USB or Wi-Fi

Both paths stay on your desk and your own network.

Use the cable when you can. It needs no network and no pairing, and it isn’t affected by a busy Wi-Fi. Use Wi-Fi when you want the tablet free to move.

	USB cable	Wi-Fi
What you need	A USB data cable. On Windows, the phone’s USB mode set to File transfer.	The computer and the device on the same Wi-Fi network. On Windows, the network set to Private, and Wi-Fi turned on in PixelBridge’s settings.
USB debugging	Not needed	Not needed
First time	Plug in. The cable is the trust, so there is no pairing.	Pair once: scan a code, or match a six-digit code.
After that	Starts by itself when you plug in	Reconnects by itself when you open the app
Security	A physical link between your two devices	Encrypted with AES-256-GCM

When a cable is plugged in, PixelBridge uses it, even if Wi-Fi is also available.

Why “same network” matters

Over Wi-Fi, the app finds your computer by listening on the local network, and that announcement doesn’t cross from one network to another. A tablet on a guest network or a different Wi-Fi than the computer won’t see it. Some networks also block devices from seeing each other (guest Wi-Fi, hotel and office networks with “isolation”). On those, use the cable.

Read on: Connecting over USB · Connecting over Wi-Fi · Pairing