Using your Mobile as a WiFi Hotspot

How can a Wi-Fi Hotspot benefit you?

Laptops are a great way to connect to the world, they are small, light and fast unfortunately unless it has a 4g connectivity card you will need to rely on a wifi connection.

Although free wifi is almost everywhere some places are not and require payment which can become frustrating, especially if you only need it for a small amount of time.

Luckily though you have the ability to connect your laptop to the internet via your mobile, this is what’s known as Tethering.

Once this is activated you become the hotspot that allows other users to connect (make sure you setup a password).

Some operators prevent mobile tethering and you will know this as a warning message will appear before going any further. It is advised to contact your operator to find out what type of tariff you have that might prevent hotspot tethering.

Depending on the mobile tariff you have will affect how much you can use. If you have unlimited data a month, then you can use as much as you like however, if you are limited to 1gb or 2gb a month you will have to monitor your usage more closely.

Most up-to-date android and apple iPhones have a setting that can set the data limit from 10mb to 100mb.

Hotspot

Using wifi hotspot not only uses your data but can also drain your battery a lot quicker than usual, It’s a good idea to have a power bank with you just in case.

Setting up Wifi Hotspot for iPhone

  1. Open the Settings app, then select Mobile Data. (In iOS 10. In some older versions of iOS you just selected Mobile.)
  2. Tap Personal Hotspot, and set Personal Hotspot to On. (Tap the slide so it turns green.)
  3. If Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth are off, iOS will ask if you want to turn them back on. We’d recommend doing so: without them, the hotspot will be limited to USB. This is more secure, however.
  4. Tap ‘Wi-Fi Password’ and enter a suitable password. (This isn’t related to your Apple ID or usual Wi-Fi connection.)
  5. Now check the name of the hotspot listed under To Connect Using Wi-Fi.
  6. Click the Wi-Fi icon in your Mac’s Menu bar, or open the Settings app and tap Wi-Fi on an iPad, and choose the Wi-Fi hotspot.
  7. Enter the password from Step 4.

Setting up WiFi Hotspot for Android

  • on May 23, 2017