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I want to tether my phone's WiFi connection to my computer via USB.

There's a setting for USB tethering, but when I enable it there is a message

Wi-Fi is turned off when USB tethering or Mobile HotSpot is active. To turn on Wi-Fi, please turn off USB tethering or Mobile HotSpot.

But what's the point of tethering if the Wi-Fi is turned off? I have no connection to share with the computer if the Wi-Fi is not on.

If I turn off the Wi-Fi before I try to enable USB tethering, it shows the message

Unable to connect

You need a network connection to use this application. Please turn on mobile network or Wi-Fi is Settings.

So...it needs Wi-Fi to tether, but when I turn on the tether, it turns off Wi-Fi? I don't understand. How do I keep the connection from being turned off when I try to enable the USB tether?

I'm using an HTC One phone.

Peter Olson
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    Looks like this was asked before and answered. http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/3134/can-i-use-my-android-device-as-wi-fi-adapter-for-my-pc-i-e-tethering-to-pc-thr

    But if this doesn't help you. Let us know what device and version of android you are running and then we can dig around a little bit more.

     – jer3my Jul 10 '15 at 01:51
  • Mine works even Wi-Fi is turned on. But when WiFi hotspot, it actually needs to turn off WiFi adapter because it will interfere with the WiFi network. – Terrarian Jul 10 '15 at 02:06

2 Answers2

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I resolved this. The solution seems a little bit hacky, but it worked.

I unplugged the USB cable, turned on the Wi-Fi, enabled the USB tether option, then plugged in the USB. When I plug it in, it shows the message

Wi-Fi is turned off when USB tethering or Mobile HotSpot is active. To turn on Wi-Fi, please turn off USB tethering or Mobile HotSpot.

and then after a few seconds

USB tethering is ON

If I turn on the Wi-Fi after the first message but before the second message, the Wi-Fi is not turned off automatically and my computer is able to successfully connect.

Peter Olson
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I know this is a little old now, and neither the question nor the answer was ever clarified, but I just encountered this issue and found a workaround I wanted to share.

I'm using Joshua Wise's HoRNDIS to tether my HTC 10 (Verizon, 'Android O' OTA update, unrooted, USB C) to my 2017 MacBook Pro (USB C/Thunderbolt). The tethering works fine, if only in a slightly undesired way: my phone demands that WiFi must be shut off in order to tether. I want my phone to bridge the WiFi to my MacBook (i.e. I've forgotten the WiFi password).

Furthermore, trying to turn the WiFi on through the system UI while tethered gives two options, either continue tethering or stop tethering and turn WiFi on.

My solution was to make a Tasker widget on my home screen with the action "Wifi Set On". This Tasker action turned the WiFi on, and my MacBook didn't lose internet access. I verified WiFi usage by turning mobile data off and browsing on my MacBook for a while. It's my suspicion that every UI option to turn the WiFi on is linked the dialog box to turn tethering off, but getting around the normal UI to change your WiFi settings may work (Tasker may not be required.)

Joe Sadoski
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