How to Use Your Galaxy S8 as a Mobile Hotspot

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are capable of sharing their data connection with other devices like a laptop, tablet or portable gaming system thanks to the mobile hotspot feature. Essentially turning your phone into a WiFi network for the rest of your devices. This guide will show you how to set up a mobile hotspot on the Galaxy S8 and what you need to know.

While on a fast 4G LTE connection some users will gain speeds faster than a home internet connection. Not to mention a hotspot a great way to stay connected while traveling without paying for expensive hotel WiFi or stopping at a Starbucks to get work done on a trip.

Read: 20 Best Galaxy S8 Cases

Using the Galaxy S8 as a personal hotspot is often called a mobile hotspot, portable hotspot, or even tethering. There are a few different ways to enable the Galaxy S8 hotspot, including one that uses the USB Type-C cable for a more secure connection. We’ll cover both in our instructions below.

Turn your phone into a WiFi hotspot

Before we begin, it is worth noting that some carriers charge an extra monthly fee for the hotspot function, and many unlimited data plans don’t allow it at all. Additionally, using your device as a WiFi hotspot can eat through a 5GB data plan very quick, so use caution.

How to Use Your Galaxy S8 as a Mobile Hotspot

• Head to Settings from the app on your home screen, app tray, or by pulling down the notification bar and tapping the gear-shaped settings button
• Tap Connections
• Scroll down and select Mobile Hotspot and Tethering
• Select Mobile Hotspot

• You can use the included name and password, or create your own as shown below
• Now tap or swipe the switch to turn on your hotspot

• Next, it will verify your account has the hotspot feature, and begin sharing a WiFi connection
• Follow the on-screen instructions to connect your other devices to the Galaxy S8 hotspot

Once you’ve enabled the hotspot just connect to the newly created WiFi network with your tablet, laptop, computer, gaming device or other WiFi-enabled devices.

Before you proceed, it’s a good idea to hit the three dots in the top corner of the screen and select Timeout settings. Then choose how long your Galaxy S8 keeps the hotspot enabled when it is not in use. By default, 10 minutes is how long it stays active before it turns off automatically to save battery life.

Toggle On/Off Your Galaxy S8 WiFi Hotspot

Now that you have it all set up, you’ll want to know how to quickly turn the hotspot on and off instantly.

The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have “Quick Settings” in the notification pulldown bar on the top of the screen for easy access. Swipe down from the top of the screen twice to see an expanded few of all the quick settings. Typically there are options for WiFi, Bluetooth, Sound, Flashlight and other useful settings.

Find the Mobile Hotspot quick-setting tile, and tap it once as shown above. This instantly turns the hotspot feature on and off.

How to Use Galaxy S8 Tethering

Similar to the WiFi hotspot, the Galaxy S8 can also share its internet and data connection through the USB port on the bottom. This is in the same settings menu under USB Tethering. Some may want to use this instead of a hotspot to keep the connection secure, or for a faster connection right to a laptop or desktop computer.

• Head to Settings from the app on your home screen, app tray, or by pulling down the notification bar and tapping the gear-shaped settings button
• Tap Connections
• Scroll down and select Mobile Hotspot and Tethering
• Select USB Tethering (grayed out until you connect the USB cable)

From here just turn on USB tethering and plug the USB cable into your computer or laptop. On a Mac, you will need to go to Network Preferences and set up USB tethering as a network option. On Windows, a small pop-up should prompt you to connect to a new network and your device may need to download and install some drivers first.

This is another option but for most users, the Galaxy S8 mobile hotspot feature is faster and more convenient. Also, most wireless providers like Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile do not accept tethering or may charge an additional monthly fee for access.

Other Details

Once you use the Galaxy S8 mobile hotspot or tethering it is a good idea to keep an eye on data usage. Those with unlimited data plans don’t need to worry, but for everyone else, a hotspot can easily eat through your monthly data limit in just a few hours.

We recommend heading into Settings > Connections > Data Usage and watch it closely so you don’t go over the limit and get overage charges on your bill.

While you’re here, check out this list of 15 Galaxy S8 problems and how to fix them, or our 8 best Galaxy S8+ screen protectors.

WhiteStone Dome Glass UV Kit

> 1 / 8

First up is the popular Whitestone Dome Glass UV kit. These are relatively new kits that are excellent for keeping curved screens safe. As you probably know, most screen protectors fail on the curved Galaxy S8. You'll end up with dead spots on the screen or poor touchscreen responsiveness. That's not a problem with the WhiteStone Dome, nor is the installation process.  Here's how it works. This company sends you an entire installation kit for the Galaxy S8+. That way the screen protectors is perfectly aligned, and you'll never mess up. Then, you add a liquid for the installation, drop it on the easy installation tray, then CURE the liquid with a UV light they provide. Ensuring a tight fit, good seal, perfect installation, and no touchscreen sensitivity issues. It's pretty impressive, really. And, if you do break it, they sell replacement kits at a discount with no light.  If every other screen protector you've tried failed, try Whitestone's Dome kit.  Buy it Now for $49.99 on Amazon

> 1 / 8