How to Use iPhone As a Personal Hotspot to Share Your Internet Connection
Step by Step To Use iPhone As a Personal Hotspot
“Ever been stuck in a situation where you need to get a computer or tablet online with no Wi-Fi nearby?
If you’ve got an iPhone with a 3G or 4G data connection, your problem can be easily solved and thank to Personal Hotspot.
Perhaps, you are just going out, and there is no free Wi-Fi available. It is possible for you to use your iPhone’s internet connection on your laptop or tablet, known as “Personal Hotspot” on your iPhone, or tethering. It allows you to use it over USB or Wi-Fi. Before we are going to tell you on how to use iPhone As a Personal Hotspot, note that not all cellular carriers provide this feature in their plan. If the cellular data plan does not provide the tethering, you may not see the Personal Hotspot option available on your device.
When you use your iPhone as the data connection, it means that you are going with the mobile data plan. It is not a big matter if you have unlimited data or large cap. Even though you are going with the unlimited data, you may have a good chance to use the limited amount of tethering data.
However, your carrier may charge you in case that you need more tethering data. Therefore, we recommend you always to check your cellular plan anytime you want to use it as a hotspot, or tethering. Follow these simple iPhone instructions to use your iPhone as a personal hotspot.
Personal Hotspot Explained
Personal Hotspot is a feature of iOS that lets iPhones running iOS 4.3 and higher share their cellular data connection with other nearby devices via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or USB. This feature is generically known as tethering. When using Personal Hotspot, your iPhone acts like a wireless router for the other devices, transmitting and receiving data for them.
Personal Hotspot Requirements
In order to use Personal Hotspot on an iPhone, you need:
- An iPhone 4 or newer
- iOS 4.3 or higher
- A data plan that supports tethering/Personal Hotspot
- A USB cable, if you want to connect devices that way.
When you use your iPhone as the data connection, it means that you are going with the mobile data plan. It is not a big matter if you have unlimited data or large cap. Even though you are going with the unlimited data, you may have a good chance to use the limited amount of tethering data. However, your carrier may charge you in case that you need more tethering data. Therefore, we recommend you always to check your cellular plan anytime you want to use it as a hotspot, or tethering. Follow these simple iPhone instructions to use your iPhone as a personal hotspot.
Step by Step To Use iPhone As a Personal Hotspot
There are some ways to connect your iPhone and then use it for data connection such as Wi-Fi, USB, and Bluetooth. Below are the steps to start.
- Go to the Settings app and choose “Personal Hotspot” if you want to access the Personal Hotspot settings.
2. Before doing anything more, it is recommendable to tap “Wi-Fi password” that allows you to change the password of the hotspot. We think it is better for you to have a strong password if you do not want anyone who connects his or her phone to your hotspot. Even if you do not have a plan on connecting via Wi-Fi, it is still important to add a strong password. It is because when you turn the Personal Hotspot on, it means you are broadcasting the Wi-Fi network.
Well, you are done. You can now turn the Personal Hotspot on by using the switch, at the top of the Personal Hotspot settings. It is also possible for you to connect your hotspot with the use of a USB cable. It is the easiest method to tether your iPhone. Turn on your Hotspot and plug your phone in by using a USB cable. Go to Windows’ network adapters; you can find that the internet connection connected via “Apple Mobile Device Ethernet.”
Choosing to use Personal Hotspot using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth will switch both these options on. To save your battery, you should switch Personal Hotspot, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth back off when you’re finished using it. That is the tutorial on how to use iPhone As a Personal Hotspot.
When you connect a device to your Personal Hotspot, the status bar turns blue and shows how many devices have joined. The number of devices that can join your Personal Hotspot at one time depends on your carrier and iPhone model. If other devices have joined your Personal Hotspot using Wi-Fi, you can use only cellular data to connect to the Internet from the host device.
- Be sure you turn off the Wi-Fi hotspot feature on your iPhone when you no longer need shared internet access from other devices. Leaving it turned on can drain your iPhone’s battery.
- The hotspot feature uses strong WPA2 protection. If you try to connect with an old computer that doesn’t support WPA2, you’ll need to upgrade the computer’s wireless card before it can join your iPhone’s network.
- Keep in mind the data costs and limits when using the hotspot feature. Unless you have an unlimited data plan, it is a good idea to monitor your data usage.
