Can I combine Ethernet and my iPhone's Internet connection on Ubuntu Linux? You can, with Speedify

This article explains how to use Speedify on Ubuntu Linux to combine your Ethernet connection and your iPhone's 4G/5G cellular connection at the same time, giving you faster upload and download speeds and a more reliable internet connection.

What You'll Need

  • An Ubuntu Linux computer with an Ethernet port (or a USB to Ethernet adapter)
  • An Ethernet cable connected to your router or modem
  • An iPhone with an active cellular data plan that supports Personal Hotspot
  • A USB cable to connect your iPhone to your computer
  • Speedify installed on your Ubuntu computer (download here)

Let's Get Started

Step 1

Connect an Ethernet cable between your router or modem and the Ethernet port on your Ubuntu computer. If your computer doesn't have a built-in Ethernet port, a USB to Ethernet adapter will work.

Ubuntu should detect the connection automatically. You can confirm it's active by opening the System Menu and looking for "Wired Connection" in the network list.

Need help with this step? Visit the Ubuntu knowledge base to learn more about wired connections.

Step 2

Enable Personal Hotspot on your iPhone. Personal Hotspot lets you share your iPhone's 4G/5G cellular data connection with other devices over Wi-Fi, USB, or Bluetooth.

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
  2. Go to Cellular > Personal Hotspot, or Settings > Personal Hotspot if it appears at the top level.
  3. Toggle Personal Hotspot on.

From this screen you can also verify the hotspot name and set or confirm your hotspot password.

Note: If you don't see Personal Hotspot in your Settings, contact your carrier to confirm that your plan supports it.

Need help with this step? Visit Apple's support page for more details on setting up Personal Hotspot.

Step 3

Connect your iPhone to your Ubuntu computer using a USB cable.

  1. Plug the USB cable into your iPhone and into an available USB port on your computer.
  2. If your iPhone displays an alert asking "Trust This Computer?", tap Trust.

Your Ubuntu computer will recognize the tethered connection and it will appear in the System Menu as an additional "Wired Connection."

Note: USB tethering from an iPhone to Ubuntu was reported as broken in iOS 14. If you're on an affected version, updating iOS or using Bluetooth tethering instead may resolve the issue. Learn more about this issue.

Step 4

Open Speedify. Once running, Speedify will automatically detect both your Ethernet connection and your tethered iPhone connection and begin combining them. You'll see both connections listed on the Speedify dashboard.

Speedify works in the background to route your internet traffic across both connections at once, so you get faster upload and download speeds and stay online even if one connection drops.

Alternative: Share Connections Wirelessly with Pair & Share

If you'd prefer a wireless approach, Speedify's Pair & Share feature lets you combine 4G/5G cellular connections across multiple devices without a USB cable.

  1. Install Speedify on all devices you want to pair.
  2. Make sure all devices are on the same Wi-Fi network or local network.
  3. Open Pair & Share in the Speedify settings and tap the device you want to pair with to send a pairing invitation.
  4. Accept the invitation on the other device.

Once paired, both devices can share and receive each other's connections at the same time. All internet traffic between paired devices is fully encrypted, and you stay in control of permissions, connection limits, and which devices are paired at any time.

Did you know - Speedify can combine more than just two internet connections at once? If you have additional connections available (like a Wi-Fi network), you can add them all and Speedify will use them together for even faster upload and download speeds. Learn more about combining multiple internet connections with Speedify.