You’ll soon be able to use your Chromebook as a 5G hotspot

A new future update for Chromebooks will make them into hotspots. First noticed by 9to5Google, the code is already on the way and going through code review.

That will mean Chromebooks can share their cellular connectivity like iOS and Android devices. That’s a good move, letting you leverage the larger battery life of your Chromebook instead of draining your phone.

The code isn’t live yet, but when it does get included, it will come to chrome://flags. That’s the section of Chrome and Chrome OS that has experimental features. We already know the flag description, which we’ve reproduced below.

Hotspot
Enables the Chromebook to share its cellular internet connection to other devices through WiFi
#hotspot

What we don’t know yet is how the feature will look. Other mobile devices with hotspot capability have the settings in the wireless connectivity section.

It’s a fair bet that Chrome OS will do the same, and you’ll be able to control your hotspot from where you change WiFi or Bluetooth options.

We expect the feature won’t arrive until late this year. When it does, cellular-capable Chromebooks will join the growing list of devices that can act as hotspots.

Windows 10 and 11 devices can share their internet from any source, including Ethernet, WiFi, or cellular. I regularly share my iPhone’s cellular connectivity with my iPad or MacBook.

Will we even need dedicated hotspots in the future? The only thing needed is more laptops, MacBooks, and Chromebooks with cellular connectivity, so you can piggyback off their connections.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere. His hobbies include photography, animation, and hoarding Reddit gold.