Personal hotspotUse Your Personal Hotspot for Wi-Fi
Many people don’t realize they have a personal hotspot on their phone—a means of extending your phone’s network so it can be picked up by other devices (privately). I use mine all the time when I’m in a hotel and I don’t want to pay for Wi-Fi to use my laptop, or if I’m on a train or bus or airport.

All you have to do is go into your phone settings and look for the hotspot switch (“Personal Hotspot” on iOS). It all depends on the make and model of your smartphone, so you might want to Google the name of your phone and “personal hotspot” to find out where it’s located. Just be sure to call your cellular provider to find out if it’s included in your plan—and to be aware of the fact that using it is equivalent to using data on your phone, which matters if your data isn’t unlimited. You can even change the password to something you can remember and you can share it with your nearby friends. Convenient, and it can save you money!

Important note: As a few readers have reminded me, the personal hotspot is for domestic use only—unless you’ve determined the (likely inflated) data rate is worth it. Important to remember!

 

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6 Comments On "Travel Tip of the Day: Use Your Personal Hotspot for Wi-Fi"
  1. Rodb2008|

    Warning! Most plans to not cover outside the U.S.!

    Here is my example for my plan when traveling outside the U.S.:

    Global Data is unlimited on your device. Tethered/mobile Hotspot Data may cost up to $20.48/MB. Wi-Fi is suggested where available.

    1. Johnny Jet|

      Very true! Meant for only domestic use. We will add it to the post now. Thanks

  2. Lisa|

    Just looked into this and it seems if you’re with AT&T and have unlimited data, they don’t allow the personal hotspot!

    1. Johnny Jet|

      That’s so weak! T-Mobile allows it.

  3. Gary|

    I have a 4gb data plan with Verizon and usually exceed that about 3 weeks into my billing cycle they just sent me a message today that I’m at 90% on my cycle that ends on the 9th. Usually a extra $10 on my bill.

  4. john reacher|

    it really doesn’t work outside the country. But thanks anyway

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