Where to get a backup connection
KickShield moves the game onto a second link, but it cannot give you the link itself. The good news: it is usually already in your pocket.
The one rule that matters more than the rest
The backup has to be connected before the main line dies. Switching costs a second only because the second route is already standing by — a link you bring up after the outage takes as long as logging back in, so it saves nothing. Bring it up together with the game and stop thinking about it.
The surest route: the phone on a USB cable
USB tethering hands your computer a second network adapter — separate from the one you already have, and it does not care whether you sit on a cable or on Wi-Fi. A Wi-Fi hotspot cannot do that: one Wi-Fi card holds one network at a time, so moving to the phone would cut the router off instead of backing it up. A cable also picks up none of the interference from the neighbours' networks, does not drop when the phone's screen goes dark, and the battery climbs instead of draining, because the phone charges while it works. Plug it in when you sit down to play and forget it is there.
- The cable has to carry data — This is the one place it falls over. Some charger cables carry power only, and the phone then says nothing at all when you plug it in. Use the one you move photos with — USB-C to USB-C, or USB-C to USB-A.
- Samsung — Plug the cable in, swipe down from the top of the screen and turn on the “USB tethering” tile. Until the cable is in, the tile stays greyed out. If it is not in the panel: Settings → Connections → Mobile Hotspot and Tethering → USB tethering.
- Other Androids — The same thing under a different name: look for “USB tethering” or “Share internet over USB” in the network settings. Many brands also put it in the quick panel at the top. Google's guide, good for every brand
- Xiaomi — Settings → Portable hotspot → USB tethering. Xiaomi's own instructions
- iPhone — Personal Hotspot works over a cable too, but on Windows it needs Apple Devices or iTunes installed. Do that now, not during an outage — this is the one phone where the cable takes preparation. Apple's instructions
When the cable is out
A Wi-Fi hotspot is the second choice and it comes with one condition: the computer needs a spare radio. A laptop plugged into the router has one — turn the hotspot on, connect the computer to it once and leave it that way; traffic keeps running over the cable while Wi-Fi waits on standby. A computer living on Wi-Fi alone has no spare radio, so a hotspot gives it nothing: moving to the phone would cut the router off. There the cable is not a convenience, it is the only way.
When the phone itself is out
Out of data, or your operator blocks sharing? Then you need someone else's network — a neighbour's, usually, with their permission — and something to reach it with. A USB Wi-Fi adapter costs very little and goes into any free port, so a computer that only had a cable gains a second, independent route.
How to tell it is ready
The KickShield window lists “Your links”. Two entries, with “standing by” next to the second one, and you are done. You never pick or switch anything by hand — the app does it and tells you about the outage in one line, after the fact.