Android USB tethering shares your phone's mobile data connection with a Windows PC over a USB cable, creating a wired network interface that is faster and more stable than Wi-Fi hotspot mode. Windows recognizes a tethered Android phone as a Remote NDIS (RNDIS) network adapter, but the required driver is not always installed automatically. This guide covers enabling tethering on the phone, installing the RNDIS driver on Windows, and fixing the most common failure modes.
Connect the phone to the Windows PC with a USB cable before enabling tethering. The cable must be data-capable, not charge-only. Then on the Android phone:
After enabling, the phone's USB connection switches from its current mode (MTP or charging) to RNDIS networking mode. Windows should detect a new network adapter within 5–10 seconds. If it does not, the RNDIS driver is either missing or not loading correctly.
RNDIS stands for Remote Network Driver Interface Specification. It is a Microsoft protocol that wraps Ethernet frames in USB transfers, making the phone appear as a standard Ethernet adapter to Windows. Android has supported RNDIS since Android 2.2, and every phone with USB tethering capability uses this protocol.
Windows 10 and 11 include the RNDIS driver in the driver store (rndismp.sys). In most cases, connecting a tethering-active Android phone triggers automatic driver installation via Windows Update. When automatic installation fails, it is usually because Windows Update is blocked, the device is not identified as RNDIS by Windows, or a previous failed installation left a corrupt device entry in Device Manager.
With USB tethering enabled on the phone and the cable connected, open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc). Look for one of these entries:
If the entry appears under Network Adapters without a warning icon, RNDIS is working. Skip to the troubleshooting section if the internet connection is not actually flowing. If the entry is under Other Devices with a warning icon, proceed to manual driver installation.
Windows already contains the RNDIS driver files — the issue is that Windows is not automatically applying them to the new device. To force the correct driver:
After installation, the device moves from Other Devices to Network Adapters. The PC should receive an IP address from the phone within a few seconds and internet access should begin working.
Windows 11 enforces stricter driver signing policies than Windows 10. Some RNDIS driver packages downloaded from phone manufacturers or third-party sites are not WHQL-signed and will fail to install with the error: "Windows cannot verify the digital signature for the drivers required for this device."
Since the solution above uses the built-in Microsoft RNDIS driver (which is already signed), signature issues should not occur with that method. If you are trying to install a manufacturer-supplied RNDIS driver (e.g., from a brand-specific USB driver package) and it is unsigned, you have two options:
Option 1: Use the built-in Microsoft RNDIS driver as described above. It works with every Android phone regardless of manufacturer.
Option 2: Temporarily disable driver signature enforcement for one boot session:
On systems with Secure Boot enabled, disabling driver signature enforcement is blocked. In that case, use the Microsoft RNDIS driver exclusively.
If RNDIS appears in Network Adapters but the PC has no internet access, the issue is usually IP assignment or network routing:
Check if the adapter received an IP address. Open Command Prompt and run:
ipconfigLook for the Remote NDIS Based Internet Sharing Device adapter. It should show an IP address in the 192.168.42.x or 192.168.43.x range (Android's default tethering subnet), a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, and a default gateway matching the phone's IP (typically 192.168.42.129).
If the adapter shows 169.254.x.x (APIPA), the phone's DHCP server did not respond. Disable and re-enable USB tethering on the phone while keeping the cable connected.
Check DNS resolution. If ping works by IP but not by domain name:
ping 8.8.8.8
ping google.comIf the first ping succeeds and the second fails, DNS is not routing through the tethered connection. Set a manual DNS in the RNDIS adapter's IPv4 settings to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
Multiple active network adapters can conflict. If the PC has an active Wi-Fi connection with a higher routing metric, traffic may route over Wi-Fi rather than the tethered USB connection. Disable Wi-Fi while using USB tethering, or set the metric of the RNDIS adapter lower: open the adapter's Properties > IPv4 > Advanced, uncheck Automatic metric, and enter 1.
Windows 11 version 22H2 and later sometimes recognizes an Android tethering connection as a metered network and restricts background app updates over it. To disable metered status: right-click the network icon in the system tray, open Network & Internet Settings, click on the RNDIS/Ethernet connection, and toggle Metered connection off. This is a system setting, not a driver issue, but it can make the tethered connection appear broken when background network activity is simply being suppressed.