How to Use My Smartphone As a Modem
- 1). Confirm compatibility. Most smartphones can be used as modems out of the box, even if this feature is not advertised by your carrier. You may need to download additional software from your smartphone's app store to use the service.
- 2). Check signal strength. Before using your smartphone as a modem, make sure that you are connected to a high-speed mobile network. Look for a 3G or EV symbol in the upper-right corner of your smartphone screen. If the screen says 1x, you are connected to a slower network and you may have difficulty connecting to bandwidth-intensive websites.
- 3). Connect smartphone to computer. The phone as modem connection can be made via a USB cable or by creating a Bluetooth personal area network (PAN) if both your phone and computer support Bluetooth. When you connect your smartphone via USB, the computer may ask you how you want to access the data on the device. You can simply close this screen, as the phone as modem function does not require Outlook or any other functions to be synced.
To connect via a Bluetooth PAN, make sure that Bluetooth is enabled on both your phone and computer, and that the devices are paired to each other. - 4). Connect to the network. Once the connection via USB or Bluetooth is complete, launch the Internet Sharing application on your smartphone. After it loads, press the Connect button. It may take up to 30 seconds for the connection to initialize and show as available on your computer. Once the connection is negotiated, it will appear in the lower right of the Taskbar in Windows or in the upper right corner of the screen in Mac OS X. Provided you have no other network connections active, the smartphone as modem connection will start automatically.
- 5). Verify the connection. Once the connection is completed and it shows in your Taskbar, visit a website or launch a messaging program to verify connectivity. You can expect near-broadband speeds when using your smartphone as a modem for your laptop or desktop.
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