Your Chromebook Could Soon Act as a Wi-Fi Hotspot

You could soon have another device that can act as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot – your Chromebook.

According to 9to5Google, Google is already working on an update for Chromebooks that would enable them to share cellular internet connection to other devices through Wi-Fi. The feature was first spotted by the site in Chromium Gerrit, the web-based code collaboration tool that Google developers use for updates, in the form of a new flag coming to chrome://flags.

While details are still slim as of now, the site suggests that hotspot on ChromeOS will likely work the same as it does on existing Android devices. This means you can simply go to your connection settings and toggle the feature on and off from there. You'll also likely be able to easily change the name and password of your hotspot connection.

Giving Chromebooks the ability to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot seems to make perfect sense. For one, the portable computers already have the hardware to support the feature. New models, for instance, ship with mobile data support, letting you set them up for on-the-go connectivity.

Two, they have bigger batteries than your mobile phones, which is likely what you use today if you need a mobile connection. This will, of course, allow you to stay online for much longer, though it's not yet known how much battery the feature will consume on Chromebooks versus that of a mobile phone. Then again, these measures will depend on what device you're using.

Lastly, Chromebooks have become very accessible devices for everyday consumers in recent years. Many have purchased them for use in work-related tasks and having these devices support hotspot can transform them into the optimal remote workstations, one which you can connect your other devices to.

The feature, however, is said to be still in-the-works and likely won’t be rolled out until later this year.

Google is reportedly working on an update for Chromebooks that would enable them to share cellular internet connection to other devices through Wi-Fi.
The feature was first spotted Chromium Gerrit, the web-based code collaboration tool that Google developers use for updates.
While details are still slim as of now, it's been suggested the feature on Chromebooks could work the same as it does on existing Android devices.