# Has anyone used their hot spot feature?



## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

So far, I've used my wifi at home and free wifi. I'm considering tethering to my Droid phone. Has anyone done this? How hard is it on the phone battery?


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## NightReader (Apr 25, 2010)

I'm on Verizon and have an iPhone.  I've tethered to play with the Fire (and other toys).

It does use the battery, but I can't say how bad, since I don't have a droid.

And, for some reason, my tether sometimes turns on the blue tooth and doesn't turn it back off when I turn off the hotspot and that REALLY sucks battery unless I go in and manually turn off the blue tooth.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

I haven't tethered yet, but my Bluetooth function seems to have a mind of it's own  
I think I'll go ahead and experiment with my phone. I also have Verizon. Can you use and pay for it one month and not the next?


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## NightReader (Apr 25, 2010)

I think so.  

The last time I wasn't going to tether for a while, I think I went in on the web and turned off the feature.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

Thanks. I'll disable it that way.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

We get free phone tethering in Australia and tethering iPhone to the fire was very easy for me..


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I just set up the hotspot on my iPhone last week and I can't figure out why I didn't do it sooner?  Super easy to use. It does use the battery up faster, but I haven't measured how much. I usually use it in the car and I have a built in iPhone charger (kinda cool) so my phone has always been plugged in.


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## kisala9906 (Sep 4, 2011)

I use my iPhones all the time.


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## Lisa M. (Jun 15, 2010)

Luvmy4brats said:


> I just set up the hotspot on my iPhone last week and I can't figure out why I didn't do it sooner? Super easy to use. It does use the battery up faster, but I haven't measured how much. I usually use it in the car and I have a built in iPhone charger (kinda cool) so my phone has always been plugged in.


It costs more each month if you do this, doesn't it?


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## kisala9906 (Sep 4, 2011)

Lisa M. said:


> It costs more each month if you do this, doesn't it?


As long as you don't go over your data plan, no.


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## Lisa M. (Jun 15, 2010)

kisala9906 said:


> As long as you don't go over your data plan, no.


oOOoooh!!


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## kisala9906 (Sep 4, 2011)

Lisa M. said:


> oOOoooh!!


It's really nice feature when you need a wifi connection away from home.


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## Lisa M. (Jun 15, 2010)

kisala9906 said:


> It's really nice feature when you need a wifi connection away from home.


I love this place, I learn so much from here!!


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Actually, it was an additional $20 but it gives me an additional 2GB (for a total of 4GB/month) I think i can get away with not using a data plan on my iPad and just using the hotspot instead.. So I'll probably be saving $5 a month doing it this way.


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## kisala9906 (Sep 4, 2011)

Luvmy4brats said:


> Actually, it was an additional $20 but it gives me an additional 2GB (for a total of 4GB/month) I think i can get away with not using a data plan on my iPad and just using the hotspot instead.. So I'll probably be saving $5 a month doing it this way.


Hmm I have always had the 4g plan so I never knew the lower 2g did not come with it.  My mistake.


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## Lisa M. (Jun 15, 2010)

*sings* I have a hotspot!!!!!

(sounds dirty LOLOL!!)


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

Lol. It'll be nice to use my Fire on the go. I have unlimited data on my phone, but Verizon charges an additional $20 to use the hot spot feature.


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## kisala9906 (Sep 4, 2011)

Ah I use AT&T


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

kisala9906 said:


> Ah I use AT&T


Mine is AT&T, too.


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

Vet said:


> Lol. It'll be nice to use my Fire on the go. I have unlimited data on my phone, but Verizon charges an additional $20 to use the hot spot feature.


It is my understanding that you can activate Verizon's mobile hotspot plan, and then when you are finished using it (say for a few days), you can de-activate it & you only get charged for the days you use it (which works out to be about $1/day). I haven't tried this yet & from other forums I saw some people saying that you might have to go up the line to a supervisor if the first rep on the phone tries to tell you that you have a limited amt of data available to you. You might have to let them know that you have an unlimited data plan that was in place before July 7, 2011 (when they changed the plans and implemented those limited data plans) and therefore also get monthly unlimited hotspot data. (It's not truly unlimited, but unless you are trying to run a server or download/upload tons of video files to a bit torrent site, it's plenty.


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

Ok, I have unlimited data on my AT&T iphone. Are you saying that I can use my iphone 4 as a hotspot for my fire and my Baby K and my ipad and not pay anything additional to do so?  That would be wonderful.  I would dump my ipad data plan too if I could do this.  Oh wait, I read that the unlimited plan goes away if you use your hotspot. I don't want to give that up.


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## kisala9906 (Sep 4, 2011)

corkyb said:


> Ok, I have unlimited data on my AT&T iphone. Are you saying that I can use my iphone 4 as a hotspot for my fire and my Baby K and my ipad and not pay anything additional to do so? That would be wonderful. I would dump my ipad data plan too if I could do this. Oh wait, I read that the unlimited plan goes away if you use your hotspot. I don't want to give that up.


How do you have unlimited data on your AT&T smartphone ? The only offer that on non smartphones as far as I was aware.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

corkyb said:


> Ok, I have unlimited data on my AT&T iphone. Are you saying that I can use my iphone 4 as a hotspot for my fire and my Baby K and my ipad and not pay anything additional to do so? That would be wonderful. I would dump my ipad data plan too if I could do this. Oh wait, I read that the unlimited plan goes away if you use your hotspot. I don't want to give that up.


Yes, you'd lose the unlimited if you added the hotspot... Then again, if you didn't come close to using 4GB per month on all the devices combined, it might still be worth it. I know you have the unlimited, but how much data do you actually use each month?


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

I wonder if using the hotspot on my Verizon plan will affect my unlimited plan.


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## JetJammer (Jan 18, 2009)

According to Verizon, the "unlimited" doesn't apply to the hotspot.  It's an extra $20 a month for 2GB (or $40 for 4GB I believe) of "hotspot" data.  It does not affect the unlimited data on your Smartphone.  On the Verizon website it shows you separately how much "data" and how much "hot spot data" you've used.  I've never gone over the 2GB hotspot limit, so don't know if you could argue the "unlimited" part or not.

I was told you can turn the hotspot off/on on a month to month basis (which I haven't tried) - there is no restriction on it.  I don't know about the prorate and just use it for a few days a month part someone else mentioned.

It does eat up a bit of battery life, but probably varies a lot by what phone you use.  I have an HTC Rhyme ATM, and it doesn't seem to bother it too badly.  My old HTC Droid Incredible would eat the battery up so fast it was almost impossible to use unless I plugged in the phone.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

I think 2G should be fine. I don't even come close on my phone.


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

I have no idea how much data I use on my ipad and iphone.  I got grandfathered in with the unlimited on both before they stopped selling that plan.  Where Do I go to look how much I use?  I will use more if I get the hotspot as I will stream on the Fire and I don't on the ipad.


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## Kindlechick (Jan 30, 2010)

JetJammer said:


> According to Verizon, the "unlimited" doesn't apply to the hotspot. It's an extra $20 a month for 2GB (or $40 for 4GB I believe) of "hotspot" data. It does not affect the unlimited data on your Smartphone. On the Verizon website it shows you separately how much "data" and how much "hot spot data" you've used. I've never gone over the 2GB hotspot limit, so don't know if you could argue the "unlimited" part or not.
> 
> I was told you can turn the hotspot off/on on a month to month basis (which I haven't tried) - there is no restriction on it. I don't know about the prorate and just use it for a few days a month part someone else mentioned.
> 
> It does eat up a bit of battery life, but probably varies a lot by what phone you use. I have an HTC Rhyme ATM, and it doesn't seem to bother it too badly. My old HTC Droid Incredible would eat the battery up so fast it was almost impossible to use unless I plugged in the phone.


I have used the mobile hotspot from Verizon for a few months, and this is exactly how it works. It's a monthly service. $20/month. You can turn it off any month you don't want it, but you are limited to 2g/month even if your smartphone plan is unlimited. Works great with Fire btw. You can tether 4 or 5 (can't remember) devices at once.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

I don't think I'll do any streaming because I understand it uses a lot of data. What's your data usage like?


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## miksicnarf (Mar 4, 2010)

Our home wifi was out a few days ago so I used my T-mobile android phone as a hotspot for a good part of the day, with both my Fire and desktop computer tethered. Just checked my usage, and it shows 587.5 MB used. I have unlimited data, with up to 5 GB high-speed. I didn't notice a big battery drain but then I was at home so I may have had the phone plugged in some of the time. It worked great, couldn't have been easier or faster! 

Kim


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I have an app on my phone that lets me tether via USB to my laptop for internet if I'm someplace it doesn't exist -- like on top of a mountain in Tennessee -- but the phone doesn't generate a wifi hotspot.  Must decide if I want to set that up so it's available when we go the the top of the mountain in Tennessee again this summer.   If it works, I can dispense with the laptop. . . . . .(can't tether the Fire or Xoom as neither has the right sort of USB port. . . .)


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

I was going to set up an ATT account for my iPad, but it just makes sense to use the phonefor both.

@Kim, 587.5mb seems like a lot for part of a day. I'd use 2GB up pretty fast.


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## Lisa M. (Jun 15, 2010)

Has anyone gotten their BabyK to connect to their AT&T iPhone? I got the Fire to connect to the iPhone's hotspot, but my BabyK doesn't see it at all. I don't know what kind of settings to use to manually put it in, but I tried:

Connection Type: DHCP
Security Type: I tried each one, none connected.

Can anyone help?

Thanks so much!!


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## BasicGreatGuy (Dec 27, 2009)

If one wanted to watch full length movies, or used YouTube a lot, or perused the internet regularly with the Kindle Fire etc, one would exceed the minimum data cap rate in less than a month.  With data cap rates, one can't truly enjoy the Kindle Fire.  The cost versus the benefit is not worth it, in my opinion.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

I see your point. I'll try it for a month to see what my usage is. I'm at work during the day, so maybe during lunch, etc.


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## BasicGreatGuy (Dec 27, 2009)

Vet said:


> I see your point. I'll try it for a month to see what my usage is. I'm at work during the day, so maybe during lunch, etc.


Do you have access to the company Wifi?


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

No, not the wifi, unfortunately. The administrator has given several of us the password, but none of us is able to connect. He says the issue is with the iPad, but my Fire won't connect either.


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

I'm really showing my ignorance here, but what is a "hot spot feature"? 
Is it something that comes with the Fire?


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

Some of the smart phones have this feature where the phone becomes a source of wifi for up to 5 devices at a time.


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

oh, thanks. 
except for my Fire, everything else I own is Apple, is it something an iPhone has, too? or does is have to do with your carrier?
(not to hijack the thread, but I don't know where else to ask)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It's something you arrange with your cell carrier.  Not all cell phones are compatible and it will often cost you some extra money each month.


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

FWIW, I have an iPhone4 and AT&T.  I have the unlimited data plan as I've been with them a long time and that's what a person got when they signed up for data.  Not so now, of course.  My iPhone has the ability to create a hot spot.  Note from AT&T "For just $30 a month, you can turn your iPhone into your very own WiFi hot spot"!        I opted out because I pay those people way too much money as it is.  My iPad is WiFi/3G but I've never used the 3G account and I don't plan to unless it's absolutely unavoidable.  Like going to the top of Betsy's mountain in Tennessee... or outer space.  Some place like that.


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## Vet (Apr 25, 2010)

Up 'till now I haven't had to use it either, but with the Fire, I want to try it out.

Vicki, I agree with you on the amount of money I pay already to get unlimited on my phone.


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