How to Save Mobile Data When Tethering Android Tablet or Phone

This article explains how to conserve mobile data when connecting your Wi-Fi-only Android tablet to a mobile hotspot or your phone. Instructions apply to all modern versions of Android from 4.1 and above.

How to Change Your Settings to Save Data

If you're not connecting two Android devices—maybe you're connecting a tablet to a Mifi or any other non-Android mobile hotspot like the iPhone—this hidden setting should come in handy:

1. Open Settings from the all apps screen or by swiping down from the top of the screen and tapping the gear icon.

2. Go to Network & internet > Data usage.

   This section of the settings might be called something else instead—like Wireless & networks, Wireless and Networks, or Network connections—depending on your Android version.

3. Do the following depending on the option you see (they differ between Android versions):

   • Tap Data Saver and then enable Use Data Saver. Skip to Step 5.
   • Open the Network restrictions or Restrict networks settings from the Wi-Fi section.
   • Select the three dots in the upper-right corner and then choose Mobile HotSpot or Mobile hotspots.

4. Open the network that should have its setting changed, and choose Metered.

   This option might be a slider toggle or checkbox space in older versions of Android, and enabling it next to the network will turn the feature on.

5. You can now exit the settings.

This should help you conserve more mobile data when you're sharing your wireless data with your tablet, phone, or another mobile device.

These tactics, while designed to minimize data usage on your wireless hotspot, could also help limit your data usage (most importantly, data roaming) when you're traveling. Just set any wireless network as a mobile hotspot to limit the kinds and amount of traffic that gets pulled.

Put a Limit on Data Usage

You can also put a limit on how much data can be used so that the device will not use more than what you allow. The limit can be set to whatever you like but would make sense to be set up to be the same amount of data you pay for, or less if you share your plan with others.

This works great whether you use a hotspot or not, but is especially helpful when tethering since your connected devices might use more data than you anticipate. When this data limit is reached, all mobile data services on that device are disabled until the month renews.

You should enable this limit on the device through which all the traffic is flowing—the one that's paying for the mobile data. For example, if your phone is used as the hotspot for your Wi-Fi tablet so that it can get mobile data, set up this limit on the phone since all the traffic is flowing through it.

Here's how to do it:

1. Go to Network & internet > Mobile network.

2. Choose Data warning & limit and then enable Set data limit, and skip down to Step 5.

   If you're on a version of Android that isn't the current version, choose Cellular data usage or Mobile data usage.

   If you don't see one of those options, select Set mobile data limit instead, and then skip down to Step 5.

3. Use the gear icon in the upper-right corner to open more settings, and then tap the button to the right of Set data limit or Limit mobile data usage, and confirm any prompts.

4. Tap Data limit or Data usage limit just below it.

5. Choose how much data the device is allowed to use during each billing cycle before all mobile data should be turned off.

   You might have to tap Data limit to get to the screen that lets you type numbers. Be sure to pay attention to whether the unit is GB or MB (GB are bigger and are normally how data plans are limited, such as 5 GB).

6. You can now exit the settings.

Use Data Alerts and Settings

There's also an option called Data warning (or Set data warning) that you can enable if you don't want data to be disabled but instead want to be told when you're reaching a specific amount. Some Android devices call this Alert me about data usage.

Something else you can do is change settings in your biggest data-demanding apps, like Netflix and YouTube. Since these are video streaming apps that are commonly used on bigger screens like tablets, tethering that to a phone can use data quickly. Adjust the quality of the videos to be low or of a lesser-than-HD quality so that they don't use as much data.

Another app that uses lots of data is your web browser. Consider using one that compresses data like Chrome's Lite mode option in the app's settings.

Turn Off Your Data

For a foolproof method of saving on data usage, turn everything off manually, without waiting for a data limit to be reached. Open the Network & internet screen and then tap Mobile data or Cellular data to disable Mobile data so that your device only uses Wi-Fi. This means that the device can only connect to mobile hotspots and other Wi-Fi networks, but it will prevent overage charges.