Samsung Galaxy S smartphone has a unique feature called Mobile AP (Mobile Access Point) which allows you to use it as a Wi-Fi Hotspot and thus share its Internet connection with other devices that support Wi-Fi. For example, if you own two smartphones (one of them should be a Samsung Galaxy S or S2 smartphone) or else one Tablet PC and a Galaxy S or S2 Smartphone, then you can share the Mobile data network present on the Galaxy smartphone with your Tablet PC or with your second smartphone. The second device can either be a smartphone or a tablet PC unless and until it is a Wi-Fi enabled device. With the Mobile AP feature, a need for an internet package on each of your smartphones or tablet pc’s is taken out of equation.
Mobile AP feature allows you to connect up to five devices to your galaxy smartphone and thus share its data network on all five devices. For illustrating the Mobile AP feature, I am using my Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Wave525 smartphones. Galaxy S runs on Android whereas Wave525 runs on the Bada operating system. So, let’s get straight into the procedure of how to use Mobile AP feature on Samsung galaxy S to share its internet connection with other devices.
On your Samsung Galaxy S
As usual, navigate into the Settings window by tapping on the Menu button->Settings.
In the Settings window, select Wireless and network.
Now, in the window thus opened, you should see an entry called Mobile AP. Select that.
In the Mobile AP settings window thus opened, tap on Mobile AP.
You will now see a small warning dialogue box opened which says that enabling Mobile AP will consume more battery and data. Select Yes.
Wait for a few seconds while Mobile AP feature is activated on your phone. Once it is activated, you will see a notification message and a Notification icon representing Mobile AP on the notification bar of your phone indicating that Mobile AP is now ready to use.
On your second device
In my case, it is the Samsung Wave525 smartphone running on the Bada Operating system.
Pull down the Notification screen and enable Wi-Fi on your second device.
Once you have enabled Wi-Fi, the device will automatically search for a Wi-Fi hotspot nearby its location and once it sees that there is a hotspot (in this case, the Samsung galaxy S smartphone), it connects to it automatically.
Once connected, you are ready to use Internet on your second device. This actually implies you are now ready to share internet connection present on your Samsung galaxy S smartphone with your second device.
Note: - to verify whether you are really sharing the internet connection present on your Samsung galaxy S smartphone, on your second device, navigate as Settings->Connectivity->Wi-Fi. Now, you should see a Wi-Fi hotspot represented something as Android—— which actually is your Samsung Galaxy Smartphone’s Wi-Fi id.
Another indication of whether you are sharing the Internet connection is that a Wi-Fi icon with an arrow will be displayed on the Notification bar of your second device.
To De-activate Mobile AP feature, navigate as Settings->Wireless and network->Mobile AP on your Samsung Galaxy S and then remove the checkmark against the Mobile AP entry by tapping on it. Also remember to disable Wi-Fi on your second device so that you can save battery.