The interesting feature has been seen last month in the testing stage for the Android Nougat OS. Instant Tethering is a function that lets you share a cellular mobile data connection through Wi-Fi in an automatic and perfect way. It is now being rolled out on a larger scale, but initially it was brought exclusively to the Pixel devices and the most recent phone and tablets from the Nexus series.
The support documentation has been made public and the Pixel, Pixel XL, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Pixel C can use a shared connection without having to enter a password before. However, Pixel C and Nexus 9 need to run Android 6.0 and newer, and if you want to be a host, you need to run 7.1.1 or newer. More importantly, both of the devices have to run on the same Google Account so that the feature would work. Make sure that you are also running Play Services 10.2.98 or even newer versions, but besides this, the feature requires a server-side part too.
To start, you have to turn on the feature from the Settings/ Google/ Instant Tethering. Choose “Provide data connection” and thus start the host device, and “Get data connection” for receiving it. Make sure Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are turned on all the time through the process. If the tablet remains without any connection, but a nearby host has a cellular data connection on, you will see a notification about a “Wi-Fi hotspot available”. Press “Connect” in order to begin, but you can also start using the feature manually if you go to the Instant Tethering settings. However, pay attention! Since this functionality is consuming lots of battery, it will be automatically turned off if you stop using it for 10 minutes.
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