Making a smartphone hotspot: this is how it works and this is it

smartphone hotspotWith a smartphone in your pocket, you are (almost) always and everywhere connected to the internet. By turning your smartphone into a hotspot, you can also let other devices take advantage of it. We show how this works on iOS and Android.

What is a smartphone hotspot?

With a smartphone hotspot, you can change your phone to a mobile point where other devices can be connected. That way you can, for example, connect a laptop or a tablet that does not have a 4G or 3G connection to the internet if there is no WiFi nearby.

This is useful in the train, for example, so that you can still do some work on the road and your smartphone serves as a connection point for the internet. That is also a lot safer than connecting to an open NS network. If you still use a public network, then it is smart to use a VPN.

How do I set up a personal hotspot?

The way in which you set up a personal hotspot depends on the smartphone that you have. Below we make a distinction between iOS and Android, where it works slightly differently to set up and activate the hotspot function.

smartphone hotspot

This is how you set up a personal hotspot on your iPhone or iPad

  1. Open the Settings app;
  2. Tap on ‘Personal hotspot’;
  3. Switch on the switch behind ‘Personal hotspot’;
  4. Set a password, choose a strong password with a combination of numbers, small letters, symbols, and capital letters;
  5. Now connect on your other device via the Wi-Fi settings to the newly created personal hotspot. As soon as a device is connected to your iPhone, a blue icon appears in the upper left corner of the screen.

Also, check the extensive tip about setting up an iPhone hotspot on iPhone.

smartphone hotspot

And so you set up a personal hotspot on your Android device

  1. Go to “Settings> More> Mobile network sharing.” It is possible that your device gives these options a slightly different name;
  2. Under ‘Portable WiFi Hotspot’ you can set your hotspot. Give it a name here, choose WPA2 as the security method and enter a password;
  3. Provide a strong password. For this you can combine the best uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols;
  4. After activating your hotspot, an icon will appear in the notification screen. Here you can see at a glance how many devices are connected to your device.

What should I pay attention to when creating a hotspot?

As soon as devices are connected to your smartphone hotspot, they use your mobile internet bundle. So keep this in mind, because internet users can sometimes increase rapidly if you are not aware of this. If you have a limited bundle, we advise against downloading files with your linked device. Streaming videos in high quality are also not very smart. In some cases, it is smart to take a larger data bundle.

It is also important to properly protect your personal smartphone hotspot with a password. If you don’t do this, you run the risk that someone else will connect to your smartphone and access the internet at your expense. With a password manager, you can generate a long and secure password and save it immediately.

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