You have to spend a few days out of town and are thinking of taking your PlayStation 4 with you to make evenings away from home less boring. The problem, however, is that your favorite titles all have Internet access for multiplayer gaming, and you don’t know if your home has an Internet connection. Having a very rich data plan on your smartphone, you were thinking of using your phone’s data connection for the PS4 as well, but you don’t know how to actually turn your mobile phone into a router and thus allow the PlayStation to connect to its network.
Did I guess? Then let me help you achieve your goal. If you dedicate a few minutes of your free time to me, I can explain how to hotspot the PS4 , in order to transform your smartphone, your tablet or even a laptop into a router to connect the PlayStation 4 to the Network, by creating a ad hoc wireless network.
So, are you ready to learn about the requirements and the easiest way to hotspot your PS4? If the answer is yes, take a few free minutes, get comfortable, turn on your PS4 and follow the directions below. In no time at all, you will have online access to your beloved console and can enjoy your favorite multiplayer games! I wish you a good reading and, above all, a good time!
Index
- Preliminary information
- How to hotspot on PS4
- Hotspot with Android
- Hotspot with iOS
- Hotspot with PC
- How to connect PS4 to the Internet
- How to hotspot with PS4
Preliminary information
Before explaining how to hotspot on PS4 , let me explain better what hotspot is, what happens when you do it and what this type of connection consists of.
In short, the term hotspot refers to the connection method of a device that allows it to become an access point . In other words, in this way the Internet connection of a device is shared , thus making it available to other devices. The same function can also take the name of Wi-Fi tethering .
In order to hotspot with a smartphone or tablet, you must use the data connection , so you cannot share access to the Wi-Fi connection (on a PC, however, the discussion changes). It goes without saying that, in order to be able to hotspots adequately, you must have a tariff plan that has enough Giga and provides for the possibility of hotspot without surcharges (by now most operators provide for free hotspot).
If you don’t know if your data plan includes the free hotspot feature, check the contract or contact the operator (in this case, my guide on how to talk to an operator might be useful ).
I also point out that depending on the hotspot function and the type of connection that your operator guarantees you, you could get a NAT 3 . I have already told you about NAT and its implications in online gaming, you can “brush up” these concepts (if you need them) by consulting this page.
Now that you know that the hotspot function corresponds to making your device like a router and that to use it it is essential to have an Internet plan suitable for gaming needs, you are ready to start getting into the heart of this tutorial.
How to hotspot on PS4
Now that you know all about the hotspot, we can take action. In the next chapters I will explain, therefore, how to hotspot from an Android terminal , an iPhone / iPad or a computer equipped with a network card with Wi-Fi support. Remember that once you have completed the internet connection process, the PS4’s online play features will only be fully available after you have signed up for a PlayStation Plus subscription (unless you want to enjoy a free-to-play title ).
Hotspot with Android
Proceeding to activate the hotspot on an Android device is very simple. The first thing to do is check if the data connection is active : you can do this by pulling down the notifications menu , with a swipe from top to bottom, and pressing the Mobile data icon (the icon shows the image of two arrows, one up, the other down).
After this very simple operation, it’s time to activate the hotspot. To do this, press the gear-shaped icon on the home screen or in the drawer, to access the System Settings and go to the Other item , usually located in the Wireless and Networks submenu .
In the menu that opens, touch on Tethering / portable hotspot , move the lever relative to the Configure Wi-Fi hotspot (or Portable Wi-Fi hotspot) function to ON and press on Configure Wi-Fi hotspot , to adjust the hotspot preferences . In the menu that is proposed to you at this point, you can adjust the following items.
- Network name: the name to give to the Wi-Fi connection generated by the device.
- Security: the type of access key, the most secure is WPA2 PSK .
- Password: The keyword to protect the network.
- AP band: to configure the 5 GHz band (if the device supports it).
Now, press the Save button and move the Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot switch to the ON position (some devices report the name of the network you have chosen instead of this item). Of course, you can disable the hotspot by tapping again to move the switch to OFF , alternatively the button can also be found in the Android notification area.
At this point, you will have successfully activated the hotspot on your Android device. However, I remind you that it is important to check with your operator what the costs involved in your plan are. Most operators offer this service for free, but it is always good to make sure before incurring unwanted additional costs (especially considering that the PS4 can consume an important amount of data).
Hotspot with iOS
If you want to activate the hotspot on an iOS device (therefore on an iPhone or an iPad ), the first thing you need to do is check that the data connection is active and configured correctly, by tapping on the Settings icon (the one in the shape on the home screen) and going to Mobile . At this point, check that Cellular Data has the switch turned to ON , otherwise you can activate it yourself.
Proceed, then, by going to the iOS Control Center , with a swipe from the top right corner to the bottom (if you are using iPhone X or higher or an iPad updated to at least iOS 12) or from the bottom to the top (if you are using an iPhone 8 or earlier or an iPad updated to iOS 11 and earlier).
From this menu, follow the voice pressing Data Mobile (recognizable by the figure of an antenna) will open so the panel Network of Control Center , through which, by tapping on the icon Hotspot staff , you can activate the hotspot. You will have to wait for the icon to turn green, indicating that the function is active.
At this point, you may think that you have successfully activated the hotspot on iOS. Indeed it is, the feature is active and your connection is shared. However I don’t know if you noticed that you haven’t set any preferences, that doesn’t mean a password either. To prevent your device from being too vulnerable and your network from being used by anyone, go to the Settings menu , go to Personal Hotspot and tap on Wi-Fi password , to type in the keyword you want to use. Then conclude the setting by pressing the End key .
Always keep in mind that the hotspot function is linked to your tariff plan and the costs foreseen by your operator could be high if not foreseen by the contract. Always make sure, before proceeding, that the hotspot is included in the offer, or possibly proceed with the activation request. For more information on how to hotspot on iOS, feel free to consult my specific article .
Hotspot with PC
Maybe you didn’t know it but it is possible to make hotspots even with a PC equipped with Windows 10 and a Wi-Fi network card. The procedure is really simple but you have to carefully follow the precise steps. The first of these is to make sure your PC’s network card has the hotspot feature .
Proceed with this verification by opening the Command Prompt from the Start menu (just click on the Windows logo in the lower left corner, or press the Windows symbol from the keyboard) once the Prompt is open, give the command netsh wlan show drivers and check that next to your wireless card there is the words Hosted network supported: Yes .
After this quick check, remaining on the Command Prompt, write the sequence that I report below.
- netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode = allow ssid = networkName key = access_key(where replace NetworkName with the name you want to assign to your hotspot and access_key with the access password)
- netsh wlan start hostednetwork, to enable hosted networking functionality.
Once this is done, go to Start again , type in the search space the terms “Control Panel” and open it with a click, then click on the items Network and Internet and View devices and computers on the network . Now you can click on Change Adapter Settings in the bar on the left of the window.
From this new window, right-click the mouse on the Internet connection you want to share, then select the Properties item from the context menu and go to the Sharing tab , to tick the boxes Allow other users on the network to connect via the Internet connection of this computer and Allow other users on the network to control or disable the shared Internet connection .
Finally, make sure that the Wi-Fi network you want to share is selected in the drop-down menu and confirm everything by clicking on the OK button , in order to save the changes.
You have successfully configured your PC hotspot! You can proceed to use it, remembering that it can be disabled by returning to the Command Prompt and issuing the command netshwlan stop hostednetwork .
Windows 8.x and earlier
If you are wondering how to activate the hotspot from Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 , then you must know that it is possible but by relying on a third party program, such as Connectify Pro . This software was made to share a connection from a Windows PC in just a few clicks.
If you think this solution is right for you, connect to the Connectify Pro website and click on the Download button and then on Continue to Download , to download the program on your PC (if the download does not start, click on the written click here to restart the download ).
Once the download is complete, you can proceed with the installation of the software, by double clicking on the icon of the .exe file you just obtained. You will be immediately notified that the program may make changes to the system: accept by clicking on the Yes button , then choose Accept and wait for the installation to finish successfully.
At this point, the hotspot configuration procedure begins. If you weren’t already connected to the network you want to share, do so and then launch Connectify . Once the program is open, you will have to configure it: to use its Lite version (free, which allows the use of Wi-Fi or Ethernet networks only), click on the Try it Out button and proceed by choosing the Internet connection to use in the drop-down menu Internet to Share . Now you can proceed by setting a password and clicking on Start HotSpot , in order to activate the hotspot.
Once you have configured the hotspot on your PC, you can proceed to connect the PS4 to the created network. When you want to terminate the hotspot via this software, all you have to do is click on Stop HotSpot .
There are various programs and methods to hotspot with the PC, if you want to know others, or you want to know how to hotspot with Mac , I suggest you take a few minutes to consult my guide dedicated to the subject .
How to connect the PS4 to the Internet
When you finally have your personal hotspot available, you can proceed to connect the PS4 to the Internet , obviously via Wi-Fi.
Go, therefore, to the Settings section located at the top of the PS4 main menu, then go to Network> Set up Internet connection> Use Wi-Fi> Typical and choose the name of the hotspot connection you have configured and want to use.
You can now enter the access password to complete the procedure and connect to the network generated by your smartphone, tablet or computer.
In case you are using a portable device that acts as a hotspot, I recommend that you keep it close to ensure the maximum possible Wi-Fi signal. Also, keep the device charged or attached to the charger so that you don’t risk it suddenly turning off while using the connection.
How to hotspot with PS4
If you are looking for a way to share the connection you have on your PS4 with other devices, I am sorry to tell you that this feature is not provided by the famous Sony console.
PlayStation 4 can therefore rely on a network to connect, even in hotspots, but it cannot do so in turn, for example by sharing the Ethernet connection via cable or Wi-Fi, as it is possible to do with a computer, tablet or smartphone.
