How to use your old mobile to improve the WiFi at home

There are different options to have better Internet coverage at home. For example, sometimes the signal does not reach the television well and we need to install a device to improve the network. We normally use repeaters, Mesh systems or PLC devices. But in this article we will tell you how you can use an old mobile that you do not use to improve Wi-Fi at home and why it is really useful.

Use a mobile as a Wi-Fi repeater

use your old mobile to improve the WiFi at home

You can use a mobile phone to share the Internet with other devices. For example a computer, television, etc. We normally use this option for mobile data connection sharing, but you can also use connection sharing when you connect to a Wi-Fi network and allow other devices to connect.

You can also use this to improve the wireless connection at home. But why does the signal actually improve? Think of a television, for example. They are devices that normally have a very limited Wi-Fi receiver and will not receive the signal well when it is very far from the router. On the other hand, a mobile phone is designed to have a better connection and, in general, they will have a much better receiver than a television.

But you can also use it to receive a signal in an area of the house and for another device, such as a computer, to connect from another room that may be further away from the router . Even if you don’t get great speeds, in many cases it could allow devices that can’t connect directly to the router.

Of course, also take into account the limitations of the old mobile that you are going to use. Not all phones have the same capacity and if it is a very old and low-end model, it is likely that it will be of little use to you. On the other hand, many others can be very interesting for the purpose of improving the Wi-Fi connection at home.

We can go further and connect the mobile via Ethernet cable . For this you will need a USB C to Ethernet adapter and it is interesting that it is Gigabit. If you have a wired installation at home, you will simply have to connect the mobile phone by cable and that’s it. You will receive a better signal from a greater distance.

You can see some USB C to Ethernet adapter options:

How to share the Internet with the mobile

But, what do you need to share the Internet from your mobile? The process is really simple. It is simply necessary that the phone has a network connection. You can receive Internet through mobile data or through Wi-Fi, as the case may be. From there, the next thing to do is create a shared connection .

To create that shared connection will depend on the model you have and the version of the operating system. Generally it is similar and you just have to go to Settings, enter Connections and go to Internet Sharing . You can put a name for the network, a password, etc. Basically what you do is create a Wi-Fi network to which other devices will be able to connect.

You just have to go to the television or the device you want to connect and search for networks again. This time you connect to the one you have created with your mobile and you will be able to navigate. You can try doing a speed test, for example, to see if it really improves in your case or not. The good thing is that you will be able to leave your mobile anywhere in the house, where you need to have better coverage at all times. An alternative to using traditional wireless repeaters.