When I am travelling and want to access the internet where there is no wi-fi, I use my iPhone’s built-in Personal Hotspot feature to connect my iPad or my laptop quickly and easily.
I have an iPad, iPhone 4S, a Toshiba laptop running XP Pro and an Asus netbook. The steps below describe how to connect any of these using the Personal Hotspot feature.
Caution: Depending upon your mobile phone plan, it can be costly to connect to the Internet this way, especially for long periods or if downloading large files. I only connect for brief periods and I avoid keeping the wi-fi connection open for long. I have found this method of connecting especially useful at our cottage which happens to be in a wireless internet dead zone. A satellite service is available but given our seasonal use, it is not worth the hefty monthly cost.
How to Connect an iPad via the iPhone
On my iPhone:
- Setting
- Personal Hotspot
- Turn ON
- Set a strong wi-fi password (the longer the better)
- Done
On my iPad:
- Settings
- Wi-Fi
- Turn ON
- Check that “Ask to Join Networks is ON”
- Select my iPhone
- When the keyboard appears, type the wi-fi password created on the iPhone
While connected, the iPad displays a double loop symbol in the upper left corner.
How to Connect a Laptop, Netbook or other PC via the iPhone
Follow the steps above to turn on the Personal Hotspot feature on the iPhone.
On a Laptop, Netbook or other PC (running XP Pro but steps are similar in Windows 7):
- Start
- Connect to
- Wireless Network Connection
- Select the iPhone
- Connect
- Type the password twice
- Connect
How to Disconnect
The quickest way to disconnect is to move the iPhone’s Personal Hotspot slide button to OFF.
Marc Matheny and I will share tips like this and more in “You Can Take it With You: Your Mobile Office” at this year’s ABA TECHSHOW to be held March 29-31 in Chicago.
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Blog posts pre-dated December 1, 2015 were originally published under Neff Law Office Professional Corporation.