# iPhone: Personal Hot Spot [TIP]



## Glauco Adams (Sep 22, 2012)

Hi.

My Kindle is Wi-Fi only.

When there's no WF network around, I use my *iPhone* to make the Kindle go online. The tip is: use *Personal Hot Spot*. It's perfect.

Some days ago, I was in Paris and there was no WF in the hotel (network down). I wanted to buy a book. I used my Personal Hot Spot. Fast, perfect.

People usually don't remember this.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Hi, Glauco, thanks for the tip.  

We do have members who use a hotspot generated by their phone and also some who use mi-fi, but it's always worth the reminder for those who don't realise it's a possibility or who haven't given it a go yet.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

Would this be considered as tethering? If not I may give this a try. I have AT&T service.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Kathy said:


> Would this be considered as tethering? If not I may give this a try. I have AT&T service.


It can be.

There are apps available that allow you to physically connect a phone to a computer and let the computer use the phone as its internet connection. I think that, technically, is tethering.

BUT, a lot of newer phones have the ability to create a wifi hotspot. You may have to pay extra to your provider to enable this feature. Or, again, the 'tethering' apps sometimes have it as part of what it can do if you have the right phone.

I believe, in most cases, that your provider has no legal recourse to stop you using an app. . . . . . though if you're on a limited plan, you should realize that opening a wifi hotspot will likely burn up your data minutes faster. So use with care.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> It can be.
> 
> There are apps available that allow you to physically connect a phone to a computer and let the computer use the phone as its internet connection. I think that, technically, is tethering.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I have the iPhone 4s with unlimited data plan. I've have iPhones since the original so I'm lucky to have the unlimited plan.


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## Glauco Adams (Sep 22, 2012)

Linjeakel said:


> Hi, Glauco, thanks for the tip.
> 
> We do have members who use a hotspot generated by their phone and also some who use mi-fi, but it's always worth the reminder for those who don't realise it's a possibility or who haven't given it a go yet.


Hi.

That's the point. Many people don't know they can use Personal Hot Spot. By the way, not iPhone only-iPad too.


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## Glauco Adams (Sep 22, 2012)

Kathy said:


> Would this be considered as tethering? If not I may give this a try. I have AT&T service.


Hi!

I think everybody can use Personal Hot Spot. Sorry, I don't know how this works in the USA. I live in Europe. My carrier is Vodafone. I use PHS every day-no extra charges.


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## krm0789 (Dec 21, 2010)

Does anyone know if you can do this with an ATT grandfathered unlimited plan? My boyfriend has an iPhone 4S with them but doesn't know how/if it's possible


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## Glauco Adams (Sep 22, 2012)

Attention: use Wi-Fi for Personal Hot Spot via iPhone. It is possible with Bluetooth too, but...well, say bye-bye to your battery power level.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

krm0789 said:


> Does anyone know if you can do this with an ATT grandfathered unlimited plan? My boyfriend has an iPhone 4S with them but doesn't know how/if it's possible


You should be able to. Chances are your choices are to pay ATT an extra fee per month to enable the hotspot functionality. OR, there should be an app that will let you do it. For Android, PDAnet works. No idea what might be available for an iPhone. You might ask down in the "Apple devices" area of the forum. . . . .


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

I know they charge AT&T customers for tethering. That was one of the reasons I decided to get sell my wifi only iPad 2. I went with the new iPad with 4g.


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## kindlegrl81 (Jan 19, 2010)

With the iPhone in the US I'm pretty sure you have to pay extra to do this...I know I do with Verizon ($20 per month for 1GB last I looked).  Certain android based phones can do it without an extra charge but most of those have to be rooted before doing so.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

kindlegrl81 said:


> With the iPhone in the US I'm pretty sure you have to pay extra to do this...I know I do with Verizon ($20 per month for 1GB last I looked). Certain android based phones can do it without an extra charge but most of those have to be rooted before doing so.


Nope. They don't have to be rooted. You just need to get the right app. Now, maybe that app does the rooting, but it's not like the user has to play in the firmware of the device.

Sent from my Kindle Fire HD


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## kindlegrl81 (Jan 19, 2010)

Well then they have gotten better since I switched to an iPhone.  Back when I was dealing with android, they had to be rooted to even get the app.  I tried really hard to root my phone so I could do it but it never worked and I didn't want to brick it on accident so i just gave up.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

I need to look into finding the right app to do this. I have the unlimited data plan from AT&T for my iPhone (but not my husband's iPhone or my iPad). AT&T told me it would cost $50 per month for the tethering option, and I would lose my grandfathered-in unlimited data plan because I would be making a change in my plan. I already pay almost $200 per month for my iPhone 5, my husband's iPhone 5, and my iPad 3. The last thing I want to do is add another $50 to my bill and lose my unlimited data plan.


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

To do this with AT&T, you cannot have the unlimited data plan, unfortunately. You have to switch to a newer plan with tethering, and it's fairly expensive. Or, you can jailbreak the phone and use one of several available apps to create a hotspot without the AT&T dilemma.


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## Vicki G. (Feb 18, 2010)

Kathy said:


> Thanks. I have the iPhone 4s with unlimited data plan. I've have iPhones since the original so I'm lucky to have the unlimited plan.


Last I saw they were charging $30 a month for the Personal Hot Spot, although lately there have been a number of changes, such as "add a device". Not sure. I also have AT&T, unlimited data plan and an iPhone 4.


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## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

Vicki G. said:


> Last I saw they were charging $30 a month for the Personal Hot Spot, although lately there have been a number of changes, such as "add a device". Not sure. I also have AT&T, unlimited data plan and an iPhone 4.


I also have the unlimited data on my iPhone and didn't want to loose it. I would rather just pay the money for data on my iPad. The nice thing about that is I can get month to month and only activate it if I'm going somewhere where they don't have wifi.


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