If yours is one of them, enable that setting. Some phones have a setting that turns off the hotspot when it’s not in use, or when no devices are connected.

Note: Tethering your computer to your smartphone can drain the phone’s battery, so make sure both devices are plugged into a power outlet while tethering, and turn off the connections once you’re done. To submit a tech question, e-mail Rob at Follow him on Twitter at /robpegoraro. Rob Pegoraro is a tech writer based out of Washington, D.C. If you can, use one in the stores of those two companies, where you can also summon help if anything goes amiss. You’re going to have to lay off the Netflix and other streaming-media apps, which shouldn’t cause too much pain if you pair your phone with a Chromecast or an Apple TV, and avoid cloud-sync options for your files.Īnd when Apple or Microsoft ship their major operating-system updates, which can total hundreds of gigabytes, you’ll definitely have to walk or drive to somebody else’s wireless network. Neither of these solutions will break down your data usage by app, so it’s up to you to avoid the biggest data hogs. The app also doesn’t currently discount data flowing only across your home network-for instance, to a networked backup drive-although its developers say they’re working to fix that. You can add your wireless plan’s hotspot cap to the app, but it won’t flash a warning when you near it.

The free Bandwidth+, available on the Mac App Store, puts an estimate of your consumption on a designated WiFi network in a Mac’s menu bar. It may also let app updates wait and pause online file-synchronization tasks.Īpple’s macOS doesn’t ship with any built-in options to regulate data usage on a particular WiFi network, but a third-party app can help. To use this in Win 10, open the Settings app, select Network & Internet, choose Wi-Fi, choose “Manage known networks,” pick your phone’s hotspot, select Properties and enable “Set as metered connection.”Īfter you set your carrier’s hotspot limit, Windows will download only priority system updates over that WiFi connection while holding up less vital downloads. Windows includes a feature in Windows 8 and 10 for this exact scenario: a “Metered Connection” option you can set for specific WiFi networks. Your phone will report how much data you’ve sacrificed for hotspot use in its Settings app: In iOS, tap the Cellular heading in Android, tap Data Usage and then “Cellular data usage.” But this information is more useful on the tethered computer, where you’re actually using that data.

Use mac as hotspot for phone