One of the iPhone’s best features is its ability to share your cellular data connection with other devices, which is known as Personal Hotspot, or tethering. Personal Hotspot may be easy to use, but there’s a lot to understand about it. Get answers to common questions and troubleshooting issues about Personal Hotspot on the iPhone in this article.
What Is Tethering?
Tethering is a way to share an iPhone’s data connection with other nearby computers and mobile devices (iPads with cellular connections can also be used as Personal Hotspots). When tethering is enabled, the iPhone functions like a cellular modem or Wi-Fi hotspot and broadcasts its internet connection to other devices that are connected to it. All data sent to and from those devices is routed through the iPhone to the internet. With tethering, any computer or another device that can connect to a Wi-Fi network can get online anywhere you can access the web on your phone.
How Is Tethering Different From Personal Hotspot?
They’re the same thing. Personal Hotspot is just the name that Apple uses for the generic tethering feature on the iPhone. When using tethering on your iPhone, look for the Personal Hotspot options and menus.
What Kind of Devices Can Connect Via iPhone Tethering?
Almost any kind of computing device that can use the internet can also connect to an iPhone using tethering. Desktops, laptops, iPads, gaming systems, and other tablets are all compatible with Personal Hotspot.
How Do Devices Connect to Personal Hotspot?
Devices can connect to the iPhone via Personal Hotspot in one of three ways:
- Wi-FiBluetoothUSB
When you tether a device to the iPhone, you connect that device to the iPhone using just one of these options at a time. Tethering over Wi-Fi works just like connecting to any other Wi-Fi network. Using Bluetooth is similar to pairing to a Bluetooth accessory. Simply connecting the iPhone to a device with a standard cable is enough to tether over USB.
What Models of the iPhone Support Tethering?
Every model of the iPhone starting with the iPhone 3GS supports tethering.
What Version of the iOS Is Required for Personal Hotspot?
In order to use Personal Hotspot on your iPhone, you need to be running iOS 4 or higher (Because iOS 4 came out way back in 2011, virtually every iPhone still in use today is running that or higher).
What Is the Range of a Personal Hotspot?
The distance that tethered devices can be apart from each other while still working depends on how they’re connected. A device tethered over USB only has a range as long as the USB cable being used. Tethering over Bluetooth gives a range of a couple of dozen feet, while Wi-Fi connections stretch a little farther (throughout a house or office, for example).
How Do I Get Personal Hotspot on My iPhone?
The Personal Hotspot feature is built into the iOS that comes on every iPhone. But you need more than just the feature to use Personal Hotspot. You also need a data plan from your phone company that includes it.
These days, tethering is included as a default option on most monthly plans from most major phone companies. In a few instances, tethering requires an additional monthly fee. Contact your phone company, or log into your phone company account online, to see if you already have Personal Hotspot or if you need to add it.
How Do I Know if Tethering Is Enabled on My Account?
Checking with your phone company is definitely one way. But probably the easiest way is to check on your iPhone by following these steps:
- Tap the Settings app to open it.
- Scroll down to the Personal Hotspot section. The simple presence of this option should indicate that you have Personal Hotspot on your phone, but continue to the next step to be totally sure.
- Tap Personal Hotspot. If the next screen has a slider (whether it’s set to on or off), Personal Hotspot is available to you.
What Does Personal Hotspot Cost?
In most cases, Personal Hotspot itself doesn’t cost anything. Generally speaking, you just pay for the data used by it along with all of your other data use. This all depends on what monthly plan you have and what phone company you use. If you’ve got an unlimited data plan, Personal Hotspot is almost definitely included. In a few cases, it may cost $10 or more dollars per month extra.
Tap the Settings app to open it.
Scroll down to the Personal Hotspot section. The simple presence of this option should indicate that you have Personal Hotspot on your phone, but continue to the next step to be totally sure.
Tap Personal Hotspot. If the next screen has a slider (whether it’s set to on or off), Personal Hotspot is available to you.
Can I Keep Unlimited Data With Personal Hotspot?
Good news: unlimited data plans that support tethering are back! For a few years after the debut of the iPhone, unlimited monthly plans were common. Then phone companies changed to plans that capped the amount of data that any one person could use and charged people more for exceeding those caps. In those situations, you often had to choose between having tethering or unlimited data.
These days, phone companies are offering unlimited data plans that include tethering. These plans still have caps, but not the same kind. The difference is that, when you exceed the cap, your data speeds — including tethering — are drastically slowed until the next month.
Does Data Used by Tethered Devices Count Against My Data Limit?
Yes. All the data used by devices tethered to your iPhone over Personal Hotspot counts against your monthly data limit. This means you’ll want to keep a close eye on your data use and ask people tethered to you not to do data-intensive things like streaming movies.
How to Set up and Using Personal Hotspot
To learn how to use Personal Hotspot on your iPhone, check out these articles:
- How to Set up and Use Personal Hotspot
- How to Tether iPad and iPhone.
How Do You Know When Devices Are Tethered to Your iPhone?
When a device is connected to the web via tethering, your iPhone displays a blue bar at the top of the screen on most models that reads Personal Hotspot and shows how many devices are connected to it. On the iPhone X series phones (the X, XS, XR, etc.), a blue bubble appears around the time in the top left corner.
Can You Sync the iPhone While Tethered?
Yes. You can sync via Wi-Fi or USB without the syncing interfering with the Internet connection.
Can I Use Personal Hotspot If My iPhone Has Been Ejected?
Yes. After you connect your iPhone to your computer via USB, it will sync (unless you’ve disabled automatic syncing). If you prefer, you can then eject the iPhone by clicking the arrow buttons next to it in iTunes without losing your connection to the Internet.
Can I Change My Personal Hotspot Password?
Every iPhone Personal Hotspot is given a randomized, default password that other devices have to have in order to connect. You can change that default password if you prefer.
Can I Change the Name of My iPhone for Personal Hotspot?
Usually, the name of your iPhone is something like “Sam’s iPhone” and that’s what people look for when they try to connect to your Personal Hotspot. If you use your Hotspot in public a lot, you may want to change the name to something more fun or less personally identifying.
How Do I Fix a Personal Hotspot That’s Not Working?
There are lots of reasons Personal Hotspot might stop working on your iPhone. Some of them are minor and easy to fix, others are complicated and require a number of steps. We’ve got solutions for all of them in How to Fix It If iPhone Personal Hotspot Is Not Working.
I Have Personal Hotspot, but It’s Missing From My Phone. Help!
Sometimes, the Personal Hotspot option will go missing from your iPhone even though you have the feature available as part of your monthly phone plan.
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