I can usually get online by using the local wi-fi when I travel, but occasionally there’s none, or it’s not working. Is there a way to use my Apple iPhone 7 as a portable Internet hotspot in those situations?
Generally speaking, the answer is yes, your iPhone is quite capable of being a good Internet hotspot for connection via Wi-Fi, bluetooth or even directly through USB. The wrinkle is that for many carriers it’s an additional feature that might have a separate monthly cost associated. AT&T Wireless, for example, only offers it as a free feature on accounts that have a data quota; if you’re on an unlimited plan, your mobile hotspot will be disabled.
It’s easy to tell whether that’s the case with your iPhone 7, so let’s go through the steps to see. I will note that if you are on a quota system, using your phone as a mobile hotspot can quickly consume data, so I recommend using it judiciously until you get the hang of how enthusiastic your use is, and skip the Netflix streaming and YouTube perusal!
To start out, just launch Settings. Your view should be pretty similar to the below:
Different carriers seem to have slightly different entries on the Settings screen so your choices and the wording of those choices might vary slightly. If you don’t see “Personal Hotspot” at all, then you don’t have it available and you’ll need to talk to your carrier about what’s involved in getting it enabled. Sorry ’bout that.
Hopefully you do have it, however, so tap on “Personal Hotspot” to see your connection options:
You can see that there are three different ways you can connect to your hotspot once enabled: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or via USB. The most secure of the three is definitely USB since there’s no way anyone else, however enthused, can tap into your data stream, but in my experience, they’re all pretty secure and, as a bonus, let you sidestep the danger of someone else “sniffing” (monitoring) your data communication.
The name of the network is the name of your phone — you can see my iPhone 7 is called “iDave 7“. I’ve used that naming convention for a long time and when my iPhone X shows up, you guessed it, it’ll be called “iDave X”. My password is complex and yet super easy to remember: “HiDave!!” (not exactly my regular password, btw).
To fire up the old personal hotspot, all I need to do is tap on the slider so that it turns green:
Want to change your password? Not a bad idea at all! Simply tap on the “Wi-Fi Password” line and you’ll get some guidelines on a good password and a keyboard to tap in your new entry:
Because of the constraints around WPA secure connectivity, your password need to have at least 8 characters, but otherwise just do something memorable – or super complicated since you’re likely the only person who will ever enter it!
Once you have it up and running, it’ appears to be just another wifi network so will work for any device, including Chromebooks, Microsoft Surface, Android tablets, even a smartTV box. Be careful about data demands, however, lest you find you’ve just blown through your monthly data allotment in an afternoon!
Oh, and on a MacBook running MacOS X, it shows up as just another wifi option:
Quite easy, actually, and you can just pop back into Settings to turn it back off when you’re done (or ignore it and know that it’s ready when you are, and using no resources otherwise). Note that if you have a poor or zero cellular signal that a personal mobile hotspot won’t work: its performance is directly related to how strong the cellular phone signal is in that area. Still, I’ve used it with good results on trains and in other areas where there were few alternatives or I didn’t trust the available networks.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for posting this up. Tethering is so handy when I’m travelling on the road and constantly pulling out the laptop at local cafes.
One trick I found was I re-named my hotspot with a call to action and my website “Need leads?www.fireflysearch.co.nz”
That way, when people are in busy cafes, they can see my WIFI hotspot and potentially reach out and head over to our website. I know some cafes I’m posted at there can be over one hundred busy professionals there.
I’ve received one lead so far, so it’s been worth it.
Anyway, thanks for the content.
Cheers,