# Mobile hotspot

> Your phone turned into a small Wi-Fi router that shares its mobile data.

- Level: Basic
- Topics: Networks
- URL: https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/mobile-hotspot/
- In Spanish: [Hotspot móvil](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/es/mobile-hotspot/)

A **mobile hotspot** is a phone feature that shares its mobile data connection with other devices. The phone keeps talking to the cell tower over 4G or 5G and, at the same time, creates its own small Wi-Fi network. Your laptop or tablet joins that network as if it were the one at home, and its traffic goes out through the phone.

On iPhone it is called Personal Hotspot; on Android it is usually under Hotspot and tethering. The same thing can be done with a USB cable or Bluetooth, which is what tethering originally meant. There are also small dedicated devices, often called MiFi, that do only this job and take their own SIM card.

It is the quickest fix when the café Wi-Fi fails or you need to work on the road. The costs: it drains the phone's battery, everything the laptop downloads counts against your data plan, and some plans limit or charge extra for sharing. Give the network a strong password, the same as you would at home.

## An analogy

Like a power strip plugged into the only outlet in the room: one connection comes in, several devices hang off it, and they all share what that outlet can give.

## Keep in mind

- The phone gets internet over 4G or 5G and re-shares it over Wi-Fi, USB or Bluetooth.
- Everything the connected devices use comes out of your mobile data plan.
- It drains the phone's battery quickly; plugging it in helps.
- Protect it with a strong password like any Wi-Fi network.

## Go deeper

- [Set up a Personal Hotspot on iPhone (Apple Support)](https://support.apple.com/en-us/111785)
- [Share a mobile connection by hotspot or tethering on Android (Google)](https://support.google.com/android/answer/9059108)
- [Tethering on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethering)

## Related terms

- [4G LTE](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/4g-lte/): The fourth generation of mobile networks, the one that made phones truly fast online.
- [5G](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/5g/): The fifth generation of mobile networks: faster data, less delay, more devices at once.
- [Wi-Fi](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/wi-fi/): Networking over radio waves: the internet without the cable, within a few rooms.
- [Laptop](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/laptop/): A whole computer folded into one portable case that runs on a battery.
- [Tablet](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/tablet/): A computer that is just a big touchscreen, between a phone and a laptop.
- [USB](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/usb/): The standard plug for connecting and charging almost everything.
- [Bluetooth](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/bluetooth/): Short-range wireless for connecting nearby gadgets: headphones, watches, keyboards.
- [SIM card](https://tidbit.legios.com.ar/sim-card/): The small chip card that tells the mobile network which line is yours.