11–20 of 75 posts
You don't need to use WiFi to share an internet connection - it should be possible to tether your phone via cable and you can definitely share the connection via Bluetooth too. If your operating system vendor doesn't support this, please send them a support email inquiring as to why.
Wouldn't recommend, bluetooth has the disadvantage of being very slow.
> without drining my phone battery for a hotspot I faced a similar problem. I have now invested my money in an external battery instead to charge my phone if necessary. For me, this seemed like a simpler solution (also, I don't have to worry about a second SIM this way). For iPhones, there are now batteries that do not even need cables. https://www.anker.com/products/a1611 https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJWY3AM/A…
They advertise the 633 to hold 1.3 charges for an iPhone 13.
The 622, at half the capacity would only extend battery life by ~60% (not even one charge which is a big bummer)
Amazon has a few USB-A dongles available; no USB-C though.
Use your phone as a hotspot, while plugged in to charge.
Even better, USB tethering -- no Wi-Fi needed. At least on Android, it's very easy to enable. It's also a lifesaver when Wi-Fi drivers are unavailable on Linux, as you can use USB tethering, and use your phone as a USB Wi-Fi dongle.
There is still premium for these products so the prices are high.
A lot of laptops have a built in 5G modem, or just a slot and antennas for a 5G card that user can install if needed. https://www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/products/laptop... https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/latitude-5440-l...
There seem to be plenty on Amazon just not USB-C, which is a shame for the manufacturers who don't include USB-A sockets any more :( WiFi dongles are worth considering even though the wifi is a potential bottleneck. In most travel situations you are more interested in stability than max speed and having a WiFi dongle allows you to position it away from the laptop, in a window or high up to pick up marginal 5G signals…
Wifi access is near-universal, so the average consumer will pretty much never be without internet access - and their phone is a pretty suitable backup hotspot.
The people who do need GSM-based internet - like surveyors or door-to-door people - are probably better served by tablets anyways, and definitely don't want to deal with a USB dongle. If they have to, they'll just get a laptop with a M.2 GSM card. Whatever remains probably doesn't need 5G speeds to begin with.
So yeah, it's a tiny market. Expect them to be expensive. There's a 5G USB dongle made by Apal available for €400, but that's about it.
Are you sure 4G won't be enough? You can get one of those for €50 or so.
Dongle? What is this, 2010?