How to Create a Personal Mobile Hotspot on iPhone

Sometimes you need to connect your laptop or tablet to the Internet but there is no Wi-Fi or wired network available. However, with just your iPhone, you get instant access to your personal Wifi hotspot! The following article will show you how to do this.

Table of Contents

Setting up an Access Point

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/e/eb/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-1.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-1.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/e/eb/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-1.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-1.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Open Settings. Click the Settings icon, usually located on the home screen, to open the Settings panel.

Activate Mobile Data (LTE) service if you haven’t already. You won’t see the option below if your iPhone is sold on a pre-paid plan, as those companies usually turn off this setting until you’ve paid for the minimum data plans to maintain service. data. iPhones sold on prepaid plans through a contract with a third party that often leave LTE service turned off until they guarantee you can keep data service on your iPhone for the specified amount . Tap Cellular in Settings, then tap the switch next to Cellular Data. If you see this switch turned green (or is already green), look below to double-check the Personal Hotspot selection.

Return to the main Settings screen by tapping the “< Settings” button in the upper left corner.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/4/4d/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-2.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-2.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/4/4d/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-2.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-2.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Select Personal Hotspot. If you have enabled “Personal Hotspot” from your wireless device, you will see the Personal Hotspot icon in the first section of the settings.

Note: if you have not subscribed to Internet service for your wireless device, you will need to activate it before performing the next step. Visit your carrier’s website and choose the service that best suits your needs and budget.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/e/ef/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-3.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-3.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/e/ef/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-3.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-3.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Enable Personal Hotspot. Click the toggle at the top of the “Personal Hotspot” panel to enable Wi-Fi sharing.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/3/35/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-4.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-4.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/3/35/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-4.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-4.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Set password. The current password is displayed as plain text. If you’ve just set up wireless broadcasting on your device, you’ll receive a default password. To change the password, select the Wi-Fi password button, enter the new password, then click the “Done” button. You can also keep the default password as your password. Make sure you write down the password for future use.

Connect Another Mobile to Wi-Fi

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/5/52/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-5.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-5.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/5/52/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-5.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-5.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Connect to another mobile device. To connect an iPad to your mobile hotspot, select the Settings icon.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/d/d9/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-6.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-6.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/d/d9/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-6.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-6.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Open the Wi-Fi control panel. In the left column, select “Wi-Fi.”

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/0/0c/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-7.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-7.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/0/0c/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-7.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-7.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Locate Personal Hotspot on your iPhone. Under “Choose a Network…” you’ll see the name of the Hotspot on your iPhone.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/c/c1/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-8.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-8.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/c/c1/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-8.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-8.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Enter password. A dialog box will appear, asking for the password you used when you set up your hotspot in Part One. Enter your password here.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/2/20/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-9.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-9.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/2/20/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-9.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-9.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Confirm you are connected. When your device successfully connects to your iPhone, there will be a connected icon in the upper left corner of the screen, where the Wi-Fi icon usually shows up.

Wi-Fi Connection for Notebook

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/7/72/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-10.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-10.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/72/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-10.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-10.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Open the network settings on your laptop. Find the network control panel: on a Mac, open System Preferences from the Apple Menu. On a laptop PC, select the Network Manager icon on the lower-right corner of the screen.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/c/c1/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-11.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-11.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/c/c1/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-11.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-11.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Select your iPhone device from the list of available networks.

Enter the password, and your computer will be connected.

Notes When Connecting

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/5/5c/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-12.jpg/v4-728px-Create- a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-12.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/5/5c/Create-a-Personal-Hotspot- on-an-iPhone-Step-12.jpg/v4-728px-Create-a-Personal-Hotspot-on-an-iPhone-Step-12.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:350,” bigWidth”:728,”bigHeight”:554,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Check connection status. The toolbar at the top of the normally black iPhone screen will turn blue and show the number of people connected when it’s used as a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Note: there’s no way to determine who ‘s connecting, but if you notice more people connecting than you think, turn off the Wi-Fi hotspot, change the password, then re-enable (and don’t forget to tell the people who should be connected about the new password).

Advice

Many providers offer month-to-month service rather than service with a 2-year contract.
Check with your mobile network provider to find the best service for personal hotspot. In some cases, it is more cost effective for the receiving device (like iPad) to use a binding device.

Warning

Some services will disable Bluetooth networks if Personal Hotspot is enabled. ^{[1] X Research Source}

Steps