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waquzy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 9, 2013
1,483
2,160
Leicestershire, UK
Just thought I would share my experience regarding this. I decided to cancel my broadband provider full stop and I have been using my iPhone 14 Pro as a hotspot through mobile 5G.

I used to be with TalkTalk and their max download speed was 65MB, whereas my mobile provider on 5G, I usually get 500+MB download speeds. I’m with Three. I’m on an unlimited data, £17 a month.

TalkTalk was £25 a month. So that’s a nice bit of saving there.

Here are some stats: IMG_9128.png IMG_9129.png
 
Last edited:

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,817
26,923
Just thought I would share my experience regarding this. I decided to cancel my broadband provider full stop and I have been using my iPhone 14 Pro as a hotspot through mobile 5G.

I used to be with TalkTalk and their max download speed was 65MB, whereas my mobile provider on 5G, I usually get 500+MB download speeds. I’m with Three. I’m on an unlimited data, £17 a month.

TalkTalk was £25 a month. So that’s a nice bit of saving there.

Here are some stats: View attachment 2207466 View attachment 2207467
Yeah…not going to work here.

Before dropping cable TV, average: 1.2TB per month

After dropping cable TV (but keeping internet) and solely streaming TV, average 1.4TB per month.

I pay for Gigabit internet and unlimited data. No mobile carrier is ever going to give me that in hotspot.

Untitled.jpeg

Also…not running 20+ computers and devices through ONE phone hotspot.
 

PegasusTenma

macrumors 6502
Sep 24, 2014
392
349
Yeah…not going to work here.

Before dropping cable TV, average: 1.2TB per month

After dropping cable TV (but keeping internet) and solely streaming TV, average 1.4TB per month.

I pay for Gigabit internet and unlimited data. No mobile carrier is ever going to give me that in hotspot.

View attachment 2207501

Also…not running 20+ computers and devices through ONE phone hotspot.


I am in the same boat as OP and in with my humble 5G iPhone as hotspot for home I also do 1.2 TB per month easily.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,817
26,923
I am in the same boat as OP and in with my humble 5G iPhone as hotspot for home I also do 1.2 TB per month easily.
My carrier (T-Mobile) allows me 7GB of hotspot data a month. If I upgraded to a new plan (more expensive, less stuff) I could get 100GB before deprioritization (putting my data behind everyone else).

But, as I said, I run 20+ computers and devices through my home router. I don't want that going through my phone.

Lastly, I work from home and routinely handle multiple files that are 50GB to 1TB in size over a VPN. Basing my employment on cell signal is not anything I'm interested in trying.
 

msackey

macrumors 68030
Oct 8, 2020
2,512
2,933
I worry less about the data overage and more about how fast the life of the battery would deplete, unless you have your phone plugged in while doing hotspot, I suppose.

For our home internet, we used to have the lowest level from Spectrum (cable company) and it was overall acceptable but nothing stellar. We recently switched to T-Mobile home internet which essentially really is using cell infrastructure to provide internet service. It is, in a way, hotspotting but not from a phone, but rather a cellular to wifi gateway/modem.

Whoa! I was blown away by the speed. It is a LOT faster than our Spectrum internet, cheaper by like $20 to $30/month, and much more reliable. We have been very pleased.

Before we switched over, we called up Spectrum to see if they were willing to lower the price of their service. They weren't. Too bad. We went with T-Mobile and trialled them (we had like 30 days free or something like that). After using it for a little over a week and being blown away by it, we called up Spectrum to say we're cancelling. THAT'S when they were trying to keep us by saying they'll reduce their monthly service charge, etc. etc. Too bad, so sad. We're not returning. LOL.

I'm really amazed how fast the T-Mobile 5G home internet is. It's must faster than we need for both the upload and download speeds.

(Our home which was built in the 90s has built-in telephone line and cable (just like any house in the US back in the 90s). Do houses these days come with landline and cable? We use neither. LOL )
 

waquzy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 9, 2013
1,483
2,160
Leicestershire, UK
Yeah…not going to work here.

Before dropping cable TV, average: 1.2TB per month

After dropping cable TV (but keeping internet) and solely streaming TV, average 1.4TB per month.

I pay for Gigabit internet and unlimited data. No mobile carrier is ever going to give me that in hotspot.
Also…not running 20+ computers and devices through ONE phone hotspot.
Obviously it’s not going to work for you, 20+ computers, but for your average user like myself, it’s more than adequate
 

waquzy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 9, 2013
1,483
2,160
Leicestershire, UK
My carrier (T-Mobile) allows me 7GB of hotspot data a month. If I upgraded to a new plan (more expensive, less stuff) I could get 100GB before deprioritization (putting my data behind everyone else).

But, as I said, I run 20+ computers and devices through my home router. I don't want that going through my phone.

Lastly, I work from home and routinely handle multiple files that are 50GB to 1TB in size over a VPN. Basing my employment on cell signal is not anything I'm interested in trying.
That’s rubbish, my carrier (3 UK) allows me unlimited hotspot data a month. Big difference there. So even if you wanted to you couldn’t run it mate
 
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MrMojo1

macrumors 6502a
Aug 25, 2010
599
695
New England
That may not/won't work for anyone else who's not in the UK as evidence by the '£x a month' reference.
Also, internet access and cell phone packages are different depending on your country of residence as well as the related prices for them.
In America, data for hotspots are relatively limited, if available, and very expensive. That's why people pay separate utilities for cell phone coverage and internet access. The major providers may have hotspots but the MVNOs may not, depending on the carrier.
 

Sami13496

macrumors 6502
Jul 25, 2022
462
1,112
I worry less about the data overage and more about how fast the life of the battery would deplete, unless you have your phone plugged in while doing hotspot, I suppose.

I’ve been using my iPhone XR as hotspot for few weeks now but been worried about battery. If I would use it plugged in then the battery or the phone wouldn't “age” faster? That would be great if this is true 🙂
 

msackey

macrumors 68030
Oct 8, 2020
2,512
2,933
I’ve been using my iPhone XR as hotspot for few weeks now but been worried about battery. If I would use it plugged in then the battery or the phone wouldn't “age” faster? That would be great if this is true 🙂
Regarding whether battery would not age faster if plugged in while hotspotting:

I actually don't know. I wonder. I imagine though that the iPhone will be running hotter than usual when doing hotspot, so heat itself already would reduce battery life.
 
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antiprotest

macrumors 601
Apr 19, 2010
4,006
14,061
This is amazing. £17 does not even cover my "modem rental" scam fee.

But then I am in the US and I have multiple devices at home and I use more than a TB a month so I can't go the hotspot route.
 

waquzy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 9, 2013
1,483
2,160
Leicestershire, UK
Regarding whether battery would not age faster if plugged in while hotspotting:

I actually don't know. I wonder. I imagine though that the iPhone will be running hotter than usual when doing hotspot, so heat itself already would reduce battery life.
Usually 1 hr of hotspotting = 10% of battery charge. The phone gets reasonably hot but nothing major. I’ve been running it for 3 months, battery health is still at 100% btw. Phone is 3 months old.

Running telly, laptop and PS5 simultaneously
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,817
26,923
That’s rubbish, my carrier (3 UK) allows me unlimited hotspot data a month. Big difference there. So even if you wanted to you couldn’t run it mate
Well, I'm in the US. Carriers here also lock your phone if you buy from them too.

Lot's of things I'd have the industry do differently, but the average American just doesn't care enough.
 

Apple$

macrumors 6502
May 21, 2021
351
650
Just thought I would share my experience regarding this. I decided to cancel my broadband provider full stop and I have been using my iPhone 14 Pro as a hotspot through mobile 5G.

I used to be with TalkTalk and their max download speed was 65MB, whereas my mobile provider on 5G, I usually get 500+MB download speeds. I’m with Three. I’m on an unlimited data, £17 a month.

TalkTalk was £25 a month. So that’s a nice bit of saving there.

Here are some stats: View attachment 2207466 View attachment 2207467
"Cries in Canada".
 

VampyricGentleman

macrumors 6502
May 28, 2022
337
2,842
South Wales, UK
I'd love to ditch my fibre connection and use just my phone. But in my part of the UK ironically home to a phone company call centre it was only when 5g came in I got over dial up speeds and a consistent home phone signal. Still I use my phone a lot as a hotspot travelling too and from the office. Because they are putting in electric trains it’s three hours each way right now. Thank heavens for excellent battery life and the fact I only do it one day a week!
 

one more

macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2015
4,524
5,687
Earth
I also tether my iPhone 12 mini to my WiFi iPad at work. It works fine, however it does drain iPhone’s battery faster.

If you are upgrading your iPhone frequently, then no worries, if not - you might need to swap your battery sooner.
 
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ksgant

macrumors 6502a
Jan 12, 2006
797
710
Chicago
My carrier (T-Mobile) allows me 7GB of hotspot data a month. If I upgraded to a new plan (more expensive, less stuff) I could get 100GB before deprioritization (putting my data behind everyone else).

But, as I said, I run 20+ computers and devices through my home router. I don't want that going through my phone.

Lastly, I work from home and routinely handle multiple files that are 50GB to 1TB in size over a VPN. Basing my employment on cell signal is not anything I'm interested in trying.
Same here. Between 3 people we have 3 phones, 3 iPads, Two Macs, a Dell laptop, Intel media server running Linux, 2 Apple TV's, Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo and various other devices here and there. No way could a mobile hot-spot handle all that data. Not to mention we don't have cable TV...haven't had it in almost 20 years. Everything has been through the internet. We stream TONS of data daily. I have a business Internet account and I have great bandwidth 24/7. For the life of me couldn't see all of that filtered down to one 5G hotspot.

Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that some can do that. But it's obviously not for everyone.
 
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jezbd1997

macrumors 6502a
Jul 8, 2015
930
1,247
Melbourne - Australia
I did this for 6 months and works great indeed. BUT, your phone will stay hot for quite some time and your battery health will deplete a lot faster
that’s not really the main issue. you’d save off that.
it’s not really designed to be a permanent router.
most households it won’t work if there’s more than 2 people as it disables quickly after idle
 
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