iPhone 14 Pro Cancelled my broadband and been using 14 Pro as a hotspot for months.

[eyoungren]

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.

I hear you. Most people don't have as many devices as we do (I include computers in the word 'device'). I could reasonably argue that there are four people in the house, but most of the computer use is mine. When we dropped TV, I bought two 4K Amazon Firesticks so there's that too. And the TV is on streaming local news from the time I get up to the time I go to bed.

On weekends, one computer serves as a backup target for all the other computers and all of those backups go right up to Dropbox. I just don't see one device surviving all the throughput of data, plus everything else from the rest of my family.

 

[msackey]

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.

As noted in another post, I use T-Mobile home internet which is essentially a hotspot. We consistently get 206Mbps download and 27Mpbs upload. I don't know if that's fast enough for you, but that's way way faster then the cable internet service we got (although we did choose the lowest tier for cable internet). True, 5G hotspot speed might not be fast enough for some, but I think for the typical household it should be more than enough.

My household doesn't do gaming. We do have an AppleTV, 3 iPads, 2 iPhones, 2 Mac computers, and 2 Apple Watches.

 

[eyoungren]

As noted in another post, I use T-Mobile home internet which is essentially a hotspot. We consistently get 206Mbps download and 27Mpbs upload. I don't know if that's fast enough for you, but that's way way faster then the cable internet service we got (although we did choose the lowest tier for cable internet). True, 5G hotspot speed might not be fast enough for some, but I think for the typical household it should be more than enough.

My household doesn't do gaming. We do have an AppleTV, 3 iPads, 2 iPhones, 2 Mac computers, and 2 Apple Watches.

Theoretically, T-Mob Home Internet would work fine for us, but I've never subscribed. We are already using a 4G/LTE Cellspot from T-Mobile at home just so our phones have service. Home is the only place I have problems with T-Mobile.

And I work from home.

Over the past 23 years in Phoenix, through home and various jobs, Cox Communications has given me the least problems. So, for my family that's what we're using. I pay for the Gigabit speeds with UD because that's what I want.

But Cox business customers, whom my employer is, are limited to 25mbps. So that does limit me - but it's not me, it's my employer.

I also don't want to run into deprioritization. I'm willing to pay Cox for their service.

EDIT: Just to add as well. T-Mobile Home Internet does not support port forwarding. There is not even a GUI to access the cellular modem/router. And all addressing is IPV6. Which is why a lot of gamers have issues with TMHI.

 

[msackey]

Theoretically, T-Mob Home Internet would work fine for us, but I've never subscribed. We are already using a 4G/LTE Cellspot from T-Mobile at home just so our phones have service. Home is the only place I have problems with T-Mobile.

And I work from home.

Over the past 23 years in Phoenix, through home and various jobs, Cox Communications has given me the least problems. So, for my family that's what we're using. I pay for the Gigabit speeds with UD because that's what I want.

But Cox business customers, whom my employer is, are limited to 25mbps. So that does limit me - but it's not me, it's my employer.

I also don't want to run into deprioritization. I'm willing to pay Cox for their service.

EDIT: Just to add as well. T-Mobile Home Internet does not support port forwarding. There is not even a GUI to access the cellular modem/router. And all addressing is IPV6. Which is why a lot of gamers have issues with TMHI.

There is a GUI to access the T-Mobile modem/router (via an app) but yes it sucks and is very limited. There isn't even a way to turn off the wifi signal. I already have mesh routers which we are still using.

Fortunately, we don't need anything fancy like, I suppose, gamers might.

Both our cellphones are subscribed to T-Mobile, but we don't have unlimited highspeed hotspot on the phone, though we practically do for the T-Mobile home internet

 

[startergo]

That’s rubbish

What is "rubbish"? Not clear what you are talking about...

 

[startergo]

I don't understand why you have to hotspot trough the iPhone depleting the battery? There are so many hotspot devices one can use...

 

[TehFalcon]

It’s not, in fact I have had less issues with it than I did with my normal broadband

As a Network Technician I can assure you a hard line is absolutely stable compared to Mobile data. Now you may have had issues with your area’s broadband network, I couldn’t say, but I can again assure you mobile data is not consistent on speeds nor latency purely due to the fact it is wireless and shared by thousands on the same tower.

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

I’m kind of envy You guys who can use your mobile phone as personal hotspot without worrying much about running out of data.

Yeah I have a speed data cap on my T-Mobile hotspot plan

 

[waquzy]

What is "rubbish"? Not clear what you are talking about...

7GB hotspot data limit.

The reason to use iPhone as a hotspot is simple. I don’t have any other internet connection in my household, have you even read the thread? My only connection is my iPhone’s 5G mobile.

 

[IG88]

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

That's what ended unlimited hotspots in the US with Verizon several years ago. People started canceling their landline internet and going hotspot 24/7. And using ginormous amounts of data.

 

[eyoungren]

7GB hotspot data limit.

The reason to use iPhone as a hotspot is simple. I don’t have any other internet connection in my household, have you even read the thread? My only connection is my iPhone’s 5G mobile.

I'd just mention that the 'rubbish' hotspot in question, my 7TB allotment, is from a 2015 T-Mobile plan that I have stuck with. While I like having hotspot if I need it (and I have needed it before), I don really use it. So upgrading my plan just to get more hotspot (or any other feature) hasn't been worth the extra price of moving away from my lower cost plan.

And…I don't chase phone/device promos. Evidence of that is that my primary phone is an 11 Pro Max, my only iPad is a 6th-gen iPad and my secondary phone is an iPhone 6s+.

 

[Infuspeur]

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 🙂

In theory it does age faster. Still not fast enough to run it out before the eol of the device I think (or get a new battery once maybe, after years not months). If you’re worried you could try to find some chargers with a weak amount of power, and see which one keeps the battery steady (not charging or depleting). I do that with my MacBook sometimes. (Even though deep down I know I shouldn’t worry about it.) Try e.g. 3 or 5 watt.

 

[Darren.h]

Dam. 250gb a month download? Geez. What are you downloading?

We are all going to get data caps due to you guys that download semi trucks full of data.

I can see it coming. In the big recession. Data caps for all and expensive next level teir.

 

[max2]

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.

Omg you have Cox high speed internet

 

[max2]

I could never, mobile data is sooo unstable

You 100% right.

 

[AppleTO]

"Cries in Canada".

Yup. It’s like a whole different world out there.

 

[city_17]

I remember running this setup in 2009 on my 3GS with unlimited data plan when I rented an apartment that had some issues getting connected to an ISP.

Worked surprisingly well even with the low 3G speeds at the time.

 

[startergo]

7GB hotspot data limit.

The reason to use iPhone as a hotspot is simple. I don’t have any other internet connection in my household, have you even read the thread? My only connection is my iPhone’s 5G mobile.

You can use a hotspot device and your SIM card. No need to use the iPhone. It is too expensive for this purpose. A combination of GL-Inet plus Verizon MIFI (I got one for 50 bucks) for this purpose.

 

[Ghost31]

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.

A battery replacement down the line is probably cheaper than paying monthly for home internet

 

[Ghost31]

I honestly wonder if I could hotspot with my PS five. Has anyone tried it?

 

[eyoungren]

Omg you have Cox high speed internet

Yeaahhhh…

I've had it since 2018. They are offering 2GB speeds now, but I have no networking equipment or computers that natively support speeds about 1GB.

 

[waquzy]

I honestly wonder if I could hotspot with my PS five. Has anyone tried it?

Read the whole thread. I’m doing it mate

 

[Robert.Walter]

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 )

I arranged the T-mobile test drive for mom but the cell signal was too weak and so the cellular gateway went back. Everything else about the experience but the signal strength was good.

 

[Robert.Walter]

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.

I was thinking about using my old iPhone as a permanently plugged into mains hotspot behind my airport router. That way battery life or warm mess is not an issue. With everything running through router (Mac, Apple TV, digera hub for ikea lights, I would hope it won’t idle.

Tried this a bit with unplugged iPhone and it never idled until I left house.

Going to have to test more.

 

[waquzy]

You can use a hotspot device and your SIM card. No need to use the iPhone. It is too expensive for this purpose. A combination of GL-Inet plus Verizon MIFI (I got one for 50 bucks) for this purpose.

No need, I just use my phone.