You can share your iPhone’s data connection with your Mac or iPad (or PC) and browse the internet on the go. How to create a hotspot on iPhone?
Should I create a Wi-Fi hotspot on my iPhone?
Let’s say you travel with an iPhone and a MacBook or Wi-Fi only iPad and you want to work. At this time, you have two options: do work on devices with a larger screen, but without the possibility of connecting to online resources; or go online but you’re stuck on a smaller screen.
Transforming the iPhone into a Wi-Fi hotspot gives a useful third option, allowing you to connect your laptop and tablet to the phone’s internet connection. Wi-Fi hotspots are perfect for working on the go.
Turning an iPhone into a hotspot is easy, but you can first check with your telephone operator or at least check the terms of the contract; while most networks will include Tethering as part of your plan, some networks prefer not to do so and may charge additional fees (or limit the data limit) if they notice you are creating a hotspot. For example, the network may include Tethering as part of the data limit if you pay monthly, but if you use PAYG, you may have to pay extra.
While we’re talking about data limits, there is another thing to keep in mind: if you have a limited limit, you should only use the Wi-Fi hotspot for a short time. Remember that your Mac or PC can quickly search data compared to when you surf the internet iPhone.
How can I use my phone as a hotspot?
If you want to use your iPhone to spread the Internet on other devices, the first thing you should do is check the terms of sharing your internet connection with your network operator. Sometimes creating an access point consumes ordinary data, sometimes an additional fee is charged, and sometimes data sharing can be turned off completely (popular with an unlimited number of data plans).
After confirming that you can use the iPhone hotspot, you can easily turn your phone into a hotspot:
- Go to Settings ➙ Personal hotspot
- Turn on the Allow others to join option
There is also another way to create a personal Wi-Fi hotspot:
- Access your Control Center. On iPhones without the Home button (iPhone X and newer), swipe down from the top corner. On older iPhones, swipe up from the bottom.
- Touch and hold the square using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, etc.
- When the square shows more options, click Personal Hotspot to activate it
- That’s all on iOS 13. If you still haven’t updated your phone, the way you use your hotspot is slightly different:
- Go to Settings ➙ Personal hotspot
- Turn on the Personal Hotspot option
Dangers and warnings
What happens if someone tries to take over your connection, burn a data connection and / or access suspicious sites and content?
The iPhone hotspot is password protected. And at the top of the iPhone screen you will see a small notification when the device gains access to the hotspot, so you will receive a warning if someone in the train car can guess your password.
