A mobile hotspot is an incredibly helpful tool to have in your back pocket. You can set up a hotspot using any smartphone with an active mobile network connection, and you don’t need to be a tech whiz to make it happen. Let’s find out what’s it’s all about... 

What is a hotspot?

First of all, what is a hotspot? If you’ve never heard of hotspots before, but you’d like to know more, you’re in the right place. A hotspot is essentially a mini, personal WiFi source you can easily create using your phone. A WiFi hotspot uses mobile coverage, like 4G, and bounces it onto another device, like a laptop. This is called “tethering”. 

What is tethering?

The term “tethering” means sharing a connection between two or more devices in order to get online. When you tether your laptop to your phone, you won’t be using any physical cables or wires, you’ll just be piggybacking’on the smartphone’s mobile connection, so you can get online on your computer. Neat, huh?

How do you set up a mobile hotspot?

Setting up a hotspot isn’t complicated, but the exact route to doing so differs slightly depending on the make and model of your smartphone. Here we’ve listed out step-by-step guides for iPhone, Samsung, Sony, OPPO, and Fairphone users...

It’s important to bear in mind that using your phone as a hotspot uses your personal mobile data. Also, remember to go back to the settings on your mobile and turn off the hotspot when you get home, to make use of the speeds from your home WiFi instead.

What else to do if you want to get online

You can also create a mobile hotspot using a portable WiFi hub. Alternatively, you can also use the Virgin Media Connect app to discover reliable WiFi hotspots that don’t use your personal mobile data (3.5 million hotspots in the UK alone), click here.

Want even more top tips?

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