How to Turn on Your iPhone’s Personal Hotspot

What is an iPhone’s personal hotspot?

A personal hotspot, also referred to as a mobile hotspot, is a feature that allows you to share your mobile data connection with other devices. When you activate it, you’re essentially creating a mini Wi-Fi network that other people can detect and join. This means that you can provide your own or other people’s devices a way of accessing the internet while on the go, by using (and essentially sharing) your data. You can even password-protect your personal hotspot to prevent strangers from joining.

 

Using your personal hotspot while traveling is a great way to avoid having to connect to public Wi-Fi, which may not always be reliable, secure, or even readily available. Public Wi-Fi is also a way for hackers and scammers to steal your sensitive information, which is all the more reason to avoid using it wherever possible.

 

Multiple devices can connect to one hotspot, meaning you can be the temporary internet provider for your friends and family while out and about. Alternatively, if you’re working remotely and the Wi-Fi you’re using isn’t strong enough to support your work – such as virtual meetings – you can use your hotspot, ensuring that you don’t miss any important updates. 

 

For iPhone users, it’s important that your phone is running on iOs8 or later.

Can you personal hotspot while in another country?

Providing there aren’t any tethering restrictions put in place by your carrier, you can absolutely use your personal hotspot while in another country, with some conditions:

 

• Make sure your data allowance is sufficient to cover both your regular usage, and the data used by any devices that may connect to your personal hotspot.
• Consider the roaming charges you may incur when using your personal hotspot in other countries, and whether or not these can be avoided by using an eSIM.

 

The hotspot feature can be used with both physical SIM cards and eSIMs – both of which are a great way to avoid unnecessarily steep roaming charges while traveling abroad, as they will connect you to a local provider instead of your regular carrier. However, not all eSIMs allow you to share data through your personal hotspots. TravelSim eSIMs are one of the exceptions – after all, sharing is caring.

How to hotspot with an iPhone: Step by step

Here is a step-by-step guide to using your hotspot with your iPhone. Keep in mind that these instructions may vary slightly depending on the model of your device.

 

• Enable cellular data (or mobile data, depending on your region). This can be done by going into “Settings”.

• Turn on your Personal Hotspot. Also found in “Settings”, and referred to as either your Personal Hotspot or Internet Tethering. 

• Configure your hotspot. Decide what you want your hotspot to be called (this is how it will appear to people joining your hotspot), and whether or not you want it to be password protected.

• Connect your devices. This can be done in the same way you would connect with any Wi-Fi network. 

• Remember to turn off your hotspot when you’re no longer using it. This will help you to avoid unnecessary data usage, and alleviate the strain on your iPhone’s battery. This is particularly important when out and about, as you don’t want to find yourself stranded with a dead phone.

 

You can also use a personal hotspot through Huawei and Android devices, as well as separate mobile hotspot devices, many of which also support eSIMs. 

Ready to order your eSIM? Configure your data plan here

Using an eSIM when abroad is the best way to avoid high roaming fees without sacrificing connectivity. See how well our eSIMs compare to names such as Vodaphone or AT&T. If you’re ready to order yours, check out our data plans.