Every now and then we all leave the comfort of our office or home where we have fast internet. In those times, for our businesses or pleasure, we require a fast internet connection.
Most of us use a MiFi or mobile hotspot. In these instances, we are sometimes met by poor internet connections on our hotspot. How do we increase mobile hotspot speed on Android and iPhone?
You can increase mobile hotspot speed on Android by switching to the 5GHz band on your android device. This will increase the WiFi speed but the challenge is that 5GH has a shorter range when compared to the 2.4GHz band. For an iPhone, you can’t change the band but you can plug it into the laptop using a cable to increase hotspot speed.
Tethering or a mobile hotspot is one of the best, safe, fast, and easy ways to access the internet while away from home. 5G network is currently available in selected towns. Currently, LTE or 4G internet connections are available in almost every town in the world. In rural areas, 2G or 3G are the networks widely available.
In this article we will explore the tweaks can we make on our android phones and iOS phones to speed up the phone’s hotspot connection. You can also explore the 15 ways to improve your phone mobile data connection.
To get the best out of your mobile phone, you can explore getting a new faster, classier phone from the ones below. You can also get a Wi-Fi 6 enabled phone such as iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max or Samsung S20 series or Samsung S10 series to enjoy the futuristic, excellent, and more secure Wi-Fi connection.
Why is my mobile data so slow?
Sometimes we get very slow data on our mobile phones even when the network is full. There are several reasons why your mobile data is slow.
Some causes are natural such as hills, valleys, mountains, and buildings. Also, the phone data connection may be affected by weather, network congestion, and sometimes by solar activity. These are hard to mitigate against.
The slow internet connections make a case for double power technology and extended range technology cell phone boosters. These boosters help with natural barriers.
There are several other reasons why your mobile data could be slow. They include:
1. Mobile carrier data throttling
Sometimes we experience data throttling without even knowing or with our knowledge. Throttling is the slowing of the speed of wireless transfer of data. The mobile company slows down the internet speed in different ways.
For most prepaid unlimited plans, there is always a threshold for the amount of data you can use at a specific time. When the threshold is passed most mobile companies throttle your speeds until the period is over.
So when you get a marked reduction in internet speeds on your phone, it is wise to check with your service provider if you have reached your threshold. This may be a reason why your phone is so slow on the internet.
If the threshold is passed, you can discuss with your service provider how much more you can add to get the same speeds.
2. Poor network connection
Sometimes we have some areas in our home or outside with a poor network connection. This may be due to a poor signal and when it comes to internet connection it may be due to forcing your phone to operate in a perceived faster network like 4G, 5G, or 3G instead of auto-selection.
In people who have selected maybe 4G as their network, in areas where 4G is not strong enough the phone internet may be poor. It may be why your internet is so slow on your iPhone or Android phone.
In these instances, we recommend that you turn “airplane mode” on and off.
The act of turning “airplane mode” on and off will switch you to the strongest network depending on where you are.
3. Not clearing the phone browser’s cache often
The phone browser can store lots of data from the sites you have visited before. This makes it easy for you to access information from a previously visited website and also makes it satisfactory browsing for the user.
The accumulation of stored data such as cached pages, website cookies, and others can slow your internet data speed. It is one of the reasons why the internet is so slow on some phones.
We recommend that you clear your phone’s cache at least once a week. Additionally, a quick restarting of the Android phone or iPhone can help to quickly clear the random access memory (RAM) of your phone.
4. Ineffective mobile phone ping-pong between Wi-Fi and cellular internet
Most of the phones available in the market today can seamlessly move from Wi-Fi to cellular data most of the time. This is done by the phone selecting the network that is stronger but with a preference for Wi-Fi.
However, not all cell phones or not at all times will your phone be able to do that. This means that the phone may be stuck to Wi-Fi even though the connection is weak.
In those instances, we recommend that you go to the mobile phone settings and change them. This means you select mobile phone data when it is faster than Wi-Fi.
5. Interference by other radio frequencies
Mobile phone reception is affected by radio frequency interference according to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). The cause of interference can be other electrical devices (transmitters and electrical equipment) that have insufficient filtering, inadequate shielding, or frayed wires among other design flaws.
To know which device is interfering with your cell phone signal unplug a household device at a time while checking the situation of your data.
The interference may cause short burst loss of signal or long term. If the interference is long-term, consider getting a cell phone signal booster for your home.
6. Phone type and condition
The current phones can access data at very high speeds. However, some cell phones may affect speed.
In cases where there is great network reception, excellent cell phone data, and excellent carrier service, some phones may give a slow internet connection or no connection at all.
For this to happen, you may be having an inferior, cheap Smartphone or an old, outdated phone. You may also have some applications that can slow the internet speeds on your mobile phone.
The background app activities may consume the whole bandwidth of your internet connection. The apps may be downloading, uploading, or syncing data.
How to increase mobile hotspot speed on Android and iPhone
Increasing mobile hotspot performance can be done in two ways. You can focus on the hotspot itself or focus on improving the phone’s data connection. We will focus on how to improve the hotspot itself.
To increase the mobile hotspot speed on Android phones, you can set your phone to operate on the 5GHz band on your phone. Most of the phones’ mobile hotspots are set to operate on either 2.4GHz or 5GHz.
As seen in routers, the 5GHz is faster than the 2.4GHz band but has a shorter range. This will definitely increase the speed of the hotspot but kindly note that the range reduces.
The good thing about the phone connection is that the phone can be placed near the devices using the mobile hotspot. This way the range limitation does not come into play thus making the 5GHz band the best connection for hotspots.
How to increase your WiFi hotspot speed on Android
How to change the phone hotspot connection to 5GHz on Android phones and iPhones.
Changing the band from 2.4GHz to 5GHz is different in different phones. It is different for different Android phone brands too. We will explore the different ways that this can be accomplished as follows:
Samsung phones
Samsung gives you an easy way on how to make a personal hotspot faster. Thus, for Samsung phones the following steps can be followed to change the band:
- Select the settings on your phone.
- Then go to Connections>Mobile Hotspot and Tethering
- Tap Mobile Hotspot and then select the three dots on the upper right corner of your Samsung phone.
- After that, tap Configure Mobile hotspot>Show advanced options
- Finally, select the option “Use 5GHz when available“
OnePlus phones
It is also easy to make a mobile hotspot faster on OnePlus. The following steps can be used to select the 5GHz band when available for OnePlus phones:
- Click on Settings on your OnePlus phone
- Select Wi-Fi & Internet on the settings
- Choose Hotspot & Tethering>Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Select 5GHZ Band instead of 2.4GHZ on AP band
LG Phone
Changing the band on an LG phone follows an almost similar process to the other Android phones. The change in the band will make the hotspot faster. You can follow the following steps to change the band to 5GHz when it is available for mobile hotspots:
- Click on Settings on your LG phone
- Then go to Tethering on the settings
- Click on Wi-Fi Hotspot followed by Set Up Wi-Fi Hotspot
- A pop-up will appear. Click on Show Advanced Options on the pop-up
- Change the settings from the 2.4GHz band which is pre-selected on the phone to the 5GHz band when available.
How to increase mobile hotspot speed on iPhone
Unfortunately, Apple does not allow the users of the iPhones to change the band that is broadcast on its personal Hotspot feature. This means that you can not change the band to the faster 5GHz band.
However, to improve the internet speed for other devices, you may have to plug the phone using a cable to the laptop. This also works for Android phones but the limitation is that you can only connect one device to the phone.
Using cable connections is the only way how to speed up the hotspot on iPhone! Other than this, you can get a faster mobile internet provider such as a 5G internet provider if your phone is compatible.
Finally, you can move the hotspot closer to the devices to get the best connection. This reduces interference and blocking of the signals by devices and objects.
In a nutshell
Using the phone’s hotspot can be a lifesaver especially when you are not near your Wi-Fi connection. However, you may find the hotspot is a bit slow.
To speed up the hotspot may mean either increasing the phone’s internet connection speed or increasing the hotspot speed. You can follow the steps above to solve those challenges and guidance on “how to increase mobile hotspot speed on iPhone or Android phones.”
In other instances, you may get a poor Wi-Fi connection on your phone. How do you boost the Wi-Fi signal on your phone for the best experience?
For your home Wi-Fi network, you can get the best router for a story house, the best router for an apartment, or the best router for wide coverage to ensure you get the best Wi-Fi performance for your home. And since we use mobile phones on the go, these routers will give an excellent performance throughout the house.
How to make hotspot faster FAQs
How can I make my hotspot faster?
You can make the hotspot faster by changing the frequency band that your device is using or ensuring the mobile data is working well. Some of the ways of working on mobile data include: 1. Use a 5G or 4G connection where possible. 2. Avoid multimedia usage. 3. Watch out for background apps using your connection. 4. Getting a better phone. 5. Changing the mobile provider. 6. Using mobile network booster. 7. Placing devices near the mobile hotspot. 9. Restarting the phone/ activating airplane mode then deactivating. 10. Change the location of your mobile hotspot. 11. Switching off data saver. 12. Clearing your cache. 13. Installing the network boosting apps including ad blocker
How fast can a mobile hotspot be?
Well, it depends on the carrier. But for most home internet broadband speeds tend to range around 90-100Mbps. This is plenty for supporting multiple devices and also supports fast video streaming on Netflix or YouTube (which can take up lots of data). 4G LTE mobile hotspots typically range between 30-60Mbps. If you have the right kinds of gear and connect to your network with an Alcatel Linkzone or Huawei E5885L(4G), then it’s possible for these devices to provide internet speeds up to 300 Mbps! The 4G LTE speeds may not seem like much until one considers just how quickly WiFi speeds decline in relation to distance from WiFi access points (or even neighboring cells!). You can easily move with your mobile hotspot but you can’t move with your router!
How long will 30 GB of hotspot last?
It’s a common question, but the answer isn’t quite so simple. Many factors come into play when calculating how long your data will last; what kind of quality do you want? What content are streaming – movies or TV shows on-demand services like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. With 30GB there would be enough data to stream 10 hours at HD resolution. But if we max out SDTV standards then just over two days’ worth could fit onto this plan because those videos generally have less pixel per square inch resulting in them taking up less data. Thus, With this much data, you could binge-watch about 10 hours of HD quality Netflix films.
Is a mobile hotspot fast enough for gaming?
It’s technically possible because the internet speeds are average. You’ll end up getting speeds around 30–60 Mbps when using a mobile hotspot. These speeds are good for gaming on most gaming machines with a little latency here and there if you’re unlucky. However, there should be no other user on the hotspot if you want to enjoy lag-free online gaming.
Is a 5G hotspot good for gaming?
5G hotspots are great for gaming, but you need a stable connection. If your 5G connection is not stable enough it may be better off with Wi-Fi. In terms of raw speed, 5G internet speeds of up to 10 Gbps is better than the average person’s WiFi if they were still using that old technology rather than upgrading to newer WiFI technology and devices. It is better than WiFi routers/access points that are not mobile. What 5G promises is the ability to game everywhere as long as there are 5G cell towers. The only challenge is that most mobile providers have a data cap thus limiting the number of games you can enjoy.
Tethering vs hotspot which is faster?
Wired connections are always faster than WiFi connections. Therefore, USB port tethering will definitely be faster than a mobile hotspot. However, Tethering has a disadvantage of the number of devices you can connect simultaneously being very few.