Chromebooks With Mobile Data To Act As Wi-Fi Hotspots (9to5google.com) 15
In an upcoming update, Chromebooks equipped with mobile data will be able to serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot for other devices, just like Android and iOS devices can today. 9to5Google reports: The work-in-progress feature has made its first appearance in ChromeOS code in the form of a new flag coming to chrome://flags. The details are quite slim at the moment, with little more than the flag description available today. That said, it's easy to imagine how a mobile hotspot would work on ChromeOS, based on how the same feature works on Android phones today.
Presumably, you would be able to choose the name and password for your Chromebook's hotspot through the Settings app in ChromeOS, where you can also toggle the hotspot on and off. If it truly follows the example of Android, there would also be an easy way to turn on your hotspot through a Quick Settings toggle.
Presumably, you would be able to choose the name and password for your Chromebook's hotspot through the Settings app in ChromeOS, where you can also toggle the hotspot on and off. If it truly follows the example of Android, there would also be an easy way to turn on your hotspot through a Quick Settings toggle.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. I was about to post that you could do that with any Linux laptop that has a mobile and wireless interface like forever.
How often does one need/use this feature? (Score:2)
I used to travel with one of those "travel routers" to create a local wilreless access point, and while it came in handy on occassion, those times are past, so it stays at home now.
Re: (Score:2)
I've used it briefly while staying in an airbnb where the internet access failed. I have prepaid verizon so my data allowance is fairly meager, but it was still sufficient to look things up and so on. (and I upgraded to a plan with more data temporarily.)
Re: (Score:2)
Towns and villages all across Spain where little old ladies rent out apartments without wifi, let alone online bookings.
My last European vacation in 2016 I bought a prepaid SIM fresh off the plane in Barcelona for 20euro/month.
So yeah, I would probably use this rarely but only because COVID has put a dampener on my international travel.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably almost never. Maybe if you are assisting somebody else.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends. We use mobile hotspot features all the time, curtesy of my phone having a really good international data plan which I need for work, and the wife's phone having the cheapest thing she could find. Now sure that's a phone, but if I had a Chromebook with data I'd probably use that too for this purpose.
Walk through the street one day and look at WiFi networks around, you'll be surprised how many people are creating hotspots.
will bypassing any carrier locks be locked out? (Score:2)
will bypassing any carrier locks be locked out? unless you root the device?
So it will only do what the cell carrier lets the sim do?
Re: (Score:2)
There is no way to tell apart a packet that has originated inside the Chromebook from one that's masqueraded but only going through. The device would need to somehow mark the packets if that is to be done, but that'd be a quite nasty treason against the user. I don't think anyone would buy a machine that broken, would they?
Android does do Tethering and Hotspot Blocking (Score:3)
Android does do Tethering and Hotspot Blocking if your cell network has rules for that and you may need root mode to bypass it.
Re: (Score:2)
In general for computers, no, because the interface to the modem is a rather basic interface (i.e., a data link). Whether it's using PPP or HDLC to encapsulate packets, in general compute
Re: (Score:2)
On the wireless side, it is a phone.
Chromebooks are becoming the ultimate client box (Score:2)
Not sure that the addition of a shared LTE hotspot feature is "newsworthy", but it does serve to remind us of just how comprehensive Chromebooks are becoming. It's a really interesting strategy: don't try to compete vertically by going head-to-head on specific features, instead compete horizontally. Examples:
- You can buy a Chromebook for under $200, but you can also buy one for over $1,500. That puts them in competition with every laptop manufacturer on the planet with the exception of custom shops buildin