How to Tether an iPhone to a PC via Bluetooth
iPhone Bluetooth tethering shares your iPhone’s 4G/5G cellular connection with a Windows PC or a Mac over Bluetooth: turn on Personal Hotspot, pair the iPhone with the computer, then connect to it from the computer’s Bluetooth or network settings. It needs no cable and uses little battery, but Bluetooth caps your speed at roughly 1 Mbps, which you notice the moment you send anything larger than an email.
Speedify is an app for your PC, phone or tablet that uses more than one internet connection at once, so a Bluetooth tether becomes one lane of traffic alongside Wi-Fi or Ethernet rather than your only one. With the Bluetooth tether alone, Speedify works as an encrypted VPN and cannot make that one connection faster. This guide covers how to pair an iPhone with Windows 10 and 11 and with a Mac, the three steps that actually matter, and how to get past the Bluetooth speed limit.
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iPhone Bluetooth Tethering on Windows 10 and 11 in Three Steps
First of all, make sure your Windows 10 or 11 PC has an internal Bluetooth adapter or get an external Bluetooth USB adapter, if not.
Step 1: Turn on the Personal Hotspot feature on your iPhone.
To do this, tap Settings from your home screen and go to Personal Hotspot.
Step 2: Connect (or “tether”) your iPhone to your PC using Bluetooth.
If you’re using an external Bluetooth USB adapter, make sure you install it following the instructions you got with the device. You may need to restart your PC before being able to use it.
On your iPhone, make sure Bluetooth is enabled (Settings > Bluetooth).
On your PC, go to Bluetooth Settings (either from the lower right corner of the taskbar, in the system tray, or by searching for “bluetooth”). Slide the Bluetooth toggle on: this makes your computer visible to other devices.
Click on the “Add Bluetooth or other device” and let your PC detect the iPhone. This may take a while, so give it a couple of minutes. Finish the pairing process following the instructions both on your PC and on your iPhone.
Step 3: Connect your PC to the Internet using the Bluetooth tethered iPhone.
Go to Network Connections (press Windows key + X and choose “Network Connections”) and on the right side click “Change adapter options”. On Windows 11, the same window is under Settings > Network & internet > Advanced network settings > More network adapter options.
Look for the “Bluetooth Network Connection”.
If it’s connected, you’re good to go. If it’s not, double click to view Bluetooth devices. If your iPhone doesn’t automatically show up here, click “Add a device” and add it.
Click on the “Connect using” button above and choose “Access point”. Windows will set up the connection as “Network X” and you will be able to enjoy Internet connectivity.
And that’s all there is to iPhone Bluetooth tethering a Windows 10 or 11 PC!
Now you can add this tethered iPhone connection to any other internet connections on your PC, such as Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Use Speedify for Windows to combine them.
Connect a Mac to the Internet via Bluetooth on iPhone
Tethering a Mac works the same way: turn on Personal Hotspot on the iPhone, pair the two over Bluetooth, then connect from the Mac. The same limit of about 1 Mbps applies, and the last section shows how to add Wi-Fi alongside it.
How to Tether your iPhone to a Mac using Bluetooth
Step 1: First, ensure that your iPhone is paired with your Mac via Bluetooth. You can do this by going to System Preferences > Bluetooth. Then, select your iPhone from the pane that appears. Also take this opportunity to ensure that your Mac’s Bluetooth is turned on.
Step 2: Turn on your iPhone’s Personal Hotspot. To do this, open the Settings app and tap Personal Hotspot. Then toggle the switch on.
Step 3: While you’re in the Settings app, tap Bluetooth from the main menu and toggle the switch on if it isn’t already. You should see your Mac appearing under “My Devices.”
Step 4: Now it’s time to connect your Mac to your iPhone’s network. You can do this one of two ways:
The first method is the simplest: navigate to the upper right-hand corner of the menu bar and click on the Bluetooth icon. (If this icon is not currently displayed, you can activate it by going to System Preferences > Bluetooth.) When you click the icon, a menu will appear. Mouse-over your paired device (iPhone) and click Connect.
Alternatively, you can navigate to System Preferences > Network. Click Bluetooth PAN on the left-hand side. If Bluetooth PAN isn’t visible, click the + button, and select Bluetooth PAN from the interface popup menu.
Finally, select your iPhone from the device popup menu and click Connect.
And that’s all there is to tethering your iPhone to your Mac using Bluetooth!
Now you can add this tethered iPhone connection to any other internet connections on your Mac. Use Speedify for macOS to combine them.
Combine iPhone Bluetooth Tethering with Wi-Fi Using Speedify
- Download Speedify on your Windows PC (Windows 10 or later) or Mac (macOS 11.5 or later).
- Open Speedify and create a free account (the free tier includes 5 GB per month), or sign in.
- Keep the iPhone Bluetooth tether connected, and also join a Wi-Fi network or plug in Ethernet, so the computer has two internet connections.
- Speedify uses both connections at once and moves traffic to the working one if either drops.
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