Most hotels charge for Internet access. Stupid. Can I use my Apple iPhone 5 as a wifi hotspot instead? My iPhone’s with AT&T Wireless.
Oh, the number of times I have been stuck paying for Internet access at hotels throughout the world! It is pretty stupid and makes me wonder if some day they’ll charge for clean towels or bar soap. In fact, since Internet is a fixed cost, it’s probably cheaper per guest night than soap and shampoo so what the heck? Oh, I know, two words: profit center.
Yeah, that darn capitalism strikes again. And then there’s AT&T, which also seeks to maximize its revenue per customer because, well, it’s a business and that’s its primary mission, as with all businesses.
And so, it’s no surprise that until recently, having your Apple iPhone 5s or similar be able to serve as a wifi hotspot was an additional charge. An additional $10/mo, if I recall correctly.
But a funny thing happened on the way to them introducing the new Family Plan in Feb 2014: that same personal wifi hotspot capability suddenly got bundled with the package, even though in my experience, none of the people at the AT&T Stores knew about it or bothered to mention it.
Yeah, this means that if you’re on the family plan, you might well have had this capability sitting idle for months without realizing it!
The way to tell is on your iPhone itself. Go to “Settings”…
See where it says “Personal Hotspot”? Tap on that.
Most likely, here’s what you’ll see (though your default password will be different to mine):
There are a couple of things to notice here before you enable the wifi hotspot. First and foremost, once you enable the personal hotspot you can use it via wifi, bluetooth or via USB. That’s pretty cool: you can use your phone’s wifi connection and charge your phone at the same time!
You can also change your access password by simply tapping on the default password. I changed mine!
To enable it, tap on the slider adjacent to “Personal Hotspot”. It’ll turn green and you’re good to go:
I’m up! Now, on my MacBook Pro, when I check to see which wireless networks are available, a new one shows up:
Notice it has a funky icon, not the usual padlock or blank spot adjacent to the power indicator. The chain link is the indicator for a personal hotspot and you occasionally see other people’s networks listed on your Wifi list too.
I’ll also warn you that sometimes it takes 15+ seconds for the hotspot to appear on the list after you’ve enabled it. Not sure why, but don’t be surprised if it isn’t an immediate appearance.
Choose the personal hotspot from your iPhone and…
If you’re thinking I typed in “jamaljamal” you’re not paying attention! 🙂
Enter the right password, click “Join” and after a few seconds you’re online through the AT&T Wireless network. Sweet.
And on your phone? You’ll see a blue status indicator on the top of every screen to ensure you know it’s in use:
When you’re done, I strongly recommend you go back and turn off the personal hotspot to ensure that you don’t accidentally use it and eat up all the bandwidth in your AT&T Wireless account plan. And you do realize that any data you consume comes out of your 3GB, 5GB, 10GB or other monthly wireless plan, right? So use this sparingly. No streaming Netflix!
Hope that gets you up and started. And if you’re not sure what plan you’re on, please check with AT&T to ensure that you have the hotspot feature enabled without the risk of incurring additional charges on your cellphone bill. 🙂
AT&T does not offer hotspot with their unlimited data plans. Hotspot only available with the 45$ plan limited data I think only 4 or possibly 5Gs on data. Cust Service basically said that they used to have hotspots on all plans but users were taking advantage of the hotspot data. Makes no sense to me!
Ok with unlimited data is there an extra charge for using hotspot? I’m on my brothers plan and don’t want to muck it up
Check with your local AT&T store to confirm, but last time I checked, yes there was an extra charge for using your phone as a hotspot if you have unlimited data…
Dave – thanks for the info. You mentioned not to stream Netflix. I have the 15 GB AT&T plan. How much does an hour of streaming Netflix on an Apple TV use? I am on vacation in Scottsdale and want to avoid signing a contract with an Internet provider. Thanks, also Dave
Don’t know how much an hour of streaming Netflix will use, but you can figure it out: Use the AT&T app to see how much data you’ve used, then watch 30 min of your show, then go back to the app and see how much data was consumed with that. Make sense?
Can personal hotspot be used without cellular data turned on ?
Nope. What would it mean to have a hotspot if that device wasn’t online?
You can disable cellular data and still have wifi enabled…. That is what you do when over seas out of the country…
I am at a hotel and have my iPhone on wifi connection can I use that connection to create a hotspot so I only have to pay for one connection for my family
I don’t have cellular data turned on
Any advice ?
Dave,
I am amazed – I looked at my iPhone and guess what – I have a personal HOTSPOT
– I recently changed plans and you are correct – NO ONE MENTIONED that the HOTSPOT was part of the bundle
THANK YOU –
Loving you- Donna B