I’m actually away on holiday this week, so I’m going to share a little tip with you for if you’re using someone else’s wi-fi (like in my holiday cottage), or want to share your own wi-fi network with a guest.
We have four different devices with us that I wanted to connect to the internet, but the wi-fi password in the holiday cottage is a long string of random characters. I don’t mind having to type it in once, but four times is a bit of a fiddle, so instead I used the wi-fi sharing feature on my phone. Most modern smartphones and tablets have the feature, whether you’ve got an iPad, iPhone or Android. And it means you only have to type the password in once.
Here’s how it works:
Start by connecting one phone or tablet to the wi-fi as normal – I started with my Android phone. What you do next depends on whether you’re sharing the wi-fi password from an Android or an Apple device.
Sharing a wi-fi password from an Android phone or tablet:
- On the phone or tablet that’s already connected to the network, open the settings app and go to the wi-fi settings.
- Find the name of the network that you want to share in the list, and look for a little cog icon next to it. (If you can’t see a cog, your phone or tablet might be too old to share the wi-fi this way – sorry!)
- Tap on the cog and then on “Share”. A little QR code will appear on your screen.
- Then on any other modern smartphone or tablet (it can be Android or Apple), open the camera app and hold it in front of the QR code. A little message will pop up on the screen asking if you want to join the network – just tap OK, and that’s it done!
Sharing a wi-fi password from an iPhone or iPad:
- For this to work, both the iPhone or iPad you’re sharing the password from, and the phone or tablet you want to share it to, need to have Bluetooth turned on. Your iPhone or iPad also needs to have the screen unlocked.
- On the phone or tablet that you want to share the wi-fi password to, open the settings app and go to the wi-fi settings.
- Find the wi-fi network you want to join and tap on it in the list. You should get a box pop up asking you to type the password in.
- Instead, bring the iPhone or iPad that’s already connected to the network close to the other phone or tablet. A message will pop up on your iPhone/iPad screen with an option to “Share Password” – just tap on that and the other device should connect automatically.
Once you get the hang of it, it can save a lot of fiddling around.
A last mention before I stop banging on about them
Our new Next Steps on your PC, Laptop, Tablet or Smartphone books are now available to the general public on our website, and this is the last time I’m going to mention them in the newsletter. If you haven’t had a look at the information yet, but they sound at all interesting to you – maybe you’ve been waiting them to be in stock – why not find out all about them now.