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I have already read other questions relating to sharing Internet connection from the Phone to the PC. This as most of us know works out of the box in latest Ubuntu (and for some it just needs to either add an additional package or install a package in the cell). This is not the case here.

What I am looking for is the following:

  1. Internet arrives at the PC via ethernet cable.
  2. PC has Bluetooth and I would like to share the internet via Bluetooth.
  3. Phone should connect to Bluetooth and receive Internet via Bluetooth.

How can I share an Internet connection via Bluetooth from the PC to the Phone. Already tested Blueman and is not working for this.

I am using a Nokia n900 and a Samsung Galaxy S.

Braiam
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Luis Alvarado
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  • The answer depends on what kind of phone you want to use.Not every modern phone can see PAND/DUND as network.As far as I know only Palm(old), Nokia N9/N00, Symbians60v2/3 based phones(requires gnubox) & iphone has the capability to do that. Android with ICS may work(Only DUN).You can install PAND/DUND from 'bluez-compact' package. Get help from these topics: post1, post2, post3. – Khurshid Alam Apr 25 '12 at 23:27
  • In my case I am using a N900 and a Huawei MT8220. Also none of the links you posted will solve this problem. They only apply for very old versions. In some cases VERY old versions. – Luis Alvarado Apr 25 '12 at 23:29
  • @RohithRaveendran you should actually move the answer here since that would be a duplicate of this one. – Luis Alvarado Feb 19 '13 at 19:26
  • @Musher are you using a phone that tethering over bluetooth can be enabled on? – Jeremy31 Aug 20 '15 at 22:01
  • @Musher why not use WiFi? – daltonfury42 Aug 21 '15 at 19:12
  • @Jeremy31 Fairly certain - LG G4 on T-Mobile – Mitch Aug 24 '15 at 23:39
  • @daltonfury42 because by default android doesn't support ad-hoc connections, and for some reason setting it to 'infrastructure' doesn't work either – Mitch Aug 24 '15 at 23:40
  • @Musher, I could get it working on couple of laptops by setting it to ap by editing the configs. 1) Create a hotspot 2) Switch off WiFi. 3) Edit /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/<hotspot-name>, set the value from infrastructure or adhoc to ap. 4) Save and exit, switch on wifi. 5) Start the previously created Hotspot (From Connect to hidden Networks...) – daltonfury42 Aug 25 '15 at 10:26

2 Answers2

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I am not sure if there is any good way using native bluetooth app that ships with ubuntu but I am going to use a pretty old app called blueman.

install it using 

sudo apt-get install blueman

Now from unity search (from dash) for blueman and you will get bluetooth manager click on that and you will get window and blueman service will be enabled.

now you can see two bluetooth icons on top panel of unity. one will be native and other will be blueman's

click on blueman's icon and click local services.

selecting local services

Now a new window **Local Services** pops up, in it click on 'network' and enable Network Access point, click apply and save it.

enabling network

Now you can access internet using bluetooth of your computer after pairing them and connecting.

Nafees
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Rohith Raveendran
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  • The small downside seems to be that then there are two identical Bluetooth icons in the top panel, as seen on the screenshot above. A bit confusing, but works. – tuomassalo Mar 28 '13 at 21:05
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    In 12.04 it was working file. But now in 14.04 it's not working. I can't see the blueman icon either. – Sambit Jun 02 '14 at 09:50
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    You can start the Local Services... by executing blueman-services. – Wernight Nov 10 '14 at 10:01
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    I started Local Services with blueman-services, and my screen looks the same as above. I even installed dnsmasq and bridge-utils. Once I do this, my other computer can connect, but it doesn't receive the proper IP address. Even when I set it manually, ping fails. Perhaps this is just broken in 14.04? – Brandon Apr 11 '15 at 10:40
  • Any other solution / alternatives for ubuntu 14.04 and 14.10 ? – dawez May 23 '15 at 04:19
  • Rohith, tried this on 14.10; not working :( what might be the issue? – Alex Dec 12 '15 at 12:04
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    Tried it on 16.04 and it does not work. – conualfy Sep 16 '16 at 10:48
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    I use also Blueman - and I was able to "eliminate" the native bluetooth icon (Ubuntu 15.xx, 16.04 and now 16.10) by clicking in the main on/off at top right / System settings (or like that) / Bluetooth / Bluetooth status show up in menu (or similar). BTW Bluetooth sharing is something "ancient", so it is very likely that phone side does not know it (meanwhile Ubuntu side provides). – V-Mark Oct 24 '17 at 18:54
  • works in 16.04 , see https://www.howtogeek.com/214375/how-to-reverse-tether-an-android-smartphone-or-tablet-to-your-pc/ – Ferroao Mar 24 '18 at 23:04
  • For Ubuntu 17.10 (and probably for future versions as well), you'll need net-tools package, otherwise Apply button will fail with a "ifconfig command not found" error. You can install it by sudo apt install net-tools. – Alexandre Schmidt Dec 13 '18 at 17:52
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    Works on Ubuntu 18.04 with Android device just as described without any additional commands on Ubuntu.

    Nb: On the Android device , after pairing the device with the computer:

    • Click on the Settings (Gear icon) button near your computer from the list of paired devices;
    • tick the Internet access option;
    • and you are good to go.
     – SAdATT Oct 14 '19 at 23:57
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    Found versions of this answer all around but none of them worked for me, laptop would pair up and connect to phone, I'd tick the 'internet access' option and nothing would happen. In the end, what helped was in blueman -> plugins turning off NMPAN Support and turning on DhcpClient. I'd guess that'd be the equivalent of switching from "NetworkManager" to "Blueman (dhclient)" in the above window under "PAN support". Seconds after that, my phone got internet. – penelope Jan 22 '20 at 11:13
  • Need to kill dnsmasq and run it again with dhcp-option: https://github.com/blueman-project/blueman/issues/1487 – o0omycomputero0o Feb 18 '23 at 16:03
-1

Works fine with 16.04.4

When you link your phone to your computer per bluetooth, be sure that your bluetooth works with an internet connection. You have to wait a few seconds after the internet bluetooth link is up

foggy67
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