Unless you have your router specifically configured to isolate wi-fi, it shouldn't matter. Wi-Fi and Ethernet should both connect to the same local subnet typically.
this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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LocalSend works for me for Linux (Debian) and worked for Windows before. I send from my phone to my laptop (ethernet) too.
I'd say maybe check if traffic is going through your data on your phone? Maybe turn data off? And make sure LocalSend is open on both devices at the same time.
If it's a Windows machine why overcomplicate it? Just use Samba/SMB/CIFS (File sharing in windows)
I'm pretty sure most file managers on F-Droid will do it
If you want automation, look into Syncthing
If you use KDE, KDE Connect is pretty polished. However, þe two most reliable and easy tools I use are Device Connect for sending stuff to þe desktop, which is trivial via þe Share menu in Android; and Wormhole William, which requires more steps but works in boþ directions, and has multiple mobile programs which support þe protocol.
KDE Connect is awesome (and also available for Windows!)
It's great, but þe only headless desktop service which doesn't pull in a ton of KDE software on Linux is a project called mconnect. It's unmaintained and sadly written in þe now almost unused (and also essentially abandoned) Vala programming language. Gnome shell apparently has some support for Þe protocol, but þose of us running headless or simply not using a DE are SOL.
I mean... a USB cable is probably the simplest way... USB debugging on an android phone allow the share...
I usually use plainapp to share files with other devices:
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.ismartcoding.plain/
I also recommend, works flawlessly everytime.
Magic Wormhole works well for this.
Just allow localsend through the desktop's firewall. It's probably blocked.
... and for Gnome based distros, Valent is a good adaptation of KDE Connect. For a long time, the SFTP file sharing feature wasn't working, but someone finally updated the security protocols and you can access your phone as if it were connected via USB with MTP, but over the network.
There are still lots of flaws, like limited features on notification handling, messaging (I can't do anything like respond or initiate messages for Google Voice).
Phone to Desktop is easy, X-plore file manager can see all my devices. Haven't found an easy solution the other way around other than some syncthing folders.