Can I combine Ethernet and my Android phone's Internet connection on my Mac? Yes, Speedify can help!

This article explains how to use Speedify on your Mac to combine your Ethernet connection with your Android phone's 4G/5G cellular connection for faster upload and download speeds and a more reliable internet connection.

What You'll Need

• An Ethernet cable connected to your router or modem
• An Android phone with a data plan
• A USB cable to connect your Android phone to your Mac
• The HoRNDIS driver installed on your Mac
• Speedify installed on your Mac

Let's Get Started

Step 1

Connect an Ethernet cable between your router or modem and the Ethernet port on your Mac. In most cases, your Mac will connect to the internet automatically.

If your Mac doesn't have a built-in Ethernet port, use a USB-to-Ethernet adapter or a Thunderbolt-to-Gigabit Ethernet adapter.

Need help with this step? See Apple's guide to connecting via Ethernet for more details.

Step 2

To use your Android phone's USB tethering on a Mac, you'll need to install a third-party driver called HoRNDIS. This driver lets macOS recognize your Android phone's USB tethering mode as a network connection.

1. Download and install HoRNDIS on your Mac.
2. Once installed, connect your Android phone to your Mac using a USB cable.
3. On your Android phone, swipe down from the top of the screen to open the notification shade.
4. Touch and hold Hotspot, then turn on USB tethering.
5. On your Mac, open System Preferences, click Network, then select your Android phone from the list on the left side.
6. In the right pane, make sure the "Disable unless needed" checkbox under Status is deselected.

Need help with this step? See Google's guide to USB tethering on Android for more details.

Step 3

Download and install Speedify on your Mac. Once it's running, Speedify will automatically detect both your Ethernet connection and your tethered Android phone's connection, and combine them for faster upload and download speeds and a more stable internet connection.

Speedify's Pair and Share Feature

Want a wireless way to combine your Mac's Ethernet connection with your Android phone's 4G/5G cellular connection? Use the Speedify Pair and Share feature.

1. Install Speedify on both your Mac and your Android phone.
2. Make sure both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network or local network.
3. In Speedify, open the Pair and Share settings and tap the device you want to pair with to send an invitation.
4. Accept the pairing request on the other device.

Once paired, Android will share it's Cellular connections with the mac. All internet traffic between devices is fully encrypted, and you stay in full control over which devices can share what. You can set permissions, apply limits, or unpair devices at any time.