As we all know 5G is right around the corner, but for the vast majority of us we are stuck with 4G LTE. Many of us whether we’re on the go or on a road trip. We make use of a mobile device hot spot, and the reason for this is we have some device that needs an internet connection that just doesn’t have one.
But, as anyone who has actually tried to work on one of these connections they can be slow and quite frustrating to work on. But there is a way at least on Android that you can help increase your mobile hotspot speed without too much trouble.
#1. Setting up a faster DNS Service
DNS is arguably one of the most important features when it comes to having a fast internet connection. DNS is sort of like the internet’s phone book a website such as this one has the domain name (thedailyexposition.com), and that domain has an associative IP address.
The service that looks up that domains IP and sends it down to your device is known as a DNS Resolver. If you’re on the default DNS resolver on your mobile device it can lead it to having a slow connection speed to new website.
Therefore, we are going to first swap it to use a modern, free as well as privacy focused service from CloudFlare.
Android 9 Pie Users
If you’re on Android 9 your settings will be a little bit different to swap to the service perform the following.
Step 1: Go to your settings menu then click on “Network & Internet” then select advanced and finally “Private DNS”.
Step 2: Select the Private DNS provider host name option.
Step 3: Enter one of the following.
one.one.one.one OR 1dot1dot1dot1.cloudflare-dns.com
Afterwards make sure to hit the save button.
Step 4: To verify you’re on their service in Google Chrome (or a browser of your choice) go to 1.1.1.1/help to verify the service is working.
Android 8 & Lower
I wish in this case that the old way was easier but it isn’t let’s go into how you need to set the service up.
You see, the option for using a private DNS provider didn’t arrive until Android 9 but the people at CloudFlare have a sort of fallback. Android’s built-in VPN feature works perfect as a sort of backwards compatibility.
Go ahead and simply install the 1.1.1.1 app from Google Play Store. This isn’t the most ideal solution but the feature doesn’t effectively exist on older versions of Android.
#2. Optimizing Hotspot Connection Settings
You see by default Androids hotspot is forced to use the 2.4Ghz band which is great for long distance communication but at a slow pace. It’s also more susceptible to interference from any number of other devices.
The 5Ghz band is much faster, has less interference but it operates on a shorter range which for this use case is perfect even if you’re in a larger vehicle it could support access for those no matter their seating position.
Since your phone is going to be close to whatever device you’re needing to provide internet access to these limitations aren’t really an issue. The goodnews is that most modern devices support both bands 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. If you swap to 5Ghz only to find out that your device doesn’t support it you will need to switch back (and probably upgrade that device).
Samsung Devices
Samsung devices are arguably the easiest so we are going to list the steps out for them first.
Step 1: Open up the settings menu.
Step 2: Tap on connections
Step 3: Tap on mobile hotspot and tethering
Step 4: Tap on mobile hotspot. This will let you change the name password, etc.
Step 5: Tap on the three dots at the top right
Step 6: Tap on configure mobile hotspot
Step 7: Hit show advanced options.
Step 8: Under broadcast channel select use 5 GHz band when available.
LG devices
Step 1: Go to settings
Step 2: Choose tethering
Step 3: Select Wi-Fi hotspot and then click on set up Wi-Fi hotspot.
Step 4: There will be a popup that appears click on show advanced options.
Step 5: Switch to 5GHz.
Now you might be wondering what about my iPhone you’re in good hands because Apple doesn’t let you change this setting.
Closing Thoughts
That’s all there is to it you have now selected a faster DNS service for your mobile device. You now have also optimized your mobile hotspot by switching it to the 5GHz band. If you’re an iPhone users you won’t be able to make any adjustment for your hotspot sadly but that’s just the game you play!
