Cell phone as Hot Spot

[Riley9221]

Does anyone use their cell phone as a hotspot for their ipad or laptop computer. Not all cell phone companies allow it. Im trying to find one that does allow it since i would like a bigger data package, but only to use as a hotspot as well as for the cell phone.

 

[Janet H]

Yup - do it a lot. My carrier is ATT and I have an unlocked phone. I think that your carrier dictates what is allowed under a given plan and you may need to get one of the larger data plans. Shop around.

 

[NW-Bound]

I do, when up in my boondocks home or when traveling.

It could be slow like heck though, and unusable anyway.

 

[njhowie]

All the time. Have MetroPCS (now called "Metro from T-Mobile") - it's included for free with the plan.

 

[REWahoo]

Here is a list (a long one) of what is claimed to be all plans allowing tethering (hot spots) - provided you also have a qualifying phone. Hot Spot List

 

[NW-Bound]

A problem I found with surfing the Web on a laptop or tablet through the phone is that many Web sites load up the screen with advertisement and videos. These junks clog down the link, and cost me mucho in bandwidth and rack up many GBs of data for nothing.

You also must be sure Windoz will not download updates while tethering through the phone. Severe pain and suffering would ensue otherwise.

 

[HI Bill]

Yes, I use my iPhone with T-Mobile as a hot spot for both my wife's phone, and for the iPad when flying the drone, to keep the Maps up to date! Works great, but not fast enough to connect a laptop.

 

[tulak]

Yep, I use this with t-mobile all the time.

 

[Lakedog]

Yes, use Cricket cell as hotspot and primary internet connection for my MacBook Air. I started the Cricket plan when full-time RVing and have just continued using as my everyday internet connection since that time. No issues at all in the last two years and only use wifi when visiting friends or staying in a hotel.

 

[KenZ71]

I've set my Xfinity ( Verizon MVNO ) & sons Sprint phone as hotspot to give WiFi to a tablet or two. Works well. Especially when no other option.

 

[audreyh1]

Does anyone use their cell phone as a hotspot for their ipad or laptop computer. Not all cell phone companies allow it. Im trying to find one that does allow it since i would like a bigger data package, but only to use as a hotspot as well as for the cell phone.

My T-Mobile One Plus plan allows a nice fast hotspot.

Use it with my iPad when out and about, and with my laptop when needed when traveling.

 

[OldShooter]

We are on Google FI and have the hotspot option. Mostly we use it when our home DSL connection goes down, which seems to happen every couple of months for brief periods.

Googe Fi gives us free data-only SIM cards for our tablets, so it is really only the desktops that need to access the hotspot. Our Nexus 7 & 9 tablets use WiFi when available, otherwise cell data. I think Google will give up to five data-only SIMs for non-phone devices. & actually I have tried a data-only SIM in an old phone and it works fine though obviously not as a phone.

 

[MissMolly]

I use it with my Sprint plan. It's included for free (I have no idea why - it's new this year). We are on an old grandfathered in Sprint plan so maybe that's why. I use it when travelling. Run my laptop and Kindle Fire. For me, there is no lag. It's just like being on the WiFi at home.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

If Sprint is good in your area, Tello has plans from $14 for 2GB to $39 for 12GB, with unlimited calls and text, no contract. 4G LTE tethering.
https://tello.com/buy/custom_plans

 

[Drewskers]

A problem I found with surfing the Web on a laptop or tablet through the phone is that many Web sites load up the screen with advertisement and videos. These junks clog down the link, and cost me mucho in bandwidth and rack up many GBs of data for nothing.

You also must be sure Windoz will not download updates while tethering through the phone. Severe pain and suffering would ensue otherwise.

Both these problems can be greatly reduced, if not completely eliminated!


#1 Use the Firefox browser and set Content Blocking to Strict. This alone will block most of the junk!


If you don't want to use Firefox, add the uBlock Origin extension to your browser of choice. It is lightweight and works very well.


Personally, I use uBlock Origin in conjunction with Firefox Strict Content Blocking and rarely see an ad or unwanted video. Just remember to whitelist any site you actually wish to support by allowing their ads!


#2 Windows 10 allows designating select network connections as "metered". Doing this will prevent Windows updates from downloading when using that connection (and I have found it blocks some other kinds of software updates as well).

 

[Scrapr]

All the time. Have MetroPCS (now called "Metro from T-Mobile") - it's included for free with the plan.

Me too. Works pretty well. One month I was on it quite a bit and my data was bumping close to my limit (5GB) I try to scoop up the free WIFI but sometimes have to hotspot my chromebook.

 

[rodi]

I do this with t-mobile when I'm travelling or our internet goes out. Or if the kids are both gaming/streaming/watching youtube all at the same time and our broadband pipe gets too slow.

 

[NW-Bound]

Both these problems can be greatly reduced, if not completely eliminated!

#1 Use the Firefox browser and set Content Blocking to Strict. This alone will block most of the junk!

If you don't want to use Firefox, add the uBlock Origin extension to your browser of choice. It is lightweight and works very well.

Personally, I use uBlock Origin in conjunction with Firefox Strict Content Blocking and rarely see an ad or unwanted video. Just remember to whitelist any site you actually wish to support by allowing their ads!

#2 Windows 10 allows designating select network connections as "metered". Doing this will prevent Windows updates from downloading when using that connection (and I have found it blocks some other kinds of software updates as well).

I knew about setting the connection to "metered", but have not run Firefox for a long time. Thx.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

I've done this a lot with T-Mobile while traveling, particularly on the Amtrak Northeast Corridor line. You would think all providers would love to have you use your phone as a hot spot, as those times I had to use it as such while traveling I often wound up purchasing additional data. As others have said, running an ad blocker keeps you from wasting data, as does letting Windows 10 know that it is a metered connection. We also purchased a Verizon hot spot a while back when we discovered that we didn't have T-Mobile coverage at a vacation cabin, and that worked really well, although it cost more than just add-on data on T-Mobile. (Which is fine, as my partner billed the data plan to their work anyway.)

 

[rk911]

used to do it with our verizon phones and tablet. we now have a verizon jetpack device in a $65 p/m unlimited data plan (no longer available).

 

[DatumPoint5]

I have the Verizon MiFi (currently the Jetpack) and a data plan of 30gig per month. Just yesterday I was testing its capabilities for responsiveness and I connected 9 devices (MiFi limit is 15 devices) all devices were set to streaming various streaming sources.....e.g. Netflix , YouTube, Curiosity Stream, etc..... All 9 devices performed well, which really surprised me because I did not think the 4G LTE connection would carry that much bandwidth. The monthly charge for this 30 gig plan is 20 dollars per month. I may just flat out cancel my cable ISP and just use this as my "sip carrier"!?!?!? Also, the reason I was experimenting with using this device as a "whole house" wireless internet relay is my anticipation of the upcoming 5G introduction. If we get 5G soon, then I am going to join the ranks of the "cord cutters"!!!!!

 

[Car-Guy]

Yep, I use AT&T with my iPhone. At home, we are about 10 miles from the nearest cell site so I bought a booster. Getting 10 to 12 meg. Works well.

 

[zedd]

Interesting. You made me look. I did a test.

On my moto g phone I disabled wifi and enabled mobile hotspot.

On my tablet did a speedtest using existing wifi : 8.9 mbps.

On same tablet, pointed to the hotspot wifi on my phone and did a speedtest: 5.4 mbps

So yes it works but is of course slower

Looked at the wifi usage on my tablet,
34g over 25 days - yikes.

Looked at my cell providers plans but a) found that they cap at 22g and b) throttle down to 2g speeds for all usage above 6g.

Currently a nonstarter for me but definitely an area worth watching

 

[folivier]

We've been using an ATT iPad unlimited plan since starting our summer trip to Alaska. $35/month and have been averaging about 100 Gb/month and are streaming our Roku with no slowdown. Speeds have varied depending on where we are from 0.5Mb/sec (no streaming) to over 15Mb/sec.
We canceled our Cox internet at the house before leaving and may just keep using this at home.

 

[Midpack]

I don’t do it often, but as needed, maybe 2-4 times/month. I have an iPhone on the Verizon network, and I’ve never had a problem using the hot spot functionality. It’s slower than high speed Internet, but perfectly useable for my purposes, even streaming YouTube.