How To Use Your Smartphone As A Wi-Fi Repeater To Extend Wi-Fi Range
If you’ve experienced alack of Wi-Fi coverage in your houseor in a hotel room while traveling, we’ve got a quick solution for you — sharing Wi-Fi via your smartphone’s hotspot. It might sound complicated, but it is the most inexpensive and effective method to improve reception in areas with weaker coverage.
Back in the day, Wi-Fi sharing used to be a rare functionality. TheGoogle Pixel 3was among the first smartphones to come with native Wi-Fi sharing. At the time, Samsung’s flagships also included a similar feature, but it had to be explicitly enabled. However, most Android smartphones released in the last three to four years have the required hardware for repeating a Wi-Fi network via their hotspot.
Before we begin, you should know that even though you can use your smartphone to extend the coverage, it won’t be as effective as a dedicated Wi-Fi repeater or extender. Instead, your phone broadcasts the Wi-Fi network it is connected to in the range where its hotspot works. With that out of the way, here are three different ways to use your smartphone to share a nearby Wi-Fi network with other devices.
Turn your smartphone into a Wi-Fi repeater
First, you must check whether your Android phone supports Wi-Fi sharing. To do this, simultaneously enable Wi-Fi and hotspots on your device. If your device doesn’t show an error message, you’re good to go. Follow the steps below, and you should be able to increase your Wi-Fi coverage in no time.
If your phone doesn’t ship with native support for extending wireless networks, a developer setting might help.Open the developer options menuand search for “Enable Wi-Fi Coverage Extend Feature.” Once you enable this feature, you should be able to switch on Wi-Fi and hotspot at the same time, and use your phone as a Wi-Fi repeater.
Share Wi-Fi via a third-party app
If your phone doesn’t have the required developer option, it’s time to install a third-party app. The one that worked for us wasPdaNet+by June Fabrics Technology. We downloaded the app on a four-year-old Android phone that doesn’t support native Wi-Fi sharing.
It is important to note that this method doesn’t work for all devices. Further, you might not be able to use all apps on the connected phone either.
When to use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi repeater
For instance, we could browse the web via Google Chrome and use apps like YouTube and Google Maps on another Android phone, but WhatsApp and Instagram didn’t work in our testing. On the other hand, we could barely use Chrome or Safari on a connected iPhone. We also managed to connect a Windows laptop (via a proxy server), but the Wi-Fi network didn’t provide reliable coverage and kept disconnecting.
This brings us to a very important question: Why and when should you use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi repeater? We recommend using the feature as a temporary solution to poor reception only if your smartphone supports it. For example, ifyou don’t receive proper Wi-Fi coveragein a part of your house, you can turn your phone into a network repeater and place it between the area and your router. This method is often useful in public places with paid Wi-Fi networks, such as cafes, airports, hotels, etc. For instance, if you’re in a hotel that provides a single-device Wi-Fi passcode, you can broadcast the network to other devices via the hotspot functionality.
Yes, you can also set up a private network via the third-party app we discussed, but it isn’t as functional. We don’t recommend using the method unless absolutely necessary, especially for someone who hasn’t configured Wi-Fi before.
Downsides of using your smartphone as a Wi-Fi repeater
Even though your smartphone can broadcast Wi-Fi signals through its hotspot, it has a weaker receiver and transmitter than a dedicated router or repeater. This weakens the Wi-Fi signals and reduces the effective coverage area, especially if too many obstacles (such as walls and doors) exist. Nonetheless, you’ll still notice an improvement in the signal strength close to your phone, but it won’t cover as much area as a router.
Another downside is slower internet speeds. Depending on the original network’s strength at the broadcast point and your phone’s hardware, connected devices may notice a significant drop in download speeds. We’re talking about web pages taking longer to load, frequent stream buffers, or high lag in online games. You’ll still be able to do stuff, just not as efficiently as with a dedicated Wi-Fi repeater.
Last but definitely not least, using your phone as a Wi-Fi range extender will increase power consumption,draining its battery much faster. Make sure that your smartphone is plugged in when sharing Wi-Fi. If there’s no power source and your battery is already under 30 or 20%, refrain from broadcasting a wireless network unless you have a fully charged battery pack.
