How to do wifi sharing? (Greyed out)

[SlicePi]

 (I have a s24fe)

I'm on a cruise ship with unlimited wifi for 1 account.

Want to share my wifi with someone else but it's greyed out.

Finding the option was difficult as if Samsung was trying to hide it. Why is it located under the password sub menu?

Mobile hotspot -> password -> advanced )

anyway, How to enable it?

[MrGhoul]

Confirm that your mobile plan includes hotspot capabilities. some carriers may restrict this feature based on your plan.

Ensure that Wi-Fi is turned off on your device. Many smartphones do not allow Wi-Fi and hotspot sharing simultaneously. Hotspot features often require mobile data to be enabled to activate Hotspot features. Check that mobile data is active.

If you are still having difficulty with Wi-Fi sharing capabilities, you will need to contact your carrier for assistance.

[realaud]

Are you and the person/people you are sharing with joined at the hip and together at all times while onboard?  If you only need to share while in your cabin, I suggest getting a travel router, rather than attempting to use internet share through the mobile hotspot (which actually requires you not to be in airplane mode - not a good idea on a ship).  My travel companion and I usually buy a 2 device plan, even when we are in separate cabins.  However, they used to do some work while onboard and needed to also connect their laptop without disconnecting the phone from wi-fi, so they obtained a travel router and have had no issue with sharing.  Neither I nor they have ever figured out how to share using the phone's share feature, but my nephew has through some series of manipulations that I consider too troublesome to bother with.  Also, cruise lines go out of their way to block this kind of sharing, although most of them are not successful at it.

I don't think Samsung, specifically, is trying to hide the setting.  I think that's an Android thing, or the way the carrier tweaks the updates.  I checked my  old phone which is still running Android 13, and the internet share is completely separate from the Mobile hotspot settings. When the hotspot and tethering setting is opened, it shows mobile hotspot, internet sharing, Bluetooth tethering.  You might try sharing the connection via Bluetooth tethering and allowing the other device(s) to pair with yours.  If you have an older device as backup or want to obtain a phone running Android 13 for travel purposes, that would likely work for your purposes - you would still be able to insert your carrier's SIM for wi-fi calling.

[SlicePi]

I tried Bluetooth share   with my laptop.

It paired but wouldn't connect. 

No, not joined at the hip But nice to have when we're outside the cabin.

When in the cabin, I use my laptop to connect to the ship wifi and hotspot my laptop so all our devices have Internet (phones, laptop, tablet).

Thx for letting me know it's an Android quirk about hiding the wifi sharing, and not by Samsung 

[realaud]

It is much easier to share wi-fi from an internet only device, such as a laptop or non-LTE tablet.  The settings are clear-cut.  Even if you were able to share it on the phone outside the cabin, you would still need to be near enough to each other to be in proximity of the signal.  You can't be at the pool and the other party in the gym (although in that type of situation, it's probably better to just hand off the internet connection to the person not in the water.) 😊

[Rodairio]

This is the answer for my Verizon Galaxy S23.  Go to Settings -> Connections -> Mobile Hotspot and Tethering -> and click on the line with the toggle switch for Mobile Hotspot.  That will open the Mobile Hotspot interface.  Click on Network Name and where there is the spot to choose Band, make sure only 2.4 Ghz or 5Ghz is selected/preferred, not both.  Wi-Fi Sharing which appears on that same page under "Advanced" will be grayed out if both 2.4 and 5 GHz are enabled, but will be available if only one is enabled.  Furthermore, once you do this, you will not be prompted to turn off Wi-Fi to enable Mobile Hotspot.  If you are wondering, yes, I agree, this is totally hidden and non-intuitive.

[SlicePi]

Thx. That worked! I set it at 5ghz.

But even though my phone is 1 foot away from my win10 laptop, the laptop sometimes loses connection. 

This happens multiple times in an hr, which is annoying. 

Any idea why?

[realaud]

As I said before, cruise lines do everything they can to thwart internet connection sharing, so it could be interference from the ship.

[realaud]

In addition to what @Rodairio said, in that setting, make sure support wi-fi6 standard is off, To my knowledge, most ships do not support that standard and it could be impeding the connectivity.  You can't turn the hotspot on in airplane mode, but you can if you only turn mobile data off.  Doing this, however, may result in getting charged for calls received, even if you don't answer and it goes to voicemail (vm is considered answering the phone).  Prior to turning off airplane mode, you might want to forward all calls  unconditionally to voicemail, so the phone doesn't even ring.  You will still get your vm notifications, but if you make a call, make sure you are on wi-fi calling, not your carrier calling - or, worse, sea calling.  For that option, though, you might want to turn airplane mode on to return calls.