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Access to the Internet is vital in today’s hyper-connected world. And, it’s not always possible to find a Wi-Fi hotspot you can easily connect to. Because of my extensive travel, I used a Wi-Fi hotspot for many years to make sure I could connect to the Internet anywhere I had a cellular signal. It worked great but cost $50 a month for 50 GB of data download.

When Apple released iPhone 12, it included the ability to use your iPhone as a data hotspot. I quickly realized that I could use my phone to connect to the cellular data network to replace my separate hotspot.
I assume similar capabilities are available on the Android platform.
The availability of Wi-Fi has increased significantly over the last few years. I always worry about security using an unknown Wi-Fi signal. So, many times I may choose to use my iPhone hotspot instead of an available Wi-Fi signal. This is especially true if I want to do sensitive transactions such as accessing my bank account. Accessing the cellular data network is more secure than an open and unknown Wi-Fi signal.
Using your iPhone as a data hotspot is simple.
- From the Settings app on your iPhone, tap Personal Hotspot.
- Toggle on “Allow Others to Join.”
- Go to your other device (laptop or tablet) and select the option for iPhone.
- The first time you use it, you will need to enter the iPhone Wi-Fi password
- You can connect to your iPhone’s data using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or a USB cable. I usually use Wi-Fi.
I also have an iPad but elected not to get cellular capability and, instead, use my iPhone to connect to the Internet. If I don’t have a Wi-Fi signal, I connect to my iPhone. This saves me a little bit of money on the cost of the iPad and the additional monthly cellular data fee.
I suspect many of you are already using this capability of your iPhone. I am writing about it this week 1) as a reminder and 2) to help those who didn’t know their phones could function as a data hotspot.
What other tools do you use to access the Internet on the go securely?
Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.