Use your phone as a hotspot. Instant secure internet! 📶🔒

If you're taking your laptop away from the safety of your home or desk and still want to stay online, you have a couple of options (assuming it doesn't have built-in cellular connectivity): find a Wi-Fi network you can connect to, or use your phone's Wi-Fi hotspot 📱.

Creating a hotspot from your phone has its pros and cons. It's more secure than public Wi-Fi since you control the connection, and you can enjoy faster upload and download speeds, although this will depend on 4G and 5G coverage in your area 🌍. On the other hand, you may be limited by your data plan, and your phone's battery could be affected.

If you want to opt for a mobile hotspot, here's how to do it.

1. Set up a hotspot on a Pixel

With Android devices, as always, the exact steps vary by manufacturer. Here are the steps for using a Pixel device with Android 15:

Note: If you use Saving Android data, which stops some applications from sending or receiving data in the background, you will need to disable it to use the hotspot.

2. Set up a hotspot on a Samsung Galaxy

The steps are slightly different for a Samsung Galaxy device running One UI 7:

3. Set up a hotspot on an iPhone

If you are using a iPhone with iOS 18:

The name of the Wi-Fi hotspot will be the name of your iPhone (set in General > About > Name in Settings). The password will be displayed on the screen of Personal Hotspot, and you can tap the entry to change it.

Apple also offers a feature called Instant HotspotIf hotspot is enabled on your iPhone, you can connect with one tap from iPads, Macs, and other devices. Apple using the same Apple account — you won’t need to enter the password 🔑.

The cost of hotspots

These days, it's common for telecom companies to offer unlimited or very generous data plans, but most of the time, hotspot data is managed separately. If you're thinking about using your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, it's important to check what's included in your plan 📊.

For example, Verizon's $1/month Unlimited Plus plan gives you 30GB of high-speed hotspot data per month, while you get the same amount with AT&T's $1/month Unlimited Extra EL plan. In both cases, once you exceed that limit, you'll be restricted to much slower speeds for the rest of the month.

Another option is to purchase a dedicated hotspot device, like the ones sold by T-Mobile. You'll need to pay for an extra SIM with its own data plan to use with the device, so it can be a costly option, but you'll usually get better performance than a phone hotspot (especially if you connect multiple devices), and you won't have to worry about draining your phone's battery.

A device like the Netgear Nighthawk M6, which ranges in price from around $500 to $600, will give you Wi-Fi 6 speeds for up to 32 devices when paired with a SIM. It's definitely not cheap, but it'll offer better range and speeds than your phone, and is good enough to be used as a backup router at home if your internet goes down.