do not need a cable and you can have multiple computers sharing your phone’s internet connection. If you have already upgraded to Froyo (Android 2.2), you should have the wireless hotspot baked into it. Otherwise, for those who have taken the plunge and rooted your device, here are two great apps that allow you to share your phone’s data connection.

Note: It is advisable that you have an unlimited data plan before attempting tethering as it tends to use a lot of bandwidth.

Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether

After launching Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether you will see a large “Start” button on the top of your screen. This activates the wireless hotspot function, but it is better to set-up a password before starting the Wi-Fi service.

Click on Menu and “Settings” to launch the options menu.

From the settings menu you can change the following options:

• SSID
• BSSID
• Wireless Encryption
• Access Control
• Channel
• Interface Settings (WAN or LAN)
• DHCP and NAT configuration.

The SSID is the name that shows up on your computer when you are searching for Wi-Fi networks, hence it is useful to keep the name memorable.

The wireless encryption options are limited to WEP (less secure than WPA), but it is still very important to encrypt your browsing by setting up a password here.

Finally, you can change the channel settings if you find that you are unable to connect to your phone from your computer.

Once you have made all the appropriate changes, launch the wireless connection by clicking on “Start”.

You will be asked for superuser permissions (advanced privileges to access certain settings to enable this app to work). Allow the app these permissions and it will immediately start the necessary services to broadcast a Wi-Fi signal.

On your computer you should be able to see the new Wi-Fi hotspot.

You will be asked for your WEP passphrase when you connect to this hotspot.

Immediately, after connecting you will notice that in the notification shade on your Android phone that you have an alert. Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether will have noted the connection attempt by your PC and it will display it.

Finally, you can view how much data is being transmitted by clicking on the “traffic” button.

To stop transmitting click on the “Stop” button and exit the app.

Android Wi-Fi Tether

Website | Market Link

Android Wi-Fi Tether works in mainly the same way, however it does offer a greater variety of features.

After launching the app you will see the green Wi-Fi bars logo.

Again it is useful to first make the appropriate changes to the options before launching the app. Click on Menu and “Setup”.

There are a number of options including:

• Option to use Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi
• Wi-Fi encryption settings
• SSID settings
• Option to change the Wi-Fi frequency channel
• Enabling Access Control
• Notification settings

As with Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether it is important to assign a memorable SSID name and to use a strong password.

In addition, it is useful to switch on Access Control. This option enables you to decide whether you want a particular computer to connect or not (see below).

After you have made the appropriate changes to the options, go back to the main page and click on the green Wi-Fi logo. The app will start broadcasting a wireless signal.

Next, on your computer connect to the new network.

You will see the new network appear in the Android notification shade.

However, the connection has not been complete as you must grant your computer access to your phone’s data connection. You must click on your computer’s name in the notification shade and grant it access.

Once your computer is properly connected it will start transmitting data. To stop the wireless signal click on the grey Wi-Fi logo.

Conclusion

Both apps are very similar, however I marginally prefer Barnacle Wi-Fi Tether as Android Wi-Fi Tether does not appear to be in the AppBrain marketplace, making it harder to update automatically.

Finally, while these apps are great at what they do, once all Android phones are updated to version 2.2, Google’s built-in USB tethering and portable Wi-Fi hotspot features will make rooting and using these apps unnecessary. So, these apps remain useful to those phone still stuck on Android 2.1 or below.

Let us know how you would use a portable wireless hotspot.

Image credit: Daquella manera

Related Posts:

• How To Root Amazon Kindle Fire (For Software Version 6.2.1)
• How To Root Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android Smartphone
• MIUI: A Beautiful And Functional Custom ROM For Android
• Manage Your SD Card With Root Explorer For Android

2. Go to Network and Sharing Center (Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center)

3. Click on the 3G connection. In my case, the network name is Singtel.

4. Click Properties at the bottom.

5. Go to Sharing tab. Check the box “Allow others network users to connect through this computer’s Internet connection”. In the dropdown box, select “Wireless Network Connection“. Once done, click the Settings button.

6. Check the last box “Web Server (HTTP)”. This will allow other computer to access Internet via this connection.

Click OK to return to the Network and Sharing center.

7. Next,  click on the “Set up a new connection or network”

8. Scroll down until you find the option “Set up a wireless ad hoc network”. Select it.

9. Give this network a name and a password. Click Next.

10. On the next screen, click “Turn on Internet Connection sharing”.

That’s it. You can now connect to this computer and access the Internet from other computers.

Is there any easier method?

If you find that the above method is too difficult for you, then Connectify can make your life much easier.

Connectify is a free (as of now) software that enables you to create a WIFI hotspot with a snap. It is easy to use and there is only minimal configuration required.

1. Download and install Connectify.

2. Run Connectify.

3. Click the Connectify icon at the system tray.

4. Give the network a name and a password. Under the Internet dropdown box, select your 3G connection (it works for wireless connection and LAN connection as well).

Once you are done, simply click the Start Hotspot button at the bottom. You will be able to connect to this computer and access the Internet now.

Image credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Related Posts:

• How to Use Your iPhone As A Wireless Hotspot
• How to Tether Your iPhone And Share Internet Connection With Other Devices
• Use your Android Phone as a Wireless Hotspot (Rooted Phones Only)
• Windows 8 to Shove Aero Away

At least that’s what I used to think till about last month when I found myself in a hotel with no WiFi and just one Ethernet port that I was expected to share with two of my friends. Now, we could all do what others at the venue were doing. Sharing the Ethernet port, finish up our work in a given time and hand over the port to the next in line.

Or we could just make one of the computers act as a WiFi hotspot and let the other PCs access the Internet through the first one.

It isn’t too difficult to guess the option that we chose, and for our little setup we decided to use my Mac as the router, since the setup was the easiest on the Mac.

In this post today, I’m going to detail the steps that are needed to share the Internet connection on a Mac effectively turning your Mac into a WiFi router.

Setting up custom network

First of all, you need to create a network of all the computers that are going to share the connection. In networking terms, this is called an adhoc network.

The good thing is that you don’t need to do anything special to create an adhoc network in OS X. OS X will prompt you when it needs to create one, if you’re using the Airport Card (WiFi) for sharing.

To enable Internet Sharing, open System Preferences (Apple -> System Preferences) and click Sharing.

Select Internet Sharing from the list of Services.

From the Drop down menu, select the Interface which is connected to the Internet source and from the list below it, select the interface which you want to share with the other computers. In my case, that was the Ethernet and the Airport (WiFi), respectively.

The third and final step is to create an adhoc network which the other computers can connect to.

Click on Airport Options.

OS X will then prompt you to type in a name for the new network.

Unless you want all the freeloaders in the neighborhood to piggyback on your network, I’d suggest that you select the Enable Encryption option and provide a password for the network.

That’ all there is to it. Click Ok and OS X will enable Internet Sharing on your Mac, from the Ethernet to the Airport Interface.

The only thing left now is to search for a new networks in all the other computers that you want to connect, and our adhoc network should show up in the list. Select and join this network.

All the client machines should now be able to browse the Internet as if they’re directly connected to the Internet over WiFi.

Related Posts:

• How to Tether Your iPhone And Share Internet Connection With Other Devices
• Solving the WiFi Problem on the New iPad
• The Complete HDTV Buying Guide
• Free WiFi Finder Apps for iOS